Estonian Labour Party
Encyclopedia
The Estonian Labour Party was a centre-left
(later rather center-right) political party in Estonia
. It emerged in 1917 with the merger of the Estonian Radical Socialist Party and Estonian radicals from Petrograd and remained an important coalition party until 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form the National Centre Party.
and its initial leaders were Jüri Vilms
and Eduard Laaman. The Radical Socialist Party was founded as a clearly left-wing party, that supported social equality
, democracy
, but also liberal economic policies. Its voters came from the poorer classes and therefore it had a radical approach to the land reform
and advocated the separation of church and state
and a democratic constitution, which would give more power to the parliament.
In 1917, the Radical Socialist Party was elected to the Estonian Provincial Assembly, where it gained 4 of the 55 seats. In the I Congress of the party (30 September - 2 October 1917), Estonian radicals from Petrograd joined the party and it was renamed the Estonian Labour Party. In November 1917, the Labour Party gained already 21% of the votes in the Russian Constituent Assembly elections
. In late December 1917, after the partially successful Bolshevik
coup d'état in Estonia, members of the Labour Party were the first to publicly demand independence for Estonia. By the 1918 Constituent Assembly elections
, their support had risen to 30.4%.
After Estonia declared independence on 24 February 1918, the Labour Party was part of the Estonian Provisional Government
, as were all the parties, that supported Estonian independence. In March 1918, the leader of the party Jüri Vilms went missing in Finland, where he was presumably executed. The party's new leaders were Otto Strandman
, Ants Piip
, Juhan Kukk
, Theodor Pool and Julius Seljamaa
.
The Labour Party saw its greatest support in the 1919
and 1920 elections
and was a member most government coalitions from 1918 to 1932. In the Constituent Assembly, the Labour Party was influential in composing the radical land reform and the 1920 constitution. It moved towards the centre-right, getting its support from officials, teachers and littlefarmers of the middle class
. In 1925, the centre-left agrarian
Association of Settlers split from the Labour Party, which moved the remaining Labour Party even more towards the centre-right, but it also lost some of its support. The Labour Party moved closer to the Estonian People's Party
and the two centre-right parties merged in January 1932 to form the National Centre Party
Coalition partners:
Centre-left
Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...
(later rather center-right) political party 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...
. It emerged in 1917 with the merger of the Estonian Radical Socialist Party and Estonian radicals from Petrograd and remained an important coalition party until 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form the National Centre Party.
History
The party was founded on 6 May 1917 in TallinnTallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
and its initial leaders were Jüri Vilms
Jüri Vilms
Jüri Vilms was a member of the Estonian Salvation Committee and the first Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia. Empowered by Maapäev the Salvation Committee issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence on February 24, 1918 in the middle of a political power vacuum created by the...
and Eduard Laaman. The Radical Socialist Party was founded as a clearly left-wing party, that supported social equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
, democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, but also liberal economic policies. Its voters came from the poorer classes and therefore it had a radical approach to the land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
and advocated the separation of church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
and a democratic constitution, which would give more power to the parliament.
In 1917, the Radical Socialist Party was elected to the Estonian Provincial Assembly, where it gained 4 of the 55 seats. In the I Congress of the party (30 September - 2 October 1917), Estonian radicals from Petrograd joined the party and it was renamed the Estonian Labour Party. In November 1917, the Labour Party gained already 21% of the votes in the Russian Constituent Assembly elections
Russian Constituent Assembly election, 1917
The elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly that were organised as a result of events in the Russian Revolution of 1917 were held on November 25, 1917 , around 2 months after they were originally meant to occur...
. In late December 1917, after the partially successful Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
coup d'état in Estonia, members of the Labour Party were the first to publicly demand independence for Estonia. By the 1918 Constituent Assembly elections
Estonian Constituent Assembly elections, 1918
Elections to the Estonian Constituent Assembly were held on 3-4 February 1918. In some electoral districts, the elections were postponed until 9-10 February. During the October revolution, the Bolsheviks also took power in parts of Estonia, mostly in urban areas in Northern Estonia...
, their support had risen to 30.4%.
After Estonia declared independence on 24 February 1918, the Labour Party was part of the Estonian Provisional Government
Estonian Provisional Government
The Estonian Provisional Government was formed on February 24, 1918 by the Salvation Committee appointed by Maapäev the Estonian Province Assembly. The Provisional Government was led by Konstantin Päts...
