1. THROUGH THE WARPED LENS OF TIME
THREE IMAGES OF KONSTANTIN PÄTS THROUGHOUT 20TH CENTURY HISTORY
WINT 2015
BALTIC HISTORY
Georgia Gilbert

2. 1
Table of Contents
Introduction: Who was Päts?..........................................................................................................2
Timeline for Konstantin Päts…………………………………………………………………..…4
Propagandized:
The Misrepresentation of Konstantin Päts in Estonia before Independence………………….….6
Figures of Authority:
The Projected Image of Konstantin Päts during his Regime…………………………….…...….11
The Destruction of History through the Construction of History:
Konstantin Päts in Soviet Historiography…………………………………………………..…....19
Comprehensive Bibliography…………………………………………………………………....24

3. 2
Introduction: Who was Päts?
As a history undergraduate I often find myself confronted with the philosophical issues
that come along with studying people – can someone ever truly understand other person enough
to be able to confidently say they know who they are? To be able to write about them? Historians
attempt it, in any case. When we take a step back, however, we are able to see that for the most
part we view not the person as they are but as historians and writers have attempted to portray
him. This is especially true for powerful people throughout history: without asking a person why
they chose to be represented as they did and what we can glean from this we still make
judgments about their actions and character, which is tragic in and of itself. It is especially
horrible when dealing with people in power of little popularity in modern historiography,
because instead of attempting to find the truth for ourselves we often accept what has been
handed to us so that we can move on to topics we deem more interesting – Soviet Russia, Nazi
Germany, and Empire. Konstantin Päts, the dictator of Estonia from 1934 to 1940, is one such
person mostly unknown to the masses whose true character has been lost between the pages of
decaying government documents, photographs, and tragically untouched books.
So who was Konstantin Päts? His contemporaries would tell you that he is a socialist, a
Marxist, a radical reactionary who believes in Bolshevism. Later Estonian historians during the
Soviet occupation would have you believe that he is a radical fascist dictator who led Estonians
in the example of Mussolini and Hitler against the true will of the people and in denial of the true
class struggle. The question of “who is Konstantin Päts really?” has rarely been fully explored in
modern English language historiography – at least not in the sense that is truly independent of
attempted political propagandas. All we really can say is this: in 1874 a man was born in
Tahkuranna Parish in the Pärnu district of the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire

4. 3
along the coast of the Baltic Sea. His mother and father, Jakob and Olga, named him Konstantin
and had him baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church in his parish. This child of a low-class
peasant family would later grow up to be one of the most influential leaders of the Estonian
nation, then fall tragically back down with the Soviet occupation of his country that led to his
arrest, imprisonment, and later death. In these essays I hope to show that Konstantin Päts cannot
and should not be placed under the popular labels of socialist or fascist by modern historians, and
that perhaps if we look close enough we can try to place ourselves in his shoes to gain insight as
to his true beliefs and character.
1: Konstantin Päts Statue, First Estonian President Konstantin Päts Statue and Memorial Park, Tahkuranna Parish, Estonia.

5. 4
Timeline for Konstantin Päts
23 February 1874 – Konstantin Päts born
1887 – Began attending Riga Clerical Seminar (a Russian Orthodox School) where he learned
the Estonian Language
1892 – Finished schooling at Riga.
1894 – Attended law school at Tartu University.
1898 – Graduated law school.
1899 – Served as an ensign in the Russian army.
1900 – Became a barrister in Tallinn.
1901 – Began editing Teataja (The Gazette) newspaper
1905 – Stopped editing Teataja, served as a member of Tallinn City Council and Assistant
Mayor. Participated in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and was sentenced to death by Russian
court-martial. Fled to Switzerland.
1906 – Left Switzerland to go to Finland.
1909 – Travelled from Finland to St. Petersburg and handed himself over to authorities,
sentenced to 9 months of imprisonment in the “Kresty” prison in St. Petersburg.
1916 – Began Estonian military service in Tallinn.
1917 – Ended Estonian military service. Became the Chairman of the Supreme Committee of the
Estonian Military in Tallinn.
1918 – Prime Minister to the Provisional Government
1919 – End service as Prime Minister. Began service as Chairman of the “Estonian Lloyd”
insurance company
1921 – Elder of the State of the Republic of Estonia
1922 – End service as Elder of the State of the Republic of Estonia
1931 – Elder of the State of the Republic of Estonia
1932 – End service as Elder of the State of the Republic of Estonia. Begin service as Elder of the
State of the Republic of Estonia again.

