Published on and written by Cyril Jarnias
The history of the country in Latvia is that of a long-disputed territory, located at the crossroads of trade routes between Scandinavia, Russia, and Central Europe. For centuries, foreign powers – religious orders, Scandinavian kingdoms, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire, and later the Soviet Union – dominated this space. Yet, behind these successive dominations, a fairly constant trajectory can be discerned: the gradual assertion of a people, a language, and a culture that ultimately gave birth to a lasting national state.
From the First Peoples to the Baltic and Finno-Ugric Tribes
Long before the name “Latvia” appeared, this territory was marked by the end of the last Ice Age, about 11,000 to 12,000 years ago. The earliest recorded human communities belonged to the Swiderian culture: reindeer-hunting groups establishing camps along rivers and the ancient Baltic ice lake. Tools dating back about 12,000 years have been found near Salaspils.
During the Mesolithic period, from 9000 BCE, groups of hunter-gatherers settled more permanently. Near Lake Lubāns, at least 25 sites of the Kunda culture have been identified: these populations mastered flint, bone, and woodworking, living off fishing, hunting, and gathering.
The territory was initially dominated in the Neolithic by the Narva culture, linked to Finno-Ugric populations (ancestors of the Livonians). From around 2900 BCE, Baltic groups of the Corded Ware culture settled and became the direct ancestors of the Latvians. This period also saw the spread of pottery, animal husbandry, and rudimentary agriculture.
With the Iron Age, around 500 BCE, the introduction of iron tools significantly improved agriculture. Between the 4th and 8th centuries, tribal identities took shape: Curonians on the west coast, Semigallians in the south-center, Latgalians in the east, Selonians in the southeast, to which were added the Livonians, a Finno-Ugric people on the coast of the Gulf of Riga.
Between the 7th and 8th centuries, the territory of present-day Latvia established itself as a strategic node on the “route from the Varangians to the Greeks,” connecting Scandinavia to Kyiv and Constantinople via the Daugava River. This position fostered the trade of amber from “Dzintarzeme” (land of amber) to major centers of antiquity like Rome and Athens. Concurrently, a Scandinavian settlement, founded by colonists from Gotland, was established near Grobiņa, while local Baltic tribes developed a dense network of wooden hillforts on elevated ground.
The Latgalians, among these tribes, were the most politically structured. Their principality of Jersika, ruled by Orthodox princes from a local branch of the Rurik dynasty, illustrates the early formation of a Baltic political entity. It was within the sphere of influence of these principalities that one of the first names derived from “Latvian” appeared at the beginning of the 13th century: “Lettia.”
Baltic Crusades and German-Christian Hegemony
At the end of the 12th century, the arrival of Western European merchants, notably German, via the Daugava, was accompanied by a missionary offensive targeting the still-pagan populations. The Augustinian prelate Meinhard began preaching among the Livonians along the banks of the Daugava in the early 1180s, but conversions remained rare.
Faced with this resistance, the papacy transformed the religious mission into a crusade. In 1195, Pope Celestine III approved the idea of an armed expedition – this would become the Livonian crusade – aiming to impose Christianization. Meinhard was followed by Berthold of Hanover, killed near present-day Riga in 1198. His successor, Albert of Buxhoeveden, later Albert of Riga, adopted a more military strategy: he arrived with crusaders, founded the city of Riga in 1201 at the mouth of the Daugava, and used it as a base for expansion.
Year of the defeat of the Livonians and the creation of Terra Mariana, the future Livonian Confederation, under papal authority.
For the indigenous populations, the rule that took hold was primarily feudal and German-speaking. Initially, peasants retained some personal rights but had to pay tithes to the Church, provide corvée days (four per year in the 14th century), submit to the lords’ justice, and accept military service. Over the centuries, this system became harsher. By the 15th-16th centuries, corvée reached four to six days per week and levies could climb to a quarter of the harvest. A law of 1494 forbade peasants from leaving their lands, fixing them to the soil and paving the way for full serfdom.
Riga, the Hanseatic League, and Opening to European Trade
The founding of Riga by the crusaders was not solely a military endeavor. The city quickly became a commercial hub. In 1282, it joined the Hanseatic League, a network of over 300 cities in northern Europe organizing maritime and river trade from the Baltic to the North Sea. Other localities in present-day Latvia also joined this alliance: Cēsis, Kuldīga, Koknese, Limbaži, Straupe, Valmiera, and Ventspils profited from the strategic position of the Daugava, Gauja, and Venta rivers.
