Latvian history
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Despite first gaining its independence in the 20th century, Latvia's history includes relevant facts that occurred in the territory of the present Republic of Latvia from prehistory to the present day. At this time, the territory was part of the USSR and was dominated by the Germans, Poles and Russians.
Old Latvia
During the Mesolithic (9000–5400 BC) permanent settlements of hunters and gatherers were established near rivers and lakes. 25 settlements have been found near Lake Lubāns. These people, from the Kunda Culture, made weapons and other tools from flints, horns, bones, and wood.
Neolithic Period
The early Neolithic (5400–4100 BC) was characterized by the appearance of ceramics, cattle raising, and agriculture.
During the Middle Neolithic (4100–2900 BC) the Narva Culture developed. The inhabitants in these times were Finic peoples, the ancestors of the Livonians, related to Estonians and Finns and belonging to the Comb Ceramic Culture. One of the most important communal cemeteries in Northern Europe was located on the shores of Lake Burtnieks, now in Latvia. The inhabitants back then wore amber jewelry. Around 2500 to 2200 BC the Kurgans arrived with Indo-European languages and the horse.
Baltic peoples
At the beginning of the Late Neolithic, a series of Baltic groups emerged among the Indo-European peoples. Their territory stretched from the Vistula River in the West, the Dniepr in the South, the entire Oka and Volga region now in Russia, and their territories adjoined those of the Finnic peoples in the North.
The Amber Route
The only amber known at that time in Eurasia came from the Baltic. The ancient Baltos of this time were active in the trade route (the amber route). Throughout the European continent, the Latvian coast was known as a place to obtain amber. Until well into the Middle Ages, amber was more valuable than gold; Latvian amber was known as far back as Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt and the Near East.
Baltic cultures, in turn, imported bronze and precious metals.
With the advent of iron tools during the early Iron Age (500 BC – 1st century AD) agriculture became much more effective and became the dominant economic activity. Imported bronze was used to produce various ornaments.
At the beginning of our era, the territory of present-day Latvia was known as a transit point. The famous "route from the Vikings to the Greeks", mentioned in ancient chronicles, stretched from Scandinavia, crossed Latvian territory by navigating the Daugava River to Kievan Rus, and from there continued along the Dnieper to reach the Black Sea and Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the Byzantine Empire.
In the 900s, the Baltos were ruled by tribal monarchies. Gradually, four tribal Baltic cultures formed: Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians and Semigallians (Latvian: kurši, latgaļi, sēļi and zemgaļi).
The largest of the tribes was the Latgalians, who were the most politically and socially advanced. In 1100 and 1200, the Curonians maintained military activities with invasions that included looting and pillaging, becoming known on the west coast of the Baltic Sea as the Baltic Vikings. Instead, the Selonians and Semgalians were known as peace-loving and prosperous farmers.
German period
Known primarily as Livonia, the area that is now Latvia came under the influence of the German Livonian Brothers of the Sword beginning in the century XIII.
Due to its strategic geographical location, Latvian territory has always been invaded by larger nations, and this situation has defined the fate of Latvia and its people.
In the late 1100s, Latvia was again visited by traders from Europe. In these years German merchants arrived. The Augustinian monk Meinhard of Holstein tried to found a bishopric in Riga, supported by the promise of German, Danish and Swedish trading troops. As the locals opposed it, he ended up settling in Uexküll, where he founded a church and promised the locals to build a fortress if they converted to Christianity.
The Baltos did not want to change their religion, and opposed Christianity. These news reached the ears of Pope Celestine III, who decided to undertake the Baltic Crusades.
The Germans of the Hanseatic League founded Riga in 1201, which gradually became the most attractive city on the Baltic Sea. With the arrival of the German crusaders, the old monarchies came to an end.
In the 11th century, a feudal confederation developed under German rule, which was called Livonia. Livonia included present-day Estonia and Latvia. In 1282 Riga and later Cēsis, Limbaži, Koknese and Valmiera were included in the Hanseatic League. Since then, Riga became an important point between East and West, becoming the center of the Eastern Baltic and forming great cultural links with the West.
