Bronze Night

Bronze Night
Protests in downtown Tallinn after police cordoned off the streets around the memorial, driving protesters toward the city centre.
Date	April 26 – April 29, 2007
Location	Tallinn, Estonia
Causes	Reaction of ethnic Russian population to Soviet war memorial relocation
Goals	Stop relocation of war memorial
Methods	Widespread rioting, looting, assault, arson, protests, property damage
Result	War memorial relocated to Tõnismägi
Casualties
Death(s)	1
Injuries	171
Arrested	1,000+

The Bronze Night (Estonian: Pronksiöö or Pronksöö), also known as the April Unrest (Aprillirahutused) and April Events (Aprillisündmused), is the controversy and riots in Estonia surrounding the 2007 relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn, the Soviet World War II memorial in Tallinn.

Many ethnic Estonians considered the Bronze Soldier in the city centre a symbol of Soviet occupation and repression. At the same time the monument has significant symbolic value to Estonia's Russian community, symbolising not only Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, but also their claim to equal rights in Estonia.

Amid political controversy, in April 2007 the Government of Estonia started final preparations for the relocation of the statue and reburial of the associated remains, according to the political mandate received from the previous elections (held in March 2007). Disagreement over the appropriateness of the action led to mass protests and riots (accompanied by looting), lasting for two nights, the worst in Estonia since the Soviet reoccupation in 1944. During the riots, one Russian rioter was killed. In the early morning hours of April 27, 2007, after the first night's rioting, the Government of Estonia decided, at an emergency meeting, to relocate the monument immediately, referring to security concerns. By the following afternoon the stone structure had been dismantled as well. As of the afternoon of April 30, the statue without the stone structure had been placed at the Cemetery of the Estonian Defence Forces in Tallinn. An opening ceremony for the relocated statue was held on May 8, VE Day. (Soviet Army veterans celebrate Victory Day a day later, on May 9.) During June 2007 the stone structure was rebuilt. Relatives have made claims to bodies of four of the war dead. Unclaimed remains were reburied at the military cemetery, next to the relocated monument, on July 3, 2007.