Latvian SSR
Encyclopedia
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics
that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state
during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied
by the Soviet army
on 17 June 1940 in conformity with the terms of 23 August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
. The Latvian SSR was formally annexed
into the Soviet Union (USSR) on 5 August 1940, when it nominally became the 15th constituent republic of the USSR
. Its territory was subsequently conquered by Nazi Germany
in 1941, before being retaken by the Soviets in 1944–1945. The first freely elected parliament of the Latvian SSR had passed Sovereignty Declaration "On the Renewal of the Independence of the Republic of Latvia" on May 4, 1990, and renamed the Latvian SSR the Republic of Latvia. The full independence of Republic of Latvia was restored on 21 August 1991.
, the United Nations
Human Rights Council, the United States, and the European Union
(EU), regard Latvia as being occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
. The European Parliament in recognising the occupation of the Baltic states from 1940 till the fall of the Soviet Union as illegal, led to the early acceptance of the Baltic states into the NATO alliance.
, flying numerous intelligence gathering operations. On 25 September Moscow requested that the Baltic countries allow the USSR to establish military bases and to station troops on their soil. The government of Latvia accepted the ultimatum, signing the corresponding agreement on 5 October 1939.
On 16 June 1940, followed by another ultimatum the USSR invaded Latvia.
Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov
accused Latvia along with other Baltic states forming a conspiracy against the Soviet Union, Moscow presented ultimatums, demanding new concessions, which included the replacement of governments and allowing an unlimited number of troops to enter the three countries. Hundreds of thousands Soviet troops entered Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania across the borders. These additional Soviet military forces far outnumbered the armies of each country.
The Baltic governments had decided that, in conditions of international isolation and given the overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the countries, it was in their interests not to actively resist and to avoid bloodshed in an unwinnable war. The occupation of the Baltic states was complete with a communist coup d'état
in each country, supported by the Soviet troops. The occupation was in the legal context rather different from the occupation of Poland, which at least Stalin wanted to destroy even as "legal entity", for example - with no coup d'état.
Most of the Defence Forces of the Baltic Countries surrendered on these orders, and were disarmed by the Red Army. But there were minor and separate cases of resistance.
The repressions followed with the mass deportations carried out by the Soviets. The Serov Instructions, "On the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia", contained detailed instructions for procedures and protocols to observe in the deportation of Baltic nationals.
In the following month, rigged and unconstitutional parliamentary elections were conducted by local people loyal to the Soviet Union and all non-soviet candidates were disqualified or it was made impossible for them to participate. For example Democratic Latvian Bloc, that was one of the few that tried to overcome the difficulties and actually to participate, were all arrested and their election office confiscated. All Soviet army personal present in the country was allowed to vote too. And the election results themselves were fabricated: the Soviet press service released them early, with the result that they had already appeared in print in a London newspaper a full 24 hours before the polls closed. The result was that all three Baltic states had communist majorities in their "parliaments", and in August, despite claims prior to the elections that no such action would be taken, they petitioned the Soviet government to join the Soviet Union. The petitions were "granted" and Latvia was formally annexed
by the Soviet Union.
Latvia was incorporated into the Soviet Union on 5 August 1940. The overthrown Latvian government continued to function in exile while the republic was under the Soviet control. In the spring of 1941, the Soviet central government began planning the mass deportation of anti-Soviet elements from the occupied Baltic states. In preparation, General Ivan Serov
, Deputy People's Commissar of Public Security of the Soviet Union, signed the Serov Instructions, "Regarding the Procedure for Carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia." During the night on 13–14 June 1941, 15,424 inhabitants of Latvia — including 1,771 Jews and 742 ethnic Russians
— were deported to camps
and special settlements
, mostly in Siberia
.
authority, a process of eliminating the Jewish and Gypsy population began, with many killings taking place in Rumbula
.
The killings were committed by the Einsatzgruppe A, the Wehrmacht
and Marines (in Liepāja
), as well as by Latvian collaborators, including the 500-1,500 members of the infamous Arajs Commando
(which alone killed around 26,000 Jews) and the 2,000 or more Latvian members of the SD
. By the end of 1941 almost the entire Jewish population was killed or placed in the death camps. In addition, some 25,000 Jews were brought from Germany, Austria and the present-day Czech Republic, of whom around 20,000 were killed. The Holocaust claimed approximately 85,000 lives in Latvia, the vast majority of whom were Jews.
