The Estonian Constituent Assembly ( et, Asutav Kogu) was elected on 5–7 April 1919,Chronology at riigikogu.ee
/ref> called by the

Estonian Provisional Government The Estonian Provisional Government ( et, Eesti Ajutine Valitsus) was formed on 24 February 1918, by the Salvation Committee appointed by '' Maapäev'', the Estonian Province Assembly. History Konstantin Päts' first provisional cabinet The P ...

during the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...

Estonian Constituent Assembly elections

Activity

The 120 members of the Constituent Assembly met at the opening session on 23 April 1919, the birthday of the Estonian Parliament and elected the chairman, Social Democrat August Rei. On 7 May the Assembly passed the Public Elementary Schools Act: The principle of compulsory and free primary 6-year elementary school education was established. On 8 May 1919 the Estonian provisional government resigned, and the first fully democratically elected

Government of Estonia The Government of the Republic of Estonia ('' Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus'') is the cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Constitution and laws of Estonia. The cabinet carries out the country' ...

headed by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Otto Strandman (Estonian Labor Party) took office. On 15 May the assembly reaffirmed the

Estonian Declaration of Independence __NOTOC__ The Estonian Declaration of Independence, also known as the Manifesto to the Peoples of Estonia ( et, Manifest Eestimaa rahvastele), is the founding act of the Republic of Estonia from 1918. It is celebrated on 24 February, the Nation ...

, aimed at the international community for recognizing Estonia as an independent state. On 4 June 1919 the Assembly adopted a temporary

Constitution of Estonia Constitution of Estonia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Estonia and establishes the state order as that of a democratic republic where the supreme power is vested in its citizens. The first Constitution was adopted by the freely elect ...

, and on 10 October 1919 the

Land Reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

Act was passed, which confiscated and redistributed the

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

estates, ending the 700 years possession of the regions that the Germans had gained after the

Livonian Crusade The Livonian crusade refers to the various military Christianisation campaigns in medieval Livonia – in what is now Latvia and Estonia – during the Papal -sanctioned Northern Crusades in the 12–13th century. The Livonian crusade was cond ...

. On 13 February the Peace Treaty of Tartu was ratified, signed by Estonia and

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

on 2 February. The first Constitution of Estonia was adopted on 15 June 1920. After the constitution had entered into effect and the first parliamentary elections were held, the Constituent Assembly disbanded itself on 20 December 1920.Historical Dictionary of Estonia; p. 140

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References

{{Reflist Politics of Estonia