The church controlled Riga while the rest of the region was under the rule of the men of the Order. In 1330 the military besieged the city. After holding out for six months and beginning to starve, the citizens had to surrender. The city had to accept the rule of the Order. The German Emperor Louis IV gave the go-ahead for such control.
Latvia under Sweden and Poland
The 16th century was a time of great change for Latvians, notable for the Reformation and the fall of Livonia after the Livonian War (1558-1583), passing into the hands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Lutheran faith was accepted in Kurzeme, Zemgale and Vidzeme, but the Catholic faith remained dominant in Latgale. Duchy of Courland in 1561-1795 was part of Poland, (Republic of the Two Nations).
By the Treaty of Vilna on November 28, 1561, the lands of the German order are divided in two: Gotthard Kettler, the last grand master of the order, ceded the sovereignty of Livonia to Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland, who in turn he recognized Kettler and his offspring as Duke of Courland and Semigala. The capital of the duchy became Mitau (now Jelgava).
Courland as colonizer
In the 1600s, the Duchy of Courland, once part of Livonia, experienced an economic boom.
The consolidation of the Latvian nation occurred in 1600, with the union of the Curonians, Latgalians, Selenians, Semgalians and Livonians (Finno-Ugrics, in Latvian: lībieši or līvi), becoming a culturally united and developed nation.
He established two colonies, one on an island in the Gambia estuary, which they called San Andrés Island where the Duke of Courland, Jacob Kettler, built a fort called Fort Jacob, and another in Tobago called New Courland. Jacob Island changed its name to James Island when it was transferred to England.
Swedish Time
In the Polish-Swedish War (1600-1629) Sweden took Riga in 1621. The city became the largest and most developed city in Sweden. During this time Vidzeme was known as "The Swedish Bread Box" because it supplied the Swedish empire with its wheat. The rest of Latvia remained Polish until the Second Partition of Poland in 1793 (Duchy of Courland), when it became part of the Russian Empire.
End of colonies
Duke James died in 1682 and his son, Frederick Casimir, followed as Frederick II. The duke took little interest in things of state and more in parties. He thoughtlessly spent his father's money and in the end, to pay off his debts, he sold Tobago to the British in 1689.
Swing between Russian and German powers
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After being conquered by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century and XIX, Russia gained control of Latvia and neighboring regions.
The German elite, which had supported Russia, was able to regain lost privileges. The schools that the Swedish King Charles XI had established in 1687 were closed. German nobles seized land that had been controlled by the Swedish crown. Only nobles could have possession of the land. Under Russian rule, the Latvian peasants once again became the property of their masters.
When Catherine I visited Latvia and saw the miserable living conditions of Latvian peasants, she ordered that certain rights be restored, although the law was hardly implemented.
In 1784 a new community tax was introduced, sparking numerous protests. Russian troops then marched into Livonia and deported many people to Siberia.
19th century
In 1888 a Russian police system with numerous spies and informers was imposed in the Baltic in order to crush any protest.
Tsar Alexander III, who came to power in 1881, again banned the use of Latvian in schools, and teachers and teachers who used German or Latvian had two years to learn Russian or stop teaching. Many of them ended up going into exile.
Even the University of Dorpat, in present-day Estonia, was transformed from an institution with qualified German teachers to one with poorly trained Russian teachers.
Despite all this, at the end of the 19th century Latvian literature flourished. The poet Andrejs Pumpurs recreated the national legend Lāčplēsis into a huge epic. Another poet of the time was Miķelis Krogzemis, also known as Auseklis, with his Gaisma Pils.
The prose was led by the brothers Reinis Kaudzīte and Matīss Kaudzīte. Another famous novelist was Rūdolfs Blaumanis.
Beginning of the 20th century
In 1905, due to the general revolt in Russia, the Baltic Germans managed to negotiate with the Moscow government to stop the process of Russification and instead establish German schools.
Even so in 1908-1909 another period of Russification returned, the use of Latvian in schools was prohibited and the use of German was controlled.
With the advent of World War I the Russian Tsar allowed Latvian conscripts to fly under a Latvian flag. Latvians said that there was little difference between serving the Kaiser or the Czar. Even so, the Latvian troops managed to stop the German advance on the Daugava line for a while.