Integration into the Hanseatic trade networks accelerated urbanization, artisan development, and the enrichment of the Germanic urban elites. However, it simultaneously deepened a social and ethnic divide between a predominantly German bourgeoisie and nobility and the Baltic peasant masses.
Reformation, Livonian Wars, and the Partition of the Territory
In the 16th century, the Reformation from Germany upended the religious order. In 1521, the Lutheran Andreas Knöpken preached in Riga. In 1524, violent riots targeted Catholic churches. By 1525, freedom of worship was tolerated, and gradually the majority of the population adopted Lutheranism. Parishes and services in the Latvian language were established, granting this language religious status for the first time.
At the same time, the political balance of the Livonian Confederation was wavering. Surrounded by Sweden, Poland-Lithuania, and Muscovy, weakened by struggles between the Archbishop of Riga and the Master of the Order, Livonia became prey for its neighbors. Ivan IV, known as the Terrible, used a dispute over unpaid tributes as a pretext to launch a massive attack in 1558. This marked the beginning of the Livonian War, which lasted until 1583.
Historical context of the Livonian War
Faced with defeats, the Livonian Order collapsed. In 1561, by the Treaty of Vilnius, it was dissolved. Its possessions were secularized: in the southwest, the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was created, entrusted to Gotthard Kettler, the last Master of the Order, who converted to Lutheranism; in the northeast, a Duchy of Livonia was formed, vassal to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Riga obtained the status of a Free Imperial City for a time. But very quickly, these new entities became the object of rivalry between Sweden and Poland-Lithuania.
After decades of conflict, the Latvian territory found itself lastingly fragmented between several sovereignties: northern Livonia was conquered by Sweden, Latgale was directly integrated into the Kingdom of Poland as the Inflanty Voivodeship, and the Duchy of Courland became a vassal of Warsaw while enjoying broad autonomy. This political division led to lasting cultural consequences: Latgale remained predominantly Catholic under Polish influence, while the rest of the country remained Lutheran, marked by German culture and, later, by Swedish and then Russian influences.
Prosperous Courland, “Good Swedish Times,” and Russian Expansion
In the 17th century, the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia experienced surprising prosperity. Under the rule of Duke Jacob Kettler, influenced by mercantilist ideas, the duchy developed a merchant fleet, forged commercial ties with England, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal, and even attempted colonial ventures: trading posts were established in the Gambia estuary and on the island of Tobago in the Caribbean. On a European scale, this small Baltic power appeared as a curiosity, without ceasing to be embedded in the feudal system dominated by the German nobility.
In the 17th century, the part of Livonia under Swedish rule experienced significant political, economic, and cultural reforms.
Reduction of the power of the Baltic German barons, abolition of serfdom on crown lands, and the rise of Riga, the second city of the Swedish Empire.
Founding of the University of Dorpat (Tartu) in 1632 by Gustavus Adolphus, which became a major intellectual center for all of Livonia.
Full translation of the Bible into Latvian by Johann Ernst Glück (1685) and creation of rural schools for Latvian-speaking peasants, supported by the Swedish government.
This relatively favorable period ended with the Great Northern War (1700-1721). Anxious to secure lasting access to the Baltic Sea, Peter the Great attacked Sweden. Riga fell in 1710, as did the rest of Swedish Livonia. A plague epidemic decimated the population in the aftermath of the fighting. The Treaty of Nystad in 1721 confirmed the Russian victory: Livonia and Estonia officially passed into the Empire.
Latgale, until then an integral part of Poland-Lithuania, was annexed by Russia in 1772 during the first partition of Poland; Courland followed in 1795, during the third partition. By the end of the 18th century, the entire territory inhabited by Latvians was thus united within the Russian Empire.
A Russian Rule That Left Room for Baltic German Notables
Integration into the Empire did not mean immediate standardization. In the Baltic governorates (Livonia, Courland, later Estonia), St. Petersburg maintained the privileges of the Baltic German nobility: the German language in administration and justice, autonomy of the Landtag, control of local finances, and respect for Lutheranism. These guarantees, confirmed from Peter the Great to Alexander II, gave the regional aristocracy a quasi-corporate status.