, as were all the parties, that supported Estonian independence. In March 1918, the leader of the party Jüri Vilms went missing in Finland, where he was presumably executed. The party's new leaders were Otto Strandman
Otto Strandman
Otto August Strandman VR III/1 was an Estonian politician, who served as Prime Minister and State Elder of Estonia . He was one of the leaders of the centre-left Estonian Labour Party, that saw its biggest support after the 1919 and 1920 elections...
, Ants Piip
Ants Piip
Ants Piip VR III/1 was an Estonian lawyer, diplomat and politician.-Education:Piip studied at the Teachers' Seminar in Kuldīga , now in Latvia...
, Juhan Kukk
Juhan Kukk
Juhan ' Kukk VR III/1 was an Estonian politician....
, Theodor Pool and Julius Seljamaa
Julius Seljamaa
Julius Seljamaa was an Estonian politician and diplomat. From 1933 to 1936 he was the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was born in Sindi , studied from 1899 to 1902 in Riga and became a teacher and later director at a school in Taali in the Tori Parish from 1902 until 1909...
.
The Labour Party saw its greatest support in the 1919
Estonian Constituent Assembly
The Estonian Constituent Assembly was elected on 5-7 April 1919, called by the Estonian Provisional Government during the Estonian War of Independence. The Assembly was elected by proportional representation. Eligible voters included soldiers at the front...
and 1920 elections
Estonian parliamentary election, 1920
Estonian parliamentary elections, 1920 to form the I Riigikogu were held from 27 to 29 November 1920. Those were the first elections by the constitution of 1920. 100 deputies were elected into the new parliament by party lists in 10 regions, by which one party or electoral bloc could put up several...
and was a member most government coalitions from 1918 to 1932. In the Constituent Assembly, the Labour Party was influential in composing the radical land reform and the 1920 constitution. It moved towards the centre-right, getting its support from officials, teachers and littlefarmers of the middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
. In 1925, the centre-left agrarian
Agrarianism
Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...
Association of Settlers split from the Labour Party, which moved the remaining Labour Party even more towards the centre-right, but it also lost some of its support. The Labour Party moved closer to the Estonian People's Party
Estonian People's Party
The Estonian People's Party was a centre-right political party in Estonia. Its predecessor, the Estonian Popular Progress Party was founded by Jaan Tõnisson in 1905 as one of the first Estonian political parties. After the Revolution of 1905, it remained the only legal political party in Estonia...
and the two centre-right parties merged in January 1932 to form the National Centre Party
Government
The Estonian Labour Party was in the coalition in 1918-1920, 1920-1922, 1922-1924, 1924-1926, 1927-1931, in a total of 16 cabinets. It also led the coalition four times in 1919, 1920-1921, 1922-1923 and 1929-1931.Coalition partners:
- Estonian People's PartyEstonian People's PartyThe Estonian People's Party was a centre-right political party in Estonia. Its predecessor, the Estonian Popular Progress Party was founded by Jaan Tõnisson in 1905 as one of the first Estonian political parties. After the Revolution of 1905, it remained the only legal political party in Estonia...
, 3,379 days - 1918-1919, 1919-1920, 1921-1922, 1922-1923, 1923-1924, 1924-1925, 1927-1929, 1929-1931 - Farmers' Assemblies, 3,061 days - 1918-1919, 1921-1922, 1922-1923, 1924-1926, 1927-1928, 1929-1931
- Christian People's Party, 2,490 days - 1920, 1921-1922, 1923-1924, 1924-1926, 1928-1931
- Estonian Social Democratic Workers' PartyEstonian Social Democratic Workers' PartyThe Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party was a political party in Estonia. This party, founded on the platforms of patriotism, Estonian independence, and social justice, wrote the first Estonian constitution....
, 1,442 days - 1918-1919, 1919-1920, 1922-1923, 1924-1925 - Association of Settlers, 1,383 days - 1925-1926, 1927-1931
- Estonian Socialist Workers' Party, 218 days - 1928-1929
- National Liberal PartyNational Liberal PartyNational Liberal Party may mean:Active parties:*National Liberal Party *National Liberal Party *National Liberal Party *National Liberal Party *National Liberal Party **National Liberal Youth...
