Celebrated on June 23rd, Victory Day marks the key victory in the 1919 Battle of Võnnu (near Cesis, Latvia) when the Estonians and their allies defeated German forces who were seeking to re-establish Baltic-German control over the region.

The battle was part of the 1918-1920 Estonian War of Independence, resulting as part of the fall out of World War I when the main adversary of the then newly independent Estonia was Russia. The war was won by Estonia, resulting in the Treaty of Tartu. Today, Victory Day serves as a day of remembrance to commemorate the contributions of all Estonians in their struggle to regain and retain their independence.

As soon as the statehood of Estonia was established a plan of the development of finance was put forth. Since, at the time Estonian finance was based on the law of the German occupying powers, which established the German mark and on 30 November 1918 a decision to establish the Estonian mark as the national currency.

The above banknote is a 1000 Marka banknote issued in the year 1919. The banknote, on the reverse, depicts the Estonian Army in the center with intricate flower and vine design on the background and the denomination on the left and right corners.

Image Courtesy: Colnect.com