History of Latvia
Latvia's principal river Daugava, was at the head of an important trade route from the Baltic region through Russia into southern Europe and the Middle East that was used by the Vikings and later Nordic and German traders.
Because of Latvia's strategic location and prosperous trading city of Riga, its territories were a frequent focal point for conflict and conquest between at least four major powers: the State of the Teutonic Order, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden and the Russian Empire.
However, Latvian culture and infrastructures survived and, during the period of Soviet liberalisation under Mikhail Gorbachev, Latvia once again took a path towards independence, eventually succeeding in August 1991 to be recognised by Russia the following month.
During the Late Iron Age (800–1200 AD) the three-field system was introduced, rye cultivation began, and the quality of local craftsmanship improved with the introduction of the potter's wheel and better metal working techniques.
Regional tribal cultures developed in the territory of modern-day Latvia and northern Lithuania, including the Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians (Latvian: kurši, latgaļi, sēļi, zemgaļi) and the Finnic Livonians, who united under their local chiefs.
The last ruler of Jersika, mentioned in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia (a document that describes events of the late 12th and early 13th centuries) was King Visvaldis (Vissewalde, rex de Gercike).
In the next phase of the conflict, in 1577 Ivan IV took the opportunity of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's internal strife (called the war against Gdańsk in Polish historiography), and during the reign of Stefan Batory invaded Livonia, quickly taking almost the entire territory, with the exception of Riga and Revel.
In 1812 Napoleon's troops invaded Russia and the Prussian units under the leadership of the field marshal Yorck occupied Courland and approached Riga and the Battle of Mesoten was fought.
The provisional Livonian agrarian law of July 9, 1849 which came int force on November 20, 1850, maintained German nobility's property rights, but allowed peasants to rent or buy the land.
For in Latvia most did not feel primarily oppressed by Russia or Russians, but by the Baltic Germans —roughly seven percent of the population— who had instituted a feudal system with themselves at the top and Latvian-speakers being left mostly poor and landless.
[13] As such, it involved not only left wing social democrats and industrial workers, but also more conservative peasants and Latvian intelligentsia since —despite being second class citizens in their own country— Latvia was also a highly literate and industrialised society.
They executed some daring raids – freeing their imprisoned comrades from Riga police HQ on January 17, 1906, February 26, 1906 Helsinki bank robbery and the 1910 Siege of Sidney Street in London.
In August 1915 the Latvian Refugee Aid Central Committee was established in Petrograd, it was run by future politicians Vilis Olavs, Jānis Čakste and Arveds Bergs.
After on July 17 and 18, 1915 Germans captured Dobele, Talsi, Tukums and Ventspils, a public proclamation by State Duma members, written by Kārlis Skalbe, called for the formation of volunteer Latvian Riflemen units.
During a Congress from August 11–12 (July 29–30, Old Style) in Riga, the left-wing Social Democrats, heavily influenced by the Bolsheviks, established the Iskolat government - named for the "Executive Committee of the Council of Workers, Soldiers and Landless Deputies of Latvia" (Russian: Исполнительный комитет совета рабочих, солдатских и безземельных депутатов Латвии, romanized: Ispolnitel'nyj komitet rabochikh, soldatskikh i bezzemel'niykh deputatov Latvii).
On October 19, 1918, Democratic Bloc representatives delivered a petition to the German Imperial chancellor Prince Maximilian of Baden, in which they asked for the removal of occupational forces, the release of POWs, and recognition of an independent Latvian state.
The National Council, under the chairmanship of Voldemārs Zāmuēls, sent a delegation - led by the future Minister of Foreign Affairs Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics - to the Allied countries to get their support for an independent Latvia.
Revolutionary tribunals were established, condemning to death German nobles, pastors, and wealthy traders - as well as peasants who refused to surrender their grain: in total some 1000 people were executed.
The Allies still hoped for a quick end of the Bolshevik regime in Moscow and the establishment of a democratic Russian state which would grant Latvia a large degree of autonomy.
Three State Presidents were elected – Jānis Čakste (1922–27), who died in office; Gustavs Zemgals (1927–30), who refused to stand for re-election; and Alberts Kviesis (1930–36), who accepted the May 15 coup d'état.
[24] Latvia proposed to retain the southern border of the former Courland governorate with Lithuania unchanged, but the Lithuanians wanted to gain access to the sea, as at this time they did not control the German lands of Klaipėda.
The issue was solved in February 1929, when Latvia and Poland signed a trade treaty which included a secret agreement about compensation to Polish landowners for lost properties.
Independent Latvia's earliest foreign-policy goals involved securing peace with Soviet Russia and with Germany, gaining international recognition, and joining the League of Nations.
Members of the Pērkonkrusts, Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, pro-Nazi activists from the Baltic German community, and other leaders from the extreme right and left were detained.
By 1939, following an export boom propelled primarily by agricultural goods, Latvia was the richest of the Baltic countries, and had a GDP per capita higher than Finland or Austria.
Latvian farmers had traditionally relied on seasonal farmworkers from Poland, this was now cut off by the war, and in spring 1940 new regulations introduced compulsory work service for state employees, students and school pupils.
Following the initiative from Nazi Germany, Latvia on October 30, 1939, concluded an agreement to "repatriate" ethnic Germans, most of whom had lived in the region for generations, in the wake of the impending Soviet takeover.
The period known as the Khrushchev Thaw began, but attempts by the national communists led by Eduards Berklavs to gain a degree of autonomy for the republic and protect the rapidly deteriorating position of the Latvian language were not successful.
In 1992, Latvia became eligible for the International Monetary Fund and in 1994 took part in the NATO Partnership for Peace program in addition to signing the free trade agreement with the European Union.
[41] In November 2013, 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.
