The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1950-01-26
Comment On
World Events

At the recent Cominform confer
ence, on which little information is
available as yet, the Russian dele
gate emphasized the impending
danger of war and mentioned that
important tasks are awaiting the
Communist parties of France, Italy
Great Britain and Western Ger
many who must all redouble their
struggle for peace. In other and
palmer words, they must prepare
civil war in the event Of an in
ternational conflict.
In this connection it might be
appropriate to recall the first Boil
shevik venture Though abortive)
in overthrowing the lawful order
of a country. 1t took place in the
little Baltic country of Estonia, 20
years ago last Dec. 10.
After the Estonian War of Lib
Grafton the USSR and Estonia con-
cluded a peace in 1920, whereby the
Soviet Union renounced "volun-
tarily and forever" all the sover-
eign rights the Russian Empire
had ever held with regard to Es-
tonian territory and people, re-
cognized Estonia as an independ-
ent state and pledged friendship
and collaboration. The Estonians
took these pledges at their face
value, granted the Soviets all the
rights of a most privileged nation
and hoped for a lively trade ex-
change and good neighborly rela-
tions.
The Soviets professed their de-
sire to make Tallinn their chief
transit port and proceeded to
establish there Offices for many of
their agencies, such as Centro-
soyuz, Dobroflot merchant mar
ine) and others. They imported an
inordinately large staff for these
agencies and even hundreds of
workers, ostensibly to build pre-
misses and harbour installations.
In the early hours of Dec. /,
1924, armed bands of Communists
unexpectedly attacked government
buildings, police headquarters, bar
racks and railway stations. Every
where they met with most deter
mined resistance: though there
were a number of victims, includ-
ing Cabinet minister, the consplr-
ators were overpowered and the
riot liquidated in about two hours.
Later it was ascertained that the
rioteers had been members of the
Communist party (always very
small in Estonia), employees of the
Soviet commercial agencies, oftic-
ers of the Soviet legation and
trained insurrectionists secretly
imported from the Soviet Union.
All their arms had come from the
USSR. Three Soviet divisions had
stood at the Soviet Estonian from
tier ready to march into Estonia If
the coup had been successful in
Tallinn.
The population of the town, the
workers and the troops had all be
haved with exemplary loyalty and
no sympathies with the coup
makers had been expressed by any
body. After two hours of fighting
here and there life in the town re-
verted to normal. After the un-
successful coup the Soviets liqui-
dated all their agencies without
delay and thereafter never pre-
tended any interest in trade with
Estonia.
The abortive coup d'etat in Els
tonia was the first of its kind but
the Soviets and their Trojan
horses, the Communist parties of
the various countries, have since
continued to work on more or less
the same pattern, down to their
latest venture, the seizure of power
in Czechoslovakia. Always the
Communist parties have acted in
accordance with instructions from
Moscow and there is no doubt in
what spirit the Communists of
the countries mentioned at the
Cominform congress will "work
for peace"