For the majority Latvian population, the situation remained one of a peasantry subject to predominantly Germanic lords. Serfdom was abolished in the Baltic provinces only between 1816 and 1820, earlier than in the rest of the Empire, but with a crucial nuance: emancipation granted personal freedom, not land. The former serfs had to rent or buy the lands they cultivated.
An agrarian law of 1849 more broadly opened the possibility of renting and purchasing. By the turn of the 20th century, these reforms resulted in a profound social transformation: almost all farms in Courland and the vast majority in Livonia now belonged to peasants, very often Latvians. This saw the birth of a land-owning peasantry, the basis of future nationalism.
Baltic Enlightenment, Latvian-Language Press, and National Awakening in the 19th Century
Parallel to these agrarian changes, the ideas of the Enlightenment and Romanticism fueled a slow process of challenging the social order. Baltic German intellectuals like Gotthard Friedrich Stender or Garlieb Merkel played a paradoxical but decisive role. In the 18th century, Stender authored the first major Latvian-German dictionaries, an encyclopedia, and an illustrated alphabet book, contributing to codifying and giving value to the peasants’ language. Merkel, in his work “The Latvians” published in 1796, vividly described the living conditions of the serfs and denounced the abuses of the local nobility, which had a lasting impact on social and national consciousness.
At the same time, a young German theologian, Johann Gottfried Herder, stayed in Riga in the 1760s. His reflections on the link between language, folk culture, and the spirit of a people, as well as his collection of Latvian and Estonian songs translated into German, influenced how future Latvian intellectuals would conceive their own identity.
From 1822, with the newspaper *Latviešu Avīzes*, a Latvian-language press developed. Titles like *Tas Latviešu Ļaužu Draugs* followed. These publications, aimed mainly at a rural readership and using heavily religious vocabulary, helped create the first Latvian-speaking public sphere.
The First National Awakening: The “Young Latvians”
From the 1850s, a new generation of intellectuals, educated at the universities of the Empire – particularly at Tartu – spurred a movement called the First National Awakening. There were about thirty Latvian students in the 1850s, a number rising to over 500 by the end of the century, reflecting increasing access to higher education.
These “Young Latvians” – Jaunlatvieši – set themselves the mission of defending the language, collecting folk traditions, and raising the level of education among the people. Among their major figures:
The 19th-century Latvian National Awakening was carried forward by several major intellectual figures. Krišjānis Valdemārs, considered the father of Latvian journalism, was also an economist and promoter of education and navigation. Juris Alunāns laid the foundations of modern Latvian poetry through his translations. Krišjānis Barons, called the “father of the dainas,” dedicated his life to collecting folk songs, assembling a corpus unique in Europe of over 35,000 main songs with 182,000 variants. Atis Kronvalds worked to modernize the language, campaigned for national education, and rediscovered the mention of a red-white-red flag in a medieval chronicle, the future national flag. Finally, Ādolfs Alunāns was the creator of the first Latvian theater and is considered the father of the national stage.
Around them, institutions took shape: the Riga Latvian Society, founded in 1868 as a charitable organization, quickly became a hub of cultural life, where the first Latvian-language theater troupe was established. The same year, teacher Jānis Cimze developed an institute to train village schoolteachers, contributing to raising educational standards.
In 1873, Riga hosted the first Latvian Song Festival. This gigantic choral event, inspired by neighboring traditions, would become a major identity ritual. At this first edition, a song by Baumaņu Kārlis was performed; it would later become the national anthem, despite Russian censors requiring it to be titled “God Bless the Baltic Lands” rather than “God Bless Latvia.”
This period also saw the emergence of an ambitious national literature: Andrejs Pumpurs composed the epic Lāčplēsis, published in 1888, reworking traditional legends around a bear-slayer hero, a symbol of resistance.
Industrialization and Tensions with the Russian Empire
During the second half of the 19th century, Riga transformed into a major industrial city. Its population grew from about 100,000 inhabitants in the 1860s to over 180,000 around 1888, then exceeded half a million on the eve of World War I. Latvians left the countryside en masse to work in factories, gradually making Latvians a significant part of the urban population, whereas cities had long been dominated by Germans.
