page_title: Estonian Defence League
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Estonian Defence League / History
caption_attribution_description: Eesti: Kaitseliidu Tartu maleva 1. aastapäeva tähistamine, paraad Tartu Raekoja platsil 06.12.1925. Esiplaanil maleva pealik Villem Saarsen.
context_page_description: The Estonian Defence League is the name of the unified paramilitary armed forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Defence League is a paramilitary defence organization whose aim is to guarantee the preservation of the independence and sovereignty of the state, the integrity of its land area and its constitutional order.
  The Defence League possesses arms and engages in military exercises, fulfilling the tasks given to it by the law. The organization is divided into 4 Territorial Defence Districts that consist of 15 Defence League regional units, called malevs, whose areas of responsibility mostly coincide with the borders of Estonian counties.
context_section_description: 1918 – The Estonian Defence League was preceded by Estonia's first armed home defence organisation: Omakaitse the Citizens' Defence Organisation (German Bürgerwehr) against the public disorder accompanying the Russian Revolution.
  1918 – On 11 November the Citizens' Defence Organisation was renamed the Estonian Defence League which performed the tasks of a national guard in the War of Independence.
  1924 – The attempted Communist coup on December 1 dispelled any doubts about the necessity for the Defence League. Development of the Defence League for the performance of tasks of national defence was started.
  1925 – In October the Estonian Defence League magazine "Kaitse Kodu!" ("Defend Your Home!") was founded.
  1926 – On 19–20 June the first Estonian Defence League Festival took place in Tallinn, to be followed by six more such events held before 1940.
  1927 – To develop the Defence League and give it a family dimension, the Commander of the Defence League approved the temporary statutes of the Women's Home Defence.
  1928 – The Body of Elders decided to invite the boy scout organisation the Young Eagles to join the Defence League.
  1931 – The Government of the Republic approved the Statutes of the Defence League which have remained in force until the present day.
  1932 – The Girl Scout organisation Home Daughters was established at the Women's Home Defence.
  1934 – To regulate the life and work of the organisation, House Rules of the Defence League were adopted.
  1940 – With the Soviet occupation starting from 17 June, the liquidation of both the Republic of Estonia and the Defence League started.
  1974 – Defence League in exile was founded by Avdy Andresson, Estonian Minister of War in exile.
  1990 – The Defence League was re-founded on 17 February at Järvakandi on popular initiative in order to defend Estonia's independent statehood.
  1991 – On 4 September the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia reinstated the rights of the Defence League as a  legal organization, days after its personnel were deployed as the Soviet Airborne Troops occupied the Tallinn TV Tower but owing to EDL personnel deployed to the signal rooms, did not disrupt the radio broadcasts.
  1992 – On 28 April the Defence League was included in the Defence Forces as a national defence organisation.
  In 1999 the Estonian Parliament adopted the EDL Law, which provided the position of the Kaitseliit in society and national defence and also described its main tasks, structure, legal basis for operations and control and co-operation with the Defence Forces, Police, and other state organizations.
caption: Estonian Defence League troops at the parade in Tartu (1925)
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