European Kingdoms

Latvia (Latvija)

Also historically known as Lattonia, Lettonia, and Lettland, Latvia is a country in Northern Europe which shares its borders with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south - and both Russia and Belarus to the east and south-east. It is separated from Sweden in the west by the Baltic Sea, and the capital is Riga, a city founded by the Germanic crusaders who conquered the territory during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The Latvian territory was first populated in around 9000 BC. The Indo-European proto-Baltic ancestors of the Latvian people, or Lats, settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea by around 3000 BC, along with the Finno-Ugric peoples who settled in Estonia to the north. The ancient Balts traded Latvia's renowned supplies of amber with ancient Greece and the Roman empire.

9000s BC

By this time, Proto-Baltic hunter-gatherer tribes migrate into Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

c.3000 BC

The Comb Ceramic culture reaches Latvia, Estonia and Finland as new peoples arrive from the east.

3000 - 2500 BC

The Corded Ware culture arrives in southern Finland, along the coastal regions, as well as in Estonia and Latvia. Agriculture also begins, although it continues to exist alongside hunter-gather activities for some time. Both these people form the proto-Baltic ancestors of the later Latvians.

1st century AD

The Roman Iron Age is a relatively peaceful period in Estonia and Latvia. Only a few hill forts of later periods have yielded some finds which date to this period, suggesting the few strongholds were used rarely and only in times of need.

900

Four Baltic tribal cultures have developed by this time: Couronians (later Kurland), Latgallians (the Lats), and Selonians, and Semigallians (who are for a long time troublesome border tribes between later Livonia and northern Lithuania).

Gutmanala, close to Riga, was an ancient cult site in use right up to the nineteenth century

1106

The Latgals, Livonians and neighbouring Zemgals or Semigallians have conflicting interests with the Russian principalities of Polotsk, Pskov, and Novgorod, with the latter two making a number of raids on north-eastern Latvia. The first major setback to Russian expansionism is the disastrous defeat of the army led by the sons of Prince Vseslav of Polotsk against the Semigallians. According to a chronicle, Russian losses amount to 9000 men.

1170

Denmark is fast rising as a great military and merchant power, and it is in its interest to end the occasional Estonian and Couronian pirate attacks that threatened its Baltic trade (from Ösel - Saaremaa, the richest area of Estonia and home to the notorious Eastern Vikings - and the later province of Kurland respectively). To that end, a Danish fleets now makes an attack against Estonia.

1180

German Christian missionaries arrive, converting small numbers of Balts and probably establishing nascent congregations. On the whole the Balts appear reluctant to convert, perhaps fervently so, which means German Crusaders are sent to Latvia to convert the pagan population - a pretext for a grab for land and resources which is supported by the Pope. They are strongly opposed, although extremely little is known about the Livonian native leaders who lead that opposition.

late 1100s

Kauppo

Liv chieftain.

c.1190s - 1200

Vesike

Liv/Lett chieftain in Metzepole (modern Vidzeme).

c.1200s - 1214

Talivaldis

Liv/Lett chieftain in Talva (Letgale).

? - 1244

Vyachko

Latgal chieftain in Varka.

Principality of Koknese
AD 1101 - 1209

Following the death of Vseslav of Polotsk, the greater part of the principality broke up into smaller states which included the principalities of Druck, Jersika, Koknese, Minsk, and Vitebsk. Koknese was one of the smallest principalities, situated on the right bank of the River Daugava, a Latgalian and Selonian settlement which was perhaps more locally known as Kukenois (now in southern-central Latvia).

1180s - 1206

Prince Vyachko / Vetseka / Vetseke

Prince of Koknese.

1205

According to the (German) sources, Vetseka gives half of his territory to Albert, bishop of Riga, in return for protection against the duchy of Samogitia and the principality of Polotsk. During a raid by the Livonian Knights he is captured and delivered in chains to Riga, where the bishop sets him free. Returning to his capital, Vetseka burns down both it and his fortress and retreats to Novgorod where he dies the following year.

1209

By this time, Koknese has been taken over by the Livonian Knights.

Principality of Gersik
AD 1180s - 1215

It was around this time that a short-lived Latgal principality which was subject to Polotsk appeared in Gersik, or Gersike, situated on the right bank of the Daugava around 150 kilometres south of Riga (and which no longer exists). It had only two rulers before being conquered by the Livonian Knights.

fl 1180s - 1190s

Vasilko

Latgal chief of Gersik.

1186 - 1215

Vsevolod

Latgal chief of Gersik.