In this context, a more structured political press also developed. The Young Latvians launched newspapers like Mājas Viesis or Pēterburgas Avīzes. From the end of the 1880s, a new generation, influenced by Marxism and European social debates, animated the current known as the “New Current” (Jaunā strāva). Its newspaper, Dienas Lapa, became a bastion of Latvian socialism. Figures like the poet Rainis (Jānis Plieksāns) and the jurist Pēteris Stučka used it to articulate a radical critique of Baltic German domination and Russian autocracy.
Faced with this ferment, the imperial power reacted. Under Alexander III, a policy of Russification was implemented from the 1880s: introduction of Russian as the mandatory language in administration, courts, and education, prohibition of Latvian in schools, and pressure towards Orthodoxy. Paradoxically, this offensive pushed a segment of the Latvian elite to believe that their salvation lay in the creation of their own state.
The 1905 Revolution: Social Explosion and First Demand for Statehood
The beginning of the 20th century was characterized by rapid modernization: high literacy rates (over 90% of inhabitants could read), strong industrialization, and accelerated urbanization. Riga concentrated a large industrial proletariat receptive to socialist ideas. When the Russian Revolution of 1905 broke out, the region became one of the most radical hotbeds in the Empire.
On January 13, 1905, a huge workers’ demonstration gathered around 20,000 people in Riga. The Tsarist army opened fire: 73 dead and 200 wounded. Indignation spread. Throughout the year, mass strikes, elected parish committees, peasant meetings, and guerrilla actions multiplied. In the countryside, the main target was the Baltic German nobility: nearly 450 manor houses were burned.
Number of people executed without trial by punitive expeditions during the civil war.
This explosion of violence did not immediately lead to independence, but it clarified one thing: a core of Latvian activists and thinkers formulated for the first time the open demand for a Latvian state, and not merely reforms within the imperial framework.
World War I, Latvian Riflemen, and the Birth of the Republic
When World War I broke out, Latvia was still part of the Russian Empire. By 1915, the German offensive reached its territory. Liepāja fell in May, Jelgava in August, and Courland was quickly occupied. The retreating Russian army ordered the evacuation of entire populations: about half a million inhabitants fled into the interior of the Empire, Riga’s factories were dismantled and transferred east.
Facing the threat, Latvian voices called for the formation of separate military units. The Tsar agreed: the Latvian Riflemen (latviešu strēlnieki) were created in 1915. Initially composed of volunteers – refugees, evacuated workers, peasants – these units were gradually supplemented by conscription. They eventually comprised up to eight combat regiments and one reserve regiment, about 40,000 men in total.
Integrated into the 12th Russian Army, the Riflemen held the Daugava front for two years. They participated in battles of extreme violence, notably during the “Christmas Battles” of the winter of 1916-1917. Losses were terrifying: several thousand dead and wounded, especially in sectors nicknamed “Machine Gun Hill” or “Island of Death.” A monumental military cemetery, the Brothers’ Cemetery in Riga, is dedicated to them.
After the Tsar’s fall in February 1917, a political vacuum opened. Land councils (landesräte) were elected in Vidzeme and Courland, recognized by the Russian Provisional Government. In the autumn, a Latvian Provisional National Council met in Valka. On January 30, 1918, it proclaimed its desire to see a unified, democratic, and independent Latvia born.
But meanwhile, the Bolshevik Revolution and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 3, 1918) changed the situation. Soviet Russia ceded Courland and Livonia to Germany. On the ground, the territory remained under German occupation until the armistice of November 1918. The Baltic German elites attempted a project for a “United Baltic Duchy,” which was never internationally recognized.
It was in this fluid context that the Republic of Latvia was proclaimed in Riga on November 18, 1918. A People’s Council, chaired by Jānis Čakste, appointed Kārlis Ulmanis as head of the first provisional government. Independence, however, remained theoretical as long as the war was not won.
The War of Independence: Three Fronts, Three Enemies
No sooner was independence declared than the Red Army invaded Latvia. By December 1918, almost the entire territory was conquered; Riga fell on January 3, 1919. A Latvian Soviet government, led by Pēteris Stučka, was installed. The Ulmanis government retreated to Liepāja, under the protection of the British fleet.
Simultaneously, in the west, Germany maintained troops in the region under the pretext of fighting the Bolsheviks. These forces – regular units, Freikorps, the Baltic Landeswehr – pursued their own objectives: preserving Germanic influence, or even establishing a regime favorable to the barons.
In 1919, Latvia thus found itself caught between three forces: the Red Army, the German-Baltic armed groups, and, in the north, pro-Latvian units supported by Estonia. The situation was all the more complex because a portion of the former Latvian Riflemen had chosen the Bolshevik side.
