From 12 November 1918, Tõnisson served as Minister without portfolio and from 27 November 1918 to 9 May 1919 as Minister plenipotentiary abroad of the Estonian Provisional Government, led by Konstantin Päts. Tõnisson's offices sent him abroad again, this time to Finland to seek weaponry and loans in the coming War of Independence. He was also part of the Estonian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference.