Editing Latvia (section)

== History ==
<!--- PLEASE DO NOT ADD MINORLY IMPORTANT AND LONG DETAILS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF LATVIA TO THIS SECTION TO KEEP THIS SECTION WRITTEN IN SUMMARY STYLE --->
{{Main|History of Latvia}}
Around 3000 BC, the Proto-Baltic ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the [[Baltic Sea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/ee/msr/Ethno/dategen1.html |title=Data: 3000 BC to 1500 BC |work=The European Ethnohistory Database |publisher=The Ethnohistory Project |access-date=6 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060622113922/http://life.bio.sunysb.edu/ee/msr/Ethno/dategen1.html |archive-date=22 June 2006 }}</ref> The [[Balts]] established trade routes to Rome and [[Byzantium]], trading local [[amber]] for precious metals.<ref>A History of Rome, M Cary and HH Scullard, p455-457, Macmillan Press, {{ISBN|0-333-27830-5}}</ref> By 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia: [[Curonians]], [[Latgalians]], [[Selonians]], [[Semigallians]] (in Latvian: ''kurši'', ''latgaļi'', ''sēļi'' and ''zemgaļi''), as well as the Finnic tribe of [[Livonian people|Livonians]] (''lībieši'') speaking a Finnic language.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Norvik |first1=Miina |last2=Balodis |first2=Uldis |last3=Ernštreits |first3=Valts |last4=Kļava |first4=Gunta |last5=Metslang |first5=Helle |last6=Pajusalu |first6=Karl |last7=Saar |first7=Eva |date=2021-12-20 |title=The South Estonian language islands in the context of the Central Baltic area |url=https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/jeful/article/view/jeful.2021.12.2.02 |journal=Eesti ja Soome-ugri Keeleteaduse Ajakiri. Journal of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics |language=en |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=33–72 |doi=10.12697/jeful.2021.12.2.02 |issn=2228-1339 |access-date=16 February 2024 |archive-date=16 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240216133311/https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/jeful/article/view/jeful.2021.12.2.02 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 12th century in the territory of Latvia, there were lands with their rulers: [[Vanema]], [[Ventava]], [[Bandava]], [[Piemare]], [[Duvzare]], [[Sēlija]], [[Principality of Koknese|Koknese]], [[Jersika]], [[Tālava]] and [[Adzele]].<ref>Latvijas vēstures atlants, Jānis Turlajs, page 12, Karšu izdevniecība Jāņa sēta, {{ISBN|978-9984-07-614-0}}</ref>

=== Medieval period ===
Although the local people had contact with the outside world for centuries, they became more fully integrated into the European socio-political system in the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/EasternLatvia.htm|title= Data: Latvia|work= Kingdoms of Northern Europe&nbsp;– Latvia|publisher= The History Files|access-date= 25 April 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100202020032/http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/EasternLatvia.htm|archive-date= 2 February 2010}}</ref> The first missionaries, sent by the Pope, sailed up the [[Daugava River]] in the late 12th century, seeking converts.<ref name="Lonely">{{cite web |url= http://www.lonelyplanet.com/latvia/history |title= Latvian History, Lonely Planet |publisher= Lonelyplanet.com |access-date= 16 October 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100401090330/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/latvia/history |archive-date= 1 April 2010 |url-status= live }}</ref> The local people, however, did not convert to Christianity as readily as the Church had hoped.<ref name="Lonely" />

[[File:Burg Turaida04.jpg|thumb|[[Turaida Castle]] near [[Sigulda]], built in 1214 under [[Albert of Riga]]]]
[[Teutonic Knights|German crusaders]] were sent, or more likely decided to go of their own accord as they were known to do. [[Saint Meinhard]] of Segeberg arrived in [[Ikšķile]], in 1184, traveling with merchants to [[Livonia]], on a Catholic mission to convert the population from their original [[pagan]] beliefs. Pope Celestine III had called for [[Livonian Crusade#Wars against Estonians (1208–27)|a crusade against pagans in Northern Europe]] in 1193. When peaceful means of conversion failed to produce results, Meinhard plotted to convert Livonians by force of arms.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.balticsworldwide.com/the-crusaders/|title= The Crusaders|newspaper= City Paper|access-date= 28 July 2007|date= 22 March 2006|url-status= usurped|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101222014019/http://www.balticsworldwide.com/the-crusaders/|archive-date= 22 December 2010}}</ref>

