Leader of Latvia
109-454: Government Later life and death Family Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis ( Latvian: [ˈkaːrlis ˈɑuɡusts ˈvilxɛlms ˈuɫmɑnis] ; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician and a dictator . He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre- World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from November 1918 to June 1940 and served as
218-454: A temperate seasonal climate . Its capital and largest city is Riga . Latvians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian . Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian as their native tongue. After centuries of Teutonic , Swedish , Polish-Lithuanian , and Russian rule,
327-473: A Finnic language. In the 12th century in the territory of Latvia, there were lands with their rulers: Vanema , Ventava , Bandava , Piemare , Duvzare , Sēlija , Koknese , Jersika , Tālava and Adzele . Although the local people had contact with the outside world for centuries, they became more fully integrated into the European socio-political system in the 12th century. The first missionaries, sent by
436-453: A Latvian Latvia the question of minorities will not exist. ... This means that once and for all we renounce unreservedly bourgeois-liberal prejudice on the national question, we renounce historical, humanistic, or other constraints in pursuit of our one true aim—the good of the Latvian nation. Our God, our belief, our life's meaning, our goal is the Latvian nation: whoever is against its welfare
545-532: A Soviet republic and seeking admission to the Soviet Union, which carried unanimously. This move violated the Latvian Constitution, which stipulated that a major change to the basic constitutional order could only be enacted after two-thirds of the electorate approved it via a plebiscite. Since Latvia seceded from the Soviet Union in 1990, it has argued on that basis that the resolution seeking admission to
654-421: A lecturer, Ulmanis moved to Houston , Texas . The dairy business he had bought there ran into financial difficulties. Ulmanis returned to Latvia from American exile in 1913, after being informed that it was now safe for political exiles to return due to the declaration of a general amnesty by Nicholas II of Russia . This safety was short-lived as World War I broke out one year later and Courland Governorate
763-516: A long time, his burial place was unknown. In 2011 Georgian media reported that Ulmanis may be buried in Gori City Cemetery, according to a former gravedigger who claimed that he was convoyed by KGB officers and had to dig the grave for Ulmanis. However, in 2017, Ulmanis' grand-nephew, Guntis Ulmanis, announced that the search had been called off as it was apparent the site would be impossible to find. Kārlis Ulmanis's legacy for Latvia and Latvians
872-817: A power vacuum was created by the Russian Revolution in 1917, followed by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany in March 1918, then the Allied armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918. On 18 November 1918, in Riga, the People's Council of Latvia proclaimed the independence of the new country and Kārlis Ulmanis was entrusted to set up a government and he took the position of prime minister. The General representative of Germany August Winnig formally handed over political power to
981-456: A prison camp established in the Karosta district of Liepāja . After several Social Democrats, such as Bruno Kalniņš , had been cleared of weapons charges by the courts, most of those imprisoned began to be released over time. Those convicted by the courts of treasonous acts, such as the leader of Pērkonkrusts Gustavs Celmiņš , remained behind bars for the duration of their sentences, three years in
1090-596: A ruling party, rubber-stamp parliament or a new ideology. It was a nonpartisan, personal, and paternalistic dictatorship in which Ulmanis—who called himself "the leader of the people"—claimed to do what he thought was best for Latvians. All political life was proscribed, while culture and economy were eventually organized into a type of corporate statism made popular during those years by Mussolini. Chambers of Professions were created, similar to Chambers of Corporations in other dictatorships. All political parties, including Ulmanis' own Farmers' Union , were outlawed. Part of
1199-728: A second resettlement scheme was agreed. The racially approved being resettled mainly in Poland, being given land and businesses in exchange for the money they had received from the sale of their previous assets. On 5 October 1939, Latvia was forced to accept a "mutual assistance" pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station between 25,000 and 30,000 troops on Latvian territory. State administrators were murdered and replaced by Soviet cadres. Elections were held with single pro-Soviet candidates listed for many positions. The resulting people's assembly immediately requested admission into
SECTION 10
#17328555448321308-660: A single Yiddish, Hebrew or Jewish publication. Latvianisation policies were followed in the area of education, cutting and removing subsidies for minority education. During Ulmanis' rule, education was strongly emphasized and literacy rates in Latvia reached high levels. Especially in eastern Latvia Latgale region however, education was actively used as a tool of assimilation of minorities. Many new schools were built, but they were Latvian schools and minority children were thus assimilated. Economic historians are divided as whether Latvia experienced economic stagnation or prosperity during
1417-545: A time when most of the world's economy was still suffering from the effects of the Great Depression , Latvia could point to increases in both gross national product ( GNP ) and in exports of Latvian goods overseas. This, however, came at the cost of liberty and civil rights. The policy of Ulmanis, even before his accession to power, was openly directed toward eliminating the minority groups from economic life and of giving Latvians of Latvian ethnicity access to all positions in
