Head of the Estonian Workers' Commune and leader of the 1924 rising
After studying law at St Petersburg University he ran the social democratic press in Narva, and in 1917, as chairman of the executive committee of Estonia's soviets, represented Bolshevik power in Estonia after the October Revolution. When the Red Army took Narva on 29 November 1918 he was proclaimed head of the Estonian Workers' Commune and governed eastern Estonia for a little over two months; the Commune's executions of hostages and requisitions were long used in the independent republic's anti-communist propaganda. After the Commune dissolved in 1919 he served as a Red Army political commissar, and from 1921 directed the underground Estonian party, organizing the Tallinn rising of 1 December 1924, which failed within hours. Back in the Soviet Union he worked for the Comintern executive and the aviation industry, was arrested in December 1937 and died under beating during interrogation.
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionLeader of the Commune of the Working People of EstoniaLed the Commune established alongside the Red advance in 1918–1919. After its defeat he remained active in communism and the Comintern, and died under interrogation following Soviet arrest in 1937.
- 1918.11–1920.10Baltic wars of independence and border settlementsLeader of the Commune of the Working People of EstoniaHead of the Estonian Workers' Commune proclaimed at Narva on 29 November 1918, he governed eastern Estonia for a little over two months and led the Commune until it dissolved in June 1919.
Revolution and independence wars
Led the Commune established alongside the Red advance in 1918–1919. After its defeat he remained active in communism and the Comintern, and died under interrogation following Soviet arrest in 1937.