When a group of youths attacked shops and buildings in Tallinn, Estonia, on the evening of April 26, 2007, it sparked two days of civil unrest. This resulted in the death of a young man, injuries to 100 people, including 13 police officers, and the arrest of over 1,000 people.
The unrest was due to a disagreement between two communities – ethnic Estonians and ethnic Russians – over how they should remember the events of the second world war and the Soviet period. These disagreements stemmed from contentious “collective memories” of events and narratives.
