Jaan Tõnisson

Infobox Person
name = Jaan Tõnisson

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image_size = 200px
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birth_date = 22 December 1868
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death_date = Unknown
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occupation = Estonian statesman, lawyer, newspaper editor
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alma_mater = University of Tartu
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Jaan Tõnisson (22 December 1868 – Unknown) was an Estonian statesman, serving as the Prime Minister of Estonia twice during 1919 to 1920 and as the Foreign Minister of Estonia from 1931 to 1932.

Tõnisson was born the Viljandi County of Estonia the son of a farmer. After graduating from a local school he started studying law at Tartu University, where he joined the Estonian Students' Society, a group which played an important part in the national movement in Estonia in the late 1800s early 1900s. During his time with the society he was elected its chairman. This post would acquaint Tõnisson with the leader of the national movement of that time, Villem Reimann.

In 1893 Tõnisson became the editor of the biggest Estonian daily "Postimees".

With the help of Tõnisson, the Tartu Renaissance was established, which sought to weaken the russification policy that was being implemented by the Czars of Russia, who at the time had control of the Estonian territory. In 1896, Tõnisson, along with several of his closest associates, bought the fight for nationalism to the newspaper "Postimees" turning it into the tribune of the national movement for the decades to follow.

Tõnisson also fought for the development of the Estonian economy, paying special attention to the joint activities, such as the establishing of the first agricultural co-operatives in Estonia, also loaning and saving alliances were founded under his leadership.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1905, the czar was forced to give citizens certain political freedoms. Tõnisson used them to widen the rights of Estonians establishing the first Estonian political party — National Progress Party. While Tõnisson did not approve Estonians participating in the Russian revolution, it did not prevent him from passionately protesting against the punishment actions in Estonia organized by the czarist powers.

In 1906, Tõnisson became the first Estonian politician to be elected to the Russian Duma. In the Duma, Tõnisson joined the protest movement against the actions of the czarist government, trying to get back the given rights that the Czar has allowed to the citizens but was trying to take back. Due to his involvement in the protests and nationally movements in the Duma and in Estonia Tõnisson was arrested and would spend several months in prison.

Prison did not inhibit Tõnisson's political activity. In the years following the revolution he concentrated on developing the Estonian school system, founding school societies all over the country and opening several Estonian-language schools. The co-operation and agriculture policies he helped established developed quickly influencing the general growth of wealth in Estonia.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, which developed from the First World War, the czarist power collapsed. Estonians quickly reacted and gained the rights to autonomy and to form a national army from the Russian Provisional Government. In 1917 Tõnisson started demanding the full independence of Estonia, declaring the District Council, which was elected according to the Autonomy Law to be the highest power in Estonia.

Subsequently Tõnisson was arrested by the Bolshevik forces, which sent him out of the country, where Tõnisson started directing the activities of the Estonian foreign delegations, a position that he would still be in when Estonia declared it’s independence on 24 February 1918.

In the elections of the Constituent Assembly in spring 1919 the conservative-liberal National Party under the leadership of Tõnisson took third place. By the autumn of 1919 Tõnisson would become the third Prime Minister of Estonia, whose main task was to lead the state out of the war. Tõnisson would be a pivotal player in the Treaty of Tartu, signed on the 2 February 1920, which guaranteed to Estonia its independence.

Though Tõnisson led the nation to independence, the decisions made in the difficult situations during the Estonian Liberation War led to the decline of popularity of the National Party and in the first elections for the State Assembly they were defeated. Regardless Tõnisson continued active participation in the politics of Estonia, working as Foreign Minister and would eventually serve once again as Prime Minister of Estonia.

Decisions of the government of Tõnisson during a financial crisis in 1932 led to a decline in his personal popularity, though the policies would help the state out of the crisis. In a referendum in 1933, the voters adopted an authoritarian constitution, which would lead to Konstantin Päts coming to power in 1934. Päts soon suspended the activities of both the political parties and the parliament also imposed limits to civil liberty.

With the changing situation in Estonia, Tõnisson would become the leader of the democratic opposition. As a result the government expropriated his newspaper "Postimees", though that would not keep Tõnisson's from promoting democratic ideals.

The semi-democratic elections of 1938, Tõnisson was re-elected to the State Assembly, where he continued fighting for the total restoration of democracy in Estonia.

By 1939 though, Estonia would be considered to be in the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union, after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. And by 1940 Estonia was completely occupied by the Soviet Union. Tõnisson tried to influence the President on resisting the Soviet occupation, at least symbolically, but Päts had already decided to surrender unresistingly.

In the summer of 1940 Tõnisson started an extensive campaign, organizing the nomination of rival candidates to the communist ones in the elections of the Soviet puppet parliament of Estonia. The Soviets, wanting complete control of the parliament, would remove their rivals by forceful means.

In the autumn of 1940 Tõnisson was once again arrested. During his trial, Tõnisson neither regretted anything nor gave up any information about other politicians who opposed the Soviets. The exact whereabouts of Tõnisson after the trial and the circumstances behind his death is still a mystery. The most credible speculation about his death centers on Tõnisson being shot dead in Tallinn during the first days of July in 1941.

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