1526-658: A writer, lecturer, and manager in agricultural positions. He was politically active during the 1905 Revolution , was briefly imprisoned in Pskov , and subsequently fled Latvia to avoid incarceration by the Russian authorities. During this period of exile, he studied at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the United States as Karl August Ulmann, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture. After working briefly at that university as
1635-468: Is 1,866 km (1,159 mi). The total length of its land boundary is 1,368 km (850 mi), of which 343 km (213 mi) is shared with Estonia to the north, 276 km (171 mi) with the Russian Federation to the east, 161 km (100 mi) with Belarus to the southeast and 588 km (365 mi) with Lithuania to the south. The total length of its maritime boundary
1744-462: Is 498 km (309 mi), which is shared with Estonia, Sweden and Lithuania . Extension from north to south is 210 km (130 mi) and from west to east 450 km (280 mi). Most of Latvia's territory is less than 100 m (330 ft) above sea level . Its largest lake, Lubāns , has an area of 80.7 km (31.2 sq mi), its deepest lake, Drīdzis , is 65.1 m (214 ft) deep. The longest river on Latvian territory
1853-545: Is a complex one. In the postwar Latvian SSR the Soviet régime labelled Ulmanis a fascist , indistinguishable from the Nazis, accusing him of corruption and of bloody repressions against Latvian workers. Among the postwar Latvian émigrés of Latvian cultural background in exile, Ulmanis was idealised by many of those who viewed his 6-year authoritarian rule as a Golden Age of the Latvian nation. Some traditions created by Ulmanis, such as
1962-466: Is debatable. His party had never won more than 17 percent of the vote in any election and had seen its support steadily decline in the years since the 1922 constitutional convention. In the 1931 election , the Farmers' Union only won 12.2 percent of the vote, an all-time low. Some historians believe that one of the chief motives for the coup was his fear of losing even more votes in the upcoming elections. From
2071-637: Is now Latvia by the 1880s. The Young Latvians were largely eclipsed by the New Current , a broad leftist social and political movement, in the 1890s. Popular discontent exploded in the 1905 Russian Revolution , which took a nationalist character in the Baltic provinces . World War I devastated the territory of what became the state of Latvia, and other western parts of the Russian Empire. Demands for self-determination were initially confined to autonomy , until
2180-562: Is the Gauja , at 452 km (281 mi) in length. The longest river flowing through Latvian territory is the Daugava , which has a total length of 1,005 km (624 mi), of which 352 km (219 mi) is on Latvian territory. Latvia's highest point is Gaiziņkalns , 311.6 m (1,022 ft). The length of Latvia's Baltic coastline is 494 km (307 mi). An inlet of the Baltic Sea,
2289-642: The Battle of Daugavpils was a part of the Polish–Soviet War ). A freely elected Constituent assembly convened on 1 May 1920, and adopted a liberal constitution, the Satversme , in February 1922. The constitution was partly suspended by Kārlis Ulmanis after his coup in 1934 but reaffirmed in 1990. Since then, it has been amended and is still in effect in Latvia today. With most of Latvia's industrial base evacuated to
SECTION 20
#17328555448322398-867: The European Film Awards 2014 . On 1 July 2016, Latvia became a member of the OECD . In May 2023, the parliament elected Edgars Rinkēvičs as new President of Latvia , making him the European Union’s first openly gay head of state. After years of debates, Latvia ratified the EU Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence , otherwise known as the Istanbul Convention in November 2023. Latvia lies in Northern Europe, on
2507-684: The Freikorps formation Eiserne Division ("Iron Division"). Estonian and Latvian forces defeated the Germans at the Battle of Wenden in June 1919, and a massive attack by a predominantly German force—the West Russian Volunteer Army —under Pavel Bermondt-Avalov was repelled in November. Eastern Latvia was cleared of Red Army forces by Latvian and Polish troops in early 1920 (from the Polish perspective
2616-409: The Great Depression . Latvia showed signs of economic recovery, and the electorate had steadily moved toward the centre during the parliamentary period. On 15 May 1934, Ulmanis staged a bloodless coup , establishing a nationalist dictatorship that lasted until 1940. After 1934, Ulmanis established government corporations to buy up private firms with the aim of "Latvianising" the economy. Early in
2725-658: The Great Northern War (1700–1721), up to 40 percent of Latvians died from famine and plague. Half the residents of Riga were killed by plague in 1710–1711 . The capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710 and the Treaty of Nystad , ending the Great Northern War in 1721, gave Vidzeme to Russia (it became part of the Riga Governorate ). The Latgale region remained part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as Inflanty Voivodeship until 1772, when it
2834-856: The International Monetary Fund , the Nordic-Baltic Eight , the Nordic Investment Bank , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe , and the World Trade Organization . The name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians , one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes (along with Curonians , Selonians and Semigallians ), which formed
2943-590: The Iron Guard , and then moved to Finland . In 1938, he became the leader of Pērkonkrusts' "foreign contacts office". After the Soviet Union invaded Finland , Celmiņš enrolled as a volunteer on the Finnish side. When the conflict ended, he moved to Nazi Germany . In July 1941, after Operation Barbarossa , together with Nazi officials, Celmiņš returned to Latvia and briefly regained leadership of Pērkonkrusts . After
3052-548: The Latvian Auxiliary Police Battalions, known in German as Schutzmannschaften or simply Schuma . Aside from front-line combat duties, some of these battalions were also deployed in anti-partisan operations Latvia and Belarus that included the massacres of rural Jews and other civilians. This situation was not what Celmiņš had hoped for, and so he began to sabotage the recruitment efforts. Because of this, he
