Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party

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The Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party (Estonian: Eesti Iseseisev Sotsialistlik Tööliste Partei, EISTP) was a political party in Estonia.

History

The party was formed in 1919 as a split from the Estonian Socialist Revolutionary Party, and was joined by defectors from the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party.^[1] It contested the Constituent Assembly elections in 1919 as Socialists-Revolutionaries, winning seven seats. Later in the year they became the EISTP.^[2]

The 1920 elections saw the EISTP win 11 of the 100 seats in the Riigikogu. In 1922 the party was infiltrated by members of the Communist Party, resulting in a power struggle that the Communists won by mid-1923.^[1] The right-wing opposition left the party in 1922 and formed the Independent Socialist Workers' Party (ISTP). The May 1923 elections saw the radicalised party reduced to five seats.^[3]

The EISTP was renamed the "Working People's Party" (Eestimaa töörahva partei) and became a front for the banned Communists. In May 1924 the party was banned, and in 1925 the right-wing splinter party ISTP merged with the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party to form the Estonian Socialist Workers' Party.^[1][2]

References