In March 1919, an initial joint offensive by German and Latvian troops recaptured Tukums, Jelgava, and advanced towards Riga. The iconic Latvian commander of this phase, Oskars Kalpaks, was accidentally killed by friendly fire. He was replaced by Jānis Balodis, who would later play a central military and political role.
On April 16, a coup d’état orchestrated by Baltic German officers overthrew the Ulmanis government in Liepāja and installed a puppet cabinet led by Andrievs Niedra. The legitimate government took refuge on a ship, the Saratov, still under British protection. The offensive against the Bolsheviks continued nonetheless, and Riga was recaptured on May 22 by German forces and the Landeswehr. Hundreds, or even several thousand, suspected Soviet sympathizers were executed in the following days.
The now-too-visible German ambitions provoked an Estonian reaction. In June, the Estonian army, supported by a Latvian brigade formed in the north, confronted the Landeswehr in the decisive Battle of Cēsis (Wenden) and won. An armistice was signed at Strazdumuiža in early July; the direct political influence of the Baltic German barons receded.
In the autumn of 1919, a final danger emerged: the formation, under disguised German command, of a “West Russian Volunteer Army” led by Pavel Bermondt-Avalov. Composed of German Freikorps and White Russians, it attacked Riga in October and occupied the left bank of the Daugava. A Latvian-Estonian counter-offensive, supported by armored trains and the Allied fleet, pushed Bermondt-Avalov back. Riga was fully liberated on November 11, 1919, a date that would become Lāčplēsis Day, the Warrior’s Day.
The last front remained in the east, in Latgale, still held by Bolshevik units. In January 1920, a joint campaign by the Latvian and Polish armies recaptured Daugavpils and cleared the region. A ceasefire was concluded with Soviet Russia on February 1, followed by the Peace Treaty of Riga on August 11, 1920, in which Moscow officially renounced all claims to Latvian territory.
The human and material damage was immense. A survey conducted in 1920 estimated that nearly 57% of parishes had suffered direct destruction. The population fell from 2.55 million in 1914 to about 1.59 million. Nearly 88,000 buildings, 25,000 farms, 70,000 horses, and 170,000 head of cattle were lost, and over a quarter of arable land lay fallow.
The First Republic: Democratic Constitution, Agrarian Reform, and Political Fragility
A democratically elected Constituent Assembly convened in May 1920. It drafted and adopted the Constitution (Satversme) on February 15, 1922: a parliamentary document centered on a unicameral Saeima and a president with limited powers. This structure reflected the desire to avoid the concentration of power after decades of imperial autocracy.
Internationally, Latvia was quickly recognized: the Peace of Riga provided de jure recognition by Soviet Russia in 1920, the Allies granted similar status on January 26, 1921, and it joined the League of Nations the same year.
The share of landless rural inhabitants in Latvia, after the agrarian reform of the 1930s, falling from a level exceeding 60% at the end of the 19th century.
Yet the young republic struggled to ensure political stability. The pure proportional representation system, without an electoral threshold, allowed a multitude of parties – Social Democrats, Agrarians, and German, Russian, Jewish, and Latgalian minority parties – to enter parliament. Governments succeeded each other rapidly, sometimes unable to implement coherent long-term policies. This instability fueled the rhetoric of those advocating for a stronger executive.
In May 1934, he carried out a bloodless coup d’état, suspended the Constitution, dissolved the Saeima, banned political parties, and established an authoritarian, corporatist, and nationalist regime. He sought to strengthen the national economy by creating large state-owned enterprises and buying back private firms, a process presented as the “Latvianization” of the economy.
Kārlis Ulmanis, former Agrarian leader, hero of the War of Independence, and Prime Minister
Latvia remained officially independent, stable, and relatively prosperous, but without effective democracy. This period would end abruptly with World War II.
Secret Pacts, Soviet and Nazi Occupations, and Demographic Catastrophe
In August 1939, the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, accompanied by secret protocols, placed Latvia within Moscow’s sphere of influence. A few weeks later, Riga was forced to accept a “mutual assistance” treaty with the USSR: Soviet military bases were established at Liepāja, Ventspils, and Pitrags, housing up to 30,000 soldiers. In June 1940, citing alleged violations of the treaty, Moscow issued an ultimatum demanding the free entry of additional troops and the formation of a new government. On June 17, the Red Army invaded the country.