A large number of Latvians resisted the German occupation. The resistance movement was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council
and the Soviet partisan units under the Latvian Partisan Movement
Headquarters (латвийский штаб партизанского движения) in Moscow. Their Latvian commander was Arturs Sproģis
. The Nazis planned to Germanise the Baltics after the war. In 1943 and 1944 two divisions of Waffen SS were formed from Latvian volunteers to help Germany against the Red Army
.
, soon to be joined by German collaborators, began their fight against another occupier - the Soviet Union.
The first post-war years were marked by particularly dismal and sombre events in the fate of the Latvian nation. 120,000 Latvian inhabitants were imprisoned or deported to Soviet concentration camps (the Gulag
). Some managed to escape arrest and joined the Forest Brothers
. 130,000 took refuge from the Soviet army by fleeing to the West. On 25 March 1949, 43,000 rural residents ("kulaks") and Latvian patriots ("nationalists") were deported to Siberia in a sweeping repressive action "Beachcomber" in all three Baltic States
, which was carefully planned and approaved in Moscow already on 29 January 1949. An extensive programme to impose bilingualism was initiated in Latvia, limiting the use of minor languages in favor of Latvian and Russian. In some fields there existed either Russification
or Latvianization.
In the post-war period, Latvia was forced to adopt Soviet farming methods and the economic infrastructure developed in the 1920s and 1930s was eradicated. Rural areas were forced into collectivisation.
started to introduce political and economic reforms in Soviet Union called glasnost
and Perestroika
. In the summer 1987 first large demonstrations were held in Riga at the Freedom Monument- symbol of independence. In the summer 1988 a national movement coalescing in the Popular Front of Latvia
. The Latvian SSR, along with the other Baltic Republics was allowed greater autonomy and in 1988 the old national Flag of Latvia
was allowed to be used, replacing the Soviet Latvian flag as the official flag in 1990. Pro-independence Latvian Popular Front candidates gained a two-thirds majority in the Supreme Council in the March 1990 democratic elections.
and Estonia
de facto ceased to be parts of the USSR four months before the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist (26 December 1991). Soon, on 6 September, the independence of three Baltic states was recognized by the USSR. Today's Republic of Latvia and other Baltic states consider themselves to be the legal continuation of the sovereign states whose first independent existence dates back to 1918–1940, and does not accept any legal connection with the former Latvian SSR which had been occupied and annexed into USSR 1940–1941 and 1944–1991. Since independence, the Communist Party of the Latvian SSR was discontinued, and a number of high-ranking Latvian SSR officials faced prosecution for their role in various human rights abuses during the Latvian SSR regime.
, before the USSR had condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Nazi Germany and itself that had led to the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries, the events in 1939 were as follows: The Government of the Soviet Union
suggested that the Governments of the Baltic countries conclude mutual assistance treaties between the countries. Pressure from working people forced the governments of the Baltic countries to accept this suggestion. The Pacts of Mutual Assistance were then signed which allowed the USSR to station a limited number of Red Army
units in the Baltic countries. Economic difficulties and dissatisfaction of the populace with the Baltic governments' policies that had sabotaged fulfilment of the Pact and the Baltic countries governments' political orientation towards Nazi Germany led to a revolutionary situation in June, 1940. To guarantee fulfilment of the Pact, additional military units entered Baltic countries, welcomed by the workers who demanded the resignations of the Baltic governments. In June under the leadership of the Communist Parties political demonstrations by workers were held. The fascist governments were overthrown, and workers' governments formed. In July 1940, elections for the Baltic Parliaments were held. The "Working People's Unions", created by an initiative of the Communist Parties, received the majority of the votes. The Parliaments adopted the declarations of the restoration of Soviet powers in Baltic countries and proclaimed the Soviet Socialist Republics. Declarations of Estonia's, Latvia's and Lithuania's wishes to join the USSR were adopted and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR petitioned accordingly. The requests were approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
was legitimate and that the Soviet Union liberated the countries from the Nazis. They state that the Soviet Union acted in response to Germany-oriented policies of the three Baltic states that resulted from alleged secret talks conducted by the governments of these states with Nazi leadership and that the subsequent entry of additional Soviet troops into the Baltics in 1940 was done following the agreements and with the consent of the then governments of the Baltic republics. Thus the official postulates of the Soviet historiography are continued without significant amendments. They also maintain that the USSR was not in a state of war and was not waging any combat activities on the territory of the three Baltic states; therefore, the word 'occupation' can not be used. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that "The assertions about [the] 'occupation' by the Soviet Union and the related claims ignore all legal, historical and political realities, and are therefore utterly groundless." At the same time several historians have said that the Mutual Assistance Pact that allowed for Soviet Union to have military bases in Baltic states in 1939 and thus significantly contributed to carrying out occupation in 1940, can not be considered truly legal even by the standards of the time it was made, as the differences between the Soviet Union and the Baltic states was so significant, that such treaty in no way can be considered mutually equal but just a cover of ultimatum.
