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22-703: Its newspaper was Atmoda ("Awakening", cf. Latvian National Awakening ), printed in the Latvian and Russian languages during 1989-1992. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940–1941 , by Nazi Germany in 1941–1944 and again by the Soviet Union in 1944–1991 . In 1940, almost immediately an armed resistance started, which under the name of Forest Brothers continued until 1956. A chance to regain independence came in 1980s when Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to reform

44-456: A car accident when his official limousine was involved in a collision with a small bus. On 19 September 2008 he replaced Roger Taylor on drums during Queen + Paul Rodgers ' performance of " All Right Now " at a concert in Riga. Economic problems and corruption charges caused the popularity of Godmanis's government to plummet. In January 2009, anti-government protests turned into the worst riots

66-492: A moderate position, requesting wide autonomy for Latvia but stopping short of calling for independence. Tautas Fronte was supported by moderate members of the leadership of the Latvian SSR including head of state Anatolijs Gorbunovs , but opposed by hardline Communists. Tautas Fronte quickly grew to 250,000 members. Its goal was to create a wide coalition devoted to autonomy or independence of Latvia. As 48% of Latvia's population

88-468: A total print run of 165,000 in 1989. Atmoda, as a token of recognition of rights of Russians by PFL, was a ground of insinuations by competing more radical nationalist political parties, such as Latvian National Independence Movement , that PFL was ridden with Moscow KGB spies to control the national movement in Latvia. In January 1991, Communist functionaries occupied the national print house claiming it

110-732: The Front ceased to exist he moved to the Latvian Way party. In November 2006, following elections in which the Latvian Way in coalition with Latvia's First Party returned to Parliament, Godmanis became the Minister of the Interior. On 14 December 2007, Godmanis was nominated as prime minister by President Valdis Zatlers . He was approved by the parliament on 20 December, with 54 votes in favor and 43 in opposition. On 18 June 2008 he suffered head injuries in

132-681: The Popular Front of Latvia is located in its former offices, which are owned by the state, in Vecpilsētas iela 13/15 in Riga. Atmoda Atmoda ('Awakening' in Latvian ) was a weekly newspaper in Latvian SSR and Latvia issued from December 1988 to April 1992. It was published by the Popular Front of Latvia (PFL) and was the first independent, opposition paper in the Latvian SSR. The name of

154-449: The Soviet Union. In particular, Gorbachev's glasnost policy allowed more freedom of speech in the Soviet Union than ever before. Beginning in 1986, Latvians began to organise around specific causes. One of the first successes in challenging Moscow was the stoppage of the building of the 4th hydroelectric dam near Daugavpils on the Daugava , the main river in Latvia. This protest inspired

176-500: The Soviet period (for example, how Latvia had been occupied in 1940). The flag of Latvia which had been banned during the Soviet period was brought back. To summarise, a strong resurgence of Latvian national identity had started. This resurgence created several political organisations devoted to increased autonomy or independence for Latvia. The LTF was the biggest organisation. It was founded on 9 October 1988. Originally, Tautas Fronte took

198-420: The chairman of Tautas fronte, became the deputy speaker of parliament and his deputy, Ivars Godmanis , became the prime minister . Many other members of Tautas fronte took key positions in the government of Latvia. From May 1990 to August 1991, Latvia went through a tense period. Its independence was not recognised by the government of the Soviet Union and a military crackdown threatened by the Soviet government

220-628: The country restored its independence from the Soviet Union . Godmanis served as prime minister from 1990 to 1993, focusing primarily on Latvia's difficult economic transition from planned to market economy . In 1995 Godmanis was awarded the Order of the Three Stars . He later served as the Minister of Finance from 1998 to 1999. He was originally associated with the Latvian Popular Front , but after

242-634: The elections to the Supreme Soviet , the parliament of the Latvian SSR, on 18 March 1990. A pro-independence coalition, led by Tautas Fronte, won 138 out of 201 seats in the Supreme Soviet, more than the 2/3 majority needed to amend the Constitution. After the 1990 elections, Tautas fronte became the governing party in Latvia. On 4 May 1990, the first law passed by the new Supreme Soviet declared Latvia's intention to restore independence . Dainis Īvāns ,

