Editing History of Latvia (section)

===German attack and refugees===
By May 1915 the war reached most of Latvia. On April 30 Russian Commander-in-Chief ordered the evacuation of all Jews from Courland within 24 hours. On May 2, 1915, German attack against [[Jelgava]] was repelled. On May 7 the Germans captured [[Liepāja]] and [[Kuldīga]].

On June 29 the Russian Supreme Command ordered the whole population of [[Courland]] evacuated, and around 500,000 refugees fled to the east. Much of the crops and housing was destroyed by the army to prevent them from falling into the German hands. Some of the refugees settled in [[Vidzeme]] but most continued their way to Russia where they had to settle in primitive conditions, suffering from hunger and diseases. In August 1915 the Latvian Refugee Aid Central Committee was established in Petrograd, it was run by future politicians [[Vilis Olavs]], [[Jānis Čakste]] and [[Arveds Bergs]]. Committee organized refugee housing, organized 54 schools, 25 hospitals and distributed aid. Many refugees returned to Latvia only after 1920, when a peace treaty was signed between Latvia and Soviet Russia. Many Latvians stayed in the new Bolshevik state, achieving high army and party offices, only to be purged and executed by Stalin during 1937–38.

On July 19, 1915, the Russian War Minister ordered the factories of Riga evacuated together with their workers. In the summer of 1915, 30,000 railway wagons loaded with machines and equipment from factories were taken away reducing the population of Riga by some 50%. This action effectively destroyed Riga as a great industrial center until the later industrialization under the Soviet regime.

On August 1, the Germans captured the capital of Courland, Jelgava. A week later [[Battle of the Gulf of Riga]] started and eventually was lost by Germany. By October 23, Germans captured [[Ilūkste]] and were within the striking distance of [[Daugavpils]] with its fortress.