Konstantin Päts and General Johan Laidoner stage a coup in Estonia, and ban all political parties.
Johan Laidoner (12 February [O.S. 31 January] 1884 13 March 1953) was an Estonian general and statesman. He served as CommanderinChief of the Estonian Armed Forces during the Estonian War of Independence and was among the most influential people in the Estonian politics between the world wars.
Born in Viiratsi, Kreis Fellin, Governorate of Livonia, Laidoner joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1901 and fought in World War I. Following the Russian revolution in 1917, he commanded the Estonian national units of the Russian army. In 1918, the Estonian Provisional Government appointed him commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the newly independent Republic of Estonia.
After the Estonian War of Independence, he served as a member of the parliament (Riigikogu) from 1920 to 1929. He was once again appointed commander-in-chief during the 1924 Communist coup attempt, and then again from 1934 to 1940 . After the Soviet occupation in 1940, he was arrested and deported to Russia, where he died in prison in 1953.
Konstantin Päts (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈkons.tɑnʲ.tin ˈpætʲs]; 23 February [O.S. 11 February] 1874 – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian politician. He was one of the most influential politicians of interwar Estonia, and served five times as the country's head of government. He was one of the first Estonians to become active in politics and started an almost 40-year political rivalry with Jaan Tõnisson, first through journalism with his newspaper Teataja, later through politics. He was condemned to death during the 1905 Revolution, but managed to flee first to Switzerland, then to Finland, where he continued his literary work. He returned to Estonia, but had to spend time in prison in 1910–1911.
In 1917, Päts headed the provincial government of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia, but was forced to go underground after the October Revolution. On 19 February 1918, Päts became one of the three members of the Estonian Salvation Committee that issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence on 24 February. Konstantin Päts headed the Estonian Provisional Government (1918–1919), although he was imprisoned during the second half of the German Occupation. In the provisional government, Päts also served as Minister of Internal Affairs (1918) and Minister of War (1918–1919) that left him organizing Estonian troops for the War of Independence.
During the 1920s and early 1930s, Päts led the most right-wing party of the major political parties of the time – the conservative Farmers' Assemblies that eventually merged with the Union of Settlers and Smallholders in 1932. Päts was the speaker of the Riigikogu (1922–1923) and served five times as State Elder, a post equivalent to that of president in Estonia's radically parliamentarian system (1921–1922, 1923–1924, 1931–1932, 1932–1933, and 1933–1934). During his last term as State Elder, he organized a self-coup to neutralise the right-wing populist Vaps Movement. He was supported by the army and the parliament. During the authoritarian regime ("Era of Silence"), many reforms were made and the economy grew, while he prolonged the return of constitutional order. Largely supported by General Johan Laidoner, Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces, Päts ruled as Prime Minister in duties of the State Elder (1934–1937) and President-Regent (1937–1938) until a new constitution was adopted in 1938, after which Päts became the first President of Estonia. During his presidency, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia in 1940. As President, he was forced to sign decrees for over a month, until he was finally arrested and deported to the Soviet Union, where he died in 1956.