Our premise – that Estonia would have been a natural part of the Nordic countries, had it not been occupied by the Soviet Union – relies on the cultural similarities between Estland and other nordic region countries.
However, one of the main arguments against counting Estonia as part of the Nordics is the fact that it is less economically developed and therefore has a lower standard of living, so much so that grouping Estonia together with Norway seems like a fool’s errand. But has it always been so? Has Estonia always fared lower than its Nordic neighbors?
Below is a chart of GDP per capita rankings of Europe in 1922, 1929 and 1938, which shows Estonia ranking higher than Finland before it was occupied by the Soviets. Had history gone differently, perhaps today Estonia’s living of standard would be equal to that of other Nordic countries. Given time, hopefully it becomes so once again.