Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party

{{Short description|Defunct political party in Estonia}}

{{Infobox political party

| colorcode = {{party color|Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party}}

| name = Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party

| native_name = Eesti Iseseisev Sotsialistlik Tööliste Partei

| founder = Hans Kruus

| foundation = 1919

| dissolved = 1924

| split = Estonian Socialist Revolutionary Party

| successor = Estonian Socialist Workers' Party

| colours = {{Color box|{{party color|Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party}}|border=darkgray}} Red

| country = Estonia

}}{{Politics of Estonia}}

The Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party ({{langx|et|Eesti Iseseisev Sotsialistlik Tööliste Partei}}, EISTP) was a political party in Estonia.

History

The party was formed in 1919 as a split from the Estonian Socialist Revolutionary Party, and was joined by defectors from the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party.Vincent E McHale (1983) Political parties of Europe, Greenwood Press, p382 {{ISBN|0-313-23804-9}} It contested the Constituent Assembly elections in 1919 as Socialists-Revolutionaries, winning seven seats. Later in the year they became the EISTP.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p579 {{ISBN|978-3-8329-5609-7}}

The 1920 elections saw the EISTP win 11 of the 100 seats in the Riigikogu. In 1922 the party was infiltrated by members of the Communist Party, resulting in a power struggle that the Communists won by mid-1923. The right-wing opposition left the party in 1922 and formed the Independent Socialist Workers' Party (ISTP). The May 1923 elections saw the radicalised party reduced to five seats.Nohlen & Stöver, p586

The EISTP was renamed the "Working People's Party" (Eestimaa töörahva partei) and became a front for the banned Communists. In May 1924 the party was banned, and in 1925 the right-wing splinter party ISTP merged with the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party to form the Estonian Socialist Workers' Party.

References