Communist Party of Estonia
Encyclopedia
- EKP redirects here. It can also refer to Jewish Communist Party (Poalei Zion).
Communist Party of Estonia was a political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
.
EKP was formed November 5, 1920, as the Central Committee of the Estonian Sections of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
was separated from its mother party. During the first half of 1920s the hopes to an immediate world revolution were still held, and Estonian communists had their own hopes of restoring their power. Widespread economic and social crisis gave lots of support for that kind of hopes. Activists of the party had not only to support the agenda, but also to be ready to participate in the illegal actions, such as organising conspirative apartments, transporting weapons and communist propaganda materials, hide undercover activists and collect information for the revolutionaries. It resulted in a standing conflict situation with the governments. As oriented not to the legal goals EKP never tried to legalise itself in the Estonian Republic, as well as didn't abandon demands for the armed uprising and joining Estonia to the USSR.
Although EKP had dropped much below from their popularity of 1917, it still had remarkable support mostly amongst the industrial proletariat, but occasionally also amongst the landless peasants, unemployed, teachers and students. Especially in the 1920s it had strong positions in the trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
movement. In the parliamentary elections EKP front organisations took always more than 5% of the vote. However, following the failed coup attempt by the Estonian communists on December 1, 1924, the party lost this support and membership fell to around 70 to 200 people and remained low until 1940. According to the ECP's own records, there were only 150 party members at the time of the Soviet occupation in July 1940.
History
Like in the rest of the Russian empire, the RSDLP branches in the Governorate of EstoniaGovernorate of Estonia
The Governorate of Estonia or Estland, also known as the Government of Estonia or Province of Estonia, was a governorate of the Russian Empire in what is now northern Estonia.-Historical overview:...
had been ravaged by division between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. In 1912 the Bolsheviks started a publication, Kiir, in Narva
Narva
Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.-Early history:...
. In June 1914 the party took a decision to create a special Central Committee of RSDLP(b) of Estonia, named the Northern-Baltic Committee of the RSDLP(b)" .
After the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
, as in the rest of the empire, Bolsheviks started to gain popularity with their demands to end the war immediately, as well as their support for fast land reform and originally even ethnic claims (to introduce Estonian as an official language parallel to Russian). During the summer of 1917 Bolsheviks and their supporters took the control over the Tallinn Soviet.
By the end of 1917 Estonian Bolsheviks were stronger than ever - holding control over political power and having significant support - remarkably more than in Russia. In the elections into the Russian Constituent Assembly their list got 40,2% of the votes in Estonia and 4 out of 8 seats allocated to Estonia. The support for the party did however start to decline, and the Estonian Constituent Assembly election of January 1918 was never completed. Moreover the party faced the situation in which it had difficulty building alliances. Their opponents, the Democratic Bloc, was able to initiate cooperation with the Labour Party, Mensheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
. Those parties supported different ideas but were united around the demand for an independent or Finland-linked Estonia and wished to distribute land to the peasants. In the first question the Estonian Bolsheviks, although having introduced Estonian
Estonian language
Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
as an official language after their takeover, promoted the idea of Estonia as a part of Soviet Russia. In the land reform policy, Estonian Bolsheviks continued to support immediate collectivisation.
Bolshevik rule in Estonia was ended by the German invasion in the end of February 1918. The party branch continued to function in exile in Russia.
After the German revolution in November, when an Estonian government took office, the party together with support of Soviet troops attempted an armed attack against the new state. However, by this time the support for the party had waned, and it failed to mobilize mass support for revolutionary warfare. An Estonian Workers' Commune was set up, but with limited real influence. At this time the party branch had been reorganized into the Central Committee of the Estonian Sections of the RCP(b) . After the war a reorientation was found to be necessary (since Estonia was now an independent state) by the central leadership of the RCP(b) and thus on the November 5, 1920 the Communist Party of Estonia (EKP) was founded as a separate party.
Merger with the CPSU
In 1940 EKP was merged into the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks). The territorial organization of the AUCP(b) in the Estonian SSR became known as Communist Party of Estonia (bolsheviks) (EK(b)P).The EK(b)P was purged in 1950 of many of its original native leaders they were replaced by a number of prominent Estonians who had grown up in Russia, see "Yestonians
Yestonians
Yestonians was the derogatory epithet for Estonians brought from Russia to Estonia after World War II to staff the political structures of the Soviet Estonia with loyal cadre...