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1933 – End service as Elder of the State of the Republic of Estonia. Begin service as Elder of the
State of the Republic of Estonia again.
1934 – Coup d’état, and begin service as Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia in the Duties
of the Elder of State.
1937 – Change title to The Protector of the State of the Republic of Estonia
1938 – Change title to President of the Republic of Estonia. Honorary Doctorate of Sciences of
the Tallinn Technical University and the University of Andhra in India. Honorary member of the
Estonian Naturalists’ Society, the Learned Estonian Society, the Estonian Institute of Natural
Resources.
30 July 1940 – Deposed by Soviet Union and deported to prison.
1956 – Died in a mental hospital in Kalinin.
21 October 1990 – Reburied in Tallinn.

7. 6
Propagandized:
The Misrepresentation of Konstantin Päts in Estonia before Independence
The fight for independence in the Baltic countries dominated the first part of the 20th
century there, alongside two great world wars that left heavy scars on the population. Upheaval,
violence, and death were everyday sights to many Estonians and Latvians. In these countries as
well as in most places, there are at least two opposing sides to the revolution for the creation of
an independent Baltic state. In Estonia, these two major players were Konstantin Päts (who
became the country’s first dictator in the 1930s) and a right-wing leaning Jaan Tõnisson. At the
cusp of the creation of an autonomous state of Estonia, Konstantin Päts’ nationalistic theories on
an independent Estonia were influenced more by Russian Economism, not socialism or Marxism
as Tõnisson’s newspaper Postimees claimed.
Konstantin Päts, like most people, was probably a man heavily influenced by his
upbringing, education, and memorable events in his life. Päts, born in 1874 to a peasant family in
Estonia, went to a Russian Orthodox seminary school where his brother also attended.1
At this
time, Estonia was not yet an independent nation, but was considered part of the Russian Empire
and subject to heavy policies of Russification that dominated Russian minority politics at the end
of the Empire. Päts was a member of the Orthodox Church through his Russian mother, and the
education provided at the seminary was free including food and lodging.2
As a member of the
lower class, receiving a free education could have instilled a sense of gratitude in Päts towards
the Russian Orthodox Church that provided the opportunity.
1
Pajur.
2
Nodel, 126.

8. 7
The seminary school that Päts attended was used in an attempt to russify the Baltic
populous, but instead it helped create the fires of a new Estonian and Latvian intelligentsia for a
multitude of reasons. Firstly, its location in Riga helped provide its Estonian and Latvian
students with a front-row seat to the evolution of the labor movements within one of the most
heavily industrialized cities within the Russian Empire.3
Secondly, it was the only advanced
educational facility to offer its students the opportunity to study Estonian and Latvian languages,
which helped to entice the curiosity about Estonian and Latvian nationalism and history and
persuaded young Estonians and Latvians to reach out and study philosophies and topics related
to their homeland and politics.4
It probably would have been during this period that Päts would
have formed the beginnings of his ideas about an Estonian national identity at this time, as well
as maintaining a certain amount of empathy towards the situation of peasants.
After his seminary education, Päts attended university in Tartu beginning in 1894 where
German sympathies continued to dominate cultural student life despite the fact that the university
was russified.5
Even with the attempts of student oppression on campus for those who did not
agree with German groups, Päts managed to become more radicalized and develop his own
theories by meeting informally with students and professors from other countries within the
empire to discuss the radical ideas and theories that were emerging throughout the Western
world.6
We are able to see the influence of both his seminarian studies at Riga as well as radical
professors and students at Tartu through his founding of the newspaper Teataja, of which he was
the editor between 1901 and 1905 – at the apogee of revolutionary movements within Russia.7
3
Kasekamp, 90.
4
Nodel, 127.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
7
Pajur. 1914 – 1918 Online.

