Baptists in the Riigikogu before World War II
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PhD, Pastor Emeritus
The aim of the article is to introduce the Baptists active in the Riigikogu before WWII.
Baptists tend to follow the principle of separation of church and state, but that does not mean being passive or apolitical. From the moment Estonia gained its independence, the Baptists strived to become members of the Riigikogu.
The Baptists were successful in the lists of two political parties: Gustav Kroon in 1923 as a member of the Farmers’ Assemblies and Voldemar Korjus in 1926 as a member of the Estonian People’s Party. Karl Kaups also stood as a candidate in the list of the Estonian People’s Party, but he was only successful during the elections to the Riigivolikogu (Chamber of Deputies) in 1938, when all political parties were banned in Estonia. Standing as a candidate in the list of the Estonian People’s Party became the main line for the Baptists.
Karl Kaups, a mainline ideologist and an active speaker in the Chamber of Deputies, is the most prominently featured figure in the present article. Gustav Kroon was an active provincial politician, however, in the Riigikogu he mostly played the role of a voter. Voldemar Korjus came to the Riigikogu as a substitute member towards the end of the term of the composition, and he never played an important part there.
The article studies the attitude of the Estonian Baptist Union towards the activities of the Baptists in the Riigikogu. The available data suggests that there was a certain level of opposition. At the same time, most of the candidates were acknowledged pastors and Union leaders, and Karl Kaups was the chairman of the Union. The Baptist Union never assumed a definite stance in regard to the activities in the Riigikogu.