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The Electoral Achievements of the Communist Party in Estonia, 1920–1940

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Tönu Parming
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Estonia's Communist movement has received little attention in the West. The chief exceptions are its role in an abortive putsch in 1924 and the Soviet occupation and annexation of Estonia in 1940. Existing Western sources — primarily general histories or surveys — that deal with the interwar period of 1918 to 1940 tend to dismiss the Estonian Communist Party as electorally insignificant and to view it as a mere branch of the Party in the neighboring Soviet Union. In contrast, Soviet sources see it mainly as a native movement of significant popularity, the activity of which was suppressed by a bourgeois nationalist regime. Since the Estonian Communist Party participated in all parliamentary and local elections through fronts, a more accurate interpretation of its popular appeal may be gained through an examination of national election statistics. Detailed results of parliamentary elections are available and have remained an untapped source of primary data.

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Articles
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , Fall 1983 , pp. 426 - 447
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1983

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References

1. Rauch, Georg von, “Der Revaler Kommunisten-Putsch” Baltische Hefte, 2 (October 1955): 19–23Google Scholar; Imre, Lipping, “December 1,1924 — The Communist Coup in Estonia,” in Yearbook of the Estonian Learned Society in America, V (New York, 1976)Google Scholar. Select Committee on Communist Aggression, House of Representatives, United States Congress, Baltic States: A Study of Their Origin and National Development; Their Seizure And Incorporation into the USSR (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1954 Google Scholar; reprinted Buffalo, N.Y.: William S. Hein, 1972); Johannes, Klesment, “Estonia,” in A Study of the Anatomy of Communist Takeovers (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1960)Google Scholar; Tarulis, Albert N., Soviet Policy Toward the Baltic States 1918-1940 (South Bend, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959)Google Scholar; Boris, Meissner, Die Sowjetunion, die Baltischen Staaten und das Volkerrecht (Cologne: Verlag fur Politik und Wirtschaft, 1956)Google Scholar; Krystyna, Marek, Identity and Continuity of States in Public International Law, 2nd ed. (Geneva: E. Droz, 1968)Google Scholar, part 2, chapt. 8. See also Lipping, Elmar and Anderson, Edgar, “Estonia,” in Sworakowski, Witold S., ed., World Communism: A Handbook 1918-1965 (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1973)Google Scholar, and Edgar, Tomson, “The Annexation of the Baltic States,” in Hammond, Thomas T., ed., The Anatomy of Communist Takeovers (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975)Google Scholar. For additional sources, see Panning, Marju Rink and Parming, Tonu, comps., A Bibliography of English-Language Sources on Estonia (New York: Estonian Learned Society in America, 1974).Google Scholar

2. For example, see Graham, Malbone W. Jr., New Governments of Eastern Europe (New York: Henry Holt, 1927), pp. 255, 268, 307, 310, 313Google Scholar; also his “Stability in the Baltic States,” in New Governments in Europe (New York: Thomas Nelson, 1934), pp. 280-81; Royal Institute of International Affairs, The Baltic States (London: Oxford University Press, 1938), pp. 47-48; Ojamaa, M., A. and Varmas, T., Eesti ajalugu (Stockholm: Eesti Raamat, 1946), pp. 354–57Google Scholar; Jackson, J. Hampden, Estonia, 2nd ed. (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1948), pp. 181–82Google Scholar; Evald, Uustalu, The History of Estonian People (London: Boreas, 1952), p. 202 Google Scholar, also his Eesti Vabariik (Lund: Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv, 1968), pp. 77-79; Rauch, Georg von, The Baltic States (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974), pp. 96–97, 111–16Google Scholar. See also comments in the sources given in n. 1.

3. For example, see Gustav, Naan, ed., Eesti NSV ajalugu, 2nd ed. (Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1957), pp. 433–67Google Scholar; Panksejev, A. and Pesti, M., eds., Ülevaade Eestimaa Kommunistliku Partei ajaloost II osa (aastad 1920-1940) (Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1963)Google Scholar, especially pp. 9. 196. Maamägi, Viktor, Eesti NSV ajalugu, vol. 3 (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1971), pp. 231–59Google Scholar; Eesti Nôukogude Entsüklopeedia, vol. 2 (Tallinn: Valgus, 1970), pp. 30-31, 81.