9. 8
Päts would have been forced to end the production of Teataja, at least in Estonia, in 1905
because of his role in an Estonian uprising that was connected to the failed 1905 Russian
revolution. He organized a peasant congress in Tallinn alongside Jaan Tõnisson’s National
Liberal Party congress, both of which called for the independence of Estonia from Imperial
Russia.8
Russian officials responded by declaring martial law in Estonia, and the members of
these congresses fled into the country where they burned “bourgeois” manor houses of Baltic
Germans and the upper-class.9
Even though Päts spoke out against the violence taking place in
the countryside, he was sentenced to death and forced to flee Estonia into Switzerland then later
Finland, prompting him to end production of Teataja.10
In Teataja, Päts claimed that, “the slave has no nationality,” and that only economic
improvements to the situation of the people of Estonia might bring that sense of nationality to
them.11
Teataja was known for being one of the more radical newspapers in Estonia during the
time period, with Päts being, “mainly concerned with social and economic questions” while
placing emphasis on the conditions of the lower classes in Estonia.12
It’s not a stretch to suppose
that Päts discussed revolutionary action in Teataja. Speaking for a more moralistic audience (one
that does not necessarily believe in revolution),13
Jaan Tõnisson’s newspaper Postimees
attempted to cast Päts’ idea of economic improvement for the masses as a kind of Russian
socialist/Marxist-inspired doctrine to deter Tõnisson’s own political followers to shy away from
him as a figure of political authority. 14
In fact, the very notion is ridiculous – Päts’ Estonian
political ideologies were no more or less socialist than they are fascist. By labelling him purely
8
Encyclopædia Brittanica., “Estonia.”
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid., “Päts.”
11
Nodel, 129.
12
Raun, Russification, 338.
13
Trotsky, 165.
14
Nodel, 129.

10. 9
socialist/Marxist, the Postimees makes the same mistake of later Soviet Estonian historians when
they label Päts as following fascist ideologies – misrepresentation and propaganda as a political
tool. That modern historiography about Päts mistakenly represents him as more fascist in nature
is a tribute to the effectiveness of propaganda. Instead of limiting ourselves to the obvious trends
of socialism/Marxism (or later fascism), we should look towards other less popular political
ideas emerging during that time to form a better understanding of Päts.
Russian Economism was a right-wing political movement that revolves around the idea
of an independent state that creates economic improvement for the entirety of the population,
rather than just the few.15
Russian Economism was a political enemy of Lenin and
socialist/Marxist movements because it did not advocate for the basic principles of
socialism/Marxism: the foundation of a state representative of the people through the creation of
an independent worker’s party, and the socialist/Marxist ideas of class struggle.16
There were
some similarities between Economism and socialism/Marxism – for example, both groups
advocated for political activity with the goal of the overthrow of monarchical oppression;17
economists, however, did not focus their attentions on the use of the urban proletariat to create a
socialist/Marxist society wherein social classes are destroyed. Instead, economists believed that
all forces of labor were equally important within the struggle for independence and that the state
model shouldn’t necessarily follow that of centralized authority with no capitalistic overtures.18
Economism would have been appealing to revolutionaries who might not necessarily agree that
wealth is evil but also felt that some amount of resistance was necessary.
15
Mavor, 161.
16
Hallas, 18-19.
17
Akimov, 246-247.
18
Akimov, 247.

11. 10
The nationalistic independence movements within the Baltic were just as varied as a
political system in Europe might appear today. Multiple parties represented variations of general
contemporary ideas and theories that were circulating through the minds and mouths of
intelligentsia who sought the same basic conclusion: the independence and autonomy of their
homelands. In Estonia, political activists and newspaper editors Konstantin Päts and Jaan
Tõnisson held a fierce rivalry that distorted the history of ideas through slander and
misinformation. It is important for us to go back in time to study the influences of a person in an
attempt to truly break away from false histories such as the one proposed by Tõnisson, that Päts
was a socialist and a Marxist, so that we may truly understand the history of the era and the
people who inhabited it.

