Andres Larka

Andres Larka (1920)

Andres Larka (born March 5, 1879 in the village of Laeva, then Kabala municipality, today Pilistvere village , Viljandi district / Estonia ; † January 8, 1942 in the Kirov Oblast / Soviet Union ) was an Estonian military and politician.

Early years

Andres Larka (until 1918 Andrej Larko ) was born the son of the miller Jaan Larka and his wife Mari Tedder. From 1889 to 1891 he attended the village school in Laeva, from 1891 to 1894 the parish school in Pilistvere and from 1894 to 1898 the grammar school in Põltsamaa . He then volunteered for the Russian military .

soldier

In 1899 his military career began with the Cadet Corps in Pskov . From 1900 to 1902 Larka studied at the military school in Vilnius . After graduating, he served in an infantry unit. In 1904/05 he took part in the Russo-Japanese War . In 1909 Larka passed his entrance exam for the War Academy in Saint Petersburg . A year after graduating there, he was transferred again to Vilnius in 1913. During World War I , he took part in battles against the German army in East Prussia and Poland in 1914/15 . Then he was deployed in Romania . In December 1917 he returned to Estonia.

Estonian independence

From January 1918, he was commissioned in Haapsalu an artillery - Brigade together. On February 16, he was recalled to Tallinn. There, however, the Bolsheviks had taken over the de facto control, which Larka rejected out of political conviction.

When the independent Republic of Estonia was proclaimed on February 24, 1918, Larka put himself in their service. The Provisional Government appointed him Minister of War . On February 25th, German troops marched into Tallinn. They left Larka with the task of coordinating Estonian national units, but otherwise rejected an independent Estonian state.

After the peace of Brest-Litovsk between Germany and Russia, the Estonian units should be dissolved. Larka resisted this order and coordinated the illegal creation of Estonian self-defense units (initially under the name Omakaitse , later Kaitseliit ). In September 1918, Larka had to flee to Finland from the German occupation forces because of his work . In October 1918 he campaigned in Stockholm and Copenhagen for the recognition of Estonian independence.

After the collapse of the German Empire , Larka returned to Tallinn on November 13, 1918. On November 26, 1918, he was released from his duties as Minister of War and appointed head of the Estonian General Staff. When Soviet Russia attacked Estonia on November 28 , he coordinated the Estonian troops against the Red Army in the Estonian War of Freedom . The war ended victorious for Estonia. The Soviet Union had to recognize the independence of Estonia in the Peace Treaty of Tartu of February 2, 1920.

Politician

Andres Larka remained one of the most influential Estonian military officers of the interwar period even after the peace agreement. From February 1, 1919 to January 1, 1925, he served as an advisor to the Estonian Defense Minister. However, he soon fell ill with tuberculosis and was unable to work. After successful cures in Switzerland , he returned to Estonia and settled in Jõgisoo (today the rural community of Saue ).

From 1928 Andres Larka was active again in politics. He joined the Central Association of Estonian Freedom Fighters ( Eesti Vabadussõjalaste Keskliit ) founded by Artur Sirk in 1929 , of which he was chairman from 1930 until it was dissolved in 1933. In 1934 he became chairman of the successor organization, the Association of Estonian Freedom Fighters ( Eesti Vabadussõjalaste Liit ). Popularly known as Vapsid , the supporters soon gained decisive influence on Estonian politics. Above all, Larka advocated a more direct democracy and the downsizing of parliament. He pursued strongly right-wing ideas and turned against the Estonian political establishment.

jail

In 1934 the influential Larka planned to run as a candidate in the elections for the head of state. He was considered the most promising candidate. On March 12, 1934, however, Konstantin Päts and General Johan Laidoner took power in Estonia in a coup- like operation and declared a state of emergency. They also feared the increasing political influence of Larka's right-wing war veterans' association, which had emerged as the winner of the local elections in Tallinn and Tartu in January 1934.

About 400 Vapsid were arrested, including Larka. He was only released in June 1935. On December 7, 1935, he was arrested again on charges of planning a coup d'état against Konstantin Päts. In 1936 he was sentenced to fifteen years of forced labor, but was pardoned the following year. After that he lived politically inconspicuous in Tallinn.

Deportation and death

With the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Andres Larka was arrested by the NKVD on July 23, 1940 . Like all other Estonian politicians and senior officers, he was inside Russia deported . In June 1941 he was sentenced to eight years in a camp. Andres Larka died on January 8, 1942 in a gulag in Kirov Oblast , according to witnesses . The exact circumstances of his death are unclear. His grave is unknown. In 1997 a memorial stone was dedicated to him in his home village.

Private life

Andres Larka was married three times and had two sons.

Web links

• Detailed curriculum vitae (pp. 118–120; PDF; 1.04 MB)
• Elections to the head of state 1934 (Estonian)