At the beginning of the 13th century, Germans ruled large parts of what is currently Latvia.<ref name="Lonely" /> The influx of German crusaders in the present-day Latvian territory especially increased in the second half of the 13th century following the [[Crusades#Crusades and the Holy Land, 1095–1291|decline and fall of the Crusader States]] in the [[Middle East]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Žemaitis |first1=Augustinas |title=German crusader states (until 1561) |url=https://www.onlatvia.com/german-crusader-states-until-1561-68 |website=OnLatvia.com |access-date=26 August 2022 |archive-date=26 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826224424/https://www.onlatvia.com/german-crusader-states-until-1561-68 |url-status=live }}</ref> Together with southern Estonia, these conquered areas formed the [[crusader state]] that became known as [[Terra Mariana]] ([[Medieval Latin]] for "Land of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]]") or Livonia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Terra Mariana. 1186 – 1888 (2015) |url=https://www.manabiblioteka.lv/en/projekti/terra-mariana-1186-1888-2015/ |website=Manabiblioteka.lv |access-date=26 August 2022 |archive-date=10 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510142925/https://www.manabiblioteka.lv/en/projekti/terra-mariana-1186-1888-2015/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1282, Riga, and later the cities of [[Cēsis]], [[Limbaži]], [[Koknese]] and [[Valmiera]], became part of the [[Hanseatic League]].<ref name="Lonely" /> Riga became an important point of east–west trading<ref name="Lonely" /> and formed close cultural links with [[Western Europe]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/latvia/history|title=History of Latvia - Lonely Planet Travel Information|website=www.lonelyplanet.com|access-date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326135852/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/latvia/history|archive-date=26 March 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> The first German settlers were knights from northern Germany and citizens of northern German towns who brought their [[Low German]] language to the region, which shaped many loanwords in the Latvian language.<ref>{{cite book|title=Die deutschen Lehnwörter im Lettischen: Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der hohen philosophischen Fakultät I der Universität Zürich|author=Johann Sehwers|publisher=Berichthaus|date= 1918|language=de}}</ref>

=== Reformation period and Polish and Swedish rule ===
[[File:Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at its maximum extent.svg|thumb|The [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] at its largest extent; modern-day boundaries are also shown.]]
[[File:Swedish Empire.svg|thumb|The [[Swedish Empire]] (1560–1815).]]
{{Main|Swedish Livonia|Duchy of Courland and Semigallia|Duchy of Livonia|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth}}

After the [[Livonian War]] (1558–1583), Livonia (Northern Latvia & Southern Estonia) fell under the hegemony of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref name="Lonely" /> The southern part of Estonia and the northern part of Latvia were ceded to the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] and formed into the [[Duchy of Livonia]] (''Ducatus Livoniae Ultradunensis''). [[Gotthard Kettler]], the last Master of the [[Livonian Order|Order of Livonia]], formed the [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ceaser|first1=Ray A.|url=http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/papers/duchy.html|title=Duchy of Courland|publisher=University of Washington|access-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030302122941/http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/papers/duchy.html|archive-date=2 March 2003|date=June 2001}}</ref> Though the duchy was a vassal state to the Lithuanian Grand Duchy and later of Poland–Lithuania, it retained a considerable degree of autonomy and experienced a golden age in the 16th century. [[Latgalia]], the easternmost region of Latvia, became a part of the [[Inflanty Voivodeship]] of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IpR0-OrrwssC&q=Inflanty+Latgale&pg=PA14|title=Culture and Customs of the Baltic States|first=Kevin|last=O'Connor|date=3 October 2006|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-313-33125-1|access-date=14 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119144020/https://books.google.com/books?id=IpR0-OrrwssC&q=Inflanty+Latgale&pg=PA14|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, [[Swedish Empire|Sweden]], and [[Russian Empire|Russia]] struggled for supremacy in the eastern Baltic. After the [[Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611)|Polish–Swedish War]], northern Livonia (including Vidzeme) came under Swedish rule. Riga became the capital of [[Swedish Livonia]] and the largest city in the entire Swedish Empire.<ref>Kasekamp, p. 47</ref> Fighting continued sporadically between Sweden and Poland until the [[Truce of Altmark]] in 1629.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sweden, the nation's history {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://search.worldcat.org/title/17676837 |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=search.worldcat.org |language=en |archive-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208020309/https://search.worldcat.org/title/17676837 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Rickard |first1=J |title=Truce of Altmark, 12 September 1629 |url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/truce_altmark.html |website=www.historyofwar.org |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-date=22 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722160109/http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/truce_altmark.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In Latvia, the Swedish period is generally remembered as positive; [[serfdom]] was eased, a network of schools was established for the peasantry, and the power of the regional [[baltic Germans|barons]] was diminished.<ref>H. Strods, "'Dobrye Shvedskie Vremena' v Istoriografii Latvii (Konets XVIII V.&nbsp;– 70-E Gg. XX V.). ["'The good Swedish times' in Latvian historiography: from the late 18th century to the 1970s"] ''Skandinavskiy Sbornik'', 1985, Vol. 29, pp. 188–199</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=J. T. Kotilaine|title=Riga's Trade With its Muscovite Hinterland in the Seventeenth Century|journal=Journal of Baltic Studies|year=1999|volume= 30|issue =2|pages=129–161|doi=10.1080/01629779900000031 | issn=0162-9778}}</ref>