4. Tonu Parming, “The Pattern of Participation of the Estonian Communist Party in National Politics, 1918-1940,” The Slavonic and East European Review, 59 (July 1981): 397-412.

5. There are very few sources on the Maapäev; among the most important are Olavi Arens, “The Estonian Maapäev during 1917,” in Vardys, V. Stanley and Misiunas, Romuald J., eds., The Baltic States in Peace and War 1917-1945 (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1978)Google Scholar, and Arens's “Revolutionary Developments in Estonia in 1917-1918 and Their Ideological and Political Background” (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1976). Other useful non-Soviet sources, in addition to information given in the works listed above in n. 2, are Mägi, Artur, Das Staatsleben Estlands während seiner Selbständigkeit (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1967)Google Scholar; Eduard, Laaman, Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, 2nd ed. (Stockholm: Vaba Eesti, 1964)Google Scholar and his Erakonnad Eestis (Tartu: Eesti Kirjanduse Selts, 1934); Page, Stanley W., The Formation of the Baltic States (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1959)Google Scholar; and Graham, Malbone W., The Diplomatic Recognition of the Border States. Part II: Estonia (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1939)Google Scholar. In addition to the Soviet works listed in n. 3 above, two especially useful specialized sources are Karl, Siilivask, ed., Oktoobri-revolutsiooni vôit ja nôukogude vimu kindlustamine. Veebruar 1917-veebruar 1918 (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1977)Google Scholar, and his “Eestimaa Kubermangu Maanôukogu valimiste tulemustest Eestis 1917. aastal,” Tartu Riikliku Ulikooli Toimetised, 340 (1974): 188-208.

6. See sources listed in nn. 2, 3, and 5 above. In addition, J., Saat, Nôukogude vôim Eestis. Oktoober 1917-Marts 1918 (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1975)Google Scholar; Karl, Siilivask, “Ülevenemaalise Asutava Kogu valimiste tulemused Eestis” Tartu Riikliku Ülikooli Toimetised, 258 (1970): 314–54Google Scholar; and Helbe, A, “Esseeride tegevusest Eestis Oktoobri-revolutsiooni vôidu ja nôkogude vôimu kindlustamise perioodil” Tartu Riikliku Ülikooli Toimetised, 258 (1970): 355–98Google Scholar.

7. There were about 200,000 ts'arist Russian soldiers and sailors in Estonia in October 1917. A Soviet source states: “Also belonging to the front of the Estonian working people's struggle were the revolutionary minded soldiers of military units stationed in Estonia and sailors of the Baltic fleet“; Ingerman, K. et.al., eds., Eestimaa Sôja-Revolutsioonikomitee. Dokumente ja materjale (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1977), pp. 6–7 Google Scholar. There was a surge of non-Estonians into Tallinn between 1913 and 1917, reducing the Estonian share of the city's population from 72 percent to 58 percent. Tallinn and Narva together had 90 percent of all workers in Estonia in large-scale industry; see Raimo, Pullat, Eesti linnad ja linlased (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1972), pp. 58, 79, 80Google Scholar. The ethnic diversity in Bolshevik ranks in Estonia in March 1917 is reflected in the fact that there were separate sectors for Estonians, Latvians, and Russians, each sending an equal number of members to the Tallinn Committee; Pullat, Raimo, comp., Tallinna ajalugu. XIX sajandi 60-ndate aastate algusest 1965. aastani (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1969), p. 122.Google Scholar

8. Voter turnouts are given in sources listed in nn. 5 and 6 above.

9. The theme is noted in the sources given in nn. 3, 5, and 6 above. In the vote for the Russian Constituent Assembly in the fall of 1917, the Bolsheviks’ strength was clearly in the major cities, and their level of support in the rural areas had declined noticeably by the time of the election for an Estonian Constituent Assembly in early 1918, when the land question was a central issue; see K. Siilivask, Oktoobri-revolutsiooni voit, pp. 183, 185, 276-77, 301-302, 324.

