page_title: Estonian War of Independence
section_title: Estonian elections and formation of foreign units
hierarchical_section_title: Estonian War of Independence / Course of the war / Estonian elections and formation of foreign units
caption_attribution_description: English: Estonian soldiers participating in April 1919 Estonian Constituent Assembly election during the Estonian War of Independence.
context_page_description: The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the White Russian Northwestern Army, Latvia, and the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Western Front offensive and the aggression of the Baltische Landeswehr. It was fought in connection with the Russian Civil War during 1918–1920. The campaign was the struggle of Estonia for its sovereignty in the aftermath of World War I. It resulted in a victory for the newly established state and was concluded in the Treaty of Tartu.
context_section_description: On 5–7 April 1919 the Estonian Constituent Assembly was elected. The elections were won by the Left and Centre parties. The 120 members of the Constituent Assembly met at the opening session on 23 April and elected Social Democrat August Rei as chairman. The provisional government retired, and a new government headed by Otto Strandman was formed. On 4 June the assembly adopted a temporary Constitution of Estonia. On 10 October the Land Reform Act was passed, which confiscated and redistributed the large Baltic German estates that covered more than half of the territory of Estonia.
  Estonia actively helped to organize White Russian, Latvian and Ingrian forces on the territory of the Republic. The White Russian Northern Corps had been organizing in Estonia since December 1918. On 18 February, an agreement was signed between Estonia and Latvia, which allowed formation of Latvian forces under Estonian command but using them only on the southern front. The North Latvian Brigade under the command of Jorģis Zemitāns was formed from the citizens of Latvia who had fled to Estonia. In March 1919, an agreement was signed with the Ingrian National People's Committee for the formation of an Ingrian battalion. By May 1919, there were 6,000 Russians, 4,000 Latvians and 700 Ingrians in their respective national units.
caption: Estonian soldiers participating in Constituent Assembly election in April 1919
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