12. 11
Figures of Authority:
The Projected Image of Konstantin Päts during his Regime
The emergence and rise of the nationalistic zeal in the late
19th
and early 20th
centuries brought new ideas of
leadership to countries all around the world; the downfall
of monarchy in Russia and Germany not only helped to
establish neighboring countries in the Baltics – Estonia,
Latvia, and Lithuania – but for them to gain their
independence and develop a strong sense of nationalism.
As Mussolini in Italy began the movement of fascist rule,
followed by Hitler and Franco, news of their massive
popularity spread all across Europe. This new kind of
government which was anti-democratic, conservative, militaristic, and nationalistic, was very
seductive to traditionally conservative, agrarian politicians in the Baltic countries and served as
influence in which Estonia’s Konstantin Päts and Latvia’s Karlis Ūlmanis built their respective
dictatorships during the 1930s.19
But while Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy served as
inspiration for these rulers, we should not believe that these governments were a perfect
facsimile of fascist ideology just as they similarly weren’t socialist in nature. Studying a
photographed portrait of Konstantin Päts towards the end of his regime may help us to not only
understand more about how Päts wanted to portray himself, but could also help us to understand
more about his Estonian dictatorship.
19
Purs, “The Ulmanis Regime”.
2: Official Portrait of Estonian dictator
Konstatin Päts during his regime, 1934-1940.

13. 12
On the initial overview of the image of Päts we may see a stern, almost angry looking
stocky man with white hair and a receding hairline. He is wearing immaculate white-tie evening
wear, a sash underneath his jacket, a collar, and four distinct decorative pins underneath his left
breast pocket following the path of the sash. The quality of the photograph is fairly low for the
time period but without graining or other defects which suggests it was taken by an older model
high quality camera, went through a competent film development process, and was well
preserved. The photograph was officially released by the Estonian government at some point
during Päts’ reign.20
To interpret this image and understand how it represents Päts within the
context of dictatorships around the world we must compare it to those of his dictatorial
contemporaries around Europe that he has been compared to – Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini –
and note likenesses and differences in how they wanted to portray themselves.
2: Adolf Hitler 3: Benito Mussolini 4: Joseph Stalin
Beginning with the obvious, we must admit that Päts’ countenance can hardly be missed:
it is incredibly striking just how cantankerous he makes himself out to be. When comparing his
visage to those of his peers around the world during this time period – we can see similarities to
how fascist dictators portrayed themselves as opposed to the temperament of a communist
20
Estonian National Archives.

14. 13
leader, Stalin, who appears much friendlier with the hint of a confident smile on his face. It
would appear that not only were there idealistic differences between conservative and liberal
dictatorships, but also differences in how leaders under each label might have wished to portray
themselves to the public. Socialism and communism are both based on the idea of social equality
of the masses, and that by individual sacrifice to the state social equality can be attained.21
In
these types of governments, leaders would want themselves to be portrayed as equal to the
people rather than having true authority over the people in accordance with their political beliefs.
A smile would go a long way towards showing a figure to be kindly disposed – men of the
people rather than figures of command. This is not to say that there are no pictures of
conservative dictators smiling, but it is much rarer for official pictures as a whole.
Päts, on the other hand, was not a communist nor a socialist despite having believed in
the need for a social revolution that might shrink the gap of social inequality that dominated
societies during this time period.22
Instead of throwing himself into the Estonian Socialist camp,
Päts politically placed himself with the Estonian Farmer’s Union.23
Neither was he truly fascist
in his beliefs, as can be seen by his reaction in regards to the threat of the fascist Estonian League
of Independence War Veterans attempting to take control of the government and implement a
fascist dictatorship – he organized a coup d’état, claiming a state of emergency, and took control
himself.24
Päts instead was an Economist and believed that only economic growth would help to
bring about the positive social changes necessary to instill a nationalistic feeling within the hearts
of the Estonian people.25
In 1939, when this photograph was taken, Hitler and Mussolini would
21
Taylor, 102, 120.
22
Nodel, 129.
23
Kasekamp, 107.
24
Iwaski, 16-17.
25
Nodel, 126.