Several important cultural changes occurred during this time. Under Swedish and largely German rule, western Latvia adopted [[Lutheranism]] as its main religion.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Žemaitis |first1=Augustinas |title=Lutherans |url=https://www.onlatvia.com/lutherans-143 |website=OnLatvia.com |access-date=27 August 2022 |archive-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925101326/https://www.onlatvia.com/lutherans-143 |url-status=live }}</ref> The ancient tribes of the Couronians, Semigallians, Selonians, Livs, and northern Latgallians assimilated to form the [[Latvian people]], speaking one [[Latvian language]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ereminas |first1=Gintautas |title=Latviai |url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/latviai/ |website=Vle.lt |access-date=27 August 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Latvian language |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Latvian-language |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=27 August 2022 |archive-date=8 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008003509/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Latvian-language |url-status=live }}</ref> Throughout all the centuries, however, an actual Latvian state had not been established, so the borders and definitions of who exactly fell within that group are largely subjective. Meanwhile, largely isolated from the rest of Latvia, southern Latgallians adopted [[Catholicism]] under Polish/[[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] influence. The native dialect remained distinct, although it acquired many Polish and Russian loanwords.<ref>{{cite journal|author= V. Stanley Vardys|title=The Role of the Churches in the Maintenance of Regional and National Identity in the Baltic Republics|journal=Journal of Baltic Studies|year=1987|volume=18 |issue =3|pages= 287–300|doi=10.1080/01629778700000141}}</ref>

=== Livonia and Courland in the Russian Empire (1795–1917) ===
During the [[Great Northern War]] (1700–1721), up to 40 percent of Latvians died from famine and plague.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kevin O'Connor|title=The History of the Baltic States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3b5nU4bnw4C&pg=PA29|date=1 January 2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32355-3|pages=29–|access-date=11 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427085953/https://books.google.com/books?id=b3b5nU4bnw4C&pg=PA29|archive-date=27 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Half the residents of Riga were killed by [[Great Northern War plague outbreak|plague in 1710–1711]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bank.lv/eng/main/am/jubmon/nmp/index.php?32661 |title=Collector Coin Dedicated to 18th Century Riga |access-date=19 July 2010 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719083420/http://www.bank.lv/eng/main/am/jubmon/nmp/index.php?32661 |archive-date=19 July 2010}}. Bank of Latvia.</ref> The [[capitulation of Estonia and Livonia]] in 1710 and the [[Treaty of Nystad]], ending the [[Great Northern War]] in 1721, gave Vidzeme to Russia (it became part of the [[Governorate of Livonia|Riga Governorate]]).  The Latgale region remained part of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] as [[Inflanty Voivodeship]] until 1772, when it was incorporated into Russia. The [[Duchy of Courland and Semigallia]], a vassal state of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, was annexed by Russia in 1795 in the [[Third Partition of Poland]], bringing all of what is now Latvia into the [[Russian Empire]]. All three Baltic provinces preserved local laws, German as the local [[official language]] and their own parliament, the [[Landtag]].

The emancipation of the serfs took place in Courland in 1817 and in Vidzeme in 1819.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lazdins|first=Janiz|date=2 July 2011|title=THE ORIGINS OF A CIVIL SOCIETY BASED ON DEMOCRATICALLY LEGITIMATE VALUES IN BALTICS AFTER ABOLITION OF SERFDOM|url=https://www.apgads.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/lu_portal/apgads/PDF/Juridiskas-konferences/ISCFLUL-7-2019/iscflul.7.2-11_Lazdins.pdf|access-date=9 July 2021|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190054/https://www.apgads.lu.lv/fileadmin/user_upload/lu_portal/apgads/PDF/Juridiskas-konferences/ISCFLUL-7-2019/iscflul.7.2-11_Lazdins.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In practice, however, the emancipation was actually advantageous to the landowners and nobility, as it dispossessed peasants of their land without compensation, forcing them to return to work at the estates "of their own free will".<ref>Misiunas, Romuald J., Stranga, Aivars, Spekke, Arnold, Smogorzewski, Kazimierz Maciej. "history of Latvia". Encyclopedia Britannica, 9 Jun. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Latvia. Accessed 19 April 2025.</ref>

During these two centuries Latvia experienced economic and construction boom – ports were expanded (Riga became the largest port in the Russian Empire), railways built; new factories, banks, and a university were established; many residential, public (theatres and museums), and school buildings were erected; new parks formed; and so on. Riga's boulevards and some streets outside the Old Town date from this period.

[[Numeracy]] was also higher in the Livonian and Courlandian parts of the Russian Empire, which may have been influenced by the Protestant religion of the inhabitants.<ref>{{cite book|author=Baten, Jörg |title=A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present.|date=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=50|isbn=978-1-107-50718-0}}</ref>

