Estonian land reform 1919
The Estonian land reform ( Estonian : 1919. aasta maareform ) of October 10, 1919 , after the independence of the Republic of Estonia, expropriated the predominantly Baltic German landowners . The government distributed the land mainly to small Estonian farmers . Similar land reforms were carried out in Latvia (September 24, 1920), Lithuania (March 29, 1922), and Poland (December 28, 1925) after World War I.
prehistory
On February 24, 1918, Estonia declared its independence from Russia , which had been weakened by the First World War and the turmoil of the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917. Until November 1918, Estonia was occupied by German imperial troops. The young Estonian state had to assert itself against Soviet Russia and parts of the (German) Baltic State Armed Forces in the Estonian War of Freedom (1918–1920). The war of freedom only ended in February 1920 with the Tartu Peace Treaty . In it, Soviet Russia recognized the state independence of the Republic of Estonia.
Building the Estonian state
On April 23, 1919, a democratically elected Constituent Assembly of the Republic of Estonia ( Asutav Kogu ) was convened. She should draw up a basic law for the new Estonian state. The assembly also acted as the supreme legislative power in Estonia. On May 8, 1919, the previous provisional government of Estonia handed over its official duties to the first regular government under Otto Strandman . He was replaced in November 1919 by Prime Minister Jaan Tõnisson , who ruled Estonia until July 1920.
Distribution of land
With the independence of Estonia, the question of the distribution of property in land also arose. The large estates was since the Middle Ages outside the cities, mostly in the hands of the German Baltic noble families . They came to the Baltic States with the conquest and Christianization of Livonia in the 13th century . The Baltic German nobility had managed to largely preserve feudal privileges under Swedish and, from 1710, under Russian rule.
The agrarian reforms in Livonia (1849) and Estonia (1856), in which the labor rent was abolished and the private land of the landlords was divided into a land and a peasant share, could only gradually improve conditions in the long term. The manor land, which continued to be owned primarily by the aristocracy, comprised about half of the entire country. It comprised almost all forests and 20% of the arable land. The agrarian question therefore remained one of the most pressing tasks of the young Estonian state in 1918/19.
Estonians are calling for land reform
In 1919, shortly after the founding of the Republic of Estonia, the Estonians were largely negative towards the indigenous Baltic German upper class. The German war aims during the First World War, which at times included the creation of a German vassal state in the Baltic States , the measures of the German occupying power from February to November 1918 and the actions of the Baltic State Armed Forces had radicalized the Estonian politicians.
The Landeswehr could only be defeated by Estonian troops in the battle of Cēsis on June 23, 1919 with great Estonian losses. Added to this was the willingness of Baltic German landowners, declared during the war, to provide land in the Baltic States to German war veterans. The Estonians assumed they intended to gradually Germanize the country. The constituent assembly was therefore not very inclined to accommodate German Baltic interests.
With a comprehensive land reform, the Republic of Estonia pursued four main goals:
- On the one hand, the Estonian state wanted to help the many Estonian landless people to own land. The property, which had previously been in the hands of a few noble families, was to be distributed over broad sections of the population. This would create a strong and independent Estonian peasantry .
- The distribution of real estate was intended to counter the Bolshevik economic ideology. The impressions of the revolution in Russia were still fresh. It was not excluded that the communist idea would find numerous supporters in Estonia. The democratic politicians feared a communist takeover in Estonia too.
- The power base was to be withdrawn from the feudal Baltic German elite. With the extensive land holdings, it lost its political and economic supremacy.
- The agrarian reform should strengthen the mobilization of Estonians for the Estonian War of Freedom and their loyalty to the new Estonian nation-state .
Land reform
On October 10, 1919, the constituent assembly passed the land law (maaseadus) , which expropriated all large estates. Inventory and livestock as well as the service buildings belonging to the goods such as distilleries, mills, sawmills, dairies and breweries were also expropriated .
A total of 1,065 goods were affected by the measures. Most of the expropriated owners were Baltic Germans. Only 57 Estonian landowners fell under the legal measures. 96.6% of the large estates were affected by the expropriating law. In addition to the large private landowners, the Russian state's land in Estonia and part of the church property were expropriated. The Estonian state took over 2.34 million hectares in a state land fund.
The Estonian state gradually distributed the expropriated land. 1.2 million hectares were allocated to around 23,000 former tenants of the respective estates. There were also around 53,000 Estonian new settlers. Most of the land was distributed to soldiers of the War of Independence, war invalids and families of the fallen. The size of a new farm averaged 16.4 hectares. The former owners were also able to apply for a transfer of their previous property back to a limited extent. However, only 3.6% of the former property went back to the previous owner. The new settlers, who were mostly small farmers, and the state cooperative system were supported by state loans. According to Section 23 of the Land Act, the forest remained state property.
Reaction of the Baltic Germans
The Baltic Germans defended themselves in vain against the agrarian reform of the constituent assembly with political and legal means. They also drafted an application to the League of Nations . The League Council found, however, that there was no violation of minority rights.
Many Baltic Germans subsequently emigrated to Germany or Sweden because they no longer saw any political or economic future for themselves or their families in Estonia.
compensation
The Estonian Land Law basically provided for compensation for the expropriated property in Section 10 . It should be laid down in a separate law. However, in its early years, the Estonian state had neither the financial means nor the political will to adequately compensate the former owners. Full compensation would not have been politically enforceable. After all, compensation for expropriated movable property was granted immediately, but not in the full amount of the market price.
It was not until 1926 that a relatively small amount was made available to compensate the expropriated land. It was 3% of the actual value. No compensation was paid for forest ownership and land that was not suitable for arable farming. The amount of compensation was paid out in the form of government covered bonds and should be realized within 55 years. However, the compensation remained extremely controversial domestically.
From 1925 onwards, so-called residual goods in a size of up to 50 hectares could be officially assigned to the expropriated. It was primarily about the core of a property ( mansion ) and its immediate surroundings.
consequences
The end of the war, the plentiful harvest of 1921 and the fulfillment of the rural Estonian peoples' centuries-old dream of owning land significantly eased social tensions in Estonia after World War I. This contributed to the loyalty of the Estonian people to the young republic and was decisive for the stability of the early years.
The agrarian reform and the associated enlargement of the peasant class led politically to a strengthening of the peasant party in the new democratic system of Estonia. In the early 1930s, the Peasant Party called for the “ Bund der Landwirte ” (Põllumeeste Kogud) to advocate an autocratic system . In 1934 its chairman Konstantin Päts took power in Estonia in a bloodless coup and established an authoritarian system with the help of the military .
literature
- Gert von Pistohlkors (ed.): German history in Eastern Europe. Baltic countries . Siedler, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-88680-771-1 , p. 488-490 .
Web links
- Maaseadus Estonian Land Law of October 10, 1919 (Estonian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Estonica: Land ownership in Estonia in the 20th century , accessed on November 23, 2010 (English)
- ^ Mati Laur et al .: History of Estonia . Tallinn 2002, ISBN 9985-2-0606-1 , pp. 225 (English).
- ↑ Sulev Vahtre (ed.): Eesti Ajalugu VI . Tartu 2005, ISBN 3-88680-771-1 , pp. 79 (Estonian).
- ↑ Eesti Maareformi Seadus ( Memento of the original dated February 7, 2010 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. , accessed on November 23, 2010 (Estonian)
