Petseri County

Infobox Former Subdivision
native_name = _et. "Petserimaa"
conventional_long_name = Petseri County
common_name = Petseri
subdivision = County
nation = Estonia
year_start = 1920
event_start = Estonian War of Independence
year_end = 1944
event_end = World War II
p1 = Pskov Oblast, Russian SFSR
flag_p1 = Flag_RSFSR_1918.svg
s1 = Pskov Oblast, Russian SFSR
flag_s1 = Flag_RSFSR_1918.svg






image_map_caption =
capital = Petseri
political_subdiv=

Petseri County ( _et. Petserimaa) was a former county of Estonia established in 1920. Since 1944, however, most of the county has been administered as part of Pskov Oblast, first by the Russian SFSR and then, from 1991, by Russia. [See Territorial changes in the Baltic states during and after World War II.]

History

The whole historic province of Petseri County ("Petserimaa") is regarded as their homeland by Setos [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=MS25xxY2LKQC&pg=PA268&vq=seto&dq=Pechory+petseri+seto&lr=&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ACfU3U3cytJdEwYDDXKEv-xYtFQEHHt4Gw | Culture and Power at the Edges of the State By Thomas M. Wilson, Hastings Donnan; ISBN:3825875695; p. 268] ] , a Finnic people related to Estonians. The Russians inhabitants of Petseri district were mainly Old Believers who spoke a transitional dialect between Russian and Belarusian language. [ [http://books.google.com/books?spell=1&q=%22The+Russians+of+Petseri%22&btnG=Search+Books |The Slavonic and East European Review - Page 516] ] In the mid-15th century one of the most important Russian Orthodox-, the Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery was founded in the area. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=wnO5AMBP01oC&pg=PT287&dq=Russians+pechory&lr=&sig=ACfU3U0u-yLs5SDS6-voq01A9vMQ3PweRg | Post-Cold War Identity Politics: Northern and Baltic Experiences; ISBN:0714654280; p. 263] ]

During the last year of World War I, from February to December 1918, the county's capital, Pechory, was occupied by German forces. The town was then captured by Estonian forces on March 29, 1919 as part of the Estonian War of Independence. The Treaty of Tartu subsequently assigned Pechory and its surrounding territory, the Setomaa region, to Estonia. Pechory was renamed Petseri and the area became Petseri County.

During World War II, Petseri County was occupied by the German army between August 1941 and August 11, 1944, then by Soviet forces during their advance toward Nazi Germany. Soviet authorities reannexed Petseri county to Russian SFSR in 1944. In 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union Estonia raised the question for a return to the borders according to the Treaty of Tartu. Estonia dropped the claim in November 1995. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=dt2TXexiKTgC&pg=PT455&dq=%22Petseri+County%22&sig=ACfU3U2Md8I0JrpQE1wzxyESv-BsbixbnA| A Political and Economic Dictionary of Eastern Europe, p. 443, ISBN:1857430638] ]
Estonia has signed and ratified The Estonian-Russian Border Treaty from 18 May 2005. The preamble notes that the treaty on the state border partly changes in agreement with Article 122 of the Estonian Constitution. [ [http://www.estemb.se/estonian_review/aid-427 Estonian Parliament ratifies Estonian-Russian border treaties ] ]

Notes and references

Template group
title = Geographic locale
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