The Radical Right in Interwar Estonia

228 Pages·2000·4.859 MB·English

by  Andres Kasekamp (auth.)

The Radical Right
in Interwar Estonia
Andres Kasekamp
The Radical Right in Interwar Estonia
Studies in Russia and East Europe
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THE GERMAN LANDS AND EASTERN EUROPE
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POLITICS, SOCIETY AND STALINISM IN THE USSR
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LITERATURE AND NATIONALISM IN PARTITIONED POLAND, 1795–1918
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RUSSIAN NATIONALISM, PAST AND PRESENT
Krystyna Iglicka and Keith Sword (editors)
THE CHALLENGE OF EAST–WEST MIGRATION FOR POLAND
Andres Kasekamp
THE RADICAL RIGHT IN INTERWAR ESTONIA
Stephen Lovell
THE RUSSIAN READING REVOLUTION
Marja Nissinen
LATVIA’S TRANSITION TO A MARKET ECONOMY
Danuta Paszyn
THE SOVIET ATTITUDE TO POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN CENTRAL
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Jeremy Smith
THE BOLSHEVIKS AND THE NATIONAL QUESTION, 1917–23
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SCHOOLING IN THE NEW RUSSIA
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The Radical Right
in Interwar Estonia
Andres Kasekamp
Lecturer in Contemporary History
University of Tartu
Estonia
in association with
palgrave Macmillan
First published in Great Britain 2000 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-349-40707-1 ISBN 978-1-4039-1955-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781403919557
First published in the United States of America 2000 by
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-22598-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kasekamp, Andres, 1966–
The radical right in interwar Estonia / Andres Kasekamp.
p. cm. — (Studies in Russia and East Europe)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-22598-8 (cloth)
1. Conservatism—Estonia. 2. Fascism—Estonia. 3. Estonia—Politics and
government—1918–1940. I. Title. II. Series.
JC573.2.E75 K37 1999
320.53'3'09479809043 21—dc21
99–044844
©Andres Kasekamp 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-73249-6
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written
permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P0LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained
forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
To my parents
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Contents
List of Tables viii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 The Emergence of Independent Estonia 4
2 The Political Context 13
3 Origins of the Estonian Radical Right 21
4 The Constitutional Referenda 32
5 ‘A Bloodless National Revolution’? 49
6 Ideology 64
7 Organization 82
8 Coup d’État 98
9 Underground 107
10 The Authoritarian Regime 120
11 The Second World War 132
12 A Regional Perspective 140
Conclusion 154
Notes 160
Bibliography 196
Index 211
vii
List of Tables
1. Composition of the Constituent Assembly and Riigikogu 14
2. Results of the constitutional referenda 47
3. Signatures collected for presidential candidates 62
4. Membership of the Tallinn Veterans’ League (1931) 91
5. Most-represented occupations of Nõmme EVL chapter
members (1934) 91
viii
Acknowledgements
This study would not have been possible without the generous
financial support of the following: the University of London Central
Research Fund, the Institut für europäische Geschichte(Mainz), the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Artur and
Salme Ekbaum Fund, the Overseas Research Student Award Scheme,
and the London Goodenough Association of Canada.
I am grateful to the numerous historians and scholars in Tallinn,
Tartu, Helsinki, Riga, Stockholm, Mainz, London and Toronto, with
whom I have had stimulating discussions that have benefited the
present work, and who have helped me along the way. Of these, I
would particularly like to thank Rein Marandi, Toivo Raun, and Jüri
Ant. Rein Taagepera and Brad Woodworth made valuable comments
on the manuscript. I would also like to thank the helpful and speedy
archivists of the Estonian State Archive, especially Sander Soon. Most
importantly, the encouragement and friendship of my supervisor,
David Kirby of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies,
University of London, has been invaluable.
ix