3161-612: The Latvian Constitution and civil liberties were suspended. All newspapers owned by political parties or organisations were closed and all publications were subjected to censorship and government oversight by the Ministry of Public Affairs led by Alfrēds Bērziņš. The army and the Aizsargi paramilitary were lavished with privileges. Ulmanis is often believed to have been a popular leader especially among farmers and ethnic Latvians. This
3270-463: The Latvian War of Independence of 1919–1920, a constitutional convention established Latvia as a parliamentary democracy in 1920. Ulmanis served as Prime Minister in several subsequent Latvian government administrations from 1918 to 1934. On the night of 15–16 May 1934, Ulmanis, with the support of Minister of War Jānis Balodis , proclaimed a state of war and dissolved all political parties and
3379-520: The Latvian people , speaking one Latvian language . Throughout all the centuries, however, an actual Latvian state had not been established, so the borders and definitions of who exactly fell within that group are largely subjective. Meanwhile, largely isolated from the rest of Latvia, southern Latgallians adopted Catholicism under Polish/ Jesuit influence. The native dialect remained distinct, although it acquired many Polish and Russian loanwords. During
Kārlis Ulmanis - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-715: The Order of Livonia , formed the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia . Though the duchy was a vassal state to the Lithuanian Grand Duchy and later of the Polish and Lithuanian commonwealth, it retained a considerable degree of autonomy and experienced a golden age in the 16th century. Latgalia , the easternmost region of Latvia, became a part of the Inflanty Voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In
3597-476: The Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe . It is one of the three Baltic states , along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 1.9 million. The country has
3706-578: The Riga Polytechnical Institute which had been evacuated to Moscow. After the October Revolution , he returned to Latvia. In 1918, Celmiņš enlisted into the newly created Latvian Army , and was promoted to lieutenant the following year, and was then appointed Latvian military attaché in Poland . In 1921, he was awarded the Order of Lāčplēsis . Retired from army in 1924, he worked in
3815-457: The Saeima (parliament). The bloodless coup was carried out by army and units of the national guard Aizsargi loyal to Ulmanis. They moved against key government offices, communications and transportation facilities. Many elected officials and politicians (almost exclusively Social Democrats , as well as figures from the extreme right and left) were detained, as were any military officers who resisted
3924-533: The Soviet Union , followed by the invasion and occupation by Nazi Germany in 1941 and the re-occupation by the Soviets in 1944, which formed the Latvian SSR for the next 45 years. As a result of extensive immigration during the Soviet occupation, ethnic Russians became the most prominent minority in the country. The peaceful Singing Revolution started in 1987 among the Baltic Soviet republics and ended with
4033-855: The Supreme Council in the March 1990 democratic elections . On 4 May 1990, the Supreme Council adopted the Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia , and the Latvian SSR was renamed Republic of Latvia. However, the central power in Moscow continued to regard Latvia as a Soviet republic in 1990 and 1991. In January 1991, Soviet political and military forces unsuccessfully tried to overthrow
4142-543: The coup d'etat . Some 2,000 Social Democrats were initially detained by the authorities, including most of the Social Democratic members of the disbanded Saeima, as were members of various right-wing radical organisations, such as Pērkonkrusts . In all, 369 Social Democrats, 95 members of Pērkonkrusts, pro-Nazi activists from the Baltic German community, and a handful of politicians from other parties were interned in
4251-467: The prewar currency . Albeit having experienced a difficult transition to a liberal economy and its re-orientation toward Western Europe, Latvia is one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union. In November 2013, the roof collapsed at a shopping center in Riga, causing Latvia’s worst post-independence disaster with the deaths of 54 rush hour shoppers and rescue personnel. In 2014, Riga
4360-620: The 17th and early 18th centuries, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden , and Russia struggled for supremacy in the eastern Baltic. After the Polish–Swedish War , northern Livonia (including Vidzeme) came under Swedish rule. Riga became the capital of Swedish Livonia and the largest city in the entire Swedish Empire. Fighting continued sporadically between Sweden and Poland until the Truce of Altmark in 1629. In Latvia,
4469-461: The German occupation authorities banned Pērkonkrusts a month later, Celmiņš continued his outward collaboration with the Germans in the hopes that sizable Latvian military formations would be created. From February 1942, he headed the Committee for Organising Latvian Volunteers ( Latvian : Latviešu brīvprātīgo organizācijas komiteja ), the main function of which was the recruitment of Latvian men for
Kārlis Ulmanis - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-466: The Germans, began to fight against the new occupier. Anywhere from 120,000 to as many as 300,000 Latvians took refuge from the Soviet army by fleeing to Germany and Sweden. Most sources count 200,000 to 250,000 refugees leaving Latvia, with perhaps as many as 80,000 to 100,000 of them recaptured by the Soviets or, during few months immediately after the end of war, returned by the West. The Soviets reoccupied
