1934 Estonian coup d'état

Päts, in violation of the constitution, appointed Laidoner as the commander-in-chief of the defense forces and decreed a stop to the election process for State Elder and the Riigikogu.

In 1933, the Vaps Movement submitted a bill to amend the constitution, which was to create the position of head of state with great power and turn Estonia into a presidential republic.

After the passage of the referendum, Jaan Tõnisson's fourth cabinet resigned on October 17, 1933, and Konstantin Päts became "prime minister in the role of head of state".

During the election campaign, the Vaps movement disclosed information about Johan Laidoner's businesses, which did not show him in a positive light, and prepared an overview of Päts' economic activities.

Fearing a possible defeat in the VI Riigikogu and State Elder elections announced for April, Johan Laidoner and Konstantin Päts organized a coup d'état together with August Rei.

The Vaps leaders had been warned about the planned action but they hadn't expected Päts to violate the constitution and cancel the elections.

[3] On the day of March 12, around two o'clock, an alarm was given in the barracks located on the grounds of the Joint Training Institutions of the Defense Force in Tondi.

Laidoner immediately shut down the Vaps Movement and banned meetings of all private individuals and organizations "both in closed rooms and under the open sky" as well as public demonstrations.

The government had begun to slowly phase out the authoritarian system with two parliamentary elections being held as well as a presidential one but the process of democratization was never complete due to the Soviet Union's occupation of Estonia in 1940.