Latvian History

The article analyses a classic Latvian short story „The Battle near Knipska“ by Jānis Poruks. The storry has been included in the lists of compulsory (or recommended) readings for primary and secondary schools during most of the time since 1920s. The main character Cibins is often perceived and presented to the pupils as the symbol of peacefulness and non-aggression. By that Cibins is often used in popular discourse as an example of the peaceful aspirations in Latvian culture. While the story is fictional, it has two links to the Latvian reality – first it depicts quite well the realities of schools in Latvia both in late 19th century and now and, second, as a role setting example it has influenced generations of Latvians. This article uses the story as an ethnographic text and sets out to ask how peaceful in fact is Cibins and the environment in which he lives. By comparing cross-cultural anthropological data about peaceful societies, the article argues that in fact neither Cibins nor the environment in which he lives are peaceful or capable of peaceful life. On the contrary – the whole structure of the society and its institutions are characteristic of societies that are oriented more towards education of violent and individualistic characters. By the way of extrapolating the conclusions to contemporary Latvia, the article also argues that contemporary Latvian society is similarly geared to violence and individualism which may obstruct developmental efforts of the society.

Latyshi and Chukhontsy: locals and strangers in
Estonia and Latvia during the Livonian War (1558–1582)
The medieval and early modern society in Estonia and Latvia was multilingual.
The language of the people of higher social status was (Middle
Low) German, while the peasants and lower urban classes spoke Estonian,
Latvian, Livic, and other local languages. Latvian and Estonian were not
the languages of office in the sixteenth century. The common language of
oral contact between different strata of society was, probably, the language
of the majority. Different contact situations, however, definitely required
the use of different languages.
During the Livonian War (1558–1582/83), a large part of medieval Livonia
was conquered by Muscovy. Russians introduced their administration
there and shared manors with pomeshchiki (serving nobles) of Russian origin.
Ivan the Terrible deployed his garrisons in the towns and castles of
Estonia and Latvia. At the same time the Russian contingent also included
Tatars and members of other ethnicities of the Muscovy, and it remained
very mobile. The Russian administrative records, on the one hand, did not
care for the details of the ethnic situation in the occupied land. The words
Latyshi (Latvians) and Chukhontsy (Estonians) became widely used as
synonyms for local common people, denoting no ethnic difference. Nevertheless,
the Livonian peasants were of economic and military importance
for Russians. A number of reports survive indicating the use of Estonians
and Latvians as messengers and spies between areas of different political
control. The role of the local population as intermediators of information
manifested also the importance of Livonian “non-German” languages in
the communication between areas under various rulers. This hypothesis
can be proven by the usage of Livonian place names in Russian sources of
18 Ajalooline Ajakiri, 2010, 1 (131)
the time. Albeit some towns and castles in Estonia and Latvia had original
Old Russian place names (Kolyvan, Rugodiv, Yur’ev), the Russian toponymy
of Livonia in the 1550s–1580s were based as a rule on Estonian and Latvian
names, sometimes even when the original Old Russian name existed.
Probably, the persons involved in the Russian military and civic administration
were eventually unfamiliar with the earlier Old Russian names or
came from remote areas where no pre-war contacts with Livonia existed.
The records of diplomatic negotiations and treaties often registered
several multilingual forms of a place name at the same time to indicate a
locality in a clearly identifiable way. Significantly, sometimes the originally
Estonian toponyms are referred to as “Russian” ones, juxtaposing them
with German names. When in diplomacy and politics Russian had contact
mainly with Germans, the languages of rural and everyday life were the
languages of local peasants. For example, according to existing directions,
all areas subjugated by Russians should be described by including the names
of farms and peasants, and the amount of agricultural areas. This kind of
inquisition could pass only using local languages and became recorded
in Russian administrative documents. Due to the mobility of the Russian
military contingent, the translators were members of the local population.

This paper presents an analysis of the so-called Latvian national communists, which controlled Soviet Latvia in the 1950s. The traditional interpretation of national communism has profiled the group based on criteria such as youth, prior association, Latvian ethnicity, language and residency in Latvia before 1940. This composite of a Latvian national communist is often accurate: many fought together in the war, had lived in bourgeois Latvia and were in their late thirties during the group’s brief dominance of Latvian politics. There were, however, numerous exceptions in all of these areas. In this paper, I refute the traditional claim that these characteristics constituted Latvian national communism. Instead, this paper argues that the common denominator was their shared vision for Latvian culture and traditions, which allowed these like-minded individuals to coalesce into a unified faction of reformers keen to advance local interests and redraw centre-periphery relations through the repeal of Stalinism.

Historiography about the Latvian national communists treats them as a loose group of like-minded individuals who voted together in the Latvian bureau and did not have specific aims or agenda. In this paper, I argue that the Latvian national communists operated as a cohesive faction to the extent that was possible within the rigid one-Party Soviet structure. Based on archival evidence this paper examines the operations of the national communists within this context.