Prince-Bishops of Livonia
AD 1186 - 1253

While the Danes were securing all of North Estonia by force, the rest of the Baltics was undergoing the same process from the south. What is now Estonia and Latvia quickly came to be governed by German prince-bishops in Courland, Dorpat, Ösel-Wiek, and, governing the heart of later Latvia, the prince-bishop of Riga. The Livonian Order of Knights conquered the rest of Latvia and central Estonia. The captured territory between Danish Estonia and Lithuania became known as Livonia. The prince-bishops of Livonia ruled their central section of Livonia first from Üxküll (Uexküll), then from Riga, and were appointed by the archbishop of Bremen.

During this period, important ethnic changes took place among the Baltic peoples. Within the confines of Livonia, the fusion of the kindred Latgals, Sels and Kurshes (Couronians) into one people took place, emerging as the Latvians of the future. They took that name from the most numerous of the Baltic peoples in Livonia, the Latgals (Letti, or Letten). The assimilation of the Finno-Ugric people, the Livonians, also began at this time, although they managed to leave their mark on Latvian language and culture.

1186 - 1196

Meinhard

First appointed prince-bishop of Livonia.

1196 - 1198

Berthold

Abbot of Cistercian Lockum Monastery, Hanover.

1198

A large fleet of German crusaders and peasants arrives to increase the size of the colonial settlements in Livonia. Taking the crusaders inland to face a gathering army of Livonian natives, Berthold defeats them but is killed at the end of the battle. Bishop Albert is appointed his successor, and he goes on to complete the task of Christianising the Livonians.

1199 - 1229

Albert of Buxhoeveden

Founded Riga. First grand master of the Livonian Knights.

1201

Bishop Albert of Germany lands with his followers at the mouth of the River Väina and founds the colonial settlement town of Riga. Europeans are becoming hungry for land at this point, and others follow the lead set by the German bishops in invading the pagan Baltic territories.

1202

Bishop Albert founds the Livonian Order of Knights for the purposes of conquest and Christianisation in the Baltics. This marks the beginning of the Northern Crusade.

1205

According to the (German) sources, Prince Vetseka of Koknese gives half of his territory to Bishop Albert in return for protection against the duchy of Samogitia and the principality of Polotsk. During a raid by the Livonian Knights he is captured and delivered in chains to Riga, where the bishop sets him free.

1207

The bishop of Riga assumes the style 'prince of Livonia', and makes Livonia part of the Holy Roman Empire, although this is not formalised until 1 December 1225. Part of the bishop's territories are given as a fief to his standing army, the Livonian Knights. The bishop also moves his headquarters from Üxküll to Riga.

1209

By this time, Koknese has been taken over by the Livonian Knights and the sovereignty of Polotsk is finally revoked in 1215. The Knights control the town until its transference to the bishopric of Riga in 1238.

1211

Christianity now has effective control of the Lats, with them being governed by German bishops and the Livonian Knights. Bishop Albert oversees the building of Riga's Dome Cathedral.

1215

The small Latgal principality of Gersik is conquered by the Livonian Knights.

1227

The Danes are temporarily eclipsed in North Estonia when the Livonian Knights conquer all of their territory. The bishopric of Ösel-Wiek is established the following year.

1236

The Samogitians and Semigallians (situated between the Lithuanians and the Lats in what is now southern Latvia) decimate the Livonian Knights at the Battle of Schaulen (Saule).

The River Daugava was an important border between the Lats and Lithuanians at this time

1238

North Estonia (Harria and Vironia) is returned to the Danes under the terms of the Treaty of Stensby, which is mediated by the Pope. The Knights keep Jerwia and hand over the former principality of Koknese, on the right bank of the River Daugava which borders the Lithuanians, to the archbishop of Riga.

1229 - 1231

Albert Suerbeer

Appointed but not recognised.

1229

Albert Suerbeer is appointed to the position by the archbishop of Bremen, but the canons of Riga refuse to recognise him, preferring to elect their own candidate in Nikolaus von Nauen. He is confirmed by the Pope in 1231. Albert serves in Ireland for five years before being recalled to Germany and then sent back to Livonia to serve as archbishop of Riga.

1229 - 1253

Nikolaus von Nauen

Archbishopric of Riga / Prince-Bishops of Livonia
AD 1255 - 1561

The bishopric of Livonia was soon raised to an archbishopric, as the new order in the Baltics cemented its rule over the native Ests (Estonians), Livs (Livonians, modern western Latvians and southern Estonians) and Lats (or Latgalians, modern eastern Latvia). The position was a secular one with a capital at Riga, although the initial intention had been to set up a pro-Papal ecclesiastical state. That hope was destroyed in North Estonia in 1233, when the Danes defeated an attempt to achieve it.

1253 - 1273

Albert Suerbeer

Raised to archbishop in 1255.

1260

The Livonian Knights, along with the Teