Eesti sõjaväe ohvitseride ettevalmistamise süsteemi kujunemine ja areng 1919-1940
The Formation and Development of the Estonian Officer Training System 1919-1940

Summary/Abstract: Several military educational institutions were founded during and after the Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920). The Military School of the Republic of Estonia was officially founded by order of the Commander-in-Chief on April 3, 1919. In 1920, the Non-Commissioned Officers School was established in Tallinn. In addition, the Military School, the Navy School and the Military Technical School were established in 1920 and 1923. In 1921 General Staff Courses were started at a higher military level (named as the Higher Military School in 1925). In the field of officer training all the concepts and principles inherited from Imperial Russia were no longer applicable in the new economic and social environment. The uniform military background (obtained in Russia) helped to form common ground and understanding among senior leaders. By general consent, it was deemed absolutely necessary for a small nation to have well-prepared armed forces and highly qualified leaders in order to provide successful resistance against larger numbers of enemy troops in wartime. The main aim of the army conversion during the transitional period to peacetime was to save money. This attempt at establishing a Joint Military School ended in founding the Joint Military Educational Facilities (in Estonian Sõjaväe Ühendatud Õppe asutused), by the decree of the Government of the Republic on August 29, 1923. The former General Staff Courses (Military Academy), the Military School and the Non-Commissioned Officer School that had functioned independently were united. The provision of education was centralized under one commander to ensure harmonized training and reduce the staff of units. The initial system of training and education (1920–1928) was considered to be too theoretical and purely knowledge, not ability- or skill-based. Predictably this system did not give good results. Therefore the importance of practical methods, troop practice and long probation of future officers was overstressed in the second half of the 1930s. In order to make the officer profession more attractive and get the best candidates, the armed forces leadership had to make compromises and started to shorten the overall preparation and probation time in 1940. It can be seen that the initial theoretical approach could not satisfy the needs for competent officers and as a reaction to that the reforms overstressed the importance of practice and probation. However, we can see that the Estonian system of officer training of the period in question was very quality-driven. The planning of officer personnel was not very systematic from the outset due to lack of experience and the constant need to cut expenses. There was also a lack of knowledge and experience in how to organize all arms of services cadre preparation in the conditions of a small state, because the overall need for specialties was too small in number.

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