[[File:Latvians national rally in Dundaga in 1905.jpg|thumb|left|Latvians national rally in [[Dundaga]] in 1905]]
During the 19th century, the social structure changed dramatically.<ref name="LNA">{{cite web |title=Latvian national awakening (1860-1918) |url=https://www.onlatvia.com/latvian-national-awakening-1860-1918-74 |website=OnLatvia.com |access-date=19 March 2022 |archive-date=9 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409052455/https://www.onlatvia.com/latvian-national-awakening-1860-1918-74 |url-status=live }}</ref> A class of independent farmers established itself after reforms allowed the peasants to repurchase their land, but many landless peasants remained. Many [[Latvians]] left for the cities and sought education and industrial jobs.<ref name="LNA" /> There also developed a growing urban [[proletariat]] and an increasingly influential Latvian [[bourgeoisie]].<ref name="LNA" /> The [[Young Latvians|Young Latvian]] ({{langx|lv|Jaunlatvieši}}) movement laid the groundwork for nationalism from the middle of the century, many of its leaders looking to the [[Slavophile]]s for support against the prevailing German-dominated social order.<ref name="YoungLatvians">{{cite web |title=Latvians in the Second Half of the 19th Century and the Early 20th Century: National Identity, Culture and Social Life |url=http://lnvm.lv/en/?page_id=1078 |website=National History Museum of Latvia |access-date=19 March 2022 |language=en |archive-date=22 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022201215/http://lnvm.lv/en/?page_id=1078 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Another Baltic Postcolonialism: Young Latvians, Baltic Germans, and the emergence of Latvian National Movement |journal=Nationalities Papers |date=20 November 2018 |volume=42 |issue=1 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=88–107 |doi=10.1080/00905992.2013.823391 |url=https://dspace.lu.lv/dspace/bitstream/handle/7/31253/Ijabs_Nationalities_Papers_2014.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |access-date=19 March 2022 |last1=Ijabs |first1=Ivars |s2cid=129003059 |archive-date=11 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230911002101/https://dspace.lu.lv/dspace/bitstream/handle/7/31253/Ijabs_Nationalities_Papers_2014.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |url-status=live }}</ref> The rise in use of the [[Latvian language]] in literature and society became known as the [[Latvian National Awakening|First National Awakening]].<ref name="YoungLatvians" /> [[Russification]] began in Latgale after the Polish led the [[January Uprising]] in 1863: this spread to the rest of what is now Latvia by the 1880s. The Young Latvians were largely eclipsed by the [[New Current]], a broad leftist social and political movement, in the 1890s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Šiliņš |first1=Jānis |title=Jaunā strāva |url=https://enciklopedija.lv/skirklis/22237 |access-date=19 March 2022 |website=[[Latvian National Encyclopedia]] |language=lv |archive-date=27 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127112202/https://enciklopedija.lv/skirklis/22237 |url-status=live }}</ref> Popular discontent exploded in the [[1905 Russian Revolution]], which took a nationalist character in the [[Baltics|Baltic provinces]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lapa |first1=Līga |title=1905. gada revolūcija Latvijā |url=https://enciklopedija.lv/skirklis/20773-1905-gada-revol%C5%ABcija-Latvij%C4%81 |website=Nacionālā enciklopēdija |access-date=19 March 2022 |language=lv |archive-date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319145330/https://enciklopedija.lv/skirklis/20773-1905-gada-revol%C5%ABcija-Latvij%C4%81 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=II 1905 |url=https://www.historia.lv/raksts/ii-1905 |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Historia |language=lv}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Muzergues |first=Thibault |date=2004-09-20 |title=Russia and the nation-state building in Latvia |url=https://sens-public.org/articles/90/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Sens public |language=fr}}</ref>

=== Declaration of independence and interwar period ===
{{More citations needed|subsection|date=April 2025}}
[[File:Janis Cakste.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Jānis Čakste]] (1859–1927), the first [[president of Latvia]]]]
[[World War I]] devastated the territory of what became the state of Latvia,<ref>{{Cite web |title=WORLD WAR I AND LATVIAN RIFLEMEN IN THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF LATVIA. |url=https://oldlvi.lu.lv/lv/LVIZ_2017_files/3numurs/K_Zellis_World_War_LVIZ_2017_3.pdf |access-date=24 April 2025|author=Zellis, Kaspars |language=lv }}</ref> and other western parts of the Russian Empire. Demands for [[self-determination]] were initially confined to [[autonomy]], until a power vacuum was created by the [[Russian Revolution]] in 1917, followed by the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] between Russia and Germany in March 1918, then the [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918. On 18 November 1918, in Riga, the [[Tautas padome|People's Council of Latvia]] proclaimed the independence of the new country and [[Kārlis Ulmanis]] was entrusted to set up a government and he took the position of prime minister.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kārlis Ulmanis {{!}} Valsts prezidenta kanceleja|url=https://www.president.lv/en/karlis-ulmanis|access-date=13 October 2021|website=www.president.lv|language=en|archive-date=18 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018115339/https://www.president.lv/en/karlis-ulmanis|url-status=live}}</ref>

The General representative of Germany [[August Winnig]] formally handed over political power to the Latvian Provisional Government on 26 November.<ref>{{Cite web |title= NATIONAL COMMUNISM AND WORLD REVOLUTION: THE POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF GERMAN MILITARY WITHDRAWAL FROM THE BALTIC AREA IN 1918-19 |url= https://ia801304.us.archive.org/16/items/germanrevolution00lutz/germanrevolution00lutz.pdf |access-date=25 April 2025 |author=University of California at Los Angeles |language=en }}</ref> On 18 November, the Latvian People's Council entrusted him to set up the government. He took the office of Minister of Agriculture from 18 November to 19 December. He took a position of prime minister from 19 November 1918 to 13 July 1919.

