The 1924 Estonian coup d'état attempt was a failed coup attempt in Estonia on 1 December 1924, conducted by the Comintern, and staged by communists (bolsheviks) who in most part had been infiltrated from the Soviet Union. Of the 279 actively participating pro-communist rebels, 125 were killed in action, later more than 500 people were arrested. The Estonian government forces lost 26 men. Background The Communist Party of Estonia had affiliated with the Comintern in 1920, and it continued underground activities in Estonia with strong Soviet Russian backing. The incapacity and death of Vladimir Lenin (January 21, 1924) triggered a struggle for power between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. The Soviet Union's foreign policy drifted during this period in relation to Estonia. On 1 December 1924 the Comintern attempted the communist coup in Estonia. Planning 60 Razvedupr officers were dispatched to Tallinn in the spring of 1924 to organise an uprising. The plan was hatched by Jaan Anvelt and . The latter was a veteran of the Russian Civil War. The plan envisaged the main attack aimed at Tallinn, with subsequent coups in Tartu, Narva, Pärnu, Viljandi, Rakvere, Kunda, and Kohila. The revolt was supposed to start at 5:15 a.m. The 279 communists, mostly infiltrated from the Soviet Union, were armed with 5 Thompson light machine guns, 55 rifles, 65 hand grenades, 8 explosive devices and 150 pistols. It was mistakenly expected that the workers and soldiers would join the insurgency and would seize power in the capital together. The plan called for the establishment of a Soviet republic with a "working people's government" in Estonia. Most of the schemes were spoiled by the Trial of the 149 in November 1924, which eliminated many potential communist organisers. The gunmen's first priority was to take over the Estonian National Defence College based in the Tondi suburb south of the city centre, the main narrow gauge railway station in Tallinn-Väike, and a battalion of engineering troops in Nõmme. Action In late November 1924, about the time the Trial of the 149 concluded, Moscow decided to launch the uprising on December 1. On the evening of November 30, 1924, the men preparing the attack on the military college were to gather at the Reimann house about one kilometre from the college. There were supposed to be 140 men present, but only 56 turned up. The communists were armed with one light machine gun,