{"id":5374,"date":"2026-06-18T10:09:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:09:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/?page_id=5374"},"modified":"2026-08-26T19:12:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:12:36","slug":"1st-riigikogu","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/","title":{"rendered":"1st Riigikogu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The 1st Riigikogu held the legislative power in Estonia from 20 December 1920 until 20 May 1923. Its members belonged to ten political parties and electoral alliances, most notably the Estonian Labour Party, Farmers&#8217; Assemblies, Estonian Social Democratic Workers Party, Estonian People\u2019s Party, and Estonian Independent Socialist Workers&#8217; Party. The 1st parliament passed many important legal acts, including the Estonian Flag Act, Citizenship Act, Print Act, and Fishing Act.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Elections<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The elections of the 1st Riigikogu were held on 27\u201329 November 1920. Ten political parties and electoral alliances won seats in the 1st Riigikogu. There were 653,618 eligible voters, 474,527 of whom voted, resulting in a turnout rate of 72.6 %.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the Constitution, the Riigikogu was elected for three years; however, the 1st Riigikogu had to yield its mandate before term.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The winner was the&nbsp;<strong>Estonian Labour Party<\/strong>&nbsp;who received 22 seats (and 21 % of the votes cast). The<strong>&nbsp;Farmers\u2019 Assemblies<\/strong>&nbsp;won 21 seats (20.8 %),&nbsp;<strong>Estonian Social Democratic Workers Party<\/strong>&nbsp;18 seats (17 %),&nbsp;<strong>Estonian Independent Socialist Workers\u2019 Party<\/strong>&nbsp;11 seats (10.6 %), and&nbsp;<strong>Estonian People\u2019s Party<\/strong>&nbsp;10 seats (10.4 %). Less seats were given to candidates from the lists of the Christian People\u2019s Party, the Economic Group, trade unions, German and Russian parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Otto Strandman became the first President of the Riigikogu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the Constitution, the Riigikogu was elected for three years; however, the 1st Riigikogu had to yield its mandate before term. The reason for this was the referendum held on 17\u201319 February 1923, where the majority opposed the parliament\u2019s plan to amend the Primary Schools Act by eliminating religion from the curriculum of primary schools. The elections of the new parliament were proclaimed under&nbsp;<span data-tooltip=\"If the people reject an Act passed by the Riigikogu or pass an Act rejected by the Riigikogu, new elections of the Riigikogu shall be proclaimed and these shall take place no later than seventy five days after the referendum. (Section 32 of 1920 Constitution)\" class=\"has-tooltip\">Section 32<\/span>&nbsp;of the Constitution. This remains the only case where the Riigikogu has been dissolved and a new parliament elected under this provision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 1st Riigikogu held its sittings in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/visit-us\/toompea-castle\/white-hall\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"4363\">White Hall of Toompea Castle<\/a> until autumn 1922 when the new Riigikogu building with its large session hall was completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-info is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many legendary Estonian political figures have headed the Estonian Labour Party who won the elections of the 1st Riigikogu: J\u00fcri Vilms, Otto Strandman, Ants Piip, Juhan Kukk, Theodor Pool and Julius Seljamaa.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Legislation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most important legal acts passed by the 1st Riigikogu were the Estonian Flag Act, Citizenship Act, Print Act, and Fishing Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his book \u201eEestit tagasivaates\u201c (\u201cEstonia in Retrospect\u201d 1987), Helmut Maandi describes work in the Riigikogu: \u201cThe 100-member Riigikogu united individuals of different level of education and diverse professions. It had farmers, workers, artisans, businessmen, clerics, public servants, doctors and lawyers. Otto Strandman became the first President of the Riigikogu. The institution of the President of the Riigikogu was as old as that of&nbsp;<span data-tooltip=\"In 1920\u20131943, the State Elder was the head of the Government of the Republic (Prime Minister), but also fulfilled the responsibilities of the head of state, provided in the international law. The State Elder and all the other members of the government were appointed by the Riigikogu. There was no independent institution of a head of state. The responsibilities of a head of state that were not given to the State Elder were carried out by the President of the Riigikogu.\" class=\"has-tooltip\">the State Elder<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/wpcms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Toompea-loss-Riigikogu-hoone-ehitamise-ajal.-U-1921.1922-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Toompea Castle during the construction of the Riigikogu building, around 1921\u20131922, aerial view.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignleft size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/wpcms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Vaade-ajakirjanike-fuajeest-einelaua-poole.-1922-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Toompea Castle View from the Press Lobby towards the cafeteria, 1922.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 1st Riigikogu held the legislative power in Estonia from 20 December 1920 until 20 May 1923. Its members belonged to ten political parties and electoral alliances, most notably the Estonian Labour Party, Farmers\u2019 Assemblies, Estonian Social Democratic Workers Party, Estonian People\u2019s Party, and Estonian Independent Socialist Workers\u2019 Party. The 1st parliament passed many important legal acts, including the Estonian Flag Act, Citizenship Act, Print Act, and Fishing Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"parent":4994,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5374","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>1st Riigikogu &#8211; Riigikogu<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"1st Riigikogu &#8211; Riigikogu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 1st Riigikogu held the legislative power in Estonia from 20 December 1920 until 20 May 1923. Its members belonged to ten political parties and electoral alliances, most notably the Estonian Labour Party, Farmers\u2019 Assemblies, Estonian Social Democratic Workers Party, Estonian People\u2019s Party, and Estonian Independent Socialist Workers\u2019 Party. The 1st parliament passed many important legal acts, including the Estonian Flag Act, Citizenship Act, Print Act, and Fishing Act.