The [[Latvian War of Independence|war of independence]] that followed was part of a general chaotic period of civil and new border wars in Eastern Europe. By the spring of 1919, there were actually three governments: the Provisional government headed by [[Kārlis Ulmanis]], supported by the [[Tautas padome]] and the [[Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control|Inter-Allied Commission of Control]]; the [[Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic|Latvian Soviet government]] led by [[Pēteris Stučka]], supported by the [[Red Army]]; and the Provisional government headed by [[Andrievs Niedra]], supported by [[Baltic Germans|Baltic-German]] [[Freikorps in the Baltic|forces]] composed of the ''[[Baltische Landeswehr]]'' ("Baltic Defence Force") and the [[Freikorps]] formation ''[[Eiserne Division]]'' ("Iron Division").

Estonian and Latvian forces defeated the Germans at the [[Battle of Cēsis (1919)|Battle of Wenden]] in June 1919,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/cesis_battle_of|title=Cēsis, Battle of {{!}} International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)|access-date=15 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223133640/https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/cesis_battle_of|archive-date=23 February 2019}}</ref> and a massive attack by a predominantly German force—the [[West Russian Volunteer Army]]—under [[Pavel Bermondt-Avalov]] was repelled in November. Eastern Latvia was cleared of Red Army forces by Latvian and Polish troops in early 1920 (from the Polish perspective the [[Battle of Daugavpils]] was a part of the [[Polish–Soviet War]]).

A freely elected [[Constituent assembly]] convened on 1 May 1920, and adopted a liberal constitution, the ''[[Constitution of Latvia|Satversme]]'', in February 1922.<ref>Bleiere, p. 155</ref> The constitution was partly suspended by Kārlis Ulmanis after [[1934 Latvian coup d'état|his coup in 1934]] but reaffirmed in 1990. Since then, it has been amended and is still in effect in Latvia today. With most of Latvia's industrial base evacuated to the interior of Russia in 1915, radical [[land reform]] was the central political question for the young state. In 1897, 61.2% of the rural population had been landless; by 1936, that percentage had been reduced to 18%.<ref>Bleiere, p. 195</ref>

On 15 May 1934, Ulmanis staged [[1934 Latvian coup d'état|a bloodless coup]], establishing a nationalist dictatorship that lasted until 1940.<ref name="Country profile">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1108059.stm|title=Timeline: Latvia|work=BBC News|date=20 January 2010|access-date=5 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420190840/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1108059.stm|archive-date=20 April 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> After 1934, Ulmanis established [[government corporation]]s to buy up private firms with the aim of "Latvianising" the economy.<ref>{{cite book|jstor=2119564|author1=Nicholas Balabkins|author2=Arnolds P. Aizsilnieks|title=Entrepreneur in a small country: a case study against the background of the Latvian economy, 1919–1940|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PwaSAAAAIAAJ|access-date=19 February 2012|year=1975|publisher=Exposition Press|isbn=978-0-682-48158-8|pages=xiv, 143|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112212508/http://books.google.com/books?id=PwaSAAAAIAAJ|archive-date=12 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Occupations, 1940–1990 ===
{{Main|Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940|German occupation of Latvia during World War II||Occupation of Latvia by Soviet Union 1944–1945|Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic}}
{{See also|The Holocaust in Latvia|Latvian partisans|Latvian anti-Nazi resistance movement 1941–45}}
[[File:Riga 1940 Soviet Army.jpg|thumb|[[Red Army]] troops enter [[Riga]] (1940).]]
Early in the morning of 24 August 1939, the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Nazi Germany]] signed a 10-year non-aggression pact, called the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact – archive, August 1939 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2019/jul/24/molotov-ribbentrop-pact-germany-russia-1939 |website=the Guardian |access-date=28 January 2021 |language=en |date=24 July 2019 |archive-date=27 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627110113/https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2019/jul/24/molotov-ribbentrop-pact-germany-russia-1939 |url-status=live }}</ref> The pact contained a secret protocol, revealed only after Germany's defeat in 1945, according to which the states of Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into German and Soviet "[[sphere of influence|spheres of influence]]".<ref name="mrtext">[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1939pact.html ''Text of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114231303/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1939pact.html |date=14 November 2014 }}, executed 23 August 1939</ref> In the north, Latvia, Finland and Estonia were assigned to the Soviet sphere.<ref name="mrtext" />

After the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, most of the [[Baltic Germans]] left Latvia by agreement between Ulmanis's government and Nazi Germany under the [[Heim ins Reich]] programme.<ref name="Latvia in WWII">Lumans, pp. 71–74</ref> Most of those who remained left for Germany in summer 1940, when a second resettlement scheme was agreed.<ref>Lumans pp. 110–111</ref> The racially approved being resettled mainly in Poland, being given land and businesses in exchange for the money they had received from the sale of their previous assets.<ref name="PBBG">{{cite book |first=Prit |last=Buttar |title=Between Giants |isbn=978-1-78096-163-7|date=21 May 2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA }}</ref>{{rp|46}}

On 5 October 1939, Latvia was forced to accept a "mutual assistance" pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station between 25,000 and 30,000 troops on Latvian territory.<ref>Lumans, p. 79</ref>
State administrators were murdered and replaced by Soviet cadres.<ref name="wettig20">Wettig, Gerhard, ''Stalin and the Cold War in Europe'', Rowman & Littlefield, Landham, Md, 2008, {{ISBN|0-7425-5542-9}}, pp. 20–21</ref> Elections were held with single pro-Soviet candidates listed for many positions. The resulting people's assembly immediately requested admission into the USSR, which the Soviet Union granted.<ref name="wettig20" /> Latvia, then a puppet government, was headed by [[Augusts Kirhenšteins]].<ref>Lumans, pp. 98–99</ref> The Soviet Union incorporated Latvia on 5 August 1940, as the ''[[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic]].''