".
When the AUCP(b) changed its name in 1952 to CPSU, the EK(b)P removed the (b) from its name.
Split of 1990
EKP was divided in 1990, as the pro-sovereignty majority faction of EKP separated itself from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and became the Estonian Democratic Labour PartyEstonian Left Party
Estonian Left Party was a left socialist political party in Estonia.-History:In June 1988 Communist Party of Estonia , i.e. the Estonian branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, chief Karl Vaino was replaced by the reform-minded Soviet Ambassador to Nicaragua Vaino Väljas, the former...
. The minority faction of pro-Soviet hardliners reconstituted themselves as the Communist Party of Estonia (CPSU platform)
Communist Party of Estonia (1990)
Communist Party of Estonia is a political party in Estonia. The party, initially known as Communist Party of Estonia Communist Party of Estonia (in Estonian: Eestimaa Kommunistlik Partei, in Russian: Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Estonii) is a political party in Estonia. The party, initially known...
.
First Secretaries of the Communist Party of Estonia
- Karl Säre August 28, 1940–1943
- Nikolai Karotamm (acting, in Russian SFSR exile to September 1944) 1943–September 28, 1944
- Nikolai Karotamm September 28, 1944–April, 1950
- Johannes KäbinJohannes KäbinJohannes Käbin was an Soviet politician who led the Estonian Communist Party from 1950 to 1978. He was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1978 to 1983. Initially a hardline Stalinist, he gradually became more moderate in the post-Stalin era...
April 1950–July 26, 1978 - Karl VainoKarl VainoKarl Vaino is a former Estonian SSR politician. 1978–1988 he was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Estonia.-References:...
July 26, 1978–June 16, 1988 - Vaino VäljasVaino VäljasVaino Väljas is a former Soviet politician. He was the Chairman of the 6th Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR from 18 April 1963 to 19 March 1967, first secretary of communist party of Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic from 16 June 1988 to April 1990 and chairman of the party from April 1990 to...
June 16, 1988–April, 1990
Second Secretaries of the Communist Party of Estonia
- Nikolai Karotamm August 1940–September 28, 1944
- Sergey Sasonov December 2, 1944-1948
- Georgy Kedrov October 16, 1948-August 30, 1949
- Vasily Kosov June 1950-August 20, 1953
- Leonid Lentsman August 20, 1953-January 7, 1964
- Artur Vader January 8, 1964-February 11, 1971
- Konstantin Lebedev February 19, 1971-May 13, 1982
- Aleksandr KudryavtsevAleksandr KudryavtsevAleksandr Valeryevich Kudryavtsev is a Russian professional football player. He plays for FC Gornyak Uchaly.-External links: -References:...
May 13, 1982-December 4, 1985 - Georgy Aleshin February 1, 1986-1990
Chairman of the Estonian Communist Party
- Vaino VäljasVaino VäljasVaino Väljas is a former Soviet politician. He was the Chairman of the 6th Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR from 18 April 1963 to 19 March 1967, first secretary of communist party of Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic from 16 June 1988 to April 1990 and chairman of the party from April 1990 to...
("Leading" role of the party abolished 1990) April, 1990–August, 1991
Prominent Estonian communists
- Viktor KingisseppViktor KingisseppViktor Kingissepp was a Soviet Communist politician, and leader of the Estonian Communist Party.He was arrested by the Estonian Political Police on 1 May 1922 and executed for treason shortly afterwards....
- Jakob Palvadre
- Harald Tummeltau
- Jaan AnveltJaan AnveltJaan Anvelt Jaan Anvelt Jaan Anvelt (in Russian Ян Анвельт, also known by the pseudonyms Eessaare Aadu, Jaan Holm, Jaan Hulmu, Kaarel Maatamees, Onkel Kaak or Н...
- Karl Säre
- August Kork
- Johannes VaresJohannes VaresJohannes Vares , commonly known as Johannes Vares Barbarus, was an Estonian poet, doctor, and politician.Vares was born in Heimtali, now in Pärsti Parish, Viljandi County, and educated at Pärnu Gymnasium...