Participation of the Soviet Union’s Special Services in Preparation for the Coup Attempt of 1 December 1924
This article examines the participation of the Soviet Union’s special services (military intelligence and OGPU) in the communist coup attempt of 1 December 1924 in Estonia. The primary source material is the Estonian Communist Party (ECP) archival materials in the Estonian National Archives. The article reaches the conclusion that Soviet special services partook in the coup to a significant extent. Thereat, military intelligence was more active than the OGPU. Several military intelligence operatives were sent to Estonia and placed at the disposal of the ECP to prepare the coup. The weapons sent to Estonia for the insurgents were probably also from military intelligence. The OGPU Kingissepa Border Guard Detachment helped to secretly send some of the weapons and also people, who were directed to Estonia to participate in the coup, across the border from the Soviet Union. The Leningrad Military District OGPU provided the individuals to be sent to Estonia with false passports. It also probably helped to arm combat detachments formed in the Soviet Union, which were to invade Estonia after the start of the coup. On 29 November, the top Soviet leaders nevertheless decided to halt preparations for the coup. A report previously received from Tallinn, which assessed the coup’s chances for success as being low, influenced that decision. The identity of the report’s author is unclear. It could have been Karl Rimm – a military intelligence operative who had been sent to Tallinn to support the ECP. The ECP still attempted to carry out an armed coup in Tallinn on the morning of 1 December, which was quickly crushed.