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L19397, Lettland, Riga, Begrüßung der deutschen Soldaten.jpg|thumb|German soldiers enter Riga, July 1941.]]
The Soviets dealt harshly with their [[Enemy of the people|opponents]]&nbsp;– prior to [[Operation Barbarossa]], in less than a year, at least 34,250 Latvians were deported or killed.<ref>{{cite book|author=Simon Sebag Montefiore|author-link=Simon Sebag Montefiore|title=Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar|page=334}}</ref> Most were deported to Siberia where deaths were estimated at 40 percent.<ref name=PBBG />{{rp|48}}

On 22 June 1941, German troops attacked Soviet forces in Operation Barbarossa.<ref>{{cite news |title=Operation Barbarossa |url=https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa#:~:text=On%20June%2022%2C%201941%2C%20Adolf,the%20frontier%20into%20Soviet%20territory. |website=HISTORY |access-date=28 January 2021 |language=en |archive-date=22 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622142556/http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/operation-barbarossa#:~:text=On%20June%2022%2C%201941%2C%20Adolf,the%20frontier%20into%20Soviet%20territory. |url-status=live }}</ref> There were some spontaneous uprisings by Latvians against the Red Army which helped the Germans. By 29 June [[Riga]] was reached and with Soviet troops killed, captured or retreating, Latvia was left under the control of German forces by early July.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Latvia: A brief synopsis |url=https://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/usa/culture/history-of-latvia-a-brief-synopsis |website=www.mfa.gov.lv |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303083044/https://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/usa/culture/history-of-latvia-a-brief-synopsis }}</ref><ref name=PBBG />{{rp|78–96}}

Under German occupation, Latvia was administered as part of ''[[Reichskommissariat Ostland]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Estonia - RomArchive |url=https://www.romarchive.eu/en/voices-of-the-victims/estonia/ |website=www.romarchive.eu |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-date=7 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207204810/https://www.romarchive.eu/en/voices-of-the-victims/estonia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Latvian paramilitary and [[Arajs Kommando|Auxiliary Police]] units established by the occupation authority participated in [[the Holocaust]] and other atrocities.<ref name="Country profile" /> 30,000 Jews were shot in Latvia in the autumn of 1941.<ref name=PBBG />{{rp|127}} Another 30,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto were killed in the Rumbula Forest in November and December 1941, to reduce overpopulation in the ghetto and make room for more Jews being brought in from Germany and the West.<ref name=PBBG />{{rp|128}} There was a pause in fighting, apart from partisan activity, until after the [[Battle of Leningrad|siege of Leningrad]] ended in January 1944, and the Soviet troops advanced, entering Latvia in July and eventually capturing Riga on 13 October 1944.<ref name=PBBG />{{rp|271}}

[[File:Red Army soldiers in Riga. October 1944.jpg|thumb|[[Red Army]] soldiers in front of the [[Freedom Monument]] in Riga in 1944]]

The Soviets reoccupied the country in 1944–1945, and further deportations followed as the country was [[collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivised]]
and [[Sovietisation|Sovietised]].<ref name="Country profile" /> <!-- The first post-war years were marked by particularly dismal and sombre events in the fate of the Latvian nation{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} I'll take this out; let the readers evaluate the events&nbsp;– they are quite self explanatory -->

In the post-war period, Latvia was made to adopt Soviet farming methods. Rural areas were forced into [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|collectivization]].<ref>Bleiere, p. 384</ref> An extensive program to impose [[bilingualism]] was initiated in Latvia, limiting the use of Latvian language in official uses in favor of using Russian as the main language. All of the minority schools (Jewish, Polish, Belarusian, Estonian, Lithuanian) were closed down leaving only two media of instructions in the schools: Latvian and Russian.<ref>Bleiere, p. 411</ref> An influx of new colonists, including laborers, administrators, military personnel and their dependents from Russia and other Soviet republics started. By 1959 about 400,000 Russian settlers arrived and the ethnic Latvian population had fallen to 62%.<ref>Bleiere, p. 418</ref>

Since Latvia had maintained a well-developed infrastructure and educated specialists, Moscow decided to base some of the Soviet Union's most advanced manufacturing in Latvia. New industry was created in Latvia, including a major [[Riga Autobus Factory|machinery factory RAF]] in [[Jelgava]], electrotechnical factories in [[Riga]], chemical factories in [[Daugavpils]], [[Valmiera]] and [[Olaine]]—and some food and oil processing plants.<ref>Bleiere, p. 379</ref> Latvia manufactured trains, ships, minibuses, mopeds, telephones, radios and hi-fi systems, electrical and diesel engines, textiles, furniture, clothing, bags and luggage, shoes, musical instruments, home appliances, watches, tools and equipment, aviation and agricultural equipment and long list of other goods. Latvia had its own film industry and musical records factory (LPs). However, there were not enough people to operate the newly built factories.{{Citation needed|date=November 2009}} To maintain and expand industrial production, skilled workers were migrating from all over the Soviet Union, decreasing the proportion of ethnic Latvians in the republic.<ref>Lumans, p. 400</ref> The population of Latvia reached its peak in 1990 at just under 2.7 million people.