15. 14
have been an inspiration to any economist with how quickly their policies managed to save their
countries from the economic ruination they had faced at the end of WWI and the depression.
Interestingly, the period from 1930 until Päts’ reign witnessed a huge spread of tension
between Estonia and the Soviet Union because of the Soviet’s attempts to bring down the
Estonian government down through espionage. 26
While Soviet espionage receded after Päts took
control, this was more likely to have been caused by his economic ties with Soviet oil companies
and possibly through his Russian mother. 27
We can perhaps understand why Päts would lean
towards fascist dictators’ expressions rather than a socialists’ if he was more interested in being
the figure of authority – the Grandfather of the Estonian Republic – who saved democracy from
Soviet espionage and fascist rule. Päts considered himself Estonian first and foremost and was
mostly interested in the establishment and growth of an independent Estonia, and as such did not
wish to be represented as a man equal to the Estonian citizens that he helped to rescue but wished
to be seen as the man who led Estonia to that independence.
Päts also seems to embrace symbols of authority over symbols of equality in both his
dress and accessories. Most interesting is his use of the early modern style collar; the collar and
one of the medals that Päts is shown to be wearing (specifically the one on the very top closest to
his breast pocket) are national symbols of the Order of the National Coat of Arms. This
Honorific Order and its collar was created on 24 February 1936 by Päts; the collar specifically to
identify him as the president of the Republic of Estonia and the Order medal to be awarded to
Estonian nationals who performed great services for their country.28
The history of Honorific
Orders in Europe began in the mid-16th
century with the Order of San Stefano in Tuscany in
26
Forgus, 30.
27
Valge, 459-478.
28
Kalling, 12.

16. 15
1561; previously, Orders were chivalric rather than honorific and were tied exclusively to
Christian military groups of Western Europe fighting against non-Christian states in the 11th
century such as the Templars.29
Although Orders as organizations were slowly going extinct by
the 1560s, the long and powerful history of powerful people being part of one Order or another –
be it Fraternal, Votive, Monarchical, or other – meant that the idea of the Order continued to
maintain its association with power, influence, and authority.30
This helped for a resurgence of
new Orders to be created throughout Europe around the time of the Protestant Reformation and
led to the continuation of the idea of Orders being tied to
authority. Some of the most powerful figures of authority
during the early modern period wore collars similar to Päts’ as
symbols of their being part of an honorific Order: Louis XIV
of France and Peter the Great of Russia, for example. The
imitation and creation of Honorific Orders was incredibly
popular amongst dictatorships – even the Soviet Union created
the Order of Lenin despite being an Atheist state.31
When we
look up pictures of Stalin, however, we will not find these
figures wearing collars in the same way that Päts blatantly flaunts his collar of the Order of the
National Coat of Arms and his authority in doing so.
Another Order symbol that Päts can be seen wearing is a medal that is the symbol for the
Order of the White Star (specifically the medal at the very bottom of the picture).32
The medal
for the Order of the White Star “is awarded to both Estonian and foreign nationals for eminent
29
Velde, Heraldica.
30
Velde, Heraldica.
31
Ibid.
32
Kalling, 12.
5: Louis XIV of France (1638-1715)

17. 16
public service for the benefit of the Republic of Estonia.”33
And a medal that Päts wears around
his neck appears to be the Estonian Cross of Liberty. This was the first state decoration ever
conceived, on the one year anniversary of the declaration of Estonian Independence in 1918; it is
considered to be incredibly prestigious in Estonia, given only to people who served during the
Estonian War of Independence.34
Being awarded this honor gave the recipient several privileges
in Estonia, including free university education.35
While it is highly doubtful that Päts would
require free university level education as the dictator of Estonia in 1939, or even 20 years earlier
when the award was created, the sheer symbolism invoked just by wearing these medals and
what they would have represented to a contemporary Estonian audience is undeniable. He
wanted to portray himself as a servant to Estonia – a man who might do anything and everything
for his country and whose actions were recognized by other people in authority in Estonia to the
extent that he was rewarded with these honors to distinguish him from his peers. He wanted
others to see that he had Estonia truly in his heart, and would perhaps hope people to believe that
he had saved Estonia not only during the War of Independence but also in 1934 when the fascist
Central League of Veterans of the Estonian War of Independence
(VAPS) would have taken away democracy and thus created
social disorder.36
Differing from Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler, Päts is
unique in that he chose to represent himself out of military
uniform (as was common for both royalty and dictators during
this time period all around the world) and instead limited his
33
Ibid.
34
Ibid.
35
Ibid.
36
Kasekamp, A History, 109.
6: Konstantin Päts of Estonia

