Karl Selter, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Karl Selter

Estonian politician

Date of Birth: 24-Jun-1898

Place of Birth: Estonia Governorate

Date of Death: 31-Jan-1958

Profession: politician, diplomat

Nationality: Estonia

Zodiac Sign: Cancer


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About Karl Selter

  • Karl Selter (born 24 June 1898 in Koeru, Estonia – died 31 January 1958 in Geneva, Switzerland) was an Estonian politician and a Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia.
  • He served as Minister of Economic Affairs from 1933 to 1938 and as minister of Foreign affairs from 1938 to 1939.
  • His historically most memorable act was to sign a non-aggression and mutual assistance treaty with the Soviet leaders in Moscow in September 1939.
  • This was also his personal and national Estonian most tragic act.
  • It followed a brutal ultimatum from the Soviet Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Molotov on 24 September.
  • Molotov said to Setler: Estonia gained sovereignty when the Soviet Union was powerless, but you “don’t think that this can last… forever… The Soviet Union is now a great power whose interests need to be taken into consideration.
  • I tell you—the Soviet Union needs enlargement of her security guarantee system; for this purpose she needs an exit to the Baltic Sea … I ask you, do not compel us to use force against Estonia.” The enforced in this manner treaty gave the Soviet army a right to set up military bases in Estonia, and it significantly reduced Estonia's independence until Estonia was formally incorporated into the Soviet Union between June and August 1940.
  • Selter left Estonia in November 1939, resigning both as Foreign Minister and as a member of Parliament.
  • He moved to Geneva, Switzerland as a diplomat.
  • After Germany occupied Estonia between 1941 and 1944, and after it was re-incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1944, he stayed in Switzerland as an exiled diplomat and politician.

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