Jaan Tõnisson

Jaan Tõnisson ( – 1941?) was an Estonian statesman, serving as the Prime Minister of Estonia twice during 1919 to 1920, as State Elder (head of state and government) from 1927 to 1928 and in 1933, and as Foreign Minister of Estonia from 1931 to 1932.

After the Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia in June 1940, Tõnisson was arrested by the Stalinist regime and, like most senior Estonian politicians at the time, was either executed or died in Soviet captivity soon afterwards. Tõnisson was still alive in June 1941, when he is known to have been imprisoned, and interrogated, in Tallinn. The exact date and location of his death and place of burial remain unknown. According to circumstantial evidence, Tõnisson was most probably executed by the Soviet NKVD in the beginning of July 1941.

Early life

Tõnisson was born on near Tänassilma, Viiratsi Parish, Viljandi County, then part of the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. He grew up during the Estonian national awakening, being inspired by nationalist ideas already in his childhood.

Tõnisson studied in the parish school and later also in high school of Viljandi. He went on to study at the Faculty of Law of the University of Tartu, graduating in 1892 with a degree in law (candidatus juris). While at university, he joined the young fraternal Estonian Students' Society, a group which played an important role in the national movement in the late 19th and early 20th century. Tõnisson became the chairman of the society, acquainting him with Villem Reimann, leader of the national movement of that time. Tõnisson supported nationalism, that would stand on strong moral grounds and would not seek to conquer other nations. In his mind, a nation would have to grow strong in spirit.

In 1901, Konstantin Päts founded the second Estonian daily newspaper, starting a political rivalry not only between Postimees and the new Teataja, but also between Jaan Tõnisson and Konstantin Päts themselves. Tõnisson was to lead the "moralist" and Päts the "economic" fraction of the national movement. Both tried to become leading national figures, Tõnisson was ideological and nationalist, Päts emphasized the importance of economic activity.

Early political career

While Tõnisson did not approve of Estonians participating in the Revolution of 1905, it did not prevent him from passionately protesting against the punishment actions in Estonia, organized by the imperial powers. Lacking support for Estonians participating in the revolution, Tõnisson got into conflicts with more radical Estonian politicians. This however saved him from having to go to exile, as did Konstantin Päts and Otto Strandman. Unlike more radical political groups, the National Progress Party remained legal also after the Revolution had been forced down.

In December 1905, Tõnisson organised the gathering of Estonian representatives in Tartu. Soon after its first meeting, many representatives supported Jaan Teemant, who was a keen supporter of the revolution, to be the chairman of the meeting instead of the more moderate Tõnisson. Teemant won the election overwhelmingly, but Tõnisson refused to leave. Eventually, Tõnisson and his moderate supporters left the gathering, while the remaining representatives turned the meeting into a discussion about how to take revolutionary power, much to the dismay of even Jaan Teemant. He also joined the protest movement against the actions of the Russian government, trying to protect the new rights that the Emperor was trying to take back. Prison did not inhibit Tõnisson's political activity. In the years following the revolution he concentrated on developing the Estonian school system, founding school societies all over the country and opening several Estonian-language high schools. The co-operation and agriculture policies, that Tõnisson had established, developed quickly, creating an Estonian civil society and influencing the general growth of wealth in Estonia. In the debates about the autonomy, Tõnisson supported the current division of Estonia with two governorates, only with autonomy for each. Konstantin Päts's idea of a single Autonomous Governorate of Estonia went through and Tõnisson, among some other Estonian politicians, was chosen to compose the draft of self-government reform. Tõnisson was often among the few politicians, who contacted directly with the Russian Provisional Government in these questions. Eventually, the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia was created and Tõnisson was elected to the Estonian Provincial Assembly (Maapäev) in 1917. His party, renamed to Estonian Democratic Party (Eesti Demokraatlik Erakond – EDE), achieved 7 of the 55 seats.