18. 17
military ties and symbols of authority to medals like the Estonian Cross of Liberty alone. This
would portray him as not being a military-centric figurehead, but still tying him to the military
with services to the state of Estonia.37
In this image we see him wearing traditional white-tie
formalwear, which was popular amongst the upper classes of Europe and America throughout
the 19th
century until just before WWI; during the interwar period – when this photograph was
taken – white-tie formalwear was quickly losing its popularity and was reserved only for very
formal events.38
We can conclude that either Päts was attempting to raise his status by wearing
formal dress, or that the photograph was taken at an important function such as a state dinner.
Most probably it would have been the latter, but all other surviving pictures show Päts wearing
other types of civilian clothing. This appearance out of uniform appears to be unique to the
dictatorships of the Baltic region and implies that they had no delusions of military might and
grandeur but only craved independence and recognition. Päts would have had no illusions that
the Estonian army could fend off the Reds or the Nazis by itself should either one attack, and had
been active in government when Estonia allowed the White army to use their country as a
staging ground for the fight against the Bolshevik Reds in return for recognition as an
independent nation only two decades earlier.39
We must remember too that Päts was hardly a
military general, but an intelligent businessman and lawyer, and wearing suits and formalwear
would have been considered much more honest to his true character.40
In countries around the world for thousands of years it was how you presented yourself
that people might view and understand you. It is important to understand the context of images,
of course, and when you look carefully at the image of Konstantin Päts examined in this paper it
37
Estonia, Official Website of the Office of President.
38
Formal Tradition.
39
Kasekamp, A History, 103.
40
Valge, 460.

19. 18
is interesting how he hoped to portray himself in a world full of nationalistic dictatorships all
across the world. First and foremost as an Estonian, but also a statesman, a businessman, a figure
of authority, and a man who has done many wonderful services for his country. We can
understand his Economism and lack of expansionist policies through his clothes and his attempts
to place himself as a figure of authority with his medals and awards and frown. We can see a
strong individual who would like for us to believe that he made the difficult decision of
sacrificing democracy to save his country from the aspects of fascism and socialism that he did
not think were right for Estonia. Mostly, however, we can see a dictator who is unique amongst
dictators around the world and who truly loved his heritage and culture.

20. 19
The Destruction of History through the Construction of History:
Konstantin Päts in Soviet Historiography
History has been used as a basic tool for political control by leaders throughout the span
of time, affecting the knowledge and understanding of the past for far longer than the existence
of the kingdoms, empires, and figures they represented. Warping of history through selective use
of sources and blatant falsehoods, and the manipulation of facts through lenses of certain
ideologies is not a new phenomenon in human societies. Konstantin Päts, the dictator of Estonia
from 1934 to 1940, was certainly a victim of Soviet propaganda. Soviet officials were incredibly
cognizant of the importance of using history as the means to legitimize Soviet rule throughout
the Eastern Bloc. Through a pretext of informative modern historiography, the Soviet Union
created a false image of Konstantin Päts as bourgeois Right-Wing political leader turned
radicalized fascist totalitarian dictator to justify Soviet rule in Estonia.
Olaf Kuuli’s book, Six Years of Fascist Dictatorship in Estonia, was published in 1975 in
Tallinn and later translated into English. Kuuli is a prolific Estonian historian and held the
position of head of the Tallinn Pedagogical University History Department from 1971-1976.41
We cannot place much blame on Kuuli for this destruction of history through the lens of Soviet
ideology, however. Official, comprehensive Soviet historiography of Estonia began to be
published in 1950 after the redevelopment of the Historical Institute of the Estonian Academy of
Sciences in 1946-1947.42
All Soviet institutions – history included – were forced to write within
the lines of party ideology; historians such as Kuuli, regardless of their true political beliefs,
would have had follow certain guidelines to writing history on pain of death or exile.43
Most
41
Riigikogu Toimetiste Autorid
42
Rebas 425
43
Rebas, 427.

