the liberation of Tartu and Narva, he was promoted to the rank of major general on 20 January 1919. On Estonia's first independence day on 24 February 1919, Laidoner reported that the Soviet forces have been driven out of Estonia, as well as capturing over 6,000 men and 40 guns. Laidoner had a crucial role in organizing and training the army in a very short time as well as establishing an effective command structure within the armed forces. Learning from his experience with trench warfare in World War I and due to the limited size of the forces available to him, Laidoner chose to achieve crucial victories – capturing strategically important roads and railway stations – with smaller and more mobile battalion- and company-sized units, supported by armoured trains and armoured cars. After the end of the war, Laidoner was promoted to lieutenant general on 21 March 1920, before resigning as commander‑in‑chief and retiring from active service on 26 March 1920. Post-war career After the war, Laidoner was a member of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) and from 1920 to 1929 as a member of the conservative Farmers' Assemblies. He served as the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and was part of the Estonian delegation in the General Assembly of the League of Nations from 1922 to 1929, where he was known for his isolationist stance. On 1 December 1924, the Estonian Communists, together with assault groups sent from the Soviet Union, attempted a coup d'état. The government called an emergency meeting during which martial law was declared and Laidoner was appointed commander‑in‑chief of the armed forces. Although the actual coup attempt was over in five hours, the pursuit of coupists continued and the situation remained tense for several weeks. On 8 January 1925, after the martial law was abolished, Laidoner resigned as commander‑in‑chief and left military service once again. In 1925, Laidoner was commissioned by the League of Nations to head a special mission to Iraq, investigating the allegations made against Turkey regarding the mistreatment and deportations of Christians in the Mosul region. The report Laidoner's committee submitted played an important role in demarcating the border between Turkey and Iraq. On 12 March 1934, the State Elder Konstantin Päts declared martial law and appointed Laidoner commander‑in‑chief of the armed forces. The aim of declaring martial law was to halt the political rise of the Vaps Movement and their