) factories, food-processing industry, oil pipelines and the bulk-oil port Ventspils
.
Part of the incorporation of the Latvian SSR into the Soviet Union was the introduction of the Russian language
into all spheres of public life. Russian became a prerequisite for admission to higher education and better job occupations. It was also made a compulsory subject in all Latvian schools. Vast amounts of people were needed for the new factories and they were purposefully sent there from different parts of Russia, thus creating a situation wherein bigger towns became more and more Russified up until the 1980s.
National income per capita was higher in Latvia than elsewhere in the USSR (42% above the Soviet average in 1968).
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, all of the economy branches associated with it collapsed as well. While a significant Russian presence in Latgale predated the Soviet Union (~30%), the intense industrialization and the heavy importation of labor from the Soviet Union to support it, led to significant increases in the Russian minority in Riga, even forming a majority in Latvian urban centers such as Daugavpils
, Rēzekne
, Ogre
. Those areas were also hardest hit economically when the Soviet Union collapsed, leading to massive unemployment. Sharp disagreement with Russia over the legacy of the Soviet era has led to punitive economic measures by Russia, including the demise of transit trade as Russia cut off petroleum exports through Ventspils in 2003 (eliminating 99% of its shipments), after Latvia refused to sell the oil port to the Russian state oil company, Transneft
. The result is that only fraction of Latvia's economy is connected with Russia, especially after joining the EU.
Republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state
Puppet state
A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...
during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied
Occupation of Baltic Republics
The occupation of the Baltic states refers to the military occupation of the three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union under the auspices of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 14 June 1940 followed by their incorporation into the USSR as constituent republics, unrecognised...
by the Soviet army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
on 17 June 1940 in conformity with the terms of 23 August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
. The Latvian SSR was formally annexed
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
into the Soviet Union (USSR) on 5 August 1940, when it nominally became the 15th constituent republic of the USSR
Republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
. Its territory was subsequently conquered by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in 1941, before being retaken by the Soviets in 1944–1945. The first freely elected parliament of the Latvian SSR had passed Sovereignty Declaration "On the Renewal of the Independence of the Republic of Latvia" on May 4, 1990, and renamed the Latvian SSR the Republic of Latvia. The full independence of Republic of Latvia was restored on 21 August 1991.
Controversy
The governments of the Baltic countries, the European Court of Human RightsEuropean Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Human Rights Council, the United States, and the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU), regard Latvia as being occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
. The European Parliament in recognising the occupation of the Baltic states from 1940 till the fall of the Soviet Union as illegal, led to the early acceptance of the Baltic states into the NATO alliance.
1939–1941
On 24 September 1939 the USSR entered the airspace of all three Baltic statesBaltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, flying numerous intelligence gathering operations. On 25 September Moscow requested that the Baltic countries allow the USSR to establish military bases and to station troops on their soil. The government of Latvia accepted the ultimatum, signing the corresponding agreement on 5 October 1939.
On 16 June 1940, followed by another ultimatum the USSR invaded Latvia.
Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
accused Latvia along with other Baltic states forming a conspiracy against the Soviet Union, Moscow presented ultimatums, demanding new concessions, which included the replacement of governments and allowing an unlimited number of troops to enter the three countries. Hundreds of thousands Soviet troops entered Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania across the borders. These additional Soviet military forces far outnumbered the armies of each country.
The Baltic governments had decided that, in conditions of international isolation and given the overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the countries, it was in their interests not to actively resist and to avoid bloodshed in an unwinnable war. The occupation of the Baltic states was complete with a communist coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
in each country, supported by the Soviet troops. The occupation was in the legal context rather different from the occupation of Poland, which at least Stalin wanted to destroy even as "legal entity", for example - with no coup d'état.
Most of the Defence Forces of the Baltic Countries surrendered on these orders, and were disarmed by the Red Army. But there were minor and separate cases of resistance.