With Russia devastated by revolution and World War I, Latvian nationalists proclaimed a republic on January 15, 1918, but German armies controlled the region. After the signing by Germany of the Compiègne armistice, the Latvians proclaimed the independence of Latvia on November 18, 1918.
Nonetheless, Germany received Allied support for some armed German groups to remain in Latvian territories, frustrating plans for a truly independent Latvian state. This was done with the aim of protecting the Baltic from the Russian Bolsheviks, who were already occupying regions in eastern Latvia, including Riga.
The German forces, the Baltische Landeswehr then began a dual struggle against the Russian Bolsheviks and the Baltic nationalists. Estonians came to the aid of the Latvian nationalists, and at the Battle of Wenden they defeated them.
At the Battle of Daugavpils, Polish armies supported Lithuania against the Red Army, scoring a decisive victory. On August 20, 1920, Soviet Russia would recognize Latvia's independence.
World War II
This period of independence was short-lived, as in 1939, shortly after the Soviet invasion of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were pressured by the Soviet Union to allow the establishment of military bases on their territories. The government of Latvia agreed on October 5 of that same year. On June 16, 1940, at the same time that Germany was conquering France, the Soviet Union invaded Latvia. President Kārlis Ulmanis was arrested and died in 1941 on his way to a prison in Turkmenistan. On August 5, Latvia was annexed to the Soviet Union under the name of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, beginning the "year of terror". This aggression was carried out in accordance with the Soviet-Nazi Pact (Ribbentrop Pact). -Molotov) of August 23, 1939.
On July 14-15, 1940, rigged elections were held in the Baltics. Only a list of candidates previously approved by the "People's Parliament" he was able to participate. The ballot papers had the following instructions: "Only the Latvian People's Party Bloc list should be voted on. The ballot must be deposited without changes." The supposed participation was 97.6%. The most curious thing about the case is that the complete results of the elections were published in Moscow twelve hours before the end of the elections. Soviet election documents later found showed that the results were entirely fictitious. Little Courts were established to punish "traitors of the people, those who had not fulfilled their political duty to vote for Latvia's entry into the USSR".
On July 10, 1941, German armies fully occupied Latvia, which was administered jointly with Lithuania and Estonia by the Reichskommissariat Ostland. The Nazis launched a campaign against Jews, Gypsies, and "communist elements". Many Lithuanians were recruited by the German army to fight on the Russian front (15th SS Grenadier Division).
When the tide of the war was reversed, the Soviets advanced into Latvia, capturing Riga on October 13, 1944. Many units of the German Army Group North were unable to withdraw in time and became trapped in Courland, forming the Courland Pocket. Courland then filled with German and Latvian soldiers, as well as civilians, who feared Soviet repression. Hitler never authorized the evacuation of Courland, and on May 9, 1945, Army Group Courland surrendered. However, some 150,000 Latvians escaped to Germany and Sweden by boat.
In 1944, when Soviet military advances reached the area, heavy fighting took place between German and Soviet troops, which ended in yet another defeat for the Germans. During the course of the war, both the German and Soviet forces conscripted Latvians into their armies, thus increasing the loss of "the living resources of the nation."
Soviet occupation since 1944
In 1944 Latvia once again came under Soviet control and Latvian partisans began their fight against the other occupant - the Soviet Union. 160,000 Latvians fled to Germany and Sweden. On March 25, 1949, 43,000 considered wealthy peasants ("kulaks") and Latvian patriots ("nationalists") were deported to Siberia in a repressive operation carried out in the three Baltic states., which was approved in Moscow on January 29, 1949. In total, 120,000 Latvians were imprisoned or deported to Soviet concentration camps (Gulag). Some managed to escape arrest and joined the partisans.
In the post-war period, Latvia was forced to adopt Soviet production methods and the economic infrastructure developed in the 1920s and 1930s was eradicated. Rural areas were forced into collectivization.
