"Era of Silence" is a term used to describe the years 1934-1938 or 1940. in
Estonian historyEstonia was settled near the end of the last glacial era, beginning from around 8500 BC. Before the German invasions in the 13th century proto-Estonians of the Ancient Estonia worshipped the spirits of nature...
. It was introduced by
Kaarel EenpaluKaarel Eenpalu was an Estonian journalist, politician and head of state.- Education :...
,
Prime Minister of EstoniaThe Prime Minister of Estonia is the head of government of the Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the President after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and conferred by Parliament. This is usually the leader of the largest party or coalition in the...
in 1938-39 and a strong supporter of
Konstantin PätsKonstantin Päts VR I/1 and III/1 was a politician and the first President of Estonia.Päts surname, which means a loaf of bread in Estonian, came from an ancestor who was a miller by profession...
,
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
's dictator during that period. The period began with the preemptive coup of 1934, which Päts carried out to avert a feared takeover of the state apparatus by the Vaps Movement (League of Veterans).
Although historians have not uncovered any convincing evidence of the reality of such a threat, in the charged atmosphere that pervaded Europe in 1934, when
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
had become a widely admired populist model for authoritarian nationalists, the credibility of the threat was accepted by a large majority of Estonian elites.
"Era of Silence" is a term used to describe the years 1934-1938 or 1940. in
Estonian historyEstonia was settled near the end of the last glacial era, beginning from around 8500 BC. Before the German invasions in the 13th century proto-Estonians of the Ancient Estonia worshipped the spirits of nature...
. It was introduced by
Kaarel EenpaluKaarel Eenpalu was an Estonian journalist, politician and head of state.- Education :...
,
Prime Minister of EstoniaThe Prime Minister of Estonia is the head of government of the Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the President after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and conferred by Parliament. This is usually the leader of the largest party or coalition in the...
in 1938-39 and a strong supporter of
Konstantin PätsKonstantin Päts VR I/1 and III/1 was a politician and the first President of Estonia.Päts surname, which means a loaf of bread in Estonian, came from an ancestor who was a miller by profession...
,
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
's dictator during that period. The period began with the preemptive coup of 1934, which Päts carried out to avert a feared takeover of the state apparatus by the Vaps Movement (League of Veterans).
Description
Although historians have not uncovered any convincing evidence of the reality of such a threat, in the charged atmosphere that pervaded Europe in 1934, when
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
had become a widely admired populist model for authoritarian nationalists, the credibility of the threat was accepted by a large majority of Estonian elites. Päts, using the authority of the newly adopted Constitution of 1933, proclaimed martial law on March 12; appointed his trusted colleague
Johan LaidonerJohan Laidoner was born in Viiratsi Parish, Viljandi County, Estonia on February 12, 1884 and died in the Vladimir Prison Camp, Russia on March 13, 1953. He was one of the seminal figures of Estonian history between the World Wars...
, hero of the War of Independence but an opponent of the Vaps' leadership, as commander of the armed forces; shut down all veterans' organisations; arrested 400 of the organisations' members; and outlawed all organised political activity in the country. All Vaps members were also purged from local governments, the civil service, and the
Defence LeagueThe Estonian Defence League is the name of the unified paramilitary armed forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Defence League is a paramilitary defence organization which aim is to guarantee the preservation of the independence and sovereignty of the state, the integrity of its land area and its...
. These actions were immediately approved by the lame-duck parliament.
However, when Päts decreed postponement of the elections for both State Elder and
ParliamentThe Riigikogu is the parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu...
, scheduled to be held in spring 1934 according to the new constitution, opposition arose in a special session convened by the existing parliament, since the constitution did not allow postponement of elections by decree. In response, he permanently postponed the session and ruled by decree until a new constitution could be drawn up and adopted. Thus, Päts' takeover of the government was a coup
de facto but also
de jure, since the entire process was illegal under the constitution in effect in 1934.
The phrase "Era of Silence" well describes the silencing of all opposition to Päts' governing circle. However, it also reflects an apparent "national conspiracy" to go along with the suppression of civil and political rights in the interests of "order" after a decade of political turmoil. His rule was not an unduly harsh one: nearly all of those jailed in 1934 were released in 1938, and none of the former heads of state (
Ants PiipAnts Piip VR III/1 was an Estonian lawyer, diplomat and politician.Piip studied at the Teachers' Seminar in Kuldīga , now in Latvia...
,
Juhan KukkJuhan ' Kukk was an Estonian politician....
,
Jaan TeemantJaan Teemant was an Estonian lawyer and politician.Teemant studied in H. Treffner's Private High School. In 1901 he graduated from the Department of Law the St. Petersburg University. He was a solicitor in Tallinn. In 1904-1905 was a member of the Tallinn Municipal Council...
and
Jaan TõnissonJaan Tõnisson was an Estonian statesman, serving as the Prime Minister of Estonia twice during 1919 to 1920 and as the Foreign Minister of Estonia from 1931 to 1932.-Early life:...
) who issued the Four State Elders' Memorandum in a
FinnishFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
newspaper in October 1936, calling on Päts to immediately end the curtailment of civil and political rights and to reinstitute democratic government, was ever harassed by the government. When
electionsEstonian parliamentary elections of 1938 were held on February 24–25, 1938. It was the first parliament elected according to the third constition of the Republic of Estonia which came into force on January 1, 1938.-References:* Estonica:...
were held in 1938 under the new constitution of 1937, the opposition only managed to elect 26 members to the government's 54, which tends to support the view that the vast majority of Estonians acquiesced in the Era of Silence.
The era is considered to have ended either with the notional restoration of democracy in 1938, or with the
Soviet occupationThe Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic , often abbreviated as Estonian SSR or ESSR, was a republic of the Soviet Union, administered by and subordinated to the Government of the Soviet Union...
in 1940.
Further reading
- Frucht, R. C. (2005). Eastern Europe: An introduction to the people, lands, and culture / edited by Richard Frucht. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. Page 78+