Konstantin Päts and Ethnic Minorities: The Political Trajectory of an Estonian Nationalist Authoritarian Leader

This chapter sheds light on influential Estonian statesman Konstantin Päts’s relationship with Estonia’s ethnic minorities during key milestones of his political trajectory. It advances the argument that despite being a nationalist and authoritarian ruler, Päts was remarkably tolerant in his views and dealings with Estonia’s ethnic minorities—Germans, Russians, Swedes, and Jews. The chapter focuses on significant periods and events in Päts’s political evolution: his activities prior to World War I, the Russian Revolution and the achievement of independence, the cultural autonomy law of 1925, his takeover of power in 1934, and the new authoritarian constitution of 1938.