4687-607: The Latvian Provisional Government on 26 November. On 18 November, the Latvian People's Council entrusted him to set up the government. He took the office of Minister of Agriculture from 18 November to 19 December. He took a position of prime minister from 19 November 1918 to 13 July 1919. The war of independence that followed was part of a general chaotic period of civil and new border wars in Eastern Europe. By
4796-558: The Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea . The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium , trading local amber for precious metals. By 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia: Curonians , Latgalians , Selonians , Semigallians (in Latvian: kurši , latgaļi , sēļi and zemgaļi ), as well as the Finnic tribe of Livonians ( lībieši ) speaking
4905-437: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1925 to 1927. Celmiņš became the secretary of Minister of Foreign Affairs, and subsequently worked in the Finance Ministry. On 24 January 1932, the Latvian nationalist group Ugunskrusts [ lv ] was founded, and Gustavs Celmiņš was elected as its leader. After Ugunskrusts was banned, he founded the ultranationalistic organization Pērkonkrusts . Common for both organisations
5014-419: The Pope, sailed up the Daugava River in the late 12th century, seeking converts. The local people, however, did not convert to Christianity as readily as the Church had hoped. German crusaders were sent, or more likely decided to go of their own accord as they were known to do. Saint Meinhard of Segeberg arrived in Ikšķile , in 1184, traveling with merchants to Livonia , on a Catholic mission to convert
5123-521: The Protestant religion of the inhabitants. During the 19th century, the social structure changed dramatically. A class of independent farmers established itself after reforms allowed the peasants to repurchase their land, but many landless peasants remained, quite a lot Latvians left for the cities and sought for education, industrial jobs. There also developed a growing urban proletariat and an increasingly influential Latvian bourgeoisie . The Young Latvian ( Latvian : Jaunlatvieši ) movement laid
5232-427: The Red Army which helped the Germans. By 29 June Riga was reached and with Soviet troops killed, captured or retreating, Latvia was left under the control of German forces by early July. The occupation was followed immediately by SS Einsatzgruppen troops, who were to act in accordance with the Nazi Generalplan Ost that required the population of Latvia to be cut by 50 percent. Under German occupation, Latvia
5341-435: The Republic of Latvia authorities by occupying the central publishing house in Riga and establishing a Committee of National Salvation to usurp governmental functions. During the transitional period, Moscow maintained many central Soviet state authorities in Latvia. The Popular Front of Latvia advocated that all permanent residents be eligible for Latvian citizenship, however, universal citizenship for all permanent residents
5450-461: The SS left the prisoners behind. He was liberated by the Fifth U.S. Army on 5 May 1945. After World War II , he lived in Italy, where he published the newspaper Brīvā Latvija . In 1947, he published the autobiographic book Eiropas krustceļos ("At the Crossroads of Europe"). In 1949, he emigrated to the United States . From 1950 to 1952 he was an instructor at Syracuse University 's Armed Forces school in New York state, and beginning in 1951 he
5559-405: The Soviet KGB. 'The publication, which followed two decades of public debate and the passage of a special law, revealed the names, code names, birthplaces and other data on active and former KGB agents as of 1991, the year Latvia regained its independence from the Soviet Union.' In the second half of the 1980s, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev started to introduce political and economic reforms in
SECTION 50
#17328555448325668-409: The Soviet Union that were called glasnost and perestroika . In the summer of 1987, the first large demonstrations were held in Riga at the Freedom Monument —a symbol of independence. In the summer of 1988, a national movement, coalescing in the Popular Front of Latvia , was opposed by the Interfront . The Latvian SSR, along with the other Baltic Republics was allowed greater autonomy, and in 1988,
5777-465: The Soviet Union was illegal. It further maintains that the People's Saeima was elected in accordance with an illegal and unconstitutional election law, rendering all of its acts void. Also on 21 July, Ulmanis was forced to resign as president; Kirhenšteins took over the presidency and oversaw the final stages of integrating Latvia into the Soviet Union. Ulmanis asked the Soviet government for a pension and permission to emigrate to Switzerland . Instead, he
5886-555: The Soviet sphere. A week later, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland ; on 17 September, the Soviet Union invaded Poland as well . After the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, most of the Baltic Germans left Latvia by agreement between Ulmanis's government and Nazi Germany under the Heim ins Reich programme. In total 50,000 Baltic Germans left by the deadline of December 1939, with 1,600 remaining to conclude business and 13,000 choosing to remain in Latvia. Most of those who remained left for Germany in summer 1940, when
5995-466: The Swedish period is generally remembered as positive; serfdom was eased, a network of schools was established for the peasantry, and the power of the regional barons was diminished. Several important cultural changes occurred during this time. Under Swedish and largely German rule, western Latvia adopted Lutheranism as its main religion. The ancient tribes of the Couronians, Semigallians, Selonians, Livs, and northern Latgallians assimilated to form
6104-594: The USSR, which the Soviet Union granted. Latvia, then a puppet government, was headed by Augusts Kirhenšteins . The Soviet Union incorporated Latvia on 5 August 1940, as the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic . The Soviets dealt harshly with their opponents – prior to Operation Barbarossa , in less than a year, at least 34,250 Latvians were deported or killed. Most were deported to Siberia where deaths were estimated at 40 percent. On 22 June 1941, German troops attacked Soviet forces in Operation Barbarossa. There were some spontaneous uprisings by Latvians against
