The Estonian Socialist Workers' Party (, ''ESTP'') 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 ...

History

The party was established in 1925 as a merger of the

Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party The Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party () was a political party in Estonia between 1917 and 1925. The leaders of the party, founded on platforms of patriotism, Estonian independence, and social justice, made a major contribution to the d ...

and former members of the Independent Socialist Workers' Party, which had been banned in May 1924 following a Communist takeover.Vincent E. McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, p382

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 ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p579 The two parties had won a combined 20 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 ...

in the 1923 elections.Nohlen & Stöver, p586 The 1926 elections saw the new party win 24 seats, making it the largest in the Riigikogu, Although Jaan Teemant of the Farmers' Assemblies party remained

Head of State A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

August Rei August Rei ( – 29 March 1963) was an Estonian politician. He served as State Elder of Estonia from 1928 to 1929, and as Prime Minister in duties of the President of the Estonian government-in-exile from 1945 to 1963. Early life and educati ...

of the ESTP became Head of State in December 1928.Nohlen & Stöver, p590 The party remained the largest in the Riigikogu after the 1929 elections, in which it won 25 seats, but

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 ...

of the Estonian Labour Party became prime minister. The 1932 elections saw the party reduced to 22 seats. Following the merger of several other parties to form the Union of Settlers and Smallholders and the National Centre Party, the ESTP was now only the third-largest faction in the Riigikogu. Along with all others, the party was banned in 1935 following

Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts ( – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president from 1938 to 1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades p ...

self-coup A self-coup, also called an autocoup () or coup from the top, is a form of coup d'état in which a political leader, having come to power through legal means, stays in power illegally through the actions of themselves or their supporters. The le ...

.McHale, p385

References

{{Estonian political parties 1925 establishments in Estonia 1935 disestablishments in Estonia Banned socialist parties Defunct political parties in Estonia Defunct socialist parties in Europe Political parties disestablished in 1935 Political parties established in 1925 Socialist parties in Estonia