A referendum on restoring voluntary religious education to state schools was held in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

between 17 and 19 February 1923. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p574 It was approved by 71.9% of voters with a turnout of 66.2%.Nohlen & Stöver, p579

Background

On 5 January 1921 the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

(KDP) joined

Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (; – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president in 1938–1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades prior ...

Farmers' Assemblies The Farmers' Assemblies ( et, Põllumeeste Kogud) was a conservative political party in Estonia. Led by Konstantin Päts, it was one of the ruling parties during most of the interwar period. History The Rural League (''Maarahva Liit'') was forme ...

-led the government, and was given the Education ministry portfolio. The following year the KDP caused a split in the government by introducing a bill to provide religious education in state schools, funded by the state. Although the proposal was rejected by the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Just ...

, the party forced a referendum on the issue in early 1923.Vincent E McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, p374

Results

Aftermath

As the referendum was a rejection of government policy, this was considered to be a vote of no confidence on the rest of the government. The Riigikogu was subsequently dissolved and fresh elections called.

References

Referendums in Estonia 1923 referendums 1923 in Estonia {{Estonia-election-stub