A Brief History of Latvia

Latvia and the Latvian people have a heritage rich in culture and tradition.  Originally settled by ancient people known as the Balts, Latvia came under the control of the Vikings in the 9th Century and later in the 12th and 13th Centuries Latvia was Christianized by the German Knights of the Teutonic Order.  The city of Riga, which was founded in 1200 has been a hub of trade and commerce throughout the Baltic region for much of its 800 year history.

Because of its central location in the Baltic region, Latvia has long been sought after by its larger neighbors.  After German control of Latvia ended in 1562, Poland, Sweden, and Russia controlled parts or all of Latvia.  During these years of conquest and control, the Latvian people preserved their cultural identity and heritage, and in many instances retained a significant amount of autonomy to manage their internal affairs. 

Latvia was under Russian control from 1795 to 1918.  Latvia, like much of Europe during this time, was part of a cultural Renaissance that included great advances in the arts and sciences.  Although German and Russian were considered the languages of high society until the mid-1800's, the Latvian language which had served as the cornerstone of Latvian culture for centuries began a resurgence of use in literature and society in the late 1880's.  In the closing days of World War I, a nationalistic movement began achieving prominence in Latvia by supporting a position of broad autonomy within the Russian federation of states. Nationalism gained additional momentum when the Czars fell to the Bolsheviks in October, 1917 and complete freedom from Russia became a real possibility.  

With the country virtually overrun by the Soviets, Karlis Ulmanis established a free Latvian government in the port city of Liepaja.  At one point, the situation was so bleak that Ulmanis was forced to take refuge on a British warship, and survived only through the protection of the British fleet.  Also during this time, a Bolshevik government was declared in Riga by Peteris Stucka, with the support of the Soviet Union.  However, on May 22, 1919, a combined force of Latvians, Germans, and White Russian troops advanced on Riga, captured the city, and began a period of true independence that would last until 1940.

A constitutional convention was held in 1920 which established Latvia as a parliamentary democracy.  During the next twenty years Latvians excelled in the sciences, in the arts, and in other areas of culture.  Latvia joined the League of Nations, concluded treaties of neutrality with both the Soviet Union and Germany, and generally became a full participant in the European community then in existence.

With the rise of extremist dictatorships in both Germany and Italy, and the fear of the continued spread of communism, Ulmanis and his supporters staged a peaceful coup on May 14, 1934.  Following the coup, Ulmanis dissolved Parliament, ordered all political parties (including his own Agrarian Union) disbanded, and proceeded to govern with a personally selected cabinet of ministers.  The Latvian President, Alberts Kviesis, remained in office until his term expired in 1936, at which time Ulmanis merged the office of President and Prime Minister.

During this period of authoritarian rule, Ulmanis remained enormously popular and Latvia boasted a thriving economy and one of the highest literacy rates in Europe.  In fact, while much of the world was suffering from the Great Depression, Latvia's gross national product and the export of Latvian goods abroad both increased.

Although the Latvian people did not realize their fate had been sealed during their time of prosperity, a Friendship Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union signed on August 23, 1939 contained secret protocols that divided up Europe into spheres of influence.  When Germany began hostilities against Poland in September 1939, the Soviet Union demanded that the Latvian government allow the Red Army to establish bases within its territory.  Although the Latvian government reluctantly agreed on October 5, 1939 to allow 25,000 troops to be stationed at the bases, they continued to hope that the Soviets would allow them to remain an independent and cooperative neighbor.  Ulmanis; however, recognized the imminent threat, and on May 18, 1940, he issued orders to Karlis Zarins, the Latvian Ambassador to England, to act on Latvia's behalf should the Riga government become unable to do so.  

