History of Latvia: a Brief Survey

The colour photo of the President ofLatvia Kārlis Ulmanis during the LatvianSong Festival in 1938 (the German Agfabecame the first company to market inLatvia colour film since 1937).Virsaitis, flagship of the Latvian Navyand submarines Spīdola and Ronis (early1930s). During the Second World War, allwarships of independent Latvia that weretaken over by Soviet occupation forceswere destroyed.The opening ceremony of the Brothers'Cemetery (Military Cemetery) in Rīgain 1936. The Brothers' Cemetery (Brāļukapi) is a memorial to and burial groundfor thousands of Latvian soldierswho were killed between 1915 and1920 in the First World War and theIndependence War.Due to increased prosperity during the second half of the 1930s, there was little publicopposition to the authoritarian rule of Kārlis Ulmanis, although the political parties thathad gone underground were devising plans to bring back a parliamentary republic. Duringthis time, international tension increased, and Latvia’s national security was weakening. TheLeague of Nations demonstrated its inability to prevent international conflicts, and Germanywas becoming more powerful. The leader of the German National Socialists, Adolph Hitler,had been plotting vague plans to annex the Baltic territory to the Third Reich. The USSRand its communist dictator, Stalin (Josif Dzhugashvili), were also scheming to get the Balticcountries under their control. The interests of Moscow and Berlin intersected in the BalticStates and momentarily united these ideological opponents.Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (1887-1925) —first Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairssince proclamation of independenceuntil 1925. He had to overcome westerngovernment’s desires that Russia shouldremain undivided and originated ideaof the Union of the Baltic States.31