"Estonia remained one of the last corners of medieval Europe to be Christianized."

"In 1193 Pope Celestine III called for a crusade against pagans in Northern Europe. The Northern Crusades from Northern Germany established the stronghold of Riga (in modern Latvia). With the help of the newly converted local tribes of Livs and Letts, the crusaders initiated raids into part of what is present-day Estonia in 1208. Estonian tribes fiercely resisted the attacks from Riga and occasionally themselves sacked territories controlled by the crusaders. In 1217 the German crusading order the Sword Brethren and their recently converted allies won a major battle in which the Estonian commander Lembitu was killed. The period of the several Northern Crusade battles in Estonia between 1208 and 1227 is also known as the period of the ancient Estonian fight for independence."

In Estonia, today's "History of" country, which looked like this before September 21, 1217:

"Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman caused an angry Twitter tirade last year from Estonia's president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves...."

"Now the electronic spat has been turned into a 16-minute vocal piece that will debut in April in a performance by the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in Estonia."

In case you are wondering what they are singing about in Estonia.

Sample lyric: "But yes, what do we know? We're just dumb & silly East Europeans. Unenlightened. Someday we too will understand. Nostra culpa."

ADDED: "Where does 'Nostra Culpa' come down on Krugman vs. Ilves, on stimulus vs. austerity?"

"As the librettist I was conscious not to take sides," Mr. Diel, an American journalist living in Estonia.... "For my part there was no winner or loser chosen or intended."

"There is something intrinsically dramatic in this story," composer Eugene Birman said.... "As a composer, the words 'austerity' and 'stimulate' are particularly evocative musically. Arguments just make great listening sometimes."