Communist Party of Estonia
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Communist Party of Estonia Eestimaa Kommunistlik Partei | |
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Far-left | |
National affiliation | Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1940–1990) |
The Communist Party of Estonia (
History
The predecessor of EKP was formed on 5 November 1920, when the Central Committee of the Estonian Sections of the
Although by early 1920s EKP had dropped much below from its 1917 level of popularity, it still had significant support amongst the industrial
Like in the rest of the Russian empire, the RSDLP branches in the Governorate of Estonia had been ravaged by division between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. In 1912 the Bolsheviks started a publication, Kiir, in Narva. In June 1914, the party took a decision to create a special Central Committee of RSDLP(b) of Estonia, named the Northern-Baltic Committee of the RSDLP(b) (Estonian: VSDT(b)P Põhja-Balti Komitee).
After the February Revolution, as in the rest of the empire, Bolsheviks started to gain popularity with their demands to end the war immediately, as well as their support for fast land reform and originally even ethnic claims (to introduce Estonian as an official language parallel to Russian). During the summer of 1917, elected Bolshevik members along with their supporters, achieved a controlling majority in the Tallinn city council.
By the end of 1917, Estonian Bolsheviks were stronger than ever — holding control over political power and having significant support — remarkably more than in Russia. In the elections into the Russian Constituent Assembly, their list got 40.2% of the votes in Estonia and four of six seats allocated to Estonia. The support for the party did however start to decline, and the Constituent Assembly election of January 1918 was never completed. Moreover, the party faced the situation in which it had difficulty building alliances. Their opponents, the Democratic Bloc, was able to initiate cooperation with the Labour Party, Mensheviks and the
Bolshevik rule in Estonia was ended by the German invasion in the end of February 1918. The party branch continued to function in exile in Soviet Russia.
After the German revolution in November 1918, when an independent Estonian national government took office, the Estonian Bolsheviks supported the
Merger with the CPSU
In 1940, EKP was merged into the
The EK(b)P was purged in 1950 of many of its original native leaders they were replaced by a number of prominent Estonians who had grown up in Russia,[1] see "Yestonians".
When the AUCP(b) changed its name in 1952 to CPSU, the EK(b)P removed the (b) from its name.
Split of 1990
EKP was divided in 1990, as the pro-sovereignty majority faction of EKP separated itself from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and became the Estonian Democratic Labour Party (Estonian United Left Party). The remaining pro-Soviet faction reconstituted themselves as the Communist Party of Estonia (CPSU platform).
First Secretaries of the Communist Party of Estonia
No. | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Took office | Left office | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Karl Säre(1903–c.1943) | August 28, 1940 | circa 1943 | German prisoner from September 3, 1941 |
– | Nikolai Karotamm(1901–1969) | September 3, 1941 | September 28, 1944 | Acting (nominally for absent Säre). In Russian SFSR exile to September 22, 1944.
|
2 | September 28, 1944 | March 26, 1950 | ||
3 | Johannes Käbin(1905–1999) | March 26, 1950 | July 26, 1978 | |
4 | Karl Vaino(1923–2022) | July 26, 1978 | June 16, 1988 | |
5 | Vaino Väljas(1931–2024) | June 16, 1988 | March 25, 1990 | "Leading role" of the Party abolished February 24, 1990. |
6 | Enn-Arno Sillari(born 1944) | March 25, 1990 | August 22, 1991 | First secretary of independent Party. |
– | Lembit Annus(1941–2018) | December 1990 | August 22, 1991 | First secretary of pro-Moscow breakaway faction. |
Second Secretaries of the Communist Party of Estonia
- Nikolai Karotamm (August 1940 – September 28, 1944)
- Sergey Sazonov (December 2, 1944 – 1948)
- Georgy Kedrov (October 16, 1948 – August 30, 1949)
- Vasily Kosov (June 1950 – August 20, 1953)
- Leonid Lentsman (August 20, 1953 – January 7, 1964)
- Artur Vader (January 8, 1964 – February 11, 1971)
- Konstantin Lebedev (February 19, 1971 – May 13, 1982)
- Aleksandr Kudryavtsev (May 13, 1982 – December 4, 1985)
- Georgy Aleshin (February 1, 1986 – 1990)
Chairman of the Estonian Communist Party
No. | Name
(Birth–Death) |
Took office | Left office | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Vaino Väljas(1931–2024) | March 25, 1990 | August 22, 1991 | "Leading role" of the Party abolished February 24, 1990. |
Prominent Estonian communists
- Viktor Kingissepp
- Jakob Palvadre
- Harald Tummeltau
- Jaan Anvelt
- Karl Säre
- August Kork
- Johannes Vares
See also
References
- ISBN 0520082281, p. 149