6213-461: The Ulmanis regime. The state assumed a larger role in the economy and state capitalism was introduced by purchasing and uniting smaller competing private companies into larger state enterprises. This process was controlled by Latvijas Kredītbanka [ lv ] , a state bank established in 1935. Many large-scale building projects were undertaken—new schools, administrative buildings, Ķegums Hydroelectric Power Station . Due to an application of
6322-428: The West. There was a pause in fighting, apart from partisan activity, until after the siege of Leningrad ended in January 1944, and the Soviet troops advanced, entering Latvia in July and eventually capturing Riga on 13 October 1944. More than 200,000 Latvian citizens died during World War II, including approximately 75,000 Latvian Jews murdered during the Nazi occupation. Latvian soldiers fought on both sides of
6431-419: The anti-Soviet partisan activity. Between 136,000 and 190,000 Latvians, depending on the sources, were imprisoned or deported to Soviet concentration camps (the Gulag ) in the post-war years from 1945 to 1952. In the post-war period, Latvia was made to adopt Soviet farming methods. Rural areas were forced into collectivization . An extensive program to impose bilingualism was initiated in Latvia, limiting
6540-408: The capital of Latvia, is named after him ( Kārļa Ulmaņa gatve , previously named after Ernst Thälmann ). In 2003, a monument of Ulmanis was unveiled in a park in Riga centre. Not much is known about the personal life of Ulmanis. It is known that he never married and there are no records of him dating anyone. When once asked about why he was not married or did not have a significant other, his response
6649-462: The case of Celmiņš. For the next four years, Ulmanis ruled by decree, without a parliament. A decree vested the Saeima's functions in the cabinet until a new constitution could be drafted. Although the incumbent State President Alberts Kviesis did not support the coup, he remained in office and collaborated with Ulmanis. On 19 March 1936 Ulmanis' cabinet drafted a law that provided for Ulmanis to become State President as well as Prime Minister upon
SECTION 60
#17328555448326758-595: The conflict, mainly on the German side, with 140,000 men in the Latvian Legion of the Waffen-SS , The 308th Latvian Rifle Division was formed by the Red Army in 1944. On occasions, especially in 1944, opposing Latvian troops faced each other in battle. In the 23rd block of the Vorverker cemetery, a monument was erected after the Second World War for the people of Latvia who had died in Lübeck from 1945 to 1950. In 1944, when Soviet military advances reached Latvia, heavy fighting took place in Latvia between German and Soviet troops, which ended in another German defeat. In
6867-413: The country in 1944–1945, and further deportations followed as the country was collectivised and Sovietised . On 25 March 1949, 43,000 rural residents (" kulaks ") and Latvian nationalists were deported to Siberia in a sweeping Operation Priboi in all three Baltic states , which was carefully planned and approved in Moscow already on 29 January 1949. This operation had the desired effect of reducing
6976-479: The country's first prime minister . He served four times as prime minister, the last time as the head of an authoritarian regime , during which he subsequently also adopted the title of President of Latvia . The legacy of his dictatorship continues to divide public opinion in Latvia today. Born in a prosperous farming family, Ulmanis studied agriculture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and at Leipzig University . He then worked in Latvia as
7085-481: The country's formative years. With regard to the authoritarian period, opinions diverge, however. On the one hand, it is possible to credit Ulmanis for the rise of ethnic Latvians' economic prosperity during the 1930s, and stress that under his rule there was not the same level of militarism or mass political oppression that characterized other dictatorships of the day. On the other hand, historians such as Ulmanis' biographer Edgars Dunsdorfs [ lv ] are of
7194-451: The course of the war, both occupying forces conscripted Latvians into their armies, in this way increasing the loss of the nation's "live resources". In 1944, part of the Latvian territory once more came under Soviet control. The Soviets immediately began to reinstate the Soviet system. After the German surrender, it became clear that Soviet forces were there to stay, and Latvian national partisans , soon joined by some who had collaborated with
7303-563: The eastern shores of the Baltic Sea and northwestern part of the East European Craton (EEC), between latitudes 55° and 58° N (a small area is north of 58°), and longitudes 21° and 29° E (a small area is west of 21°). Latvia has a total area of 64,559 km (24,926 sq mi) of which 62,157 km (23,999 sq mi) land, 18,159 km (7,011 sq mi) agricultural land, 34,964 km (13,500 sq mi) forest land and 2,402 km (927 sq mi) inland water. The total length of Latvia's boundary
7412-411: The economics of comparative advantage , the United Kingdom and Germany became Latvia's major trade partners, while trade with the USSR was reduced. The economy, especially the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, was micromanaged to an extreme degree. Ulmanis nationalised many industries. This resulted in rapid economic growth, during which Latvia attained a very high standard of living. At
