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The formation and manifestation of counter-elites in totalitarian regimes emerged as a topic of scientific interest especially after the Second World War. Yet, the specificities of the formation of counter-elites in totalitarian states in conjunction with the decolonization processes, as they have manifested in the Baltic states or in the Republic of Moldova, have attracted comparatively less attention. This article aims to analyze the process of genesis of counter-elites and the transformations incurred within the elites in Soviet Estonia in the process of regaining the independence. The article relate to the Soviet elites with reformist views who designed „Economically Autonomous Estonia” and the counter-elites animated by the desire of national rebirth and total split from the Soviet past gathered around the Estonian Heritage Society, which represented two – of course, among the most important - of the numerous circles, groups, organizations that emerged in Estonia as a result of the new ideological thaw started by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Despite the differences between them, none of them adopted extreme political discourse and both maintained important dialogic availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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