Finally, this paper examines the structure of the national communists to further demonstrate that they constituted a distinct faction within the leadership. Positions of seniority within the group did not necessarily conform to their rank within the Party or state apparatus. Between 1956 and 1959 the national communists strategised to increase their representation within the organs of power, taking control by appointing members to key positions, usually chairman or deputy of a department and packing the bureau (the highest decision-making body) with members. Furthermore, many decisions were decided informally by senior national communists outside the bureau to circumvent opposition to their goals.

The article examines in detail the process of setting up the security services of Latvia in the period prior to and after regaining full independence. The author emphasizes that a successful transition towards a consolidated democracy requires decisive and quick actions as well as the need for a clear legislative framework, and comprehensive democratic control of the services along parliamentary, government,
judicial, prosecution, and financing venues.

ievadu sk.: https://www.academia.edu/31028684/Ievads_Latvijas_virsniec%C4%ABbas_raksturojums_._In_J%C4%93kabsons_%C4%92._%C5%A0%C4%8Derbinskis_V._sast._Latvijas_armijas_augst%C4%81kie_virsnieki_1918_1940._R%C4%ABga_Latvijas_Valsts_v%C4%93stures_arh%C4%ABvs_1998

Raksts sniedz ieskatu latviešu pretalkohola kustībā K. Ulmaņa autoritārā režīma laikā, aplūkojot konkrētas biedrības – bezalkohola biedrības “Ziemeļblāzma” – darbības piemēru. Bezalkohola biedrība “Ziemeļblāzma” 20. gadsimta sākumā Rīgas ziemeļu nomalē Vecmīlgrāvī tika izveidota kā reakcija uz rūpniecības rajoniem raksturīgo žūpības problēmu. Biedrības izveides iniciators kokrūpnieks un mecenāts Augusts Dombrovskis (1845–1927) būtiski sekmēja biedrības darbības attīstību, nodrošinot to ar finansiālu un materiālu palīdzību. Trīsdesmit gadu pēc biedrības izveides Latvijas Republikas jaunās valsts ideoloģijas apstākļos – laikā no 1934. līdz 1940. gadam – bezalkohola biedrība “Ziemeļblāzma” pretalkohola propagandu izplatīja, koncentrējoties uz tādām kultūras aktivitātēm Vecmīlgrāvī kā teātris, koris, kino, priekšlasījumi un saviesīgu pasākumu organizēšana. Izvēlētie darbības virzieni un aktivitātes bezalkohola biedrību “Ziemeļblāzma” izveidoja par lokāla rakstura kultūras centru.
Atslēgvārdi: žūpība, pretalkohola propaganda, K. Ulmaņa autoritārais režīms, Vecmīlgrāvis, Bezalkohola biedrība “Ziemeļblāzma”, Augusts Dombrovskis.

Резюме Статья посвящена процессу разработки и принятия Конституции Латвии 1922 года. В статье предпринимается также попытка выявить влияние запад-ноевропейского опыта и политических событий, а именно Гражданской войны в России 1918-1922 годов на генезис конституционных положений. В статье отмечается, что к 1920 году три варианта государственного устройства могли быть реализованы в Латвии-консервативно-аристократический под немецким влиянием, советский и национально-демократический, в основу которого легла модель западноевропейской парламентской демократии. Ослабление латышской социал-демократии под влиянием Гражданской войны в России привело к тому, что при разработке конституции основополагающей стала ориентация на запад-ноевропейскую модель конституционного строительства. Одним из самых спорных вопросов при разработке проекта конституции стал вопрос о правах президента. Основная дискусстя велась между аграрной партией, выступавшей за сильного президента избираемого на основе всенарод-ных выборов, и социал-демократической партией, выступавшей за слабую прези-дентскую власть и совмещение должностей президента и спикера парламента. В результате победила точка зрения социал-демократов, так что президент по кон-ституции 1922 года избирался не народом, а парламентом и только на три года. Ключевые слова� Конституция Латвии 1922 г., социал-демократия, парла-ментская демократия, Гражданская война в России, права президента. Сведения об авторе Плат Тильман-доктор исторических наук, университет Грайфсвальда, Гер-мания. E-mail� tilmanplath@yahoo.de.

По материалам IV международной конференции "Молодой Ученый".
Ноябрь 2016 года. Страницы 23-36.
В статье изучена деятельность международного движения "Сокол" в  довоенной Латвии как одно из проявлений Русского Зарубежья.
В создании статьи использованы материалы Латвийского Государственного Исторического Архива, межвоенной латвийской периодики, изданий организаций, тематическая литература, а также  мемуары участников движения.

This article reevaluates the lifelong artistic patronage and collecting practices of Polish-Lithuanian Count Michał Jan Borch (1753-1810/11) against the historical background of Enlightenment Europe more broadly and specifically the Age of Partition (c. 1750-1810). This article examines how despite persistent financial shortcomings and political difficulties, Borch staked for himself a strategic position as patron and collector, staging a renovation of the present by engaging with late baroque, rococo, and neoclassical Italianate forms that inflected Italy and the antique not as fixed entities but as a malleable or notional fragments that could be arbitrated, reassembled and transformed through the intermediating agency of persons and objects, and related to the past in form, style and language, thematizing the temporal passage between venerable and modern in a way that reanimated the grandeur of the past in honor of Borch’s re-envisioning of his restored homeland. As a case study in period self-fashioning, the article is structured around four portraits of Borch and his family executed at crucial inflection points in his life and career.