7521-888: The ethnic Latvian population had fallen to 62%. Since Latvia had maintained a well-developed infrastructure and educated specialists, Moscow decided to base some of the Soviet Union's most advanced manufacturing in Latvia. New industry was created in Latvia, including a major machinery factory RAF in Jelgava , electrotechnical factories in Riga , chemical factories in Daugavpils , Valmiera and Olaine —and some food and oil processing plants. Latvia manufactured trains, ships, minibuses, mopeds, telephones, radios and hi-fi systems, electrical and diesel engines, textiles, furniture, clothing, bags and luggage, shoes, musical instruments, home appliances, watches, tools and equipment, aviation and agricultural equipment and long list of other goods. Latvia had its own film industry and musical records factory (LPs). However, there were not enough people to operate
7630-403: The ethnic core of modern Latvians together with the Finnic Livonians . Henry of Latvia coined the latinisations of the country's name, "Lettigallia" and "Lethia", both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the country's name in Romance languages from "Letonia" and in several Germanic languages from "Lettland". Around 3000 BC, the Proto-Baltic ancestors of
7739-423: The expiration of Kviesis' term. This clearly violated the Constitution, which stipulated that the chairman of the Saeima would become acting president pending new elections. However, no one dared object. When Kviesis left office on 11 April 1936, Ulmanis combined the offices of president and prime minister. The Ulmanis regime was unique among other European dictatorships of the interwar period. Ulmanis did not create
7848-524: The former Soviet block state and was active in Latvia joining both NATO and the European Union in 2004. Latvia signed the Schengen agreement on 16 April 2003 and started its implementation on 21 December 2007. Approximately 72% of Latvian citizens are Latvian, while 20% are Russian. The government denationalized private property confiscated by the Soviets, returning it or compensating the owners for it, and privatized most state-owned industries, reintroducing
7957-641: The groundwork for nationalism from the middle of the century, many of its leaders looking to the Slavophiles for support against the prevailing German-dominated social order. The rise in use of the Latvian language in literature and society became known as the First National Awakening . Russification began in Latgale after the Polish led the January Uprising in 1863: this spread to the rest of what
8066-463: The independent Republic of Latvia was established on 18 November 1918 after breaking away from the German Empire in the aftermath of World War I . The country became increasingly autocratic after the coup in 1934 established the dictatorship of Kārlis Ulmanis . Latvia's de facto independence was interrupted at the outset of World War II , beginning with Latvia's forcible incorporation into
8175-400: The interior of Russia in 1915, radical land reform was the central political question for the young state. In 1897, 61.2% of the rural population had been landless; by 1936, that percentage had been reduced to 18%. By 1923, the extent of cultivated land surpassed the pre-war level. Innovation and rising productivity led to rapid growth of the economy, but it soon suffered from the effects of
8284-588: The largest port in the Russian Empire), railways built; new factories, banks, and a university were established; many residential, public (theatres and museums), and school buildings were erected; new parks formed; and so on. Riga's boulevards and some streets outside the Old Town date from this period. Numeracy was also higher in the Livonian and Courlandian parts of the Russian Empire, which may have been influenced by
8393-422: The laws and judge for themselves what justice is. As a result, the economic and cultural influence of minorities— Germans , Jews , Russians , Poles —declined. Latvia's first full-length sound movie Fishermans' Son [ lv ] (1939) was a tale of a young fisherman who tries to free other local fishermen from the power of a middleman and shows them that the future lies in cooperative work. The movie
8502-477: The morning of 24 August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a 10-year non-aggression pact, called the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . The pact contained a secret protocol, revealed only after Germany's defeat in 1945, according to which the states of Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into German and Soviet " spheres of influence ". In the north, Latvia, Finland and Estonia were assigned to
8611-491: The national economy. This was sometimes referred to as " Lettization ". According to some estimates, about 90% of the banks and credit establishments in Latvia were state-owned or under Latvian management in 1939, against 20% in 1933. Alfrēds Birznieks , the minister of agriculture, in a speech delivered in Ventspils on 26 January 1936, said: Latvian people are the only masters of this country; Latvians will themselves promulgate
8720-484: The newly built factories. To maintain and expand industrial production, skilled workers were migrating from all over the Soviet Union, decreasing the proportion of ethnic Latvians in the republic. The population of Latvia reached its peak in 1990 at just under 2.7 million people. In late 2018 the National Archives of Latvia released a full alphabetical index of some 10,000 people recruited as agents or informants by
8829-508: The next month, Ulmanis cooperated with the Soviets. He resigned as prime minister three days after the coup, and appointed a left-wing government headed by Augusts Kirhenšteins —which, in truth, had been chosen by the Soviet embassy. Soviet-controlled elections for a " People's Saeima " were held on 14–15 July, in which voters were presented with a single list from a Communist-dominated alliance. The new "People's Saeima" met on 21 July with only one order of business—a resolution proclaiming Latvia
8938-670: The old pre-war Flag of Latvia flew again, replacing the Soviet Latvian flag as the official flag in 1990. In 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a resolution on the Occupation of the Baltic states , in which it declared the occupation "not in accordance with law", and not the "will of the Soviet people". Pro-independence Popular Front of Latvia candidates gained a two-thirds majority in
