Estonia has often changed hands during the course of history. Indeed the country was sold to the Teutonic Knights in 1346 then fell under Swedish domination in 1564. In 1721 it was given to Russia that did away with serfdom but tried to impose its culture on the Estonians. Thanks to German occupation it declared its independence on 24th February 1918. In 1934 Prime Minister Constantin Pats introduced an authoritarian regime then during the Second World War, Estonia was annexed by the USSR. In 1989, during the “Singing Revolution” it recovered its independence again taking advantage of the policy of opening launched by Gorbachev. Since then its relations with Russia have been tense. Estonia joined the EU on May 1st 2004 and the euro on 1st January 2011 and its economy is now oriented towards the States of the Union.