The Estonian Provincial Assembly or Estonian State Diet, also often called by its Estonian name ''Maapäev'', was elected in May–June 1917 during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

as the provincial parliament ('' diet'') of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia. On 28 November 1917, after the October Revolution in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, the Assembly declared itself the sole sovereign power in

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

and called for the elections of the Estonian Constituent Assembly. On the eve of the German occupation of Estonia during World War I the council elected the Estonian Salvation Committee and issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence on 24 February 1918.

History

On 12 April 1917 the Russian Provisional Government issued an order on the provisional autonomy of Estonia. The Governorate of Estonia (now northern Estonia) was merged with Estonian-speaking northern part of the Governorate of Livonia (now southern Estonia), to form the autonomous

governorate A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions ...

. The Russian Provisional Government decreed that the provincial assembly be created with members elected by indirect

universal suffrage Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the " one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion ...

. Elections for the 62 deputies of the Maapäev were held in many stages; members representing the rural communities were elected in two-tiered elections in May–June, while the town representatives were elected in July–August 1917. The election process saw the creation and reorganization of Estonian national parties. Six parties were represented at the diet, with three independent deputies and two deputies representing the local German and Swedish-speaking minorities.

Results

Aftermath

In the wake of the November 1917 Bolshevik coup in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg), when the Bolshevik "Estonian Military Revolutionary Committee" staged a similar coup in the Estonian capital Reval (Tallinn), the ''Maapäev'' refused to recognize the new

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

rule. The Bolsheviks then attempted to disband the council. In its last meeting on 15 November 1917, the ''Maapäev'' proclaimed itself the supreme legal authority of Estonia until the convening of the Constituent Assembly. The Committee of Elders was authorized to issue laws. The council was then dissolved by force on 26 November by the Bolsheviks,Maesalu, Lukas, Lauer, Pajur and Tannberg, ''History of Estonia'', AS BIT 2002, compelling leading politicians to go underground. In the Constituent Assembly elections in early 1918, which were organised by the Bolsheviks, two-thirds of the voters supported the parties who stood for national statehood. The Bolsheviks then immediately proclaimed the elections null and void. On 19 February 1918, the Committee of Elders of the Land Council decided to proclaim Estonian independence. A Salvation Committee (a three-member committee formed by the Maapäev as executive body for the time when the activities of the Assembly were hindered) with special powers was set up for that purpose. On 24 February, after the Bolsheviks abandoned

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

and one day before German forces occupied the country's capital city, the Salvation Committee issued a formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Estonia. After the German occupation of Estonia ended, the Maapäev continued as the legislature of Estonia until 1919.

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