21. 20
important to Soviet historiography in Estonia was the emphasis of escalating Soviet support
during the independence period, showing an increase in Soviet power in Estonia from 1917 –
1919 and 1940 onwards, and to, “emphasize Russo-Estonian friendship and Russian support to
Estonia throughout history…”44
While Khruschev’s “thaw” of the late 1950s to early 1960s
allowed for more accurate historiography within Estonia, Brezhnev’s takeover of the USSR in
1964 led to yet another 18 years of suppression. Kuuli’s history was written during this latter
period, which we must not forget when examining his work; for five decades Konstantin Päts
and other dictators of the Baltic region as well as the Soviet historians who wrote about them
became the victims of forced Soviet censorship and falsification of history so that Soviet
leadership would be justified within the Soviet Bloc.
The image of Päts as a fascist dictator originated during the Stalin era in Estonia and was
completely different than the image that Päts himself hoped to project.45
Unfortunately this
image has continued to attach itself to him in modern Estonian historiography despite being
based on speculation and Soviet propaganda.46
During his reign, Konstantin Päts hoped to show
himself as the grandfather of the nation. He was an economist, placing himself firmly within the
context of agrarian parties, and was closer to the ideologies of socialism and communism than
fascism since he believed in class struggle and the necessity of equality in society.47
Fascism
places little or no emphasis on class struggle and equality, but hopes to create a regulated,
multiclass, totalitarian nation usually under the pretext of racial and ideological superiority.48
Päts and his government claimed that they did not take control of Estonia through a coup d’état
44
Ibid.
45
Ibid., 440.
46
Raun, Estonia, 119.
47
Nodel, 129.
48
Payne, 7.

22. 21
because they wanted to instill a totalitarian
fascist dictatorship, but to save Estonia from
being forced into a totalitarian fascist
dictatorship.49
Päts even participated in the
failed Russian Revolution of 1905 that would
have allowed for the socialist takeover of
Russia and served prison time as a result;50
but Soviet officials later would make this part of his past disappear by claiming that he was born
in 1894 instead of 1874 as seen in figure 1, which would have made him much too young to
participate. Despite all of the history and evidence to the contrary, Kuuli’s Soviet history of the
period proposes that Päts was working in tandem with fascist bourgeoisie in Estonia to gain and
keep power and crush the Communist attempts at equalizing society.51
In the beginning of the Soviet history of Konstantin Päts’ rule, Kuuli writes that while
Päts was officially a member of the Farmers’ Assemblies he was actually a fascist bourgeois
reactionary who would possibly have led the Estonian Veteran’s League had there not been
infighting between Estonian fascist circles.52
The Estonian Veteran’s League – also known as
vabadussõjalane, EVL, or VAPS – was a radical nationalist party in Estonia active during
Estonian independence period which embraced many fascist ideals though perhaps was not
completely fascist in nature.53
The Soviet history, however, firmly announces the fascist ideals of
the EVL, “chiefly aimed at the suppression of class struggle.”54
If we assume that this history
49
Metcalf, 338.
50
Encyclopæda Brittanica
51
Kuuli, 23, 25, 27, 32, 34,
52
Ibid, 26.
53
Kasekamp, Estonian Veteran’s League, 268.
54
Kuuli, 18-19.
Figure 3: Image of Konstantin Päts in Soviet custody, 1941.
Cyrillic reads, "Päts Konstantin (?)Yakoegevich, b.1894"

23. 22
was written within party lines, we must acquiesce that the party line appears to reject the idea
that there can be shades of grey within the ideologies of similar opposition parties in Estonia.
Instead, separate ideologies were all labelled “bourgeois” and explained away through “strained
relations between bourgeois circles” rather than differing political beliefs.55
Even Päts, a dictator
whose regime can hardly be compared to that of Hitler, Mussolini, or Franco, is placed under a
fascist label through unsubstantiated statements like, “the conflict between [sic] K. Päts’s
dictatorial government and the Vaps was not caused by fundamental differences, but by struggle
for power.”56
Along with Päts’ affinity for fascist regimes, Kuuli’s Soviet history paints a picture of
Päts’ with at least three other purported additional ideological failings.57
Firstly, even though
Päts’ support came from “big farmers” – called kulaks, who were also persecuted within the
Soviet Bloc – and peasantry, he did not defend the interests of farmers because he believed in
“big capital.”58
Secondly, he showed extreme examples of corruption by placing people who
supported his regime into positions of power in elections that only gave the illusion of
democracy to the people.59
Lastly, and possibly the most undermining of Päts and his regime,
was the claim that his rule was repressive of the true will of the people;60
Estonians, according to
official Soviet history of Estonia in 1975, did not want Päts leading them by the end of his rule
and instead called for the creation of a “revolutionary” government to be established as the red
army was entering Estonia in 1939.61
55
Ibid., 22.
56
Ibid., 26.
57
Kuuli, 71-72.
58
Ibid., 73
59
Ibid., 77.
60
Ibid., 85.
61
Ibid., 93.