10. Under full mobilization there were about 100,000 Estonians in the tsarist forces in 1917, which was in the vicinity of 20 percent of all males; V. Maamägi, Eesti NSV ajalugu, p. 78, and Komitee, Vabadussôja Ajaloo, Eesti Vabadussôda 1918-1920, vol. 1 (Tallinn, 1937), p. 53 Google Scholar. In February 1918 there were 5,000 Red Guards in Estonia; V. Maamägi, Eesti NSV ajalugu, pp. 77- 78,102. By early 1919 there were six Estonian Red regiments, the total size of which is not given in available sources, although regiments at the time ranged from 1,000 to 1,500 men; see Eesti Nôukogude Entsüklopeedia, vol. 2, p. 28; V. Maamägi, Eesti NSV ajalugu, p. 162. In May 1919 the Estonian Red Division's ethnic Estonian commander and about 1,000 men defected to the Republic; Vabadussoja Ajaloo Komitee, Eesti Vabadussôa, vol. 2, pp. 95-100; V. Maamägi, Eesti NSV ajalugu, p. 162; E. Laaman, Eesti iseseisvuse sünd, pp. 447-48; August Rei, Mälesiusi tormiselt teelt (Stockholm: Vaba Eesti, 1961), pp. 262-63. In October 1919 a reconstituted division had about 5,500 men; V. Maamägi, Eesti NSV ajalugu, p. 163. The Republic's forces grew from 2,300 in November 1918 to over 70,000 by May 1919, and, counting the wounded, approached 90,000 that summer; Vabadussôja Ajaloo Komitee, Eesti Vabadussôda, vol. 1, p. 188 and vol. 2, p. 52, and V. Maamägi, Eesti NSV ajalugu, p. 151; in addition, the Republic by mid-1919 had some 100,000 men in a paramilitary rear-area security force; Vabadussôja Ajaloo Komitee, Eesti Vabadussôda, vol. 2, pp. 14, 274.

11. V. Maamägi, Eesti NSV ajalugu, p. 237.

12. The figure is from the 1922 census. The best summary source on population during the interwar period is Riigi Statistika Keskbiiroo, Rahvastikuprobleeme Eestis. II rahvaloenduse tulemusi, vihk IV (Tallinn, 1937).

13. V. Maamägi, Eesti NSV ajalugu, pp. 250-51. The distinction between the two types of urban settlements, city (linn) and town (alev), was legal-administrative and not related directly to population size.

14. In addition to sources given in nn. 1-3 above, see Rauch, Georg von, A History of Soviet Russia, 5th rev. ed. (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 2nd print., 1968), pp. 205–206 Google Scholar, and A., Neuberg, Armed Insurrection (London: New Left Books, 1970.Google Scholar

15. For unemployment data see Tönu Parming, The Collapse of Liberal Democracy and the Rise of Authoritarianism in Estonia (London: Sage, 1975), pp. 31-38.

16. Ibid.; this work also lists other related sources in English.

17. Ibid., pp. 56-60.

18. Ibid., p. 61. Estonia's first Constitution of 1920 made no provision for an independent executive branch of government, but the Constitutions of 1933 and 1938 did. Under the 1938 Constitution the chief executive was called president and was chosen in an indirect manner.

19. See sources given in n. 1 above.

20. Viktor Maamägi, ed., 1940. aasta sotsialistlik revolutsioon Eestis. Dokumente ja materjale (Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1960), pp. 167-68. See other comments and references in T. Parming, “The Pattern of Participation,” pp. 409-410.

21. The figure traditionally used in Soviet sources is 150; for example, see Eesti Nôukogude Entsüklopeedia, vol. 2, p. 31. Recently a figure of 133 has been used by Olaf Kuuli, Revolutsioon Eestis 1940 (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1980), p. 49.

22. Heinrich, Mark, “Juulivalimised 1940 ja rahvusliku vastasrinna organiseerimine,” in Maasing, Richard et al., eds., Eesti riik ja rahvas Teises Maailmasôjas, vol. 5 (Stockholm: EMP, 1957)Google Scholar, and Mark, 's “Jaan Tônisson rahvuslikku vastasrinda organiseerimas juulivalimistel 1940,” in Blumfeldt, Evald et al., eds., Jaan Tônisson (Stockholm: Vaba Eesti, 1960)Google Scholar.

