Andres Larka VR I/1 (5 March 1879 Pilistvere (now

Põhja-Sakala Parish Põhja-Sakala Parish ( et, Põhja-Sakala vald) is a rural municipality in Viljandi County.http://www.pohja-sakala.ee/ (accessed 7 March 2020) Settlements ;Towns Suure-Jaani, Võhma ;Boroughs Kõpu, Olustvere ;Villages Aimla, Ängi, Arjadi ...

Kreis Fellin Kreis Fellin (''Viljandi kreis'', ''Феллинский уезд'') was one of the nine subdivisions of the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northern part of the governorate (in present-day southern Estonia). I ...

– 8 January 1943

Malmyzh Malmyzh (russian: Малмыж) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Malmyzh, Kirov Oblast, a town in Malmyzhsky District of Kirov Oblast; ;Rural localities * Malmyzh, Amursky District, Khabarovsk Krai, a ...

, Kirov,

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n military commander during the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westwa ...

and a politician. In 1902 he graduated from

Vilnius Military Academy Vilnius Military School (russian: Виленское военное училище) also known as the Vilnius Junker Infantry School (russian: Виленское пехотное юнкерское училище) was a military school for the non ...

. Larka participated in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

and graduated from the

Imperial Nicholas Military Academy The General Staff Academy () was a Russian military academy, established in 1832 in St.Petersburg. It was first known as the Imperial Military Academy (Императорская военная академия), then in 1855 it was renamed Nichola ...

in 1912. He participated in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

fighting on the Eastern front against the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, including fighting in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Larka became the first Minister of War of Republic of Estonia; in March he achieved rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. In 1918, during the German occupation, he participated in organising the Defence League. After the start of the Estonian Liberation War in 1918, Larka soon moved from position of Minister of War to Chief of Staff. In February 1919 he became the aide of the Minister of War and held that position to the beginning of 1925. In that position his job was to organize mobilization and actions of reserve units. After the war he also organized demobilization. He retired in 1925 because of health issues. In 1930 he became official leader of the

League of Liberators The Vaps Movement ( et, Eesti Vabadussõjalaste Keskliit, later ''Eesti Vabadussõjalaste Liit'', ''vabadussõjalased'', or colloquially ''vapsid'', a single member of this movement was called ''vaps'') was an Estonian political organization. Fou ...

and was their candidate in the April 1934 presidential elections. But on 12 March 1934, as it seemed likely that Larka would be elected,

Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (; – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president in 1938–1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades pri ...

and

Johan Laidoner Johan Laidoner ( – 13 March 1953) was an Estonian general and statesman. He served as Commander‑in‑Chief of the Estonian Armed Forces during the 1918–1920 Estonian War of Independence and was among the most influential people in the Eston ...

made a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

in order to prevent him from winning the elections. The elections were postponed indefinitely, Larka and about 400 of his closest supporters were imprisoned and authoritarian rule was established. Larka was in prison twice (1934-1935 and 1935-1937). In 1940 the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

occupation authorities arrested Larka; he died in imprisonment in 1943. Larka is recipient of the Latvian military

Order of Lāčplēsis The Order of Lāčplēsis (also Lāčplēsis Military Order, lv, Lāčplēša Kara ordenis), the first and the highest Latvian military award, was established in 1919 on the initiative of Jānis Balodis, the Commander of the Latvian Army during ...

, 2nd class.

References

Ülo Kaevats Ülo Kaevats (29 September 1947 – 30 January 2015) was an Estonian statesman, academic and philosopher. In 1972, he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry of the University of Tartu with a qualification from a physicist and a rese ...

et al. 2000. ''Eesti Entsüklopeedia 14''. Tallinn: Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus, {{DEFAULTSORT:Larka, Andres 1879 births 1943 deaths People from Põhja-Sakala Parish People from Kreis Fellin Members of the Vaps Movement Defence Ministers of Estonia Estonian major generals Imperial Russian Army officers Russian military personnel of the Russo-Japanese War Russian military personnel of World War I Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Recipients of the Cross of Liberty (Estonia) Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class I Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis, 2nd class Estonian people who died in Soviet detention

See also

References