The National Committee of the Republic of Estonia (, EVRK) was a deliberative and legislative body, formed by the government of

Republic of Estonia A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

(the last government of Estonia before the Soviet occupation) to control the resistance movement in German-occupied Estonia in March 1944. By April 1944 a large number of the committee members were arrested by the German security agencies.

History

The original initiative to form the committee came from the Estonian former pre-plebiscite of 1933 opposition parties and it denied the constitutional authority of

Jüri Uluots Jüri Uluots (13 January 1890 – 9 January 1945) was an Estonian prime minister, journalist, prominent attorney and distinguished Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tartu. Early life Uluots was born in Kirbla Paris ...

, the last pre-war Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia. The Committee aimed to establish a provisional government, during the German withdrawal expected as the Red Army had reached the border of Estonia on February 2, 1944. On 1 August 1944 the "committee" declared itself even the bearer of the supreme power of State (instead of people). The Committee succeeded in establishing a communication network with the Estonian diplomats in Finland and Sweden. In response to this unconstitutional "committee", on 20 April 1944, Jüri Uluots convened the Electoral Committee of the Republic of Estonia (''Vabariigi Presidendi Asetäitja Valimiskogu'', the institution specified in the Constitution for electing the Acting President of the Republic), which held a clandestine meeting in Tallinn. The participants included: *

, the last Prime Minister of Estonia before the Soviet occupation, appointed 12 October 1939, *

Johan Holberg Johan Holberg (20 February 1893 – 8 April 1978, Chicago) 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 Finla ...

, the acting Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, appointed 1 December 1943, *

Otto Pukk Otto Pukk (29 November 1900 Loona, Saare County – 14 February 1951 Stockholm) was an Estonian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Estonian National Assembly and III, V and VI Riigikogu VI Riigikogu was the sixth legislature of Eston ...

, the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, elected 17 October 1939, * Alfred Maurer, the Second deputy Vice-Chairman of the National Council, elected 21 April 1938, *

Mihkel Klaassen Mihkel Klaassen (24 February 1880 – 7 March 1952) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Estonia since 1924. Klaassen was a member of the that decided the Soviet-era appointment of Johannes Vares as Prime Minister by Konstantin Päts had been ...

, Chairman off the Administrative Department of the State Court of Estonia, appointed 26 September 1938. The Committee determined that the Soviet-era appointment of

Johannes Vares Johannes Vares (pen name Barbarus or Vares-Barbarus – 29 November 1946) was an Estonian and Soviet poet, medical doctor, and politician. Vares was born in a farmer family in the village of Kiisa, near Viljandi, Estonia. He received secondary ...

as Prime Minister by Konstantin Päts had been illegal and that Uluots had assumed the President's duties from June 21, 1940, onwards. On 21 April 1944, Jüri Uluots appointed Alfred Maurer and Otto Tief as deputy prime ministers.Chronology
at the EIHC On 18 September 1944, Uluots, suffering from cancer, named Otto Tief the Acting Prime Minister and appointed a Government which consisted of 11 members. Thus some members of the "national committee" became now members of the constitutional government. On 20 September 1944, Uluots departed for Sweden. Tief assumed office in accordance with the constitution and took the opportunity, with the departure of the Germans, to declare the legitimate Estonian government restored. Most of members of this government left from Tallinn on 21 September and Tief on 22 September. As reported by the Royal Institute of International Affairs at the time, the Estonian national government was proclaimed in Estonia and Estonian military units seized the national government buildings in

Toompea Toompea (from german: Domberg, "Cathedral Hill") is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of and is about 20–30 ...

Castle and ordered the German forces to leave. The flag of Germany was replaced with the

flag of Estonia The flag of Estonia ( et, Eesti lipp) is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black (middle), and white (bottom). In Estonian it is colloquially called the (). The tricolour was already in wide use as the symbol o ...

in the

Pikk Hermann Pikk Hermann or Tall Hermann (german: Langer Hermann) is a tower of the Toompea Castle, on Toompea hill in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The first part was built 1360–70. It was rebuilt (height brought to ) in the 16th century. A staircase ...

tower of Toompea. Tief’s government, however, failed to stay in power as Estonian military units led by

Johan Pitka Johan Pitka, VR I/1, (also Juhan Pitka; 19 February 1872 – 22 November 1944) was an Estonian entrepreneur, sea captain and a rear admiral (1919). He was the Commander of the Estonian Navy in the Estonian War of Independence. Johan Pitka ...

clashed with both Germans and Soviets. On 22 September, the Soviet

Leningrad Front The Leningrad Front (russian: Ленинградский фронт) was formed during the 1941 German approach on Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front The Karelian Front ...

took control of Tallinn. Most of the members and officials including Tief were caught, jailed, deported, or executed. Tief managed to survive a decade in Siberia and, after return from deportation, died in 1976. Kaarel Liidak, Minister of Agriculture, died in hiding on 16 January 1945. After Uluots died on January 9, 1945, in Sweden, August Rei, as the most senior surviving member of the government, assumed the role of acting head of state. Rei was supported by the surviving members of the Tief's government in Sweden. Rei was the last Estonian envoy in Moscow before the Soviet annexation and had managed to escape from Moscow through Riga to Stockholm in June 1940.Diplomats Without a Country By James T. McHugh, James S. Pacy; p. 183
On 12 January 1953, the

Estonian Government in Exile The Estonian government-in-exile was the formally declared governmental authority of the Republic of Estonia in exile, existing from 1944 until the reestablishment of Estonian sovereignty over Estonian territory in 1991 and 1992. It traced its l ...

was appointed in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

References

{{reflist Military history of Estonia during World War II World War II resistance movements Eastern European World War II resistance movements Generalbezirk Estland

History

See also

References