24. 23
According to Kuuli, the only reason the red army entered Estonia was because the Baltic
countries broke agreements with Soviet Union and so Soviet Union was forced to enter the Baltic
countries to protect their troops that were already present.62
People in Estonia called for the
creation of a “revolutionary” government to be established as the red army was entering Estonia
and for the downfall of “bourgeois” fascist dictator Konstantin Päts.63
“The fact that so many
people signed the memorandums [demanding political change] showed the deep indignation of
the broad masses of the people against the government.”64
Suddenly the Soviet army entered
Estonia: “the workers enthusiastically welcomed the Red Army enforcements in the Baltic
States.”65
The formation of a new government of Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic after the
overthrow of Päts, through a democratic representation of the people of course, allowed the
Soviet government to completely justify their takeover.66
It is no secret that Soviet propaganda dominated basically every aspect of Soviet life. We
must remember that Konstantin Päts, for all his shortcomings, should not be so hastily placed
under a fascist label borrowed from Soviet historiography. Stalin, however, and later Soviet
dictators understood the importance that history could potentially play in as a tool for furthering
Soviet beliefs and ideologies. By painting a false image of Päts as a fascist right-wing dictator
who opposed democracy and the will of the people, Soviets used history as a means to show
themselves officially as the saviors of the masses that they in all honesty brutally repressed.
Through the destruction of history with the creation of history, Soviet historiography justified
their entry and continued tragic presence in Estonia and other Baltic countries for five decades.
62
Ibid., 99.
63
Ibid., 100.
64
Ibid., 96.
65
Ibid., 99.
66
Ibid., 100.

25. 24
Images
Cover:
Fig 1: Konstantin Päts arrives at the Patriotic Union’s Central Committee plenary
meeting in Tallinn. October 14, 1937, photograph, 13 x 17in. From: the Estonian National
Archives Online, accessed March 5, 2015. http://www.ra.ee/fotis/index.php?type=2&id=105724
Introduction:
Fig 1: Pillak, Kristjan. Konstantin Päts Statue. Photograph. From: First Estonian
President Konstantin Päts Statue and Memorial Park, Tahkuranna Parish, Estonia. Available
from: puhkaeestis.ee tourism website, accessed March 8, 2015.
http://www.puhkaeestis.ee/et/multimedia/eesti-esimese-presidendi-konstantin-patsi-ausammas-
ja-malestuspark
Figures of Authority:
Fig 1: Konstantin Päts. 1938-1940, photograph, 75 x 126cm. From: the Estonian National
Archives Online, accessed March 5, 2015. http://www.ra.ee/fotis/index.php?type=2&id=383773
Fig 2: Adolf Hitler. 1933. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. “Adolf Hitler”, accessed
March 05, 2015. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/267992/Adolf-Hitler
Fig 3: Benito Mussolini. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. “Benito Mussolini”,
accessed March 05, 2015. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399484/Benito-
Mussolini
Fig 4: Bourke-White, Margaret. Russian leader Joseph Stalin after meeting w. Harry
Hopkins, adviser to Pres. Roosevelt, in his office in the Kremlin. 1941, photograph. From: Life
Magazine March 29, 1943, accessed March 5, 2015. Available at: Getty Images Life Archives.
Fig 5: Rigaud, Hyacinthe. Louis XIV. 1701. Oil on canvas, 277 × 194 cm. The Louvre,
Paris. Available From: The Louvre Collection Digital Archives, http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-
notices/louis-xiv-1638-1715
Caravaggio, The Denial of Saint Peter. Early 15th century. Oil on canvas, 94 x 125.4 cm.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. From: The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
http://www.metmuseum.org (accessed September 29, 2009).
Fig 6: Konstantin Päts. Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. “Konstatin Päts”, accessed
March 05, 2015. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/446786/Konstantin-Pats
The Destruction of History through the Construction of History:

26. 25
Fig 1: Konstantin Pats as Political Prisoner. 1941. Accessed March 05, 2015,
http://www.lapsevanem.ee/?7940
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