Johan Pitka was one of the main characters in organizing the Defence Forces of the newly established Estonian Republic in November 1918, at the end of World War I, when the German occupational forces started to move out of Estonia, and there was a threat of the invasion of the newly established Red Army. Johan Pitka was the creator and main organizer of the Estonian Defence League, Estonian armoured trains, armoured cars and the Estonian Navy. He was appointed the Commander of the Estonian Navy in December 1918 and led it through the victorious Estonian War of Independence without losing a ship.