The repressions followed with the mass deportations carried out by the Soviets. The Serov Instructions, "On the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia", contained detailed instructions for procedures and protocols to observe in the deportation of Baltic nationals.
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
by the Soviet Union.
Ivan Serov
State Security General Ivan Aleksandrovich Serov was a prominent leader of Soviet security and intelligence agencies, head of the KGB between March 1954 and December 1958, as well as head of the GRU between 1958 and 1963. He was Deputy Commissar of the NKVD under Lavrentiy Beria, and was to play a...
, Deputy People's Commissar of Public Security of the Soviet Union, signed the Serov Instructions, "Regarding the Procedure for Carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia." During the night on 13–14 June 1941, 15,424 inhabitants of Latvia — including 1,771 Jews and 742 ethnic Russians
History of Russians in Latvia
Russians have been the largest ethnic minority in Latvia for the last two centuries.-Ancient Latvia:The Latvian word krievi for "Russians" and Krievija for "Russia" is thought to have originated from Krivichs, one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs...
— were deported to camps
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
and special settlements
Involuntary settlements in the Soviet Union
Forced settlements in the Soviet Union took several forms. Though the most notorious was the Gulag labor camp system of penal labor, resettling of entire categories of population was another method of political repression implemented by the Soviet Union. At the same time, involuntary settlement...
, mostly in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
.
See also
- Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers, according to the European Court of Human Rights, the Government of Latvia, the State Department of the United States of America, and the European Union, to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union ostensibly under the...
- StalinismStalinismStalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
1941–1945
The Nazi invasion, launched a week later, cut short immediate plans to deport several hundred thousand more from the Baltics. Nazi troops occupied Riga on 1 July 1941. Immediately after the installment of Nazi GermanNazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
authority, a process of eliminating the Jewish and Gypsy population began, with many killings taking place in Rumbula
Rumbula
Rumbula is a pine forest enclave in Riga, Latvia, in which Jews were massacred during the Holocaust. For the air base at Rumbula, see Rumbula ....
.
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and Marines (in Liepāja
Liepaja
Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...
), as well as by Latvian collaborators, including the 500-1,500 members of the infamous Arajs Commando
Arajs Commando
The Arajs Kommando , led by SS-Sturmbannführer Viktors Arājs, was a unit of Latvian Auxiliary Police subordinated to the Nazi SD...
(which alone killed around 26,000 Jews) and the 2,000 or more Latvian members of the SD
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
. By the end of 1941 almost the entire Jewish population was killed or placed in the death camps. In addition, some 25,000 Jews were brought from Germany, Austria and the present-day Czech Republic, of whom around 20,000 were killed. The Holocaust claimed approximately 85,000 lives in Latvia, the vast majority of whom were Jews.
A large number of Latvians resisted the German occupation. The resistance movement was divided between the pro-independence units under the Latvian Central Council
Latvian Central Council
The Latvian Central Council was the pro-independence Latvian resistance movement during World War II in 1943-1945. Its military units were an alternative to the Soviet partisans also operating in Latvia....
and the Soviet partisan units under the Latvian Partisan Movement
Latvian partisans
Latvian partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the Latvian resistance movement, including against Nazi Germany and collaborationism during World War II.- Latvian War of Independence :...
Headquarters (латвийский штаб партизанского движения) in Moscow. Their Latvian commander was Arturs Sproģis
Arturs Sproģis
Arturs Sproģis was a Latvian colonel and commander of the Soviet partisans during the occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany in World War II.-Early life and career:...
. The Nazis planned to Germanise the Baltics after the war. In 1943 and 1944 two divisions of Waffen SS were formed from Latvian volunteers to help Germany against the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
.
1945–1953
In 1944 when the Soviet military advances reached the area heavy fighting took place in Latvia between German and Soviet troops which ended with another German defeat. During 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 become clear that Soviet forces were there to stay, and Latvian national partisansLatvian national partisans
Latvian national partisans were the Latvian national partisans who waged guerrilla warfare against Soviet rule.- Aftermath of World War I :...
, soon to be joined by German collaborators, began their fight against another occupier - the Soviet Union.
The first post-war years were marked by particularly dismal and sombre events in the fate of the Latvian nation. 120,000 Latvian inhabitants were imprisoned or deported to Soviet concentration camps (the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
). Some managed to escape arrest and joined the Forest Brothers
Forest Brothers
The Forest Brothers were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II...
