Estonian Constituent Assembly election, 1919

Last updated
Estonian parliamentary election, 1919
Flag of Estonia.svg
  1917 7 April 1919 1920  

120 seats in the Constituent Assembly
61 seats were needed for a majority

  First party Second party Third party
  Jaan Tonisson1928.jpg
Leader August Rei Otto August Strandman Jaan Tõnisson
Party Social Democratic Workers' Labour Party People's Party
Last election 9 seats 4 seats 7 seats
Seats won 41 30 25
Seat change+32 (+16.2%) +26 (+17.3%) +18 (+7.6%)
Popular vote 152,341 114,879 94,892
Percentage 32.6% 24.6% 20.3%

Prime Minister of the Provisional Government before election

Konstantin Päts
Country People's Union

Elected Prime Minister

Otto August Strandman
Labour Party

The Estonian Constituent Assembly (Estonian : Asutav kogu) was elected on 5–7 April 1919, [1] called by the Estonian Provisional Government during the Estonian War of Independence. The Assembly was elected by party-list proportional representation in one nationwide district using the D'Hondt method. [2] Eligible voters included soldiers at the front. The elections were won by left-wing and centrist parties. [3]

Estonian language Finno-Ugric language spoken in Estonia

The Estonian language is the official language of Estonia, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people: 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,000 outside Estonia. It is a Southern Finnic language and is the second most spoken language among all the Finnic languages.

The Estonian Provisional Government was formed on February 24, 1918, by the Salvation Committee appointed by Maapäev, the Estonian Province Assembly.

Estonian War of Independence

The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the White Russian Northwestern Army, Latvia, and the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Western Front offensive and the aggression of the Baltische Landeswehr. It was fought in connection with the Russian Civil War during 1918–1920. The campaign was the struggle of Estonia for its sovereignty in the aftermath of World War I. It resulted in a victory for the newly established state and was concluded in the Treaty of Tartu.

Contents

History

Estonian Constituent Assembly, Opening Session on 23 April 1919. EstConstAssmb.jpg
Estonian Constituent Assembly, Opening Session on 23 April 1919.

The 120 members of the Constituent Assembly met at the opening session on 23 April 1919, the birthday of the Estonian Parliament [1] and elected the chairman, Social Democrat August Rei. On 7 May the Assembly passed the Public Elementary Schools Act: The principle of compulsory and free primary 6-year elementary school education was established. [4]

August Rei VR III/1 was an Estonian Social Democratic politician.

On 8 May 1919 the Estonian provisional government resigned, and the first fully democratically elected Government of Estonia headed by Prime Minister Otto Strandman (Estonian Labor Party) took office. On 15 May the assembly reaffirmed the Estonian Declaration of Independence, aimed at the international community for recognizing Estonia as an independent state.

Government of Estonia government of the country Estonia

The Government of the Republic of Estonia is the cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Constitution and laws of Estonia.

Otto August Strandman was an Estonian politician, who served as Prime Minister (1919) and State Elder of Estonia (1929–1931). He was one of the leaders of the centre-left Estonian Labour Party, that saw its biggest support after the 1919 and 1920 elections. Strandman was a key figure in composing the radical land reform law and the 1920 Constitution. He also served as Minister of Agriculture (1918–1919), Minister of Justice, Minister of Finance (1924), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of War (1919). While he was in the office of Minister of Finance, he stabilized the economy and managed to avoid hyperinflation. Strandman was also the speaker of both the Estonian Provincial Assembly (1917–1918) and Riigikogu (1921). He was a diplomat, serving as an envoy in Warsaw (1927–1929), when he made contacts with Polish politicians, and in Paris (1933–1939). During the Soviet Occupation in 1941, Strandman was ordered to show up to the NKVD headquarters. Already knowing about his fate, he committed suicide in his home in Kadrina.

Estonian Declaration of Independence Founding act of the Republic of Estonia from 1918

The Estonian Declaration of Independence, also known as the Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia, is the founding act of the Republic of Estonia from 1918. It is celebrated on 24 February, the National Day or Estonian Independence Day.

On 4 June 1919 the Assembly adopted a temporary Constitution of Estonia, and on 10 October 1919 The Land Reform Act was passed which confiscated and redistributed the Baltic German estates, ending the 700 years possession of the regions that the Germans had gained after the Livonian Crusade. [5]

Livonian Crusade German and Danish conquest of medieval Livonia

The Livonian Crusade was the conquest of the territory constituting modern Latvia and Estonia during the pope-sanctioned Northern Crusades, performed mostly by Germans from the Holy Roman Empire and Danes. It ended with the creation of the Terra Mariana and Duchy of Estonia. The lands on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea were the last corners of Europe to be Christianized.

On 13 February the Peace Treaty of Tartu was ratified, signed by Estonia and Russian SFSR on 2 February. The first Constitution of Estonia was adopted on 15 June 1920. After the constitution had entered into effect and the first parliamentary elections were held, the Constituent Assembly disbanded itself on 20 December 1920. [3]

Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Estonian) 1920 treaty between Estonia and the Soviet Union

The Tartu Peace Treaty or Treaty of Tartu is a peace treaty between Estonia and Soviet Russia signed on 2 February 1920, ending the Estonian War of Independence. The terms of the treaty stated that "Russia unreservedly recognises" the independence of the Republic of Estonia de jure and renounced in perpetuity all rights to the territory of Estonia. Ratifications of the treaty were exchanged in Moscow on 30 March 1920. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 12 July 1922.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party 152,34133.341
Estonian Labour Party 114,87925.130
Estonian People's Party 94,89220.725
Rural League 29,9896.58
Socialists-Revolutionaries 26,5365.87
Christian Democratic Party 20,1574.45
German-Baltic Party 11,4622.53
Russian National Union 5,7651.31
Party of the Residents of Hiiumaa Island1,0900.20
All-Estonian Sailors' Union7950.20
Total457,906100120
Registered voters/turnout653,00070.1
Source: McHale, [6] Nohlen & Stöver [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 Chronology at riigikogu.ee
  2. 1 2 Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p581 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  3. 1 2 Historical Dictionary of Estonia; p. 140 ISBN   0-8108-4904-6
  4. Public Elementary Schools Act at Estonian Historical Archives
  5. Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition Archived August 25, 2007, at the Wayback Machine .
  6. Vincent E McHale (1983) Political parties of Europe, Greenwood Press, p397 ISBN   0-313-23804-9