Estonian religious education referendum, 1923

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A referendum on restoring voluntary religious education to state schools was held in Estonia between 17 and 19 February 1923. [1] It was approved by 71.9% of voters with a turnout of 66.2%. [2]

Estonia Republic in Northern Europe

Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland with Finland on the other side, to the west by the Baltic Sea with Sweden on the other side, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km). The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands in the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of 45,227 km2 (17,462 sq mi), water 2,839 km2 (1,096 sq mi), land area 42,388 km2 (16,366 sq mi), and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The official language of the country, Estonian, is the second most spoken Finnic language.

Contents

Background

On 5 January 1921 the Christian Democratic Party (KDP) joined Konstantin Päts' Farmers' Assemblies-led the government, and was given the Education ministry portfolio. The following year the KDP caused a split in the government by introducing a bill to provide religious education in state schools, funded by the state. Although the proposal was rejected by the Riigikogu, the party forced a referendum on the issue in early 1923. [3]

The Christian People's Party was a political party in Estonia between 1919 and 1931.

Konstantin Päts Estonian politician

Konstantin Päts was the most influential politician of interwar Estonia, and served five times as the country's head of government. He was one of the first Estonians to become active in politics and started an almost 40-year political rivalry with Jaan Tõnisson, first through journalism with his newspaper Teataja, later through politics. He was condemned to death during the 1905 Revolution, but managed to flee first to Switzerland, then to Finland, where he continued his literary work. He returned to Estonia, but had to spend time in prison in 1910–1911.

Farmers Assemblies political party in Estonia

The Farmers' Assemblies was a conservative political party in Estonia. Led by Konstantin Päts, it was the ruling party for most of the inter-war period.

Results

ChoiceVotes%
For324,93371.9
Against127,11928.1
Invalid/blank votes2,116–
Total454,168100
Registered voters/turnout685,73066.2
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Aftermath

As the referendum was a rejection of government policy, this was considered to be a vote of no confidence on the rest of the government. The Riigikogu was subsequently dissolved and fresh elections called. [3]

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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p574 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p579
  3. 1 2 Vincent E McHale (1983) Political parties of Europe, Greenwood Press, p374 ISBN   0-313-23804-9


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