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Riigikogu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/riigikogu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-26T16:12:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/wpcms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Toompea-loss-Riigikogu-hoone-ehitamise-ajal.-U-1921.1922-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@riigikogu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/history-riigikogu\\\/1st-riigikogu\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/history-riigikogu\\\/1st-riigikogu\\\/\",\"name\":\"1st Riigikogu &#8211; Riigikogu\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/history-riigikogu\\\/1st-riigikogu\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/history-riigikogu\\\/1st-riigikogu\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/wpcms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/Toompea-loss-Riigikogu-hoone-ehitamise-ajal.-U-1921.1922-300x200.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-18T07:09:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-26T16:12:36+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/history-riigikogu\\\/1st-riigikogu\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/history-riigikogu\\\/1st-riigikogu\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/history-riigikogu\\\/1st-riigikogu\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/wpcms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/Toompea-loss-Riigikogu-hoone-ehitamise-ajal.-U-1921.1922-300x200.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/wpcms\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/Toompea-loss-Riigikogu-hoone-ehitamise-ajal.-U-1921.1922-300x200.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/history-riigikogu\\\/1st-riigikogu\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Introduction and history\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"History of the Riigikogu\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/en\\\/introduction-and-history\\\/history-riigikogu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"1st Riigikogu\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/\",\"name\":\"Riigikogu\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Riigikogu\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/riigikogu__m2rk_RGB.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/riigikogu__m2rk_RGB.jpg\",\"width\":1360,\"height\":940,\"caption\":\"Riigikogu\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.riigikogu.ee\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/riigikogu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/riigikogu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/riigikogu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/meieriigikogu\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"1st Riigikogu &#8211; Riigikogu","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"1st Riigikogu &#8211; Riigikogu","og_description":"The 1st Riigikogu held the legislative power in Estonia from 20 December 1920 until 20 May 1923. Its members belonged to ten political parties and electoral alliances, most notably the Estonian Labour Party, Farmers\u2019 Assemblies, Estonian Social Democratic Workers Party, Estonian People\u2019s Party, and Estonian Independent Socialist Workers\u2019 Party. The 1st parliament passed many important legal acts, including the Estonian Flag Act, Citizenship Act, Print Act, and Fishing Act.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/","og_site_name":"Riigikogu","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/riigikogu","article_modified_time":"2026-08-26T16:12:36+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/wpcms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Toompea-loss-Riigikogu-hoone-ehitamise-ajal.-U-1921.1922-300x200.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@riigikogu","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/","url":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/","name":"1st Riigikogu &#8211; Riigikogu","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/wpcms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Toompea-loss-Riigikogu-hoone-ehitamise-ajal.-U-1921.1922-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-18T07:09:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-26T16:12:36+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/wpcms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Toompea-loss-Riigikogu-hoone-ehitamise-ajal.-U-1921.1922-300x200.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/wpcms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Toompea-loss-Riigikogu-hoone-ehitamise-ajal.-U-1921.1922-300x200.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/1st-riigikogu\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Introduction and history","item":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"History of the Riigikogu","item":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/introduction-and-history\/history-riigikogu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"1st Riigikogu"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/","name":"Riigikogu","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/#organization","name":"Riigikogu","url":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/riigikogu__m2rk_RGB.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/riigikogu__m2rk_RGB.jpg","width":1360,"height":940,"caption":"Riigikogu"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/riigikogu","https:\/\/x.com\/riigikogu","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/riigikogu","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/meieriigikogu\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5374"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36336,"href":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5374\/revisions\/36336"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.riigikogu.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}