Commander-in-chief of Estonia's war of independence
A general staff officer of the Russian imperial army in the First World War, he helped form Estonian national units in 1917. Appointed commander-in-chief on 23 December 1918, he built mobile forces from armoured trains and volunteer battalions, enforced conscription and led the counteroffensive of January 1919; in June he commanded the Estonian troops and the Northern Latvian brigade that defeated the German Landeswehr at Cēsis. He cooperated conditionally with Yudenich's Northwestern Army but took no part in the attack on Petrograd, and resigned his command in March 1920 after the Treaty of Tartu. He sat in parliament and served as the League of Nations' investigator on the Mosul frontier, and returned as commander-in-chief to put down the communist rising of 1924. In 1934 he declared the state of emergency with Päts and became the military pillar of the authoritarian regime. Deported to the Soviet Union in 1940, he died in Vladimir prison in 1953.
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionEstonian commander-in-chief in the independence warCommanded Estonia’s counteroffensive and operations in northern Latvia, cooperating conditionally with Yudenich. He supported Päts’s 1934 coup and died in prison after Soviet deportation.
- 1918.11–1920.10Baltic wars of independence and border settlementsEstonian commander-in-chief in the independence warAppointed commander-in-chief on 23 December 1918, he directed the counteroffensive of January 1919 and the battle of Cēsis in June, cooperating conditionally with Yudenich but taking no part in the attack on Petrograd.
Revolution and independence wars
Commanded Estonia’s counteroffensive and operations in northern Latvia, cooperating conditionally with Yudenich. He supported Päts’s 1934 coup and died in prison after Soviet deportation.