Editing Liepāja (section)

=== World War I and War of Independence ===
[[File:Beschießung der russischen Hafenstadt Libau am 2. August 1914 durch den Kleinen Kreuzer SMS AUGSBURG. Illustrierte Geschichte des Weltkrieges 1914-15. 1914 1915.jpg|thumb|Bombardment of port Liepāja by German cruiser {{ship|SMS|Augsburg}}, 2 August 1914]]
[[File:Либава 5 руб 1915 а.jpg|thumb|left|Libau's 5 rubles (1915)]]
Following the outbreak of World War I, the German cruiser SMS ''Magdeburg'' shelled Liepāja (then part of Russia), and other vessels laid mines off the approaches to the port.<ref>Palmer, 2005, p.255</ref> Liepāja was occupied by the [[German Army (German Empire)|German Army]], on 7 May 1915, and in memory of this event, a monument was constructed on Kūrmājas Prospect in 1916 and removed in 1919 by the new Latvian State. Liepāja's local government issued its own money for a while in this period – ''Libaua rubles''. An advanced German [[Zeppelin]] base was constructed at Vaiņode, near Liepāja, with five hangars, in August 1915.<ref>Palmer, 2005, p.258.</ref> On 23 October 1915, the German cruiser {{ship|SMS|Prinz Adalbert|1901|6}} was sunk by the British submarine {{HMS|E8}}, {{convert|37|km|nmi mi|0|abbr=on}} west of Liepāja.

[[File:Libau hafen.jpg|thumb|[[Imperial German Army|German Army]] in Liepāja, 1915]]
With the collapse of Russia and the signing of the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], the occupying German forces had a quiet time, but the subsequent defeat in the West of the German Empire and the Allied denunciation of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty changed everything. Independence of the Republic of Latvia was proclaimed on 18 November 1918, and the [[Latvian Provisional Government]] under [[Kārlis Ulmanis]] was created. Bolshevik Russia now advanced into Latvian territory and met little resistance here. Soon the Provisional Government and remaining German units were forced to leave [[Riga]] and retreated all the way to Liepāja, but then the Red offensive stalled along the [[Venta (river)|Venta]] river. The Bolsheviks announced a Latvian Soviet Republic. Latvia now became the main theatre of Baltic operations for the remaining German forces in 1919. In addition, a ''Landeswehr'' was formed to work in conjunction with the German forces.

In Liepāja, a coup organized by Germans took place on 16 April 1919 and Ulmanis government was forced to flee and was replaced by [[Andrievs Niedra]].<ref name="Šiliņš">{{cite news |last1=Šiliņš |first1=Jānis |title=The republic on the sea: The 1919 coup that exiled the Latvian government to a steamboat |url=https://eng.lsm.lv/article/culture/history/the-republic-on-the-sea-the-1919-coup-that-exiled-the-latvian-government-to-a-steamboat.a316422/ |access-date=21 April 2019 |publisher=[[Public Broadcasting of Latvia]] |date=18 April 2019}}</ref> The Ulmanis government found shelter on the steamship ''Saratov'' in Liepāja port. In May a British cruiser squadron arrived at Liepāja to support Latvian independence and requested the Germans to leave.<ref>Hiden, John, and Salmon, Patrick, ''The Baltic Nations and Europe'', Longman Group UK Ltd., 1991, p.32-6.</ref>

During the war, the words of "[[The Jäger March]]" were written in Liepāja by [[Heikki Nurmio]].

The German ''Freikorps'', having recaptured [[Riga]] from the Bolsheviks, departed in late 1919 and the Bolsheviks were driven out of the Latvian hinterlands in early 1920. In 1920, over 2,500 Polish soldiers of the former [[Polish Legion in Finland]], who fought for Finnish independence from Russia, were evacuated from [[Finland]] to Liepāja and then further to Poland (see also ''[[Latvia–Poland relations]]'').<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Jaworski|first=Jacek|year=2015|title=Polacy w Finlandii: pierwsi przeciw bolszewikom|magazine=Pamięć.pl|language=pl|publisher=[[Institute of National Remembrance|IPN]]|issue=39|page=24|issn=2084-7319}}</ref>