The Estonian Democratic Party (, EDE) was a political party in

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 ...

History

The party had its roots in the Estonian national movement towards the end of the 19th century. It was formally founded by

Jaan Tõnisson Jaan Tõnisson (; , – 1941?) was an Estonian statesman, serving as the Prime Minister of Estonia twice during 1919 to 1920, as State Elder (head of state and government) from 1927 to 1928 and in 1933, and as Foreign Minister of Estonia from ...

in the city of

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

in 1905 as the Progressive National Democratic Party (''Eesti Rahvameelne Eduerakond'').Vincent E McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, p385 Tönisson represented the party in the Russian

Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

, where the party was affiliated with the

Constitutional Democratic Party ) , newspaper = ''Rech'' , ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colours ...

. In 1917 the party was renamed the "Democratic Party". It won seven seats in the Provincial Assembly elections in the same year, and became part of the Democratic Bloc in the Assembly alongside the

Estonian Radical Democratic Party The Estonian Radical Democratic Party (, ERDE) was a political party in Estonia. History The party had its roots in the Tallinn Radicals, who had formed in the early 1900s around Konstantin Päts and his '' Teataja'' newspaper.Vincent E McHale ( ...

and the Rural League. The three contested the 1918 elections as the Democratic Bloc, receiving around 23% of the vote. In March 1919 the party merged with the Radical Democratic Party to form the

Estonian People's Party The Estonian People's Party ( et, Eesti Rahvaerakond, ER) was a centre-right political party in Estonia. History The party was established in March 1919 by a merger of the Estonian Democratic Party and the Estonian Radical Democratic Party.Vin ...

, with the new party going on to win 25 of the 120 seats in the Constituent Assembly elections in April. Some party members unhappy with the merger left to help form the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

.McHale, p386

References

{{Estonian political parties Political parties of minorities in Imperial Russia Defunct political parties in Estonia Political parties established in 1905 Political parties disestablished in 1919 1905 establishments in the Russian Empire