Eesti rahwas, hoia kokku! (Estonian people, hold together!): Rahvarinne election leaflet

Eesti rahwas, hoia kokku! (Estonian people, hold together!): Rahvarinne election leaflet

A blackletter Estonian handbill for the 1938 Riigivolikogu election tells voters to 'hold together', not to 'split your votes', and to vote only for People's Front candidates 'chosen and put forward by you'. It lists 'four happy years of peace' with order, 'unprecedented' industrial growth and 'cheerful activity' in every field, and credits the state leaders Päts and Laidoner with saving the country from 'a threatening danger'.

Date
1938
Period
Interwar
Made by
Rahvarinne (People's Front) election list, Estonia; printed by A.-S. Ühiselu per the holding museum's record
Region
Eastern Europe and Eurasia
Country
Estonia
Medium
Leaflet
Issuer type
Party
Regime
Pats Regime
Leader
Konstantin Pats
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Persuade or win support
Theme
Elections and party politics
Techniques
Identity fusionGlittering generalities
Source
Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source
Virumaa Museums (Estonia), via MuIS and Europeana, retrieved September 29, 2026
Rights
CC0 1.0 (stated by the holding museum on MuIS/Europeana); anonymous 1938 print
Virumaa Museums, RM _ 2824 Ar1 241:2, via MuIS.ee and Europeana (CC0).

Text on the object

Original (Estonian) · read from the image, not independently checked

Eesti rahwas, hoia kokku!
Ära killusta walimistel oma hääli!
Ainult Sinu poolt väljawalitud ja ülesseatud
Rahwarinde kandidaadid wali Riigiwolikokku!

Wiimased neli õnnelikku rahuaastat
on toonud meie maale kosumist ja edu kõigil aladel.

Meie kodumaal on walitsenud kord ja Walitsus on wõinud juhtida plaanikindlalt ning püsiwalt meie riiki. Rahwas on teinud wisalt tööd ega ole oma jõudu asjatult kulutanud seesmiste tülide peale.

Meie põllumajandus töötab täie hooga
meie tööstuses on ennenägemata tõus,
meie kaubanduses, käsitöös ja
kõigil muudel aladel
walitseb rõõmus tegutsemine.

Selle eest wõlgneme tänu meie andekatele riigijuhtidele
eesotsas Riigihoidja K. Pätsi ja Sõjawägede ülemjuhataja kindral J. Laidoneriga, kes
päästsid meie kodumaa ähwardawast hädaohust
ja andsid meile tagasi usu meie riiki ja meie rahwasse.

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

Estonian people, hold together!
Do not split your votes at the election!
Only the People's Front candidates chosen and put forward by you,
vote for them to the Riigivolikogu [Chamber of Deputies]!

The last four happy years of peace
have brought recovery and progress to our country in all fields.

Order has prevailed in our homeland, and the Government has been able to lead our state steadily and durably. The people have worked faithfully and have not wasted their strength on internal quarrels.

Our agriculture is working at full speed,
our industry has seen an unprecedented rise,
in our trade, crafts and
all other fields
cheerful activity prevails.

For this we owe thanks to our gifted state leaders,
headed by the State Regent K. Päts and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces General J. Laidoner, who
saved our homeland from a threatening danger
and gave us back faith in our state and our people.

Blackletter type in the pre-1930s Estonian spelling (w for v). A faint show-through of text from the reverse is visible behind the upper block and is not transcribed.