9047-446: The population from their original pagan beliefs. Pope Celestine III had called for a crusade against pagans in Northern Europe in 1193. When peaceful means of conversion failed to produce results, Meinhard plotted to convert Livonians by force of arms. At the beginning of the 13th century, Germans ruled large parts of what is currently Latvia. The influx of German crusaders in the present-day Latvian territory especially increased in
9156-516: The population. They have no citizenship of any country , and cannot participate in the parliamentary elections. Children born to non-nationals after the re-establishment of independence are automatically entitled to citizenship. The Republic of Latvia declared the end of the transitional period and restored full independence on 21 August 1991, in the aftermath of the failed Soviet coup attempt . Latvia resumed diplomatic relations with Western states, including Sweden. The Saeima , Latvia's parliament,
9265-504: The president of Latvia. Latvia – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green) – [ Legend ] Latvia ( / ˈ l æ t v i ə / LAT -vee-ə , sometimes / ˈ l ɑː t v i ə / LAHT -vee-ə ; Latvian : Latvija Latvian pronunciation: [ˈlatvija] ), officially
9374-523: The region, which shaped many loanwords in the Latvian language. After the Livonian War (1558–1583), Livonia (Northern Latvia & Southern Estonia) fell under Polish and Lithuanian rule. The southern part of Estonia and the northern part of Latvia were ceded to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and formed into the Duchy of Livonia ( Ducatus Livoniae Ultradunensis ). Gotthard Kettler , the last Master of
9483-652: The restoration of both de facto and official independence on 21 August 1991. Latvia has since been a democratic unitary parliamentary republic . Latvia is a developed country with a high-income , advanced economy ranking 39th in the Human Development Index . It is a member of the European Union , Eurozone , NATO , the Council of Europe , the United Nations , the Council of the Baltic Sea States ,
9592-831: The second half of the 13th century following the decline and fall of the Crusader States in the Middle East . Together with southern Estonia, these conquered areas formed the crusader state that became known as Terra Mariana ( Medieval Latin for "Land of Mary ") or Livonia. In 1282, Riga, and later the cities of Cēsis , Limbaži , Koknese and Valmiera , became part of the Hanseatic League . Riga became an important point of east–west trading and formed close cultural links with Western Europe . The first German settlers were knights from northern Germany and citizens of northern German towns who brought their Low German language to
9701-513: The serfs took place in Courland in 1817 and in Vidzeme in 1819. In practice, however, the emancipation was actually advantageous to the landowners and nobility, as it dispossessed peasants of their land without compensation, forcing them to return to work at the estates "of their own free will". During these two centuries Latvia experienced economic and construction boom – ports were expanded (Riga became
9810-557: The shallow Gulf of Riga is situated in the northwest of the country. Gustavs Celmi%C5%86%C5%A1 Gustavs Celmiņš (April 1, 1899 – April 10, 1968) was a Latvian politician, who was the founder of the ultranationalist , anti-German , anti-Slavic , and antisemitic political party Pērkonkrusts . He was educated at the commerce school of the Riga Stock Exchange , and graduated in Moscow . In 1917, he began studies at
9919-402: The so-called Friendly invitation [ lv ] , a charitable donations to one's former school, continued to be upheld. In independent Latvia today, Ulmanis remains a popular, if also controversial figure. Many Latvians view him as a symbol of Latvia's independence in pre-World War II Latvia, and historians are generally in agreement about his positive early role as prime minister during
10028-780: The spring of 1919, there were actually three governments: the Provisional government headed by Kārlis Ulmanis , supported by the Tautas padome and the Inter-Allied Commission of Control ; the Latvian Soviet government led by Pēteris Stučka , supported by the Red Army ; and the Provisional government headed by Andrievs Niedra , supported by Baltic-German forces composed of the Baltische Landeswehr ("Baltic Defence Force") and
10137-437: The time of his coup until his demise, for obvious reasons, no reliable voting or popularity statistics were available. Ulmanis was a Latvian nationalist , who espoused the slogan "Latvia for Latvians" which meant that Latvia was to be a Latvian nation state , not a multinational state with traditional Baltic German elites and Jewish entrepreneurial class. At the same time, the slogan "Latvia's sun shines equally over everyone"
10246-468: The use of Latvian language in official uses in favor of using Russian as the main language. All of the minority schools (Jewish, Polish, Belarusian, Estonian, Lithuanian) were closed down leaving only two media of instructions in the schools: Latvian and Russian. An influx of new colonists, including laborers, administrators, military personnel and their dependents from Russia and other Soviet republics started. By 1959 about 400,000 Russian settlers arrived and
10355-408: The view that someone who disbanded Parliament and adopted authoritarian rule cannot be regarded as a positive figure, even if that rule was in some terms a prosperous one. One sign that Ulmanis was still very popular in Latvia during the first years of regained independence was the election of his grand-nephew Guntis Ulmanis as President of Latvia in 1993. One of the major traffic routes in Riga,
10464-451: Was "I am married to Latvia, and that is enough for me." During his lifetime, there were rumors over his sexuality, with some claims that he might have been homosexual . The rumors were fueled by Ulmanis' close relationships with two of his male employees, as well as Ulmanis himself not giving any information about his personal life. He did not have any offspring, although his brother did, with Ulmanis' grandnephew Guntis Ulmanis later becoming
