The Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party ( et, Eesti Iseseisev Sotsialistlik Tööliste Partei, EISTP) 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 was formed in 1920 as a split in 1919 from the

Estonian Socialist Revolutionary Party The Estonian Socialist Revolutionary Party ( et, Eesti sotsialistide-revolutsionääride partei, ESRP) was a political party in Estonia during the early 20th century. History The ESRP was founded in Estonia in 1905 as a branch of the Russian So ...

, and was joined by defectors from the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party.Vincent E McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, p382 It contested the Constituent Assembly elections in 1919 as Socialists-Revolutionaries, winning seven seats. Later in the year they became the EISTP.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p579 The 1920 elections saw the EISTP win 11 of the 100 seats in the Riigikogu. In 1922 the party was infiltrated by members of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

, resulting in a power struggle that the Communists won by mid-1923. The right-wing opposition left the party in 1922 and formed the Independent Socialist Workers' Party (ISTP). The May 1923 elections saw the radicalized party reduced to five seats.Nohlen & Stöver, p586 The EISTP was renamed the "Working People's Party" (''Eestimaa töörahva partei'') and became a front for the banned Communists. In May 1924 the party was banned, and in 1925 the right-wing splinter party ISTP merged with the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party to form the Estonian Socialist Workers' Party.

References

{{Authority control Socialist parties in Estonia Defunct political parties in Estonia Political parties disestablished in 1924 Political parties established in 1919 Political parties of the Russian Revolution