Ühinenud Põllumeeste Erakond
The party of the united farmers ( Estonian Ühinenud Põllumeeste Erakond - ÜPE) was a short-lived union of the two agricultural parties in Estonia in the interwar period .
The official name of the party was “Agricultural Union and Association of Farmers, Settlers and Smallholders” ( Põllumeestekogud ja Põllumeeste, Asunikkude ning Väikemaapidajate Koondis ).
Association of Agrarian Parties
On January 26, 1932, the two factions of the " Association of Farmers " ( Põllumeeste Kogud - PK) and the Association of "Settlers, Small Farmers and State Tenants" ( Asunikkude, Väikepõllupidajate ja Riigirentnikkude Koondus - AVRK) came together to form a joint agricultural party. The official party merger was decided on at a union congress on February 29, 1932.
Both parties represented the agrarian party spectrum. However, there were major clashes of interests between the two camps, which were intensified by the global economic crisis , which hit Estonia with full force in the early 1930s. The association of “settlers, small farmers and state tenants” represented the small farmers in Estonia, who mostly only received their own land with the Estonian land reform of 1919. They in particular were hit hard by the economic crisis and falling agricultural prices on the world market. In the “Federation of Farmers”, however, the “old”, traditional large farmers were represented, as well as members of the upper middle class and industrialists who were connected to agriculture. The merger remained a project of the party leaders.
Election victory in 1932
The United Farmers' Party was the big winner in the Estonian parliamentary elections , held May 21-23, 1932. With 39.8% of the vote, it had 42 out of 100 members in the Estonian Parliament ( Riigikogu ).
The party became by far the strongest faction. Far behind came the National Center Party (center-right) with 23 seats and the social democratic Estonian Socialist Workers' Party ( Eesti Sotsialistlik Tööliste Party ) with 22 seats.
The ÜPE led the new coalition government with the new head of government Karl Eindund , which took office on July 19, 1932.
Failure of the union
The United Farmers' Party fell apart just a year after the general election. Mainly on devaluing the Estonian krona in order to make Estonian products competitive abroad again, no agreement could be reached within the party.
On May 18, 1933, 16 members of parliament left the joint parliamentary group and re-established the “ Federation of Farmers ”. The “Federation of Farmers” ultimately retained 21 seats in parliament, the Association of “Settlers, Small Farmers and State Tenants” 20 seats.
literature
- Sulev Vahtre (Ed.): Eesti Ajalugu. Volume 6: Vabadussõjast Taasiseseisvumiseni. Ilmamaa, Tartu 2005, ISBN 9985-77-142-7 , pp. 66, 83 f.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated June 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