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264-696: The formation of the Environmental Protection Club, which saw the environmentally driven protests as a channel through which to challenge the Soviet regime more broadly. Latvia's independence movement started with small demonstrations for independence and human rights in 1986. The first demonstrations, organised by Helsinki-86 , were, however, suppressed by the government of Latvian SSR . The breaking point came in summer 1988. Many prominent Latvians publicly announced their support for increased autonomy for Latvia. Latvian newspapers started writing about aspects of Latvian history which had been banned during

286-573: The newspaper is a reference to Latvian revival movements known as the Latvian National Awakenings . For most of its run, the chief editor of Atmoda was journalist Elita Veidemane , and its editorial policy was independent from the PFL leadership. The newspaper was issued in the Latvian and Russian languages, with the English edition Awakening being published every month. Initially issued under

308-498: The overall opinion within Tautas Fronte shifted from the autonomy of Latvia within the Soviet Union to full independence. On 31 May 1989, it announced that the government of the Soviet Union had not been sympathetic enough to Latvia gaining autonomy and an independent Latvia had become the only option. In 1989 and 1990, the first free elections were held in Latvia since Kārlis Ulmanis ' coup d'état in 1934 . The most important were

330-443: The political goals of Tautas fronte have been achieved. Latvia is now an independent country, with Latvian as the only official language. Its economy and politics, formerly socialist and oriented towards the Soviet Union, is now free-market and European-oriented. While Tautas fronte itself ceased to exist during the economic difficulties of the mid-1990s, many of its former activists have important roles in today's Latvia. The Museum of

352-466: The same name ( Russian : Атмода ), in 1990 the Russian edition was renamed to Baltijskoje vremja ( Russian : Балтийское время , 'The Baltic Times'). Many Russian people of culture and science in Latvia supported the PFL. The newspaper was popular not only in Latvia, but among the population of the Soviet Union , and the Russian edition peaked at 80,000 in circulation. The Latvian and Russian editions had

374-764: The unpopular government. In June 1993, Latvia held the first elections of the parliament since the restoration of independence. Weakened by economic difficulties and defections of many politicians, the Godmanis-led Tautas fronte received just 2.62% of the popular vote and gained no seats in the new parliament. It attempted to reinvent itself as a Christian democratic party and changed its name to Kristīgā Tautas partija ( Christian People's Party ) but without much success. Eventually, it merged with another party, Kristīgi demokrātiskā savienība ( Christian Democratic Union ). The People's Front finally dissolved itself on 9 October 1999 during its 9th congress. All or almost all

396-487: Was ethnically non-Latvian (mostly people who had moved to Latvia from other parts of the Soviet Union), Tautas Fronte reached out to ethnic minorities. In particular, it advocated school education in languages other than Latvian and Russian to attract the support of non-Russian minorities. At the same time, Tautas Fronte worked with more radical Latvian movements advocating the immediate independence of Latvia. Gradually,

418-718: Was finally recognised after the failure of the Soviet putsch in August 1991. The main political goal of Tautas fronte was thus achieved. It now faced a more difficult task: reforming the socialist economy of Latvia into a free-market system. The economic transition was very difficult, with the GDP of Latvia halving from 1990 to 1993. With the economy in severe decline, the popularity of the Godmanis cabinet declined. Many politicians left Tautas fronte and formed new political parties to avoid being associated with

440-735: Was generally feared. Several Soviet tanks appeared on the bank of the Daugava river in the Riga Old Town. Television networks broadcast footage of rifle shots being exchanged at night in Old Town on the evening of 13 January 1991. On the streets unarmed people built the Barricades and spent days and nights guarding them, singing Latvian songs. Because of this the independence movement is now known as "the Singing Revolution ". The independence of Latvia

462-477: Was party property, and Atmoda had to be printed in Šiauliai . Both foreign-language editions were discontinued in 1992. In 1993, a dispute erupted about the fate of mass media in the new independent state. PFL wanted to see Atmoda as an organ of party, while journalists stood on freedom of the press. This resulted in a court suit for the division of assets and the appearance of various splinter newspapers and magazines, notably Atmoda Atpūtā led by Veidemane which

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484-408: Was published until 1996. The last issue of Atmoda was published on April 7, 1992, although the information bulletin version of the paper was issued by the PFL until 1994. Ivars Godmanis Ivars Godmanis (born 27 November 1951) is a Latvian politician who served as the prime minister of Latvia from 1990 to 1993 and again from 2007 to 2009. He was the first prime minister of Latvia after

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