Editing Latvian National Armed Forces (section)

=== War of Independence, peacetime (1919–1940) ===
The Latvian armed forces were first formed soon after the new state was [[Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia|proclaimed]] in November 1918 after [[World War I]], with the official founding of the '''{{Interlanguage link|Latvian Armed Forces (1919–1940)|lt=Latvian Armed Forces|lv|Latvijas Bruņotie spēki}}''' ({{Langx|lv|Latvijas Bruņotie spēki}}) on July 10, 1919, when the {{Interlanguage link|North Latvian Brigade|lt=North Latvian|lv|Ziemeļlatvijas brigāde|WD=}} and {{Interlanguage link|South Latvian Brigade|lt=|lv|Dienvidlatvijas brigāde}}, which were loyal to the [[Latvian Provisional Government]], were merged. Seasoned general [[Dāvids Sīmansons]] was appointed as the first Commander-in-Chief. At the end of the [[Latvian War of Independence]], the Latvian Army consisted of 69,232 men. 
[[File:Ziemellatvijas brigade Riga 1919.jpg|left|thumb|The North Latvian Brigade in mid-1919]]
In terms of equipment, the Latvian military during its first independence period (1919–1940) was armed mostly with British weapons and gear. The average Latvian infantry soldier in the 1930s is believed to have carried 31,4 [[Kilogram|kg]] of equipment in the winter months, and around 29,1&nbsp;kg in the summer. The main service rifle was the British [[Pattern 1914 Enfield]], and the amount of standard issue ammunition for an infantry soldier was 45 rounds of [[.303 British|.303]] (7,7mm) caliber. In addition, troops had access to three different types of hand grenades (defense, attack and rifle grenades). The Latvian Army had acquired a wide variety of machine guns in different calibers, through various means: trophies acquired from hostile forces during the War of Independence, [[Allies of World War I|allied]] donations and subsequent official state purchases. Light machine guns included the French [[Chauchat]], Danish [[Madsen machine gun|Madsen]], and British [[Lewis gun]] (which became the main light machine gun of the Latvian Army). The main heavy machine gun was the British [[Vickers machine gun]] in the .303 (7,7mm) caliber, although the army also kept Russian [[PM M1910]] machine guns in reserve. In general, the Latvian Army lacked automatic weapons of all calibers, and the ones it did have were becoming increasingly outdated towards the start of [[World War II]] (most of the weapons in service were from World War I). In terms of heavy weapons, the Latvian military had acquired a rather large number of different artillery systems in different calibers, around 400 artillery pieces in total (although most of these were outdated and worn out due to heavy use and age). The main artillery gun for infantry support was the British [[Ordnance QF 18-pounder]] field gun and British [[QF 4.5-inch howitzer]], although there were also several types of French, German and Russian artillery guns in reserve. For anti-tank weapons, in 1938 the army received the Austrian 47&nbsp;mm [[Cannone da 47/32]] anti-tank cannons, which were reasonably effective against early World War II tanks. For infantry mortars, a number of [[81 mm mortar|81mm mortars]] were acquired from [[Finland]] some time around the late 1930s, but it is unclear how many were delivered and in service at the start of World War II. In terms of individual equipment, the standard helmet were surplus M1916/18 [[Stahlhelm]]s or [[Adrian helmet]]s.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Dambītis |first=Kārlis |date=2016 |title=Latvijas armijas artilērija 1919.-1940.g.: Vieta bruņotajos spēkos, struktūra un uzdevumi |trans-title=Artillery of the Latvian Army (1918–1940): structure, tasks and place in the Armed forces |url=https://dspace.lu.lv/dspace/handle/7/31857?locale-attribute=en |publisher=University of Latvia |type=PhD thesis |page=178, 230}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=MA |first=S. Kiersons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9szOAwAAQBAJ&dq=latvian++m16+helmet&pg=PA62 |title=Boys of the Dvina - Latvia's Army 1918-1940 |date=2012-06-23 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-300-01591-8 |pages=62, 63 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Soldiers of the Latvian National Armed Forces in Liepāja in November 1920.jpg|thumb|Latvian soldiers in [[Liepāja]] in November 1920]]
In terms of vehicles, the Latvian military was seriously lacking in motorized transport, and thus had to rely mostly on railroads and horse-drawn carriages for most of its logistics needs. The military leadership did make an effort to solve this problem at the end of the 1930s by purchasing a small number of cars, trucks, artillery tractors and motorbikes, but at the start of World War II, only a small portion of the Latvian military had access to motorized vehicles. In terms of armoured vehicles, the Latvian military had six [[Armoured train|armoured trains]], a [[Carden Loyd tankette]], seven [[Armored car (military)|armoured car]]s and 24 tanks of various designs and combat abilities. In terms of air power, at the start of World War II the [[Latvian Air Force]] had around 30 fighter planes and 24 [[Scout plane|scout planes]], of which only some were the relatively modern [[Gloster Gladiator]] fighters, 24 training and 6 seaplanes. Thus, the Latvian military during the interwar era was more or less comparable both in equipment and size to its other Baltic neighbours, such as [[Estonia]], [[Lithuania]] and Finland.<ref name="Andersons 2006 520">{{cite book| last = Andersons| first = Edgars |title = Armed Forces of Latvia and their historical background .| publisher = Daugavas Vanagi| location = [[Riga]]| pages = 520| year = 2006| isbn = 9984794555 }}</ref> The Armed Forces were also supported by the volunteer [[Aizsargi|Aizsargi Organization]].