Johan Laidoner
Johan Laidoner
Commander-in-chief of Estonia's war of independence
Launching the counteroffensive on 3 January 1919, he drove the 1st Division 200 kilometres east within eleven days, retaking Tartu and Narva.
Commander-in-chief of the Estonian army from December 1918, he led the counteroffensive of January 1919 and the battle of Cēsis in June. He propped up Päts's emergency regime in 1934 and, deported by the Soviets in 1940, died in Vladimir prison in 1953.
Career timeline
- 1901Joined the Imperial Russian Army
- 1917–1918Commander of the 1st Estonian Division
- 1918Appointed commander-in-chief of the Estonian Armed Forces
- 1918–1920Led victory in the War of Independence
- 1920–1929Member of parliament (Riigikogu)
- 1934–1940Commander-in-chief of the armed forces
- 1939Promoted to general