10573-578: Was administered as part of Reichskommissariat Ostland . Latvian paramilitary and Auxiliary Police units established by the occupation authority participated in the Holocaust and other atrocities. 30,000 Jews were shot in Latvia in the autumn of 1941. Another 30,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto were killed in the Rumbula Forest in November and December 1941, to reduce overpopulation in the ghetto and make room for more Jews being brought in from Germany and
10682-520: Was again elected in 1993. Russia ended its military presence by completing its troop withdrawal in 1994 and shutting down the Skrunda-1 radar station in 1998. The major goals of Latvia in the 1990s, to join NATO and the European Union , were achieved in 2004. The NATO Summit 2006 was held in Riga. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was President of Latvia from 1999 until 2007. She was the first female head of state in
10791-707: Was also the director of the Foreign Language program for the US Air Force , and a television lecturer about the USSR and communism. From 1954 to 1956 he worked as a manufacturer in Mexico . Between 1956 and 1958 he was a librarian at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas . In 1959 he became a professor of Russian studies at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas. He died on April 10, 1968, in San Antonio, Texas. In
10900-680: Was arrested and sent to Stavropol in Russian SFSR , where he worked in his original profession as an agronom for a year. After the start of Operation Barbarossa , he was imprisoned in July 1941. A year later, as German armies were closing in on Stavropol, he and other inmates were evacuated to prison in Krasnovodsk, Turkmen SSR (present-day Türkmenbaşy in Turkmenistan ). On the way there, he contracted dysentery and soon died on 20 September 1942. For
11009-527: Was based on a widely popular novel written by Vilis Lācis who in 1940 became the Prime Minister of the Soviet-occupied Latvian SSR . On 23 August 1939 Adolf Hitler 's Germany and Joseph Stalin 's USSR signed a non-aggression agreement, known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , which contained a secret addendum (revealed only in 1945), dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Latvia
11118-639: Was incorporated into Russia. The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia , a vassal state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , was annexed by Russia in 1795 in the Third Partition of Poland , bringing all of what is now Latvia into the Russian Empire . All three Baltic provinces preserved local laws, German as the local official language and their own parliament, the Landtag . The emancipation of
11227-715: Was later transferred to a job as a minor clerk within the occupation administration. Pērkonkrusts members working within the SD apparatus in occupied Latvia would feed Celmiņš information, some of which he would include in his underground, anti-German publication Brīvā Latvija . This eventually led to Celmiņš and his associates being arrested by the Gestapo in 1944, with Celmiņš ending up imprisoned in Flossenbürg concentration camp . In late April 1945, he was, together with other prominent concentration camp inmates, transferred to Tyrol where
11336-591: Was not adopted. Instead, citizenship was granted to persons who had been citizens of Latvia on the day of loss of independence in 1940 as well as their descendants. As a consequence, the majority of ethnic non-Latvians did not receive Latvian citizenship since neither they nor their parents had ever been citizens of Latvia, becoming non-citizens or citizens of other former Soviet republics. By 2011, more than half of non-citizens had taken naturalization exams and received Latvian citizenship, but in 2015 there were still 290,660 non-citizens in Latvia, which represented 14.1% of
11445-468: Was partially occupied by Germany in 1915. In the last stages of World War I, he founded the Latvian Farmers' Union , one of the two most prominent political parties in Latvia at that time. Ulmanis was one of the principal founders of the People's Council , which proclaimed Latvia's independence on 18 November 1918, with Ulmanis as the Prime Minister of the first Provisional government of Latvia . After
11554-526: Was that they advocated a national revolution for a radical re-organisation of society, politics, and the economy in Latvia. Following the 1934 Latvian coup d'état , Celmiņš was arrested and imprisoned for three years. He was exiled from Latvia in 1937. Celmiņš moved to Italy , then Switzerland . While in Zürich , he was arrested and then banished from Switzerland. He later lived in Romania , where he had contacts with
11663-629: Was the European Capital of Culture , Latvia joined the eurozone and adopted the EU single currency euro as the currency of the country and Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis was named vice-president of the European Commission . In 2015 Latvia held the presidency of Council of the European Union . Big European events have been celebrated in Riga such as the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 and
11772-645: Was thereby assigned to the Soviet sphere. Following a Soviet ultimatum in October 1939, Ulmanis signed the Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty and allowed the formation of Soviet military bases in Latvia. On 17 June 1940 Latvia was completely occupied by the Soviet Union . Rather than risk an unwinnable war, Ulmanis gave a nationwide radio address ordering no resistance to the Red Army, saying "I will remain in my place and you remain in yours". For
11881-534: Was used and no ethnic group was actively targeted. A limited number of German, Jewish and other minority press and organizations continued to exist as far as the limitations of authoritarian dictatorship permitted. Yiddish newspapers were hit particularly hard. In practice only the religious party Agudat Israel's newspaper Haint was not forbidden, while popular publications Dos Folk , Frimorgn , Riger Tog , and Naier Fraitik were closed. The official 1936 chamber of commerce list of newspapers and magazines does not list
#831168