At first, Tõnisson proposed the idea of a Scandinavian superstate, that eventually involved into supporting total secession from Russia.

Subsequently, Tõnisson was arrested by Bolshevik forces on 4 December 1917 for organizing a pro-Provincial Assembly meeting in Tartu. He was forced out of the country on 8 December. The Council of Elders of the assembly came together underground and decided to make him an Estonian delegate to Stockholm to find support for Estonian independence, or at least for its autonomy. On 16 March 1918, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs agreed to meet the delegates, but did not grant any support. After the German Occupation of Estonia had ended, Tõnisson returned to Estonia on 16 November 1918.

Independence

From 12 November 1918, Tõnisson served as Minister without portfolio and from 27 November 1918 to 9 May 1919 as Minister plenipotentiary abroad of the Estonian Provisional Government, led by Konstantin Päts. Tõnisson's offices sent him abroad again, this time to Finland to seek weaponry and loans in the coming War of Independence. He was also part of the Estonian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference.

For the elections to the Estonian Constituent Assembly, Tõnisson had yet again transformed his party, this time to the Estonian People's Party. In December 1920, relations with Latvia deteriorated, when Estonia forced Latvian administration out of the border town of Valga (Valka). Through British mediation, the conflict was resolved and Valga was divided between the two countries.

The coalition consisted of the three major parties in the parliament: Tõnisson's People's Party with the social democratic ESDTP and the centre-left Labour Party. On 1 July 1920, ESDTP left the coalition because of ideological differences and the entire cabinet fell on 28 July 1920, after Tõnisson failed to find a new coalition partner.

A new head of government was hard to find. Members of the Labour Party failed in the attempt to find support and another member of the People's Party, Ado Birk was chosen to head the new cabinet. He however, also did not get the support of the Constituent Assembly and his cabinet was in office only nominally for three days. From 30 July 1920 to 26 October 1920, Jaan Tõnisson headed his second cabinet as Prime Minister in the one-party coalition.

The Estonian People's Party quickly lost its popularity and became one of the smallest parties in the parliament, getting only 10 in the 1920 elections, 8 in the 1923 elections and the 1926 elections and 9 of the 101 seats in the 1929 elections. Tõnisson himself however remained popular and despite the few seats in the Riigikogu, the Estonian People's Party was a coalition member in nine of the twelve cabinets between 1920 and 1932. A prominent member of the People's Party, Jüri Jaakson, was even State Elder of the grand coalition cabinet after the Communist coup attempt from 1924 to 1925. From 7 June 1923 to 27 May 1925, Tõnisson served as the President (speaker) of the Riigikogu.

Jaan Tõnisson formed his third cabinet on 9 December 1927, for the first time as State Elder. It was another wide coalition with the Labour Party, Settlers' party and Farmers' Assemblies. The government fell on 4 December 1928.

Tõnisson returned to big politics on 12 February 1931, when he became the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Konstantin Päts's cabinet. During the early 1930s, the political climate in Estonia changed. In October 1931, the Christian People's Party merged into the Estonian People's Party

The 1932 elections brought the National Centre Party 23 of the 101 seats in the Riigikogu, making it the second biggest party in the parliament. Tõnisson then served again as the President (speaker) of the Riigikogu from 19 July 1932 to 18 May 1933.

Decisions of Tõnisson's government during the financial crisis in 1932 led to a collapse in his personal popularity, though the policies would help the state out of the crisis. In a referendum in 1933, the voters adopted a new constitution which reduced the powers of the Parliament, and increased those of the President. As a result, the head of state Konstantin Päts was able to consolidate his control of the state after a self coup in 1934. Päts also suspended the activities of both the political parties and the parliament (until the elections in 1938).

Tõnisson's moral views and honorable death inspired Estonians for decades to symbolically resist the Soviet regime and to eventually regain independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. A memorial to Tõnisson was erected in Tartu in 1999.

Jaan Tõnisson

Early life

Early political career

Independence

See also

Notes

References

External links