In 1940, a pro-Soviet government led by Augusts Kirchenšteins was installed in Latvia. Rigged elections, with only a single approved list, led to the proclamation of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic and a request for admission to the USSR. The annexation was ratified by the Supreme Soviet on August 5, 1940. This procedure was contrary to the Latvian Constitution, which required a referendum, and was not recognized by many Western states, notably the United States, which maintained the principle of non-recognition under international law.
The first Soviet occupation (1940-1941), called in Latvian “Baigais gads” – the Terrible Year – was characterized by mass arrests, nationalizations, the closure of independent newspapers, the arrest of many officers (several hundred at Litene), and targeted terror against the elites. On June 14, 1941, a vast deportation struck over 15,000 people – men, women, children – sent to camps or remote villages in Russia and Siberia. The mortality rate was very high. In total, about 35,000 people were killed or deported during this first phase.
The German invasion of June 1941 incorporated Latvia into the Reich. The occupation was characterized by the implementation of the Holocaust: approximately 70,000 Latvian Jews were murdered, often with the participation of local auxiliaries like the Arajs Commando. Jews from other countries were also deported to and executed in Latvia.
From 1943, the Nazi authorities organized the forced recruitment of tens of thousands of Latvians into a “Legion” incorporated into the Waffen-SS. The motivations of those who joined varied: some saw it as the lesser evil to avoid deportation, others hoped to fight the USSR in the belief of a future independence, and others genuinely adhered to the Nazi project. In 1944, as the Red Army went on the offensive, many Latvian refugees fled to Germany or Sweden; nearly 200,000 people left the country.
Autumn 1944 marked the return of the Soviet troops. Riga was recaptured in October. Again, Latvia was integrated into the Soviet Union and became the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic until 1991.
Soviet Latvia: Repression, Russification, and Resistance
The second Soviet occupation was longer and more systematic than the first. Between 1944 and the early 1950s, tens of thousands of people – often accused of supporting the Germans, collaborating with nationalist partisans, or simply considered “socially alien” – were deported or imprisoned. The major operation of March 1949, known as “Operation Priboi,” struck over 40,000 people, the vast majority being peasants who resisted collectivization.
In the forests, an armed guerrilla movement – the “Forest Brothers” – continued for several years to attack Soviet infrastructure and affirm the continuity of the Latvian state. Their fight, sometimes supported by rural populations, was ultimately crushed by the NKVD, at the cost of heavy losses on both sides.
Simultaneously, the Soviet apparatus restructured the economy: complete nationalization, accelerated industrialization centered around large mechanical, electrotechnical, and chemical plants in Riga, Jelgava, Daugavpils, Valmiera, and Olaine. To fuel this industrialization, Moscow organized a mass immigration of workers from other Soviet republics, primarily Russian-speaking. As a result, the proportion of Latvians in the population dropped from about 79% in 1935 to just over half by the end of the 1980s.
Soviet language policy promoted Russian as the language of social advancement in education, administration, and the military. It led to the closure of minority schools (Jewish, Polish, Belarusian, Estonian, Lithuanian) and the dispersal of their communities, with the long-term aim of diluting national identities in favor of a Russified Soviet nation.
In the 1950s, an attempt to involve local communists in the management of the country was brief. In 1959, an internal purge eliminated the so-called “national communists” like Eduards Berklavs. The Communist Party of Latvia remained firmly in the hands of cadres, often originating from other parts of the USSR.
Yet, despite the repression, a national culture continued to exist in more or less tolerated forms: literature, theater, song festivals, folklore research. The great choral festivals, inherited from the 19th century, provided an ambivalent space where national pride could sometimes be expressed, even if framed by Soviet discourse.
Third Awakening: From Civil Disobedience to Regained Independence
The rise of Mikhail Gorbachev to the leadership of the USSR in the mid-1980s opened a breach. His policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) loosened censorship and allowed previously taboo subjects to be addressed, such as the deportations, the crimes of Stalinism, or the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
In Latvia, dissent sometimes began where the authorities least expected it: around environmental issues. In 1986, plans for a hydroelectric power plant on the Daugava and a metro in Riga were perceived as an assault on the landscape, heritage, and national memory. An Environmental Protection Club was formed in 1987 and quickly became a mass movement.