In the second half of the 1980s, Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] started to introduce political and economic reforms in the Soviet Union that were called [[glasnost]] and [[perestroika]]. In the summer of 1987, the first large demonstrations were held in Riga at the [[Freedom Monument]]—a symbol of independence. In the summer of 1988, a national movement, coalescing in the [[Popular Front of Latvia]], was opposed by the [[International Front of the Working People of Latvia|Interfront]]. The Latvian SSR, along with the other [[Baltic states|Baltic Republics]] was allowed greater autonomy, and in 1988, the old pre-war [[Flag of Latvia]] flew again, replacing the Soviet Latvian flag as the official flag in 1990.<ref>{{cite web |title=Flag Log's World Flag Chart 1991 |url=https://flaglog.com/1991 |website=flaglog.com |access-date=9 December 2021 |archive-date=2 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102050401/https://flaglog.com/1991 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>More-detailed discussion in Daina Stukuls Eglitis, ''Imagining the Nation: History, Modernity, and Revolution in Latvia'' State College PA: Pennsylvania State Press, 2010), 41-46. {{ISBN|9780271045627}}</ref> In 1989, the [[Supreme Soviet of the USSR]] adopted a resolution on the ''[[Occupation of the Baltic states]]'', in which it declared the occupation "not in accordance with law", and not the "will of the Soviet people". Pro-independence Popular Front of Latvia candidates gained a two-thirds majority in the [[Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia|Supreme Council]] in the [[1990 Latvian Supreme Soviet election|March 1990 democratic elections]].

=== 1990–present ===
{{Further|Singing Revolution|Baltic Way|On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia}}
[[File:Riga barricade 1991.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Barricade in Riga to prevent the [[Soviet Army]] from reaching the [[Saeima|Latvian Parliament]] in July 1991]]

On 4 May 1990, the Supreme Council adopted the [[Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia]], and the Latvian SSR was renamed Republic of Latvia.<ref name="Imagining">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=36JG1JBlNroC&q=latvia+political+history|title=Imagining the Nation: History, Modernity, and Revolution in Latvia|last=Eglitis|first=Daina Stukuls|date=1 November 2010|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=978-0-271-04562-7|language=en|access-date=14 November 2020|archive-date=19 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119144024/https://books.google.com/books?id=36JG1JBlNroC&q=latvia+political+history|url-status=live}}</ref>

However, the central power in Moscow continued to regard Latvia as a Soviet republic in 1990 and 1991. In January 1991, Soviet political and military forces unsuccessfully tried 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.<ref name="Imagining" />

[[Popular Front of Latvia|The Popular Front of Latvia]] advocated that all permanent residents be eligible for Latvian citizenship, however, universal citizenship for all permanent residents was not adopted. Instead, citizenship was granted to persons who had been citizens of Latvia on the day of loss of independence in 1940 as well as their descendants. As a consequence, the majority of ethnic non-Latvians did not receive Latvian citizenship since neither they nor their parents had ever been citizens of Latvia, becoming [[Non-citizens (Latvia)|non-citizens]] or citizens of other former Soviet republics. By 2011, more than half of non-citizens had taken [[naturalization]] exams and received Latvian citizenship, but in 2015 there were still 290,660 non-citizens in Latvia, which represented 14.1% of the population. They have [[Statelessness|no citizenship of any country]], and cannot participate in the parliamentary elections.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/ibelong/stories-of-statelessness-latvia-and-estonia/|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20151127055909/http%3A//www.unhcr.org/ibelong/stories%2Dof%2Dstatelessness%2Dlatvia%2Dand%2Destonia/|archive-date=27 November 2015|title=Stories of Statelessness: Latvia and Estonia – IBELONG|work=IBELONG |date=12 January 2015}}</ref> Children born to non-nationals or stateless persons after the re-establishment of independence on 21 August 1991 are automatically entitled to citizenship.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krūma |first=Kristine |date=2015 |title=Country report on Citizenship Law: Latvia |url=https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/34481/EUDO_CIT_2015_06-Latvia.pdf |access-date=10 March 2025 |publisher=European University Institute |page=7 |format=PDF}}</ref>

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 [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|Soviet coup attempt]].<ref name="FINemb">{{cite web |url=http://www.finland.lv/public/default.aspx?nodeid=38439&contentlan=2&culture=en-US |title=History |publisher=Embassy of Finland, Riga |quote=Latvia declared independence on 21 August 1991...The decision to restore diplomatic relations took effect on 29 August 1991 |date=9 July 2008 |access-date=2 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511083836/http://www.finland.lv/public/default.aspx?nodeid=38439&contentlan=2&culture=en-US |archive-date=11 May 2011 }}</ref> Latvia resumed diplomatic relations with Western states, including Sweden.<ref>{{cite web |title=The King holds an audience with Latvia's President |url=https://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/latestnews/latestnews/thekingholdsanaudiencewithlatviaspresident.5.1af28464179eb669913b76a.html |website=Swedish Royal Court |access-date=26 August 2021 |archive-date=26 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210826130749/https://www.kungahuset.se/royalcourt/latestnews/latestnews/thekingholdsanaudiencewithlatviaspresident.5.1af28464179eb669913b76a.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Saeima]], Latvia's parliament, was again elected in 1993. Russia ended its military presence by completing its troop withdrawal in 1994 and shutting down the [[Skrunda-1]] radar station in 1998.