, 193 days - 1926 - German Party in Estonia, 163 days - 1918-1919
- Russian Citizens' Assembly, 71 days - 1919
- Party of Estonian Socialists-Revolutionaries, 59 days - 1919
Heads of Government
| Portrait | Name | Term of Office | Cabinet | Legislature | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took Office | Left Office | Days | ||||
| Otto August Strandman (1875-1941) 1st Prime Minister |
9 May 1919 | 18 November 1919 | 194 | Strandman I ETE Estonian Labour Party The Estonian Labour Party was a centre-left political party in Estonia. It emerged in 1917 with the merger of the Estonian Radical Socialist Party and Estonian radicals from Petrograd and remained an important coalition party until 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form the... –ESDTP Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party The Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party was a political party in Estonia. This party, founded on the platforms of patriotism, Estonian independence, and social justice, wrote the first Estonian constitution.... –ER |
Constituent Assembly (1919) Estonian Constituent Assembly The Estonian Constituent Assembly was elected on 5-7 April 1919, called by the Estonian Provisional Government during the Estonian War of Independence. The Assembly was elected by proportional representation. Eligible voters included soldiers at the front... |
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Ants Piip Ants Piip Ants Piip VR III/1 was an Estonian lawyer, diplomat and politician.-Education:Piip studied at the Teachers' Seminar in Kuldīga , now in Latvia... (1884-1942) 5th Prime Minister |
26 October 1920 | 20 December 1920 | 92 | Piip ETE Estonian Labour Party The Estonian Labour Party was a centre-left political party in Estonia. It emerged in 1917 with the merger of the Estonian Radical Socialist Party and Estonian radicals from Petrograd and remained an important coalition party until 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form the... |
I Riigikogu Riigikogu The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu... (1920) Estonian parliamentary election, 1920 Estonian parliamentary elections, 1920 to form the I Riigikogu were held from 27 to 29 November 1920. Those were the first elections by the constitution of 1920. 100 deputies were elected into the new parliament by party lists in 10 regions, by which one party or electoral bloc could put up several... |
|
Ants Piip Ants Piip Ants Piip VR III/1 was an Estonian lawyer, diplomat and politician.-Education:Piip studied at the Teachers' Seminar in Kuldīga , now in Latvia... (1884-1942) 1st State Elder |
20 December 1920 | 25 January 1921 | |||
| Juhan Kukk Juhan Kukk Juhan ' Kukk VR III/1 was an Estonian politician.... (1885-1942) 3rd State Elder |
21 November 1922 | 2 August 1923 | 255 | Kukk ETE Estonian Labour Party The Estonian Labour Party was a centre-left political party in Estonia. It emerged in 1917 with the merger of the Estonian Radical Socialist Party and Estonian radicals from Petrograd and remained an important coalition party until 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form the... –PK–ER ETE Estonian Labour Party The Estonian Labour Party was a centre-left political party in Estonia. It emerged in 1917 with the merger of the Estonian Radical Socialist Party and Estonian radicals from Petrograd and remained an important coalition party until 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form the... –PK–ER–ESDTP Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party The Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party was a political party in Estonia. This party, founded on the platforms of patriotism, Estonian independence, and social justice, wrote the first Estonian constitution.... ETE Estonian Labour Party The Estonian Labour Party was a centre-left political party in Estonia. It emerged in 1917 with the merger of the Estonian Radical Socialist Party and Estonian radicals from Petrograd and remained an important coalition party until 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form the... –PK–ESDTP Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party The Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party was a political party in Estonia. This party, founded on the platforms of patriotism, Estonian independence, and social justice, wrote the first Estonian constitution.... |
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| Otto August Strandman (1875-1941) 10th State Elder (2nd term) |
9 July 1929 | 12 February 1931 | 584 | Strandman II ETE Estonian Labour Party The Estonian Labour Party was a centre-left political party in Estonia. It emerged in 1917 with the merger of the Estonian Radical Socialist Party and Estonian radicals from Petrograd and remained an important coalition party until 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form the... –ARVK–PK–KRE–ER |
IV Riigikogu Riigikogu The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu... (1929 Estonian parliamentary election, 1929 Estonian parliamentary elections, 1929 to form the 4th Riigikogu were held on 11–13 May 1929.-Results:Eligible voters: 712,670 Turnout: 508,106 Invalid votes: 3,110 ; 0.6%... ) |
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