In early June, 1940, the ambassadors of each Baltic state were summoned to the Kremlin for a meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov.  Molotov notified each of the diplomats that the Soviet government had found them to be hostile to the USSR and that new governments needed to be formed to abide by the October 1939 agreement.  The Red Army crossed the Latvian border during the night of June 16-17 with an estimated 200,000 troops.  Within the month, Ulmanis was forced to appoint a new cabinet of ministers composed mainly of Soviet sympathizers.  On July 14, 1940, during hastily called elections controlled by the Soviets, a new Parliament of communist party members was elected.  The Parliament promptly asked for annexation by the USSR.  On July 21, 1940, President Ulmanis resigned from the government and was deported first to Moscow and later to Stavropol where he died in a Soviet prison at the age of 65.

Soviet domination was short lived as the advancing German army occupied the entire country in 1941.  Because of the harshness of the Soviet rule in Latvia, including mass deportations of thousands of people, many Latvians welcomed the Germans as liberators.  In fact, on the night of June 14, 1941, as many as 15,000 Latvians were pulled from their homes and their families and deported to Russian labor camps in Siberia.  As many as 34,000 Latvians were killed or deported during the 1940-41 occupation by the Red Army.

With the failure of the German offensive along the Eastern Front in 1942, and the Allied landings in Europe, the German authorities ordered the organization of a "Latvian Legion."  By July, 1944, a total of 148,000 individuals had served in the Latvian Legion, and nearly 13,000 Latvian soldiers had been killed, wounded, or listed as missing.  As the tide of the war continued to turn against the Germans, many Latvians hoped that the existence of an organized military force coupled with the support of the Western Allies would allow them to return to their pre-war way of life.  However as many as 150,000 Latvians, fearing the return of communism fled west with the retreating German army during the summer and fall of 1944.  By 1945 the population of Latvia was estimated to be 1.4 million (or nearly 50% of the original pre-war population). 

All hopes for a return to independence were dashed as the Allied powers concluded their Yalta conference.  Stalin won concessions from the both Churchill and an ailing Roosevelt which permitted the Soviets to retain "influence" over territory in Eastern Europe.  Latvia fell victim to both the Soviet occupation and Stalin's policy of "russification."  In an attempt to destroy Latvian national identity, more than 500,000 Russians and people of other nationalities were moved to Latvia to dilute the ethnic identity.  Russian became a compulsory subject in all schools and was required to conduct trade or survive in the workplace.  Ethnic Latvians effectively became second class citizens in their own country.

Although the war-weary Allies were willing to turn a blind eye to Stalin's attrocities and his attempts to russify the Baltic nations, most countries of the world, including the United States, refused to recognize the annexation of the Baltics into the Soviet Union.

The independence movement continued through the tumultous final years of the Soviet Union.  In elections for the Latvian Supreme Soviet in March, 1990, the Popular Front (which supported a free and independent Latvia) won 134 of 170 seats.  The renewal of the Republic of Latvia was proclaimed on May 4, 1990, but Moscow was not yet ready to relinquish its control.  Elite Soviet troops known as "black berets" maintained a high profile and were the source of great concern both in the Baltic nations and to observers around the world. 

In January, 1991, Black Beret troops seized several buildings in Riga.  In Vilnius, Lithuania, the Black Berets skirmished with civilians in a fight for the main radio and television facility, killing fourteen Lithuanians.  Although fears were high in Latvia that troops would end the drive for independence, an estimated 700,000 people took to the streets, erected barricades around important government buildings, and initiated street patrols.  Although the virtually unarmed citizenry posed little real threat to the Red Army, the symbolic and selfless gesture made by the citizenry galvanized support for independence throughout the Baltics and the rest of the world.

Latvia's formal declaration of independence came on August 21, 1991, followed by swift diplomatic recognition in Europe and the United States.  The Soviet Union officially recognized Latvian independence on September 6, 1991, and Latvia was formally admitted to the United Nations on September 17, 1991.

All Soviet/Russian troops were finally withdrawn from Latvian territory in 1994.

- Sources:  
Time Almanac 1999,
Andrejs Plakans, The Latvians:  A Short History (1995),
Walter C. Clemens, Jr., Baltic Independence and the Russian Empire (1991),
Anatol Lieven, The Baltic Revolution:  Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Path to Independence (1993).
Arthur Silgailis, Latvian Legion (1986)