1920-1934






Latvia's War of Independence, 1918-1922



On May 28th 1918, the INDEPENDENCE OF LATVIA was proclaimed in Riga, by a bourgeois government. Latvia was to incorporate all of Courland and the larger part of Livonia (the Estonian-speaking regions of northern Livonia were to join Estonia).
The political and military situation, however, was rather complex, the Latvian bourgeois government competing with a Soviet Republic proclaimed under the protection of the Red Army, with WHITE troops under General YUDENICH in the area and with irregular German FREICORPS units under Freiherr RUEDIGER VON DER GOLTZ protecting the interests of the German minority.
Latvia was the battleground in a complex three-way war, where the Reuplican Estonian and Latvian troops faced the Red Army (with a strong Latvian battalion) and the combined German Free Corps and White Russian troops (AVALOV-BERMONDT). In December 1919, the German government, under international pressure, recalled their irregular troops; the Latvian Army cleared the country of Soviet troops early in 1920. In 1922 a constitution was adopted.





EXTERNAL
LINKS 		History of Latvia, from vernet.tv
Latvia, from Onomastikon : former USSR
Latvia's History, from All about Latvia
History of Latvia, a brief synopsis, from Embassy of Latvia
Background Notes Latvia, from US Dept. of State, 1994
Riga, History of, from vest_ang
Foundation of the State of Latvia, and Liberation Battles, from Latvian War Museum
Latvian Soldiers in the Russian Civil War, 1918-1921, from Latvian War Museum
Timeline History of Latvia 1918-, from Encyclopedia of World History (Bartleby), click on NEXT to continue
DOCUMENTS Website of the Latvia State Historical Archive
Latvian constitution of 1922, from International Association of Constitutional Law; from Münch-Dalstein.de, in German
Ferien auf dem Haselbuschhof , from Hertha Graf's Memoirs titled "Mit Dünawasser getauft" (Vacation on the Hadelbuchhof), c. 1920, from Stadt กค Adel กค Region, rural life in Latvia, near Riga c. 1920, in German
Latvia banknotes 1915-1991, from Wad Nensberg's Collection of Russian Banknotes; others from Ron Wise's World Paper Money
REFERENCE David G. Kirby, The Baltic World 1772-1993, London : Longman 1995
Article : Courland, in : New International Year Book 1919 p.181, 1921 p.177 [G]
Article : Livonia, in : New International Year Book 1919 pp.396-397, 1920 p.409, 1921 p.430, 1922 pp.434-435 [G]
Article : Latvia, in : New International Year Book 1920 p.391, 1921 pp.411-412, 1922 pp.413-414 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on March 22nd 2007

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