The major goals of Latvia in the 1990s, to join [[NATO]] and the [[European Union]], were achieved in 2004. The [[NATO Summit 2006]] was held in Riga.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/docu/pr/2006/p06-150e.htm |title=NATO Press Release |website=www.nato.int |access-date=16 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312162903/http://www.nato.int/docu/pr/2006/p06-150e.htm |archive-date=12 March 2014 }}</ref> [[Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga]] was [[President of Latvia]] from 1999 until 2007. She was the first female head of state in the former Soviet bloc state and was active in Latvia joining both NATO and the European Union in 2004.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49119077|title=From child refugee to president: Latvia's Vaira Vike-Freiberga|work=BBC News|date=4 August 2019|access-date=27 March 2021|archive-date=3 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203204231/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49119077|url-status=live}}</ref> Latvia signed the [[Schengen Agreement|Schengen agreement]] on 16 April 2003 and started its implementation on 21 December 2007.<ref>{{cite web |title=Schengen Area - The 27 Member Countries of the Schengen Zone |url=https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/ |website=SchengenVisaInfo.com |language=en |access-date=3 June 2023 |archive-date=20 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320045320/https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/schengen-visa-countries-list/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Saeimas 18.novembra svinīgā sēde (45023401235).jpg|thumb|The ceremonial meeting of the [[Saeima]] in 2018 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia at the [[Latvian National Theatre]], where the country was [[Independence Day (Latvia)|founded on 18 November 1918]]]]
Approximately 72% of Latvian citizens are Latvian, while 20% are Russian.<ref>{{cite journal |author = Commercio Michele E |year = 2003 |title = Emotion and Blame in Collective Action: Russian Voice in Kyrgyzstan and Latvia |journal = Political Science Quarterly |volume = 124 |issue = 3 |pages = 489–512 |doi = 10.1002/j.1538-165X.2009.tb00657.x |s2cid = 55002696 }}</ref> The government denationalized private property confiscated by the Soviets, returning it or compensating the owners for it, and [[privatization|privatized]] most state-owned industries, reintroducing the [[Latvian lats|prewar currency]]. Albeit having experienced a difficult transition to a liberal economy and its re-orientation toward Western Europe, Latvia is one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union.<ref>{{cite web |title=Latvia Beat the Odds—But the Battle Is Far From Over |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2012/06/01/latvia-beat-the-odds-but-the-battle-is-far-from-over |website=IMF |language=en |date=1 June 2012 |access-date=1 September 2023 |archive-date=1 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901101035/https://www.imf.org/en/Blogs/Articles/2012/06/01/latvia-beat-the-odds-but-the-battle-is-far-from-over |url-status=live }}</ref> In November 2013, [[Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse|the 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Riga mourns Maxima roof collapse victims |url=https://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/33833/ |work=www.baltictimes.com |access-date=1 September 2023 |archive-date=1 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901100416/https://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/33833/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In late 2018 the National Archives of Latvia released a full alphabetical index of some 10,000 people recruited as agents or informants by the Soviet KGB. 'The publication, which followed two decades of public debate and the passage of a special law, revealed the names, code names, birthplaces and other data on active and former KGB agents as of 1991, the year Latvia regained its independence from the Soviet Union.'<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/09/latvia-opens-its-kgb-archives-while-russia-continues-whitewash-its-past/|department=Opinion |title=Latvia opens its KGB archives — while Russia continues to whitewash its past|author=Vladimir Kara-Murza |newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=9 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109190904/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/09/latvia-opens-its-kgb-archives-while-russia-continues-whitewash-its-past/|archive-date=9 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2023, the parliament elected [[Edgars Rinkēvičs]] as new [[President of Latvia]], making him the European Union's first openly gay head of state.<ref>{{cite news |title=Latvian parliament elects foreign minister as new president |url=https://www.impartialreporter.com/news/national/23559193.latvian-parliament-elects-foreign-minister-new-president/ |work=Impartial Reporter |date=31 May 2023 |language=en |access-date=3 June 2023 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603121301/https://www.impartialreporter.com/news/national/23559193.latvian-parliament-elects-foreign-minister-new-president/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After years of debates, Latvia ratified the EU ''Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence'', otherwise known as the [[Istanbul Convention]] in November 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kincis |first=Jānis |date=November 30, 2023 |title=Istanbul convention ratified by Saeima |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/politics/saeima/30.11.2023-istanbul-convention-ratified-by-latvian-saeima.a533654/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=Public Broadcasting of Latvia |language=en |archive-date=2 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102173130/https://eng.lsm.lv/article/politics/saeima/30.11.2023-istanbul-convention-ratified-by-latvian-saeima.a533654/ |url-status=live }}</ref>