Page 63 - The Baltic Capitals & St. Petersburg

The Livonian War

Unfortunately the rise of Riga meant that the land became a valuable prize in the eyes of other
nations. Sweden, Poland, and Russia all tried to capture parts of Livonia, especially in the
wake of the assaults by Ivan the Terrible in the late 1500s. The general competition between
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War, which lasted until 1582. By the war’s end Livonia had been carved up between the
Swedes, in present-day Estonia and Riga, and the Poles, in the rest of modern Latvia.

Russian Rule and Early Independence

In less than 150 years the Polish rule was upended by a Russian invasion in 1700. By 1721
Russia had secured Latvia, and for the next 200 years it was ruled by the Czars. In response
to this forced integration into the Russian empire, many locals began to identify themselves
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part of a foreign empire). The movement towards a national identity was largely lead by the
so-called “Young Latvians” from the 1850s through the 1880s. Although largely a literary and
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for Latvia.

Ultimately it was the chaos of WWI and the Russian Revolution that lead to an independent
Latvia. The declaration of their independence on November 18th, 1918 was meet with almost
immediate retaliation by the Russians, who invaded in December of the same year. With
the help of Estonia and Poland, Latvia was able to force Russia back and maintain their
independence. On August 11th, 1920 Russia signed the Treaty of Riga and thereby ceded their
claims to Latvia. Over the next few decades, Latvia’s economy boomed and in the 1930s
Latvians could boast one of Europe’s highest standards of living.

World War II and the Soviet Era

In 1939 Russia and Germany secretly agreed to a non-aggression pact that carved up sections
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Thus Latvia began WWII under Russian occupation, but once Germany and Russia were
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conscriptions, deportations, and executions against the local population.

Near the end of the war, the Russians returned to “rescue” Latvia by driving out the
Germans—but not to set up an independent nation. Instead Latvia became a part of the Soviet
USSR. Despite the impositions from Moscow and the dismal treatment of the average Latvian,
there were few examples of armed resistance or organized protests. Many Latvians were
fearful of falling prey to the mass arrests or deportations to Siberia, and for good reason—
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against the Soviet regime wasn’t until June 14th, 1987. Two years later, one of the most
extraordinary Baltic protests occurred on August 23rd, 1989 when Latvia was the center of a
human chain of two million Latvians, Estonians, and Lithuanians.

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