The Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party ( et, Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatiline Tööliste Partei) was a
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
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 ...
between 1917 and 1925. The leaders of the party, founded on platforms of
patriotism
Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...
, Estonian independence, and
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
, made a major contribution to the drafting of the first (1920)
Constitution of Estonia
Constitution of Estonia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Estonia and establishes the state order as that of a democratic republic where the supreme power is vested in its citizens. The first Constitution was adopted by the freely elect ...
.
History
Social democracy
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
in Estonia was born at the beginning of the 20th century. Estonian social democracy was influenced by western European ideas of social democracy as well as by Russian ideals. During the
Russian Revolution of 1905
The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
social democratic ideas spread and Estonian social democrats formed their party in the summer of 1905 in Tartu.
At this time, the party was named the Estonian Social Democratic Workers Unity (''Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Tööliste Ühendus''). The social democrats were the most persecuted party during the czarist era. Their newspapers were closed, their politicians were forced to emigrate (Peeter Speek and
Mihkel Martna
Mihkel Martna (17 September 1860 Veltsa parish, Paimpere – 23 May 1934 Tallinn) was an Estonian politician and journalist.
Martna was born in Kreis Wiek in the Governorate of Estonia (in present-day Pärnu County) and studied in a local villag ...
) or prosecute in underground (
August Rei).
In 1917, when parties were again allowed, social democrats formed the Estonian Social Democratic Association (''Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Ühendus''). Their views were patriotic and they fought for Estonian independence and
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
. In 1919, they changed their name to the Estonian Social Democratic Workers Party (''Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Tööliste Partei'') and won the
Constituent Assembly elections with 41 of the 120 seats. In the
first parliamentary elections the following year the party was reduced to third place, before emerging as the second-largest party in the
1923 elections.
In 1925 the party merged with the
Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party
The Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party ( et, Eesti Iseseisev Sotsialistlik Tööliste Partei, EISTP) was a political party in Estonia.
History
The party was formed in 1920 as a split in 1919 from the Estonian Socialist Revolutionary ...
to form the
Estonian Socialist Workers' Party
The Estonian Socialist Workers' Party ( et, Eesti Sotsialistlik Tööliste Partei, ''ESTP'') was a political party in Estonia.
History
The party was established in 1925 as a merger of the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party and former me ...
.
[ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p579 ] In 1990, the Estonian Socialist Party's Foreign Association merged into the newly formed
Estonian Social Democratic Party
The Social Democratic Party ( et, Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond, SDE) is a centre-left political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Lauri Läänemets.
The party was formerly known as the Moderate People's Party ( et, Rahvaerakond Mõõduka ...
.
References
1905 establishments in the Russian Empire
1917 establishments in Estonia
1925 disestablishments in Europe
Defunct political parties in Estonia
Defunct socialist parties in Europe
Members of the Labour and Socialist International
Political parties disestablished in 1925
Political parties established in 1917
Political parties established in 1905
Political parties of the Russian Revolution
Socialist parties in Estonia
{{Europe-socialist-party-stub