The Estonian Labour Party (, ETE) was a political party in

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

. It was formed in 1919 by a merger of the Radical Socialist Party and the Social Travaillist Party, and ceased to exist in 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form the National Centre Party. It was a member of government coalitions between 1919 and 1925, and again from 1927 until 1931.Vincent E McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, pp398–399

History

The ETE had its roots in the Estonian Radical Socialist Party and the Social Travaillist Party, both of which were founded in 1917. The two parties collaborated closely and were collectively known as the "Labourites".McHale, p383 Both parties won seats in the Estonian Provincial Assembly elections later in the year, and together made up the second largest faction in the Assembly. In November 1917, the Labourites received 21% of the votes in the Russian Constituent Assembly elections. In late December 1917, after the partially successful

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

coup d'état in Estonia, Labourites were the first to publicly demand independence for Estonia.''XX sajandi kroonika, I osa''; Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus, Tallinn, 2002; p. 164 By the 1918 Estonian Constituent Assembly election, their support had risen to 30.4%. After Estonia declared independence on 24 February 1918, the Labourites were part of the

Estonian Provisional Government The Estonian Provisional Government () was formed on 24 February 1918, by the Salvation Committee appointed by '' Maapäev'', the Estonian Province Assembly. History Konstantin Päts' first provisional cabinet The Provisional Government was le ...

, as were all the parties, that supported Estonian independence. In March 1918, Labourite leader Jüri Vilms went missing in Finland, where he was presumably executed. He was replaced by

Otto Strandman Otto August Strandman (; – 5 February 1941) was an Estonian politician, who served as Prime Minister (1919) and State Elder of Estonia (1929–1931). Strandman was one of the leaders of the centre-left Estonian Labour Party, that saw its ...

, Piip, Juhan Kukk, Theodor Pool and Seljamaa.Luuakse Eesti Tööerakond
/ref> The two parties formally merged in 1919,McHale, p383 and won a quarter of the seats in the 1919 Constituent Assembly elections, with Strandman heading the government formed on 8 May 1919. The party went on to win the 1920 parliamentary elections with 22 of the 100 seats in the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

. It finished third in the 1923 elections, fourth in the

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

and 1929 elections. In January 1932, the party merged with the United Nationalists Party (an October 1931 merger of the

Estonian People's Party The Estonian People's Party (, ER) was a centre-right political party in Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the w ...

and the Christian People's Party) to form the National Centre Party.

Ideology

After its foundation, the Labour Party supported non-revolutionary social and agrarian reform. In the Constituent Assembly it was influential in composing the radical land reform and the 1920 constitution. Socialist during its early years, the party gradually moved towards the political centre. It championed the separation of church and state. The party drew its support from artisans, civil servants, intellectuals, small landowners and the non-socialist working class.

Heads of government

Ministers

References

{{Political parties in Estonia Political parties established in 1919 Defunct political parties in Estonia Labour parties 1919 establishments in Estonia Political parties disestablished in 1932 Political parties of the Russian Revolution Social democratic parties in Estonia 1932 disestablishments in Estonia Radical parties