1930. aastate ülemaailmne majanduskriis ja Eesti põllumajanduspoliitika ümberkujundamine
The Global Economic Crisis of the 1930s and the Restructuring of Estonian Agricultural Policies

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the impact of the global economic crisis on the development of Estonian agricultural policies. It analyses the formulation and implementation of crisis measures, as well as the adaptation of new rules for agricultural exports that were regulated by bilateral trade agreements. Furthermore, the paper explores the policies enacted following the crisis measures, including the development of an ambitious agrarian program featuring significant reform. The post-World War I food shortage, coupled with the rapidly growing demand for agricultural products in foreign markets in addition to several years of favourable weather conditions for crop cultivation, allowed the state to limit its support to farms by providing only short-term loans. However, due to deteriorating market conditions following the global economic crisis, the previous vision of self-regulating agriculture had to be abandoned. The aid and support measures were developed and implemented during the crisis years that targeted farms, slaughterhouses for export, and dairy cooperatives, as well as protection of the domestic market, subsidies for export, and analysis of the foreign markets. These crisis measures can be characterised by their comprehensiveness, thorough preliminary analyses, impact monitoring, and the introduction of changes to ensure effectiveness.

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