. 130,000 took refuge from the Soviet army by fleeing to the West. On 25 March 1949, 43,000 rural residents ("kulaks") and Latvian patriots ("nationalists") were deported to Siberia in a sweeping repressive action "Beachcomber" in all three Baltic States
Baltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
, which was carefully planned and approaved in Moscow already on 29 January 1949. An extensive programme to impose bilingualism was initiated in Latvia, limiting the use of minor languages in favor of Latvian and Russian. In some fields there existed either Russification
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
or Latvianization.
In the post-war period, Latvia was forced to adopt Soviet farming methods and the economic infrastructure developed in the 1920s and 1930s was eradicated. Rural areas were forced into collectivisation.
See also
- Cult of personalityCult of personalityA cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
1953–1964
Because Latvia had still maintained a well-developed infrastructure and educated specialists it was decided in Moscow that some of the Soviet Union's most advanced manufacturing factories were to be based in Latvia. New industry was created in Latvia, including a major machinery factory RAF and electrotechnical factories, as well as some food and oil processing plants.1964–1985
However, there were not enough people to operate the newly built factories. In order to expand industrial production, workers from outside of Latvian SSR (mainly Russians) were transferred into the country, noticeably decreasing the proportion of ethnic Latvians.1985–1990
In second half of 1980s Soviet leader Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
started to introduce political and economic reforms in Soviet Union called glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
and Perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
. In the summer 1987 first large demonstrations were held in Riga at the Freedom Monument- symbol of independence. In the summer 1988 a national movement coalescing in the Popular Front of Latvia
Popular Front of Latvia
The Popular Front of Latvia was a political organization in Latvia in late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the Sąjūdis movement in Lithuania....
. The Latvian SSR, along with the other Baltic Republics was allowed greater autonomy and in 1988 the old national Flag of Latvia
Flag of Latvia
The national flag of Latvia was used by independent Latvia from 1918 until the country was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. Its use was suppressed during Soviet rule. After regaining its independence, Latvia re-adopted on February 27, 1990 the same red-white-red flag.Though officially adopted...
was allowed to be used, replacing the Soviet Latvian flag as the official flag in 1990. Pro-independence Latvian Popular Front candidates gained a two-thirds majority in the Supreme Council in the March 1990 democratic elections.
1990–present
On May 4, the Council declared its intention to restore full Latvian independence after a transitional period through negotiations with the USSR. This is also the date, when Latvian SSR was renamed Republic of Latvia. However, the central power in Moscow continued to regard Latvia as Soviet republic in 1990–1991. In January 1991, Soviet political and military forces tried unsuccessfully to overthrow 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. In spite of this, seventy-three percent of all Latvian residents confirmed their strong support for independence on March 3, 1991, in a nonbinding advisory referendum. A large number of ethnic Russians also voted for the proposition. 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, as well as LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
de facto ceased to be parts of the USSR four months before the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist (26 December 1991). Soon, on 6 September, the independence of three Baltic states was recognized by the USSR. Today's Republic of Latvia and other Baltic states consider themselves to be the legal continuation of the sovereign states whose first independent existence dates back to 1918–1940, and does not accept any legal connection with the former Latvian SSR which had been occupied and annexed into USSR 1940–1941 and 1944–1991. Since independence, the Communist Party of the Latvian SSR was discontinued, and a number of high-ranking Latvian SSR officials faced prosecution for their role in various human rights abuses during the Latvian SSR regime.
Soviet sources prior to Perestroika
Up to the reassessment of Soviet history in USSR that began during PerestroikaPerestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
, before the USSR had condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Nazi Germany and itself that had led to the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries, the events in 1939 were as follows: The Government of the Soviet Union
Government of the Soviet Union
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was the de jure government comprising the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union from 1946 until 1991....
