|
|
The First Republic (1920-1940)
By the end of 1918, Riga and much of Latvia had been captured by the German Army. However, since it was losing the war, Germany could not regain these territories and the Allies had no interest in giving lands to Soviet Russia. Thus, the first governmental bodies of the Republic of Latvia started to form, leading to the proclamation of independence of Latvia in 1918.
At first Latvia allied with Germany to fight the Red Army, but then fought Germany when it invaded Latvia. Later, Latvia finally regained its Latgale territory from Soviet Russia. In February 1920 Russia signed an armistice with Latvia, recognizing its independence in perpetuity. Latvian independence was declared de jure, or unconditionally, during the Paris Conference. Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland also gained independence from the former Russian Empire at the same time.
During its 20 years of independence, Latvia built an independent state and achieved a degree of economic success. Although Latvia began as a democratic parliamentary republic, it became an authoritarian state in 1934, when the president Karlis Ulmanis peacefully dismantled the parliament and seized full control over the state. Although Ulmanis resorted to repression, in the public eye, he appeared as a guarantor of stability in the years leading up to World War II. The Ulmanis period remains a symbol of economic and cultural prosperity for many Latvians. Living standards in Latvia were one of the highest in Europe at that time.
Loss of Independence (1940)
On the first of September in 1939, World War II started when Germany invaded Poland. Subsequently, Soviet military forces invaded Poland from the East. On 2 October, the USSR demanded that Latvia turn over control of its military ports, air fields and other military infrastructure in three days, to meet the needs of the Red Army. Lithuania, Estonia and Finland also received similar demands. Soviet leaders stated they would not interfere with national domestic affairs and that their demands were merely a preventive measure, to ensure that neighbouring territories not be used as a springboard against the USSR.
The three Baltic countries, including Latvia, conceded to Soviet demands. On 5 October, a bilateral pact between Latvia and the USSR was signed and Soviet military forces exceeding the size of the Latvian National Army entered the nation. Finland refused Soviet demands and on 30 November, the USSR started the military actions against Finland, beginning the Winter War.
Although Soviet forces occupied Latvia, the nation remained independent until June of 1940. During that month, Germany defeated France and almost all of continental Europe had fallen under control of the Germans. The Baltic countries were the last undivided continental territory, apart from the Balkans.
On 16 June, the USSR laid down a new ultimatum for Latvia to dismiss the government, hostile to the Soviet Union and form a new government under control of representatives of the USSR.
President Ulmanis accepted the ultimatum and addressed the nation to remain calm. His speech was finalized with the well-known phrase stay where you are, and I stay where I am. On 17 June, new subdivisions of the Soviet military forces entered Latvia with little outward protest. Ulmanis was deported shortly afterward. On 21 June, a new Soviet-friendly government was formed, and on 14-15 July, nationwide elections took place in all of the Baltic states, resulting in a total victory for the sole communist party. The newly-elected Supreme Councils of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia sent an address to the USSR Supreme Council asking for permission to join the USSR, which happened on 5 August.
The Soviet reign in Latvia began according to tested methodology, where the Soviets sought to pull up the bourgeois Baltics to Stalinist USSR standards. Thus counter-revolutionary elements were eradicated, and property nationalization and collectivization took place. A week before the war started on 14 June, the first mass deportation was organized, and nearly 15 thousand people were deported to Siberia. Many more people were either killed or displaced between June 1940 and June 1941, when the Nazi Germans invaded. Many of the locals welcomed the German army as liberators from the terror they had suffered.
Latvia during the war (1941-1945)
On 22 June, 1941 Germany attacked the USSR. In a week and a half, the territory of Latvia fell under control of Germany and remained there until July of 1944. Nearly 90 thousand people in Latvia were murdered during this time. Starting in July of 1941, voluntary police detachments formed. A subsidiary SS union exterminated 30 thousand Jews. In February 1943, Hitler ordered the formation of a Latvian SS legion. 94 thousand people were called to the legion.
In July and August of 1944, the Red Army and a Latvian corps, freed most of Latvia from the Germans, except for the so-called Kurzeme Cauldron. The Kurzeme Cauldron consisted of most of western Latvia, including the important ports of Ventspils and Liepaja. This area remained under German control until May of 1945. The units defending it, including the Latvian legion, put their weapons down only after the fall of Berlin and Germanys total capitulation. Latvian legion soldiers saw themselves as fighting not for Germany, but rather for the continued hope of an independent Latvian state. Their defence of the Kurzeme Cauldron allowed 130 people from Latvia to escape by boat.
During the Yalta conference, USSR borders were registered according to their situation in June 1941. Thus the Allies allowed the Baltics to be reabsorbed into USSR.
Soviet Latvia (1944-1991)
After the war was over, Sovietization policies continued in Latvia. In March of 1949, Latvians suffered another mass deportation to Siberia. Small groups of partisans called forest brothers and sisters continued to fight for a free Latvian republic until 1956.
From the 1960s until the 1980s, Latvia developed as a member of the USSR, and became a model Soviet country. Thanks to their outstanding services in building socialism, many Soviet Latvian party leaders were promoted to work in Moscow.
During the Soviet period, many people from other Soviet republics were brought to work in Latvia. Thus, the percentage of the Latvian population decreased from 75% in 1935 to approximately 53% in the 1970s.
Restoration of independence
The Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev implemented Perestroika (restructuring) policies in 1987, causing different political movements to blossom. The first National Front Congress took place in Latvia in October 1988. National Front, in Latvia as well as in other Soviet territories, was primarily a democratic anti-totalitarianism movement. Thus much of the Russian population of Latvia took part in it, and it was supported by democrats from Russia. National Front programs stated that Latvian citizenship in an independent Latvia would be given to all who lived there (the zero variant).
After the failed Soviet coup, Russian president Boris Yeltsin signed an independence decree for the three Baltic Republics on 24 August, 1991. Unfortunately, when the leaders of the National Front gained power and Latvia gained independence, the situation changed and only those people who (or whose ancestors) were citizens of Latvia on 17 June 1940, gained citizenship. Suddenly, ethnic Russians, many of whom had allied alongside Latvians in the fight for independence, had to reprove their reliability in order to become naturalized citizens. Citizenship issues became one of the reasons for the segmentation of Latvian society into Latvian and Russian spheres.
Modern Latvia (Starting with August 1991)
In the years following the restoration of Latvian independence, Latvia has rapidly undertaken serious economic reforms, privatized businesses and returned property to former owners. The currency (Lat) has been stable since 1993, and the economy maintains a 5-7% yearly growth.
Latvia has plotted a course to move away from Russian influence and integrate into Europe. In 1995, the last divisions of the Russian army left Latvia, and in 2004, Latvia became a member of the EU and NATO.