23. Select Committee on Communist Aggression, Baltic States, p. 386; O. Kuuli, Revolutsioon Eestis, p. 138, n. 16. However, August Rei, who had been president of the Estonian Constituent Assembly in 1919, the Republic's last ambassador to Moscow, and a leader of the Social Democratic Party, notes: “The only candidate outside the coalition [the Communist front] who was not disqualified need not be taken into account. He was detained on the first day of voting in consequence of a charge of forgery of a bill and accordingly dropped out as a candidate.” See A. Rei, Have the Baltic Countries Voluntarily Renounced Their Freedom? (New York: World Association of Estonians, 1944), p. 25n.

24. V. Maamägi, 1940. a. sotsialistlik revolutsioon Eestis, p. 192; this source cites Kommunist (no. 15, July 18, 1940) as follows: “In all 80 electoral districts together 548,631 ballots, or 92.8 percent of those cast, were for the candidates of the Estonian Working People's League. Voided ballots numbered 42,399 or 7.2 percent, which included those which had been mutilated or which had the candidates’ names crossed off.“

25. A conclusion based on biographical information on individuals in Eesti Nôukogude Entsüklopeedia, vols. 1-8 plus supplementary volume (Tallinn: Valgus, 1968-1978); Cederberg, A. R., ed., Eesti biograafiline leksikon (Tartu: Loodus, 1926-1929)Google Scholar; and P., Tarvel, ed., Eesti biograafilise leksikoni taienduskdide (Tartu: Loodus, 1940)Google Scholar; and other cited sources.

26. Riigi Statistika Keskbüroo, Rahvastikuprobleeme Eestis, gives ethnic composition by localities.

27. This conclusion is sustained by comparing the ethnic composition of the population in specific localities, as shown in the work cited in the preceding footnote, with specific voting preferences, as shown in the election reports cited in table 2 of this article. Additional information on political parties may be found in E. Laaman, Erakonnad Eestis; T. Parming, The Collapse of Liberal Democracy; Malbone W. Graham, New Governments; Mȁg, Arturi, Kuidas valitseti Eestis (Stockholm: Tdrvik, 1952)Google Scholar and Das Staatsleben Estlands während seiner Selbständigkeit; Royal Institute of International Affairs, The Baltic States; Eesti Nôukogude Entsuklopeedia, vols. 1-8; Albert, Pullerits, ed., The Estonian Year-Book 1929 (Tallinn: Government Printing Office, 1929), pp. 31–35 Google Scholar; and Mati, Graf, Poliitilised parteid Eestis 1917-1920 (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1982).Google Scholar

28. Tönu Parming, “The Jewish Community and Inter-ethnic Relations in Estonia, 1918- 1940,” Journal of Baltic Studies, 10 (1979), especially pp. 243-45, 256

29. Major sources on parties are given in n. 27 above. The Independent Socialists were the partial successors to the Social Revolutionary Party, which disintegrated during the winter of 1918-1919. Many of the most radical Social Revolutionaries had sided with the Communist party already a year earlier. The “right wing” joined forces with “left-wing” Social Democrats to found the Independent Socialist Party, which in turn came under Communist influence in the first half of the 1920s. The “main stream” of Independent Socialists joined the Social Democrats under the new name of Socialist Workers’ Party.

30. T. Panning, The Collapse of Liberal Democracy, pp. 18-23.

31. H.-A. Lebbin, Sotsiaaldemokratismi pankrot Eestis (Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1970).

32. G. Naan, Eesti NSV ajalugu, p. 400.

33. Ibid., pp. 413-14.

34. A. Rei, Mälestusi tormiselt teelt, pp. 303-309; Vabadussôja Ajaloo Komitee, Eesti Vabadussôda, vol. 2, p. 266.

35. T. Parming, The Collapse of Liberal Democracy, especially pp. 23-25.

36. Ibid.

37. Kommunist, September 20,1928. Also see A. Liebman, “Muudatustest Eestimaa Kommunistliku Partei taktikas 1928.-1929.a.,” Eesti NSV Teaduste Akadeemia Toimetised: Ühiskonnateadused, 17 (1968), no. 3:264-77.