suggested that the Governments of the Baltic countries conclude mutual assistance treaties between the countries. Pressure from working people forced the governments of the Baltic countries to accept this suggestion. The Pacts of Mutual Assistance were then signed which allowed the USSR to station a limited number of Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
units in the Baltic countries. Economic difficulties and dissatisfaction of the populace with the Baltic governments' policies that had sabotaged fulfilment of the Pact and the Baltic countries governments' political orientation towards Nazi Germany led to a revolutionary situation in June, 1940. To guarantee fulfilment of the Pact, additional military units entered Baltic countries, welcomed by the workers who demanded the resignations of the Baltic governments. In June under the leadership of the Communist Parties political demonstrations by workers were held. The fascist governments were overthrown, and workers' governments formed. In July 1940, elections for the Baltic Parliaments were held. The "Working People's Unions", created by an initiative of the Communist Parties, received the majority of the votes. The Parliaments adopted the declarations of the restoration of Soviet powers in Baltic countries and proclaimed the Soviet Socialist Republics. Declarations of Estonia's, Latvia's and Lithuania's wishes to join the USSR were adopted and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR petitioned accordingly. The requests were approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Official position of the Russian government
The Russian government and officials maintain that the Soviet annexation of the Baltic statesBaltic states
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
was legitimate and that the Soviet Union liberated the countries from the Nazis. They state that the Soviet Union acted in response to Germany-oriented policies of the three Baltic states that resulted from alleged secret talks conducted by the governments of these states with Nazi leadership and that the subsequent entry of additional Soviet troops into the Baltics in 1940 was done following the agreements and with the consent of the then governments of the Baltic republics. Thus the official postulates of the Soviet historiography are continued without significant amendments. They also maintain that the USSR was not in a state of war and was not waging any combat activities on the territory of the three Baltic states; therefore, the word 'occupation' can not be used. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that "The assertions about [the] 'occupation' by the Soviet Union and the related claims ignore all legal, historical and political realities, and are therefore utterly groundless." At the same time several historians have said that the Mutual Assistance Pact that allowed for Soviet Union to have military bases in Baltic states in 1939 and thus significantly contributed to carrying out occupation in 1940, can not be considered truly legal even by the standards of the time it was made, as the differences between the Soviet Union and the Baltic states was so significant, that such treaty in no way can be considered mutually equal but just a cover of ultimatum.
Economy
The Soviet period saw rebuilding and increase of the industrial capacity, including the automobile (RAF) and electrotechnic (VEFVEF
VEF, Latvian acronym for Valsts Elektrotehniskā Fabrika , is a manufacturer of electrical and electronic products in Riga, Latvia. VEF was the biggest Latvian factory in Soviet era and the leading communication technology producer in the Soviet Union...
) factories, food-processing industry, oil pipelines and the bulk-oil port Ventspils
Ventspils
Ventspils is a city in northwestern Latvia in the Courland historical region of Latvia, the sixth largest city in the country. As of 2006, Ventspils had a population of 43,806. Ventspils is situated on the Venta River and the Baltic Sea, and has an ice-free port...
.
Part of the incorporation of the Latvian SSR into the Soviet Union was the introduction of the Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
into all spheres of public life. Russian became a prerequisite for admission to higher education and better job occupations. It was also made a compulsory subject in all Latvian schools. Vast amounts of people were needed for the new factories and they were purposefully sent there from different parts of Russia, thus creating a situation wherein bigger towns became more and more Russified up until the 1980s.
National income per capita was higher in Latvia than elsewhere in the USSR (42% above the Soviet average in 1968).
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, all of the economy branches associated with it collapsed as well. While a significant Russian presence in Latgale predated the Soviet Union (~30%), the intense industrialization and the heavy importation of labor from the Soviet Union to support it, led to significant increases in the Russian minority in Riga, even forming a majority in Latvian urban centers such as Daugavpils
Daugavpils
Daugavpils is a city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. Daugavpils literally means "Daugava Castle". With a population of over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the country after the capital Riga, which is located some...
, Rēzekne
Rezekne
In the 19th century, the population of Rēzekne was 2/3 Jewish. As a result of the Pale of Settlement many Jews settled in Latgalia and were confined to the cities. The remainder of the population included Poles, Germans, Russians, and an extreme minority of native Latgalians...
, Ogre
Ogre, Latvia
Ogre is the principal town of Ogre District in Central Latvia, 36 km east of the capital Riga, situated at the confluence of the Daugava and Ogre rivers...
. Those areas were also hardest hit economically when the Soviet Union collapsed, leading to massive unemployment. Sharp disagreement with Russia over the legacy of the Soviet era has led to punitive economic measures by Russia, including the demise of transit trade as Russia cut off petroleum exports through Ventspils in 2003 (eliminating 99% of its shipments), after Latvia refused to sell the oil port to the Russian state oil company, Transneft
Transneft
Transneft is a Russian state-owned business responsible for the national oil pipelines. It was founded in 1993 and owns the largest oil pipeline system in the world, with a total network length of almost...
. The result is that only fraction of Latvia's economy is connected with Russia, especially after joining the EU.
External links
- "Ethnic structure of Latvia" at lettia.lv, illustrating changes in population of Latvia over the last hundred years.