Im Jahre 1869 notiert der Journalist Julius Eckardt: " Man kann das russische Reich vom Peipus-See bis zum Ochozkischen Meerbusen, vom Tiflis bis an die eisigen Gefilde Achangels durchstreifen, in jeder Stadt von einiger Bedeutung wird man wenigstens einen deutschen Arzt und einen deutschen Apotheker finden, […] "

THE RULE OF THE POLISH-LITHUANIAN
COMMONWEALTH IN THE TERRITORY
OF THE PRESENT-DAY LATVIA (1561–1795):
THE STATE OF LATVIAN HISTORIOGRAPHY
The paper examines how the rule of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rzecz Pospolita) has been treated in Latvian historiography between the two world wars, among exiles or political emigrants in the West after World War II, under the Soviet regime in Latvia and after the restoration of Latvia’s
independence. The main focus is on the state of historiography, as far as it is practically possible mentioning the major authors, the topics that they cover and their works on the above-mentioned subject. The author of the present paper also analyzes the historians’ choice of topics and reaches the conclusion that the published works as well as those that are still in the process of being written demonstrate that certain steps have been taken in shedding light on the respective period of time. First and foremost it refers to topics such as the
Duchy of Courland, the cultural monuments in Latgale region, specific themes pertaining to the Polish-Swedish war etc. Yet further work to research in more depth this period which is extremely important for the history of Latvia remains one of the most important future tasks (both to shed more light on particular themes and to create a new analytical synthesis) that no doubt will be made easier and more streamlined by cooperation with Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian historians.
Key words: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, modern history of Latvia, collapse of Livonia, Duchy of Courland, Duchy of Livonia (Ducatus Livoniae Ultradunensis),City of Riga, Polish Inflanty, Catholicism, Latvian historiography of different periods.

Forgotten Soldiers: Jews in the Latvian Army 1918-1940
"The body of knowledge about the contributions Jews made to the history of Latvia is growing. Eriks Jekabsons focuses on the role they played in Latvia’s War of Independence between 1918 and 1920 an of the service Jews rendered between 1920 and 1940, the period of peace; in so doing, he dispels myths and throws a light on a critical chapter in the history of Latvia. It is a must-read." George Schwab, President National Committee on American Foreign Policy, Professor Emeritus of History, City University of New York (Graduate Center and City College)
"[..] The oldest Jewish soldier in the Latvian army was Haims Šteins, who enlisted voluntarily in 1919 at the age of 59. Whereas, the youngest Jewish soldier, as gleaned from the archival sources, was Kopel (Konstantīns) Gorelik, and this situation really has to be considered unique, as he was born in Rīga on 19th November 1908 – and therefore he was only 10 years old on 28th June 1919, when he joined the Latvian army voluntarily in Cesvaine. [..]"

What happens to an imperial economy after empire? How do economics, security, and ideology interact at the new state frontiers? Does trade always break down ideological barriers? The eastern borders of Poland, Latvia, and Estonia comprised much of the interwar Soviet state’s western frontier – the focus of Moscow’s revolutionary aspirations and security concerns. These young nations paid for their independence with the loss of the Imperial Russian market. Łódź, the “Polish Manchester,” had fashioned its textiles for Russian and Ukrainian consumers; Riga had been the Empire’s busiest commercial port; Tallinn had been one of the busiest – and Russians drank nine-tenths of the potato vodka distilled on Estonian estates. Eager to reclaim their traditional market, but stymied by the Soviet state monopoly on foreign trade and impatient with the slow grind of trade talks, these countries’ businessmen turned to the porous Soviet frontier. The dissertation reveals how, despite considerable misgivings, their governments actively abetted this traffic. The Polish and Baltic struggles to balance the heady profits of the “border trade” against a host of security concerns shaped everyday lives and government decisions on both sides of the Soviet frontier. Drawing on government archives, business records, and periodicals from seven countries, the dissertation uncovers the changing composition and scale of these “semi-contraband” (and fully-contraband) flows that Soviet authorities struggled to stem. It reveals the centrality of cross-border Jewish networks to this trade, and the implications of this centrality for Polish and Latvian Jews. It traces (and maps) the proliferation of hundreds of government-sanctioned “barter stations” along Poland’s, Latvia’s, and Estonia’s Soviet frontiers, and profiles their operators and visitors. While these bustling shops supplied smugglers with goods, they supplied the Bolsheviks with a tangible, everyday manifestation of hostile capitalist encirclement. In the end, the dissertation suggests that by linking Soviet consumers with the outside world against Moscow’s wishes, the ports and distilleries of Riga, Tallinn, and Tartu and the cloth factories of Łódź inadvertently fashioned the foundations of the interwar Iron Curtain.

This is the second edition of this translation. Errors present in the 1st edition were corrected and the translation now follows strict chronological order. In addition to being on the Internet (https://sites.google.com/site/pskovrelease3/), it can now be downloaded.