Rahvuslik-Vabameelne party
The National Liberal Party ( Estonian Rahvuslik-Vabameelne Party - RVP ) was a political party in Estonia in the 1920s .
History and program
The National Liberal Party had its origins in the "Estonian Guard Association" ( Eesti Valve Liit ). It was created in April 1920, shortly after the end of the Estonian War of Freedom . The founding fathers were Bernhard Linde and Johan Pitka .
Pitka, one of the most colorful individualists of the interwar period in Estonia, was the founder of the Estonian naval forces in 1918 and became a hero of the war of freedom against Soviet Russia . In 1919 he became a member of the Constituent Assembly of the Republic of Estonia ( Asutav Kogu ), which drafted the first constitution of the republic.
In 1923 the "Estonian Wacht-Bund" was renamed the National Liberal Party. She stood for the first time in the parliamentary elections in 1923 and was able to send four MPs to the Riigikogu straight away . Ironically, Pitka, who was running as the party's spiritus rector in southern Estonia, missed entry into parliament. In the following period he fell out with almost all Estonian politicians. In 1924 the headstrong admiral emigrated to Canada with his family . This also made the party much less attractive. In the parliamentary election in 1926 , the National Liberal Party failed at the two percent hurdle and disappeared from the political stage.
The largely populist party propagated a stand for moral principles and the Estonian sense of honor and duty. She advocated a stronger fight against "state crime" and devoted herself to exposing corruption cases. In doing so, the party also made use of dubious sources and often abused the tone, which lowered the popularity ratings.
The party's mouthpieces were the newspapers Valve (“Die Wacht”) and Eesti (“Estonia”) founded by Pitka , in which the ardent patriot Pitka tried to uncover alleged state affairs, secret intrigues and demagogic lies of the political establishment with sometimes wild speculations Shipwrecked.
The National Liberal Party had government responsibility only once. From January to July 1926 Ernst Constantin Weberman was Minister of Commerce and Industry in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jaan Teemant .
Election results
| choice | Legislative period | be right | MPs (Riigikogu = 100 seats) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1923 | 2. Riigikogu | 4.5% | 4th |
| 1926 | 3. Riigikogu | 0.9% | 0 |
literature
- Sulev Vahtre (Ed.): Eesti Ajalugu. Volume 6: Vabadussõjast Taasiseseisvumiseni. Ilmamaa, Tartu 2005, ISBN 9985-77-142-7 , p. 69.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.histrodamus.ee/?event=Show_event&event_id=2693&layer=170&lang=est#
- ↑ http://www.eestigiid.ee/?Person=nimi&PYear=aasta&start=150&ItemID=303
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 19, 2008 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.
