Misplaced Pages

#152847

18-759: 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

36-792: A caretaker capacity. He served in the Estonian mission to Russia from 1922 to 1926. An account detailed how he was recruited by the Soviet's department of intelligence (KRO) acting under a false flag. Birk became active in the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church (EAOC) from the second half of 1920s onward. In 1939–1940 he was the Ecumenical Secretary of the EAOC, and at the same time also an active entrepreneur in Tallinn. During World War II , soon after

54-773: A government reshuffle in February 1919, Rei served as a legal advisor in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. Representing the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party (ESDWP), Rei was a member of the Estonian Provincial Assembly in 1917–1919, and then of the Estonian Constituent Assembly , where he was also Chairman between April 1919 and December 1920. From 1920 to 1937, Rei represented

72-736: The Land Reform Act was passed, which confiscated and redistributed the Baltic German estates, ending the 700 years possession of the regions that the Germans had gained after the Livonian Crusade . On 13 February, the Peace Treaty of Tartu was ratified, signed by Estonia and Russian SFSR on 2 February. The first Constitution of Estonia was adopted on 15 June 1920. After the constitution had entered into effect and

90-896: The Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg in 1914–1917. In 1917–1918 he organized the Estonian national army units, formed by the initiative of Estonian politicians after the Second Russian Revolution in March 1917. Rei was the head of the Judicial Department of the Estonian Military Headquarters, for a short time Secretary of the Higher Military Court, and a second lieutenant from 1918. In 1917–1919, he

108-721: The Russian Revolution of 1905 , taking part in the organization of an uprising at the cruiser Pamiat Azova in July 1906 and operating as an underground activist in Narva . In 1906, he edited the underground paper Sotsiaaldemokraat ("Social Democrat") in Tallinn . Between 1912 and 1913, he was in compulsory army service. In 1913–1914 he worked as a lawyer in Viljandi . During World War I , Rei served as an artillery officer at

126-687: The Soviet Union invaded and occupied Estonia in June 1940, Birk was arrested by the Stalinist terror regime and, similarly to most other senior Estonian politicians at the time, was either executed or died in Soviet captivity soon afterwards. He was arrested by the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the Soviet secret police ) on 14 June 1941, and while in captivity, transported to Soviet Russia

144-537: The first parliamentary elections were held, the Constituent Assembly disbanded itself on 20 December 1920. August Rei August Rei (22 March [ O.S. 10 March] 1886 – 29 March 1963) was an Estonian politician. He served as State Elder of Estonia from 1928 to 1929, and as Prime Minister in duties of the President of the Estonian government-in-exile from 1945 to 1963. August Rei

162-564: The Constituent Assembly ( Asutav Kogu ). From 1919 to 1920 he was vice chairman of Constituent Assembly and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was prime minister for three days from 28 July 1920 to 30 July 1920. Between 1917 and 1924, Birk was also chairman of the Tallinn Voluntary Society of Firemen, in 1919–1922 chairman of the All-Estonian Union of Firemen. He was again appointed foreign minister in 1925 but on

180-728: The ESDWP in the I and II Riigikogu , and the Estonian Socialist Workers' Party (ESWP) in the III, IV and V Riigikogu. He was also Chairman of the II Riigikogu between June 1925 and June 1926. Between December 1928 and July 1929, Rei was State Elder of Estonia ; during his term, a trade agreement with the Soviet Union was signed, and he hosted a visit of the King of Sweden Gustaf V to Estonia. Between 1930 and 1934, Rei

198-717: The end of the German occupation of Estonia in September 1918, Rei was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Welfare in the Estonian Provisional Government . Between November 1918 and January 1919, he also served as Deputy Prime Minister under Konstantin Päts , and as Acting Minister of Education as a substitute of Karl Luts , as the latter was imprisoned in Russia and unable to exercise his functions. After

SECTION 10

#1732764672153

216-480: The first fully democratically elected Government of Estonia headed by Prime Minister Otto Strandman (Estonian Labor Party) took office. On 15 May, the assembly reaffirmed the Estonian Declaration of Independence , aimed at the international community for recognizing Estonia as an independent state. On 4 June 1919, the Assembly adopted a temporary Constitution of Estonia , and on 10 October 1919,

234-787: The other Baltic states , Rei escaped from Moscow to Stockholm through Riga . Remaining in Sweden for the rest of his life, he was active in several Estonian exile organisations during World War II , and served as Prime Minister in duties of the President of the Estonian government-in-exile from 1945 until his death. Rei died in Stockholm in 1963. In 2006, his urn, along with the urn of his wife Therese Rei, were moved from Bromma Cemetery in Stockholm to Metsakalmistu Cemetery in Tallinn. Ado Birk Ado Birk (also known as Aadu Birk , Aado Birk or Avdei Birk ; 14 November [ O.S. 2 November] 1883 – 2 February 1942),

252-614: Was Head of the Tallinn Statistical Bureau. From 1912 to 1917 he worked as a solicitor to barrister Jaan Poska . In 1917 he was made provisional secretary of the Estonian Province Assembly ( Eesti Maanõukogu ), and in 1918 was made representative of Estonia in Helsinki , Finland. From 1918 to 1919 he was Chairman of Estonian Province Assembly and chairman of General Committee of Elections to

270-868: Was an Estonian politician who was the Estonian Prime Minister for the shortest time. Ado Birk was born in Kulbisaare farmstead, Mõnnaste village, Tarvastu Parish , Kreis Fellin , Governorate of Livonia . He graduated from the Theological (Orthodox) Seminary in Riga , studied in the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy , and in the law departments of the Tartu (1907–1908), Saint Petersburg (1908–1911) and Leipzig (1911) universities. Between 1911 and 1912 he

288-784: Was born in Kurla , Pilistvere parish, Kreis Fellin (now Türi Parish , Järva County ). He began studying at Emperor Alexander High School in Tartu , but abandoned his studies there in December 1902, in order to forestall his expulsion after participating in Estonian nationalist circles. He continued his studies at Novgorod State High School, graduating in 1904. In 1904–1905 and 1907–1911, he studied law at Saint Petersburg State University . During this time, he also translated works by socialist theoreticians such as Ferdinand Lassalle , Karl Kautsky and August Bebel to Estonian. Rei participated in

306-476: Was chairman of Tallinn City Council, as well as an advisor to the Ministry of Roads. Between November 1932 and May 1933, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Konstantin Päts. Between August 1936 and December 1937 he was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and then Estonia's envoy to the Soviet Union in 1938–1940. Following the June 1940 Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia and

324-494: Was editor-in-chief of the paper Sotsiaaldemokraat , and between 1927 and 1928 he was the editor of Rahva Sõna ("Word of the People"). Rei was one of the leaders of the moderate faction of Estonia's social democratic movement. Aside of his later political career, he also worked as a lawyer in Tallinn up to 1936, and defended Ado Birk during his trial in 1927. He received a honorary doctorate in law from Tartu University . After

#152847