In 1987, the human rights group “Helsinki-86” organized the laying of flowers at the base of the Freedom Monument in Riga on June 14, the anniversary of the 1941 deportations. This first unauthorized public commemoration since the Soviet occupation, despite pressure, profoundly affected public opinion. It saw the participation of priests, writers, and musicians. Meanwhile, the Song Festivals took on a political dimension, with thousands of choristers performing previously forbidden songs like “Gaismas pils,” broadcast live.
In 1988, the opposition coalesced into a political force: the Popular Front of Latvia was founded, modeled on sister organizations in Estonia and Lithuania. It would eventually have up to 200,000 members. Other more radical groups, like the Movement for National Independence, openly campaigned for secession from the USSR. These organizations shared the goal of restoring democracy and the Latvian state, with nuances on the issue of citizenship and relations with the Russian-speaking population.
Length in kilometers of the Baltic Way human chain, linking Vilnius, Riga, and Tallinn in 1989.
Under the pressure of these mobilizations, the republican parliaments evolved. In March 1990, relatively free elections gave a majority to the Popular Front in the Supreme Soviet of Latvia. On May 4, 1990, this assembly adopted a declaration on the restoration of independence of the Republic of Latvia, reinstating the 1922 Constitution and affirming the legal continuity of the pre-1940 state. The Soviet central authority, by a decree signed by Gorbachev, declared this document null and void, but the dynamic was launched.
In January 1991, in response to a violent attempt by the Soviet regime to reassert control in Vilnius and Riga, thousands of Latvian citizens erected barricades to protect the parliament, radio station, and other strategic installations. These days, marked by winter cold, saw the population gather to sing patriotic songs and share tea and firewood, creating a foundational moment in the collective memory of the struggle for independence.
The failure of the conservative coup in Moscow in August 1991 hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union. On August 21, Latvia ended the transition period and proclaimed the full restoration of its independence. On September 6, the USSR officially recognized the sovereignty of the three Baltic states. Russian troops gradually left the territory until 1994, with the last major military site, the Skrunda-1 radar station, closing in 1998.
From Regained Independence to European Integration
The years that followed saw a complete redefinition of Latvia’s place in the world. A UN member since 1991, the country joined the Council of Europe, then oriented its diplomacy towards Atlantic and European integration. From early on, participation in NATO and the European Union became a central goal. Latvia joined the Partnership for Peace program in 1994, sent contingents to peacekeeping operations in the former Yugoslavia and later Afghanistan, and received security guarantees in return.
Year Latvia joined NATO in March and the European Union in May.
The economic transition was not without difficulties: the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 hit the highly open economy hard, leading to a sharp recession, a bailout package from the IMF and the European Union, skyrocketing unemployment, and significant emigration. Nevertheless, the overall trajectory remained one of integration into the European economy, with per capita income rising significantly compared to the early 1990s.
After its independence, Latvia re-established parliamentary democracy, but its public life remains marked by the traumas of the Soviet era. This is reflected in debates on citizenship and language, the publication of KGB archives, and questions about past collaboration. Figures like former president Vaira Vīķe‑Freiberga, an intellectual returned from exile, helped forge a new international image for the country: that of a small Baltic state determined to defend liberal democracy and the rule of law.
A Long History of Dependencies and a State That Consolidates
The country’s history in Latvia, as can be traced from the sources, reveals a few key trends. For centuries, the territory was the object of successive dominations, where the religious, commercial, and geopolitical interests of neighboring powers intersected. This situation resulted in a highly unequal social structure over the long term: a Baltic German nobility, German-speaking towns, and a Latvian peasantry subjected to serfdom.
The 19th century was a pivotal period for Latvian national identity, marked by the abolition of serfdom, the development of education, and the emergence of a Latvian-speaking intelligentsia. Culture and national consciousness were forged through the press, learned societies, choral festivals, as well as the collection of dainas (folk songs) and the epic *Lāčplēsis*. The events of the 20th century, such as the 1905 revolution and the heroic role of the Latvian Riflemen during World War I, then paved the way for the country’s independence.
This first state experienced in twenty years the complete cycle of parliamentary democracy, social reform, and then the authoritarian temptation, before being crushed by the implacable machinery of World War II and the secret agreements between Hitler and Stalin. There followed half a century of occupation, deportations, Russification, but also latent resistance, stubborn preservation of language and songs.
