The Estonian government-in-Exile: a controversial project of state continuation
LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Diplomatai; Politikai; Vyriausybės tremtyje; Baltijos valstybės; Diplomats; Politicians; Government in Exile; Baltic States.
ENIn 1943, the National Committee of the Republic of Estonia was established in German-occupied Tallinn. The Committee comprised members of the Estonian political elite (politicians, state officials, diplomats) that had ruled the country prior to the Soviet annexation of June 1940. It was led by Jüri Uluots, who had served as Prime Minister during 1938–1940. Members of the Committee recognised Uluots as the last ‘constitutional’ head of the Estonian government, given that the Soviet-installed government of Johannes Vares Barbarus (June–August 1940) was illegal and in breach of the 1938 Estonian constitution. According to the 1938 constitution, the Prime Minister was obliged to function as acting President when the President was unable to fulfil his duties. With President Konstantin Päts (1934–1940) having been arrested in 1940 by the Soviet army and deported to Russia, Uluots proclaimed himself acting President in April 1944. On 18 September, already suffering from cancer, he named Otto Tief as Deputy Prime Minister and formed a provisional Government consisting of 11 members selected from the members of the National Council. Two days later, Uluots left Estonia for Sweden, where he died in January 1945. On 20 September 1944, Tief’s government proclaimed the restoration of the Estonian state, during the brief period between the withdrawal of German troops and the arrival of the Soviet Army. Military units loyal to Tief clashed with both the Germans and the Russians, but the government never managed to take full control of the Estonian capital. It was overrun by Soviet forces on 22 September. Some members of the Tief government, such as August Rei, managed to escape to Sweden but the remainder were arrested by the Soviet authorities, and either executed or deported to Siberia. Tief for his part survived ten years of imprisonment in Siberia and died in Ahja, Estonia, in 1976. [Extract, p. 134]