Changing demographics
The massive influx of workers, administrators, military personnel and their dependents from Russia and other republics of the USSR began. By 1952 the ethnic Latvian population had fallen to 54% and in Riga Latvians were just over a third of the population. In 1959 about 400,000 people arrived from other Soviet republics. and the ethnic Latvian population had fallen to 62%. [19] A comprehensive program to enforce bilingualism was started in Latvia, limiting the use of the Latvian language in favor of Russian. All minority schools (Jews, Poles, Belarusians, Estonians, Lithuanians) were closed leaving only two languages of instruction in schools: Latvian and Russian. [20] The Russian language was taught along with Russian literature, Russian music, and the history of the Soviet Union.
Post-Stalin period
On March 5, 1953, Joseph Stalin died and Nikita Khrushchev was his successor. The period known as the Khrushchev thaw began, but attempts by Latvian communists led by Eduards Berklavs to gain a degree of autonomy for the republic and protect the rapidly deteriorating situation of the Latvian language were unsuccessful. In 1959, after Khrushchev's visit to Latvia, national communists were ousted from their posts and Berklavs was deported to Russia.
Because Latvia still maintained a well-developed infrastructure and educational specialists it was decided in Moscow that some of the most advanced factories in the Soviet Union should be located in Latvia. New industry was created in Latvia, including an RAF main machinery factory in Jelgava, electrotechnical factories in Riga, chemical factories in Daugavpils, Valmiera and Olaine, as well as food and oil processing plants. [21] However, there were not enough people to operate the newly built factories. In order to expand industrial production, more immigrants from other Soviet republics transferred to the country, markedly decreasing the proportion of ethnic Latvians.
Russification at the end of the Soviet occupation
In 1989, ethnic Latvians made up about 52% of the population (1,387,757), up from a pre-World War II proportion of 77% (1,467,035). In 2005 there were 1,357,099 ethnic Latvians, showing a real decline in the incumbent population. Proportionally, however, ethnic Latvians already account for approximately 60% of the total population of Latvia (2,375,000).
End of Soviet times
In 1988 the Latvian Independence Movement (LNNK) demanded freedom of the press, an end to "Russification" of the country and the formation of independent political parties.
On August 23, 1989, the Baltic Chain took place, in which more than a million and a half people formed a human chain that linked the three Baltic capitals of Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn. With the demonstration, the Balts wanted to draw the attention of the international community to their desire for freedom. It was organized to commemorate the day on which the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact for cooperation between the Nazis and the Soviets was signed in 1939. The Balts requested the withdrawal of the Soviet occupation troops.
In 1989, the Latvian Popular Front (LFT) Congress won the elections and economic and political independence was approved, despite resistance from Moscow.
On January 11, 1991, Moscow paratroops attacked the Vilnius Press Center. On the night of January 13 they tried to take various government buildings. Hundreds of Lithuanian civilians clashed with the militates. On January 20, Soviet tanks, supported by OMON, marched on Riga to seize the Ministry of Interior. Defenders of the Soviet regime murdered a Lithuanian cameraman.
On August 19, 1991, there was a military coup in Russia to get rid of Gorbachev. On August 21, Soviet tanks reoccupied Riga but the Latvians defended the government buildings. The military only withdrew when they realized that in Russia Yeltsin had failed the coup.
On September 6, 1991, the Congress of the former USSR formally recognized the independence of the Baltic Republics. Latvia was then admitted to the United Nations.
Independent Latvia
Under the presidency of Guntis Ulmanis, economic liberalization began in 1993, which caused a serious unemployment crisis that was difficult to recover from. Despite the massive privatization of state-owned companies, political and economic instability continued until 1995, when reforms in Soviet communism such as glasnost stimulated the Latvian independence movement, with Latvia regaining its independence on August 21, 1991 following the so-called Sung Revolution.
In the last years of the XX century and the beginning of the XXI, Latvian society grapples with ethnic tensions that are complicated by the country's racial diversity and strong Russian influence.
Reintegration with the West
On September 20, 2003, their country's accession to the European Union was approved by referendum (69.6% of Latvians, approximately 1.4 million), as had already been done by Lithuania and Estonia. The official entry was made in May 2004.
In 2004 Latvia joined NATO.
On January 1, 2014, it became the 18th country in the eurozone.
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