Otto Tief
Encyclopedia
Otto Tief was a lawyer, an Estonia
n military commander during the Estonian War of Independence and a politician. He was Acting Prime Minister of the last government of Estonia before Soviet troops occupied Estonia in 1944. Due to his commitment to his country, Otto Tief is regarded as a hero by many of his fellow countrymen.
. Following the war, he graduated in law from Tartu University in 1921. He served as legal counsel to the Estonian Land Bank and also worked in private practice as a lawyer. Tief was elected to the third Riigikogu
in 1926 and served as the Minister of Social Affairs from 1926 to 1927. In 1928 he was the Minister of Justice. In 1932 he was elected to the fifth Riigikogu.
During the several days between the retreat of German occupation forces and the onslaught of the Red Army
, acting President Jüri Uluots
appointed Otto Tief as Prime Minister and asked him to form a government on 18 September 1944. Tief then published a proclamation reestablishing the independence of the Republic of Estonia on the basis of legal continuity, and attempted to organise a defence of Tallinn against the invading Red Army
, which pushed into the capital on 22 September 1944.
Members of the Tief government
. However, Tief's actions have immense symbolic and legal significance, as his proclaiming the restoration of the Republic of Estonia as well as the accompanying raising of the Estonian flag atop the tower of Pikk Hermann
high above Tallinn at the seat of power in the Toompea quarter negate Soviet historiography
's claims, according to which the 1944 Red Army invasion of the country constituted "liberation of Estonia". Although the attempt to restore Estonian independence in September of 1944 did not succeed, the Otto Tief Government proved to be an integral and indispensable part of the de jure continuity of Estonia, upon which the current state rests.
decided to commemorate the actions of Tief's government by proclaiming the 22 September to be the annual Day of Resistance. 22 September 1944 is the day, several days after the departure of Nazi Germany
's occupying forces, that the invading Red Army
took over the administrative centre of Tallinn
, tore down the Estonian national flag and replaced it with the Red Flag
, a symbol of Soviet occupation.
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of 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 Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n military commander during the Estonian War of Independence and a politician. He was Acting Prime Minister of the last government of Estonia before Soviet troops occupied Estonia in 1944. Due to his commitment to his country, Otto Tief is regarded as a hero by many of his fellow countrymen.
Education and career
Tief studied law in St Petersburg between 1910 and 1916. During the Estonian War of Independence, Tief was a commander in the Kalevlaste Malev battalion formed in 1918 by members of the Kalev sports societyEstonian Sports Association Kalev
Estonian Sports Association Kalev is a sports association in Estonia, founded in 1901. A 6 kroon, 50 senti postage stamp was issued to celebrate its centenary in 2001....
. Following the war, he graduated in law from Tartu University in 1921. He served as legal counsel to the Estonian Land Bank and also worked in private practice as a lawyer. Tief was elected to the third Riigikogu
Riigikogu
The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu...
in 1926 and served as the Minister of Social Affairs from 1926 to 1927. In 1928 he was the Minister of Justice. In 1932 he was elected to the fifth Riigikogu.
Otto Tief's Government of 1944
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, acting President Jüri Uluots
Jüri Uluots
Jüri Uluots was an Estonian prime minister, journalist, prominent attorney and distinguished Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tartu....
appointed Otto Tief as Prime Minister and asked him to form a government on 18 September 1944. Tief then published a proclamation reestablishing the independence of the Republic of Estonia on the basis of legal continuity, and attempted to organise a defence of Tallinn against the invading Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, which pushed into the capital on 22 September 1944.
Members of the Tief government
- Otto Tief – Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Interior
- Arnold SusiArnold SusiArnold Susi was a lawyer and the Minister of Education in the Estonian Otto Tief's government established on 18 September 1944 during WWII. He befriended Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in Soviet prison. -References:...
– Minister of Public Education - Johannes Klesment (escaped to Sweden, assumed office 13 January 1945) – Minister of Justice
- Kaarel Liidak (died 16 January 1945) – Minister of Agriculture
- Hugo Pärtelpoeg (died 29 April 1951) – Minister of Finance
- Voldemar Sumberg – Minister of Social Affairs
- Juhan Pikkov (died 3 September 1947) – Minister of Communications
- August ReiAugust ReiAugust Rei VR III/1 was an Estonian Social Democratic politician. He was born in Pilistvere, Kõo Parish, Viljandi County.- Education :...
(in Sweden, assumed office 31 December 1944, until 9 January 1945) – Minister of Foreign Affairs - Juhan Kaarlimäe – Minister
- Johannes SikkarJohannes SikkarJohannes Sikkar was first head of the Estonian government in exile as Acting Prime Minister.Sikkar served in the Estonian War of Independence against post-revolutionary Soviet Russia on armoured train as a voluntary and an officer, he was granted a farm, which he held until 1944. He finished...
(in Sweden, from 20 April 1952) – Minister - Artur Terras (in Sweden, from 20 April 1952) – Minister
Aftermath
Otto Tief was arrested by the Soviet authorities on 10 October 1944. In 1945 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in the Siberian gulag. Returning to Estonia in 1956, he was forced to leave for the Ukraine until 1965, when he was permitted to return to the Baltic region to live just beyond the Estonian border in Latvia. When Otto Tief died on 5 March 1976, the Soviet security services would not allow his burial in the national cemetery in Tallinn. When Estonia had reattained her national independence in 1991, he was reinterred there in 1993, in the presence of a large number of people who came to remember and honor him.Tief's symbolic significance
Tief only held power for only a brief period of time, and his efforts were rapidly undone by the invading Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
. However, Tief's actions have immense symbolic and legal significance, as his proclaiming the restoration of the Republic of Estonia as well as the accompanying raising of the Estonian flag atop the tower of Pikk Hermann
Pikk Hermann
Pikk Hermann is a tower of the Toompea Castle, on Toompea hill in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The first part was built 1360-70. It was rebuilt in the 16th century...
high above Tallinn at the seat of power in the Toompea quarter negate Soviet historiography
Soviet historiography
Soviet historiography is the methodology of history studies by historians in the Soviet Union . In the USSR, the study of history was marked by alternating periods of freedom allowed and restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , and also by the struggle of historians to...
's claims, according to which the 1944 Red Army invasion of the country constituted "liberation of Estonia". Although the attempt to restore Estonian independence in September of 1944 did not succeed, the Otto Tief Government proved to be an integral and indispensable part of the de jure continuity of Estonia, upon which the current state rests.
Commemoration
In February 2007, the RiigikoguRiigikogu
The Riigikogu is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. All important state-related questions pass through the Riigikogu...
decided to commemorate the actions of Tief's government by proclaiming the 22 September to be the annual Day of Resistance. 22 September 1944 is the day, several days after the departure of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
's occupying forces, that the invading Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
took over the administrative centre of Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, tore down the Estonian national flag and replaced it with the Red Flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
, a symbol of Soviet occupation.