As a result, the local Bolsheviks soon dissolved the Maapäev and temporarily forced the democratically elected Estonian leadership underground in the capital Tallinn.

On 16 November 1918, the provisional government called for voluntary mobilization and began to organize the Estonian armed forces, with Konstantin Päts as Minister of War, major general Andres Larka as the chief of staff, and major general Aleksander Tõnisson as commander of the Estonian army, initially consisting of one division.

On 28 November 1918, the Soviet 6th Red Rifle Division attacked the border town of Narva, marking the beginning of the Estonian War of Independence.

The city was defended by men of the Estonian Defence League (Home Guard) (consisting partly of secondary school students) and Infanterie-Regiment Nr.

Estonia's Baltic German minority provided a sizable troop of volunteer militia for the Battalion, which was one of the first fighting units of the Estonian Army, and maintained staunch loyalty to the authority of the Republic.

Also on Christmas Eve, the 6th Red Rifle Division captured the Tapa railway junction, advancing to within 34 kilometers of the nation's capital Tallinn.

By the end of the year, the 7th Red Army controlled Estonia along the front line 34 kilometers east of Tallinn, west from Tartu and south of Ainaži.

In the Battle of Paju, the Tartumaa Partisan Battalion and the Finnish volunteers drove the Red Latvian Riflemen out of Valga on 31 January.

The 7th Red Army was routed outside the boundaries of contemporary Estonia and the battle-front continued outwards into the ancient, historical Estonian settlement area.

In positions along the Narva River the Estonian 1st Division and their allied White Russian Northern Corps repelled the 7th Red Army's attacks.

On 27 March, the Estonian 3rd Division was deployed along the western flank of the southern front under the command of Major-General Ernst Põdder.

[17] The 120 members of the Constituent Assembly met at the opening session on 23 April and elected Social Democrat August Rei as chairman.

[18] On 10 October the Land Reform Act was passed, which confiscated and redistributed the large Baltic German estates that covered more than half of the territory of Estonia.

On 18 February, an agreement was signed between Estonia and Latvia, which allowed formation of Latvian forces under Estonian command but using them only on the southern front.

The Estonian High Command decided to push their defense lines across the border into Russia in support of the White Russian Northern Corps.

But the 7th Red Army received reinforcements and counterattacked, pushing the White Russians back, until the front was stabilised with the support from the Estonian 1st Division on the Luga and Saba rivers.

[24][25] An offensive destroyed the Estonian Red Army, captured Pskov on 25 May and cleared the territory between Estonia and the Velikaya River of Soviet forces.

On 19 June 1919, the Estonian Commander-in-Chief General Johan Laidoner rescinded his command over the White Russians, and they were renamed the Northwestern Army.

On 31 May, an Estonian cavalry regiment led by Gustav Jonson reached Gulbene, capturing large amount of rolling stock, including 2 armoured trains.

The Latvian democrats led by Kārlis Ulmanis had declared independence as in Estonia but were soon pushed back to Liepāja by Soviet forces, where the German VI Reserve Corps finally stopped their advance.

The VI Reserve Corps pushed the Soviets back, capturing Riga on 23 May, continued to advance northwards, and demanded that the Estonian Army ended its occupation of parts of northern Latvia.

When Estonian armoured trains moved out on 5 June to check compliance with this demand, the Baltische Landeswehr attacked them, unsuccessfully.

At that time, the 3rd Estonian Division, including the 2nd Latvian Cēsis regiment under Colonel Krišjānis Berķis, had 5990 infantry and 125 cavalry.

The German forces were ordered to leave Latvia, the Baltische Landeswehr was put under the command of the Latvian Provisional Government and sent to fight against the Red Army.

However, to circumvent Entente's orders, the troops of the disbanded VI Reserve Corps, instead of leaving, were incorporated into the West Russian Volunteer Army, officially hired by the German puppet Government of Latvia and led by Pavel Bermondt-Avalov.

The Estonian army also remained to support the defence of Latvia against Soviets by defending the front north of Lake Lubāns.

A subsequent broadcast by the Russians on 21 July led to the British journalist Arthur Ransome sounding out the Commissar for Foreign Relations Georgy Chicherin on the subject of peace talks.

[13] Distrustful of the White Russians, the Estonian High Command disarmed and interned the remains of the Northwestern Army that retreated behind the state border.

[39] The 7th and 15th Soviet Armies advancing behind collapsing White Russian forces continued to attack the fortified positions at the state border near Narva.

A Royal Navy squadron continued to provide artillery support on the coast and also protected the Estonian flank against the Russian Baltic Fleet.