The Farmers' Assemblies ( et, Põllumeeste Kogud) was a conservative political party 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 ...

. Led by

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 ...

, it was one of the ruling parties during most of the interwar period.

History

The Rural League (''Maarahva Liit'') was formed in 1917 following an article in the ''

Postimees ''Postimees'' () is an Estonian daily newspaper established on 5 June 1857, by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In 1891, it became the first daily newspaper in Estonia. Its current editor-in-chief is Priit Hõbemägi. The paper has approximately 250 ...

'' newspaper by members of the Southern Estonian Farmers' Central Society, which called for the rural population to form political groups to represent themselves.Vincent E McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, p378 The new party published the ''Maaliit'' newspaper. In the Provincial Assembly elections later in the year the League received 22% of the vote and emerged as the largest party in the Assembly, holding 13 of the 62 seats. After the elections the party became part of the Democratic Bloc alongside the

Estonian Democratic Party The Estonian Democratic Party (, EDE) was a political party in Estonia. History The party had its roots in the Estonian national movement towards the end of the 19th century. It was formally founded by Jaan Tõnisson in the city of Tartu in 1905 ...

and the

Estonian Radical Democratic Party The Estonian Radical Democratic Party (, ERDE) was a political party in Estonia. History The party had its roots in the Tallinn Radicals, who had formed in the early 1900s around Konstantin Päts and his '' Teataja'' newspaper.Vincent E McHale ( ...

. The Bloc received around 23% of the vote in the February 1918 Constituent Assembly elections, which was cancelled. At the time the League was considering inviting the German Army to occupy Estonia to ward off Russian Bolsheviks.

then joined the League to prevent this idea being implemented, and became its leader. In the 1919 Constituent Assembly elections, the League performed poorly, winning only eight of the 120 seats and finishing in fourth place. The

Estonian Labour Party The Estonian Labour Party ( et, Eesti Tööerakond, ETE) was a political party in Estonia. It was formed in 1919 by a merger of the Radical Socialist Party and the Social Travaillist Party, and ceased to exist in 1932, when it merged with other ce ...

government subsequently enacted radical land reforms that redistributed land to landless farmers. This policy was opposed by the Rural League, who saw a large increase in support in the 1920 elections amongst the new landowners who had drifted to the right following their gains. The results saw the League finish second with 21 of the 100 seats in 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 ...

, and Päts became

Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

. In 1921 the party was reorganised, and renamed the Farmers' Assemblies, with the ''Maaliit'' newspaper renamed ''Kaja''.McHale, p379 In 1923 a split saw some liberal members leave the party to form the Settlers' Party. The 1923 elections saw the party become the largest in the Riigikogu, winning 23 seats. Päts remained Head of State. The

1926 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1926. Africa * 1926 Egyptian parliamentary election * 1926 Lagos by-election * 1926 Northern Rhodesian general election * 1926 South West African legislative election Asia * 1926 Hong Kong sanitar ...

saw the party retain its 23 seats. Although the

Estonian Socialist Workers' Party The Estonian Socialist Workers' Party ( et, Eesti Sotsialistlik Tööliste Partei, ''ESTP'') was a political party in Estonia. History The party was established in 1925 as a merger of the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party and former me ...

became the largest faction in the Riigikogu, Farmers' Assemblies member

Jaan Teemant Jaan may refer to: * Jaan (given name) * ''Jaan'' (album), an Indian pop album by Sonu Nigam * ''Jaan'' (film), a 1996 Bollywood action film directed by Raj Kanwar *Gauhar Jaan Gauhar Jaan (born Angelina Yeoward; 26 June 1873 – 17 January 1 ...

remained Head of State, having taken office in December 1925. The party remained the second largest faction in the Riigikogu following the 1929 elections, in which it won 24 seats. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p586 However, Otto Strandman of the Labour Party was able to form a government. Prior to the 1932 elections the party merged with the Settlers' Party to form the Union of Settlers and Smallholders,Nohlen & Stöver, p579 with the new party winning 42 of the 100 seats. In 1933 a large conservative faction of the Farmers' Assemblies left the Union to re-establish the party. The activities of political parties were suspended on 6 March 1935, but during the Soviet occupation the party continued in exile in Sweden.McHale, p380

References

{{Estonian political parties Conservative parties in Estonia Defunct political parties in Estonia Political parties established in 1917 1917 establishments in Estonia Defunct agrarian political parties 1935 disestablishments in Estonia Banned political parties