Latvia regained its independence at the end of the 1980s through a peaceful movement, the “Third National Awakening.” This unique revolution relied on the symbolic power of culture, particularly songs, festivals, and actions like the Baltic Way (a human chain), without resorting to mass violence. This ability to mobilize a long cultural tradition for peaceful political change is a distinctive characteristic of Latvia’s history.
Today, the country is firmly integrated into the Euro-Atlantic framework, while remaining vigilant about threats to its sovereignty, whether military, economic, or informational. Debates about the memory of the occupations, the status of minorities, and the place of the Latvian language bear witness to a history that is still vivid, but also to the will to build a state founded on law and the recognition of the wounds of the past.
A Few Synthesized Chronological Milestones
To better grasp the continuity of this rich history, here is a summary of some major stages in a table:
| Period / Event | Dominant Situation and Key Facts |
|---|---|
| Prehistory – Early Iron Age | Arrival of first hunters (Swiderian culture), Kunda and Narva cultures, settlement of Baltic ancestors (Corded Ware). |
| Early Middle Ages (4th–12th c.) | Formation of Baltic tribes (Curonians, Semigallians, Latgalians, Selonians) and Livonians; trade routes to Rus’ and Byzantium. |
| Livonian Crusades (12th–13th c.) | Founding of Riga, creation of Terra Mariana, domination of Germanic military orders, establishment of serfdom. |
| Reformation and Livonian Wars (16th c.) | Spread of Lutheranism, urban revolts, Livonian War, dissolution of the Livonian Order, birth of Courland and Livonia. |
| Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian Rule (17th c.) | Flourishing Courland, “Good Swedish Times” in Livonia, brief colonization, Bible in Latvian. |
| Integration into the Russian Empire (18th c.) | Annexation of all Latvian regions, maintenance of Baltic German privileges, beginning of Moravianism. |
| 19th Century | Abolition of serfdom, rise of land-owning peasantry, Baltic Enlightenment, first Latvian-language press, First and Second National Awakenings. |
| Revolution of 1905 | Strikes, burning of manor houses, repression, first clear demands for a Latvian state. |
| World War I and War of Independence (1914–1920) | Creation of Latvian Riflemen, proclamation of the Republic, three-front war, Peace Treaty of Riga. |
| First Republic (1920–1940) | Democratic constitution, major agrarian reform, parliamentary instability, Ulmanis coup and authoritarian regime. |
| Soviet and Nazi Occupations (1940–1944) | Annexation by USSR, deportations, Holocaust under German occupation, forced mobilization, return of the Red Army. |
| Soviet Latvia (1944–1991) | Collectivization, industrialization, mass immigration, Russification, Forest Brothers resistance, latent dissent. |
| “Singing Revolution” (1987–1991) | Demonstrations at the Freedom Monument, Popular Front, Baltic Way, 1991 barricades, restoration of independence. |
| Since 1991 | Economic transition, EU and NATO accession, crises and integration, memory debates, consolidation of a democratic state. |
Another useful perspective is to follow the transformation of the territory’s political status, from the feudal mosaic to modern structures:
| Period | Primary Political Status |
|---|---|
| Before 1200 | Tribal principalities (Jersika, Curonian, Livonian, Semigallian domains). |
| 1207–1561 | Terra Mariana / Livonian Confederation (under papal then imperial suzerainty). |
| 1561–17th century | Duchy of Livonia (vassal to Lithuania, then Poland-Lithuania); Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (vassal to Poland); Free City of Riga. |
| 17th–18th century | Swedish Livonia; Polish Latgale (Inflanty Voivodeship); semi-autonomous Duchy of Courland. |
| 18th century–1918 | Governorates of the Russian Empire (Livonia, Courland, later Vitebsk for Latgale). |
| 1918–1940 | Independent Republic of Latvia. |
| 1940–1941, 1944–1991 | Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (constituent republic of the USSR). |
| 1941–1944 | Integrated into Reichskommissariat Ostland (Nazi occupation). |
| Since 1991 | Independent Republic of Latvia, full member of the EU and NATO. |
These tables do not replace the detailed narrative, but they highlight a constant: despite centuries of changes in rulers and institutional structures, the fabric of a Latvian identity – based on language, songs, and peasant memory – ultimately gave substance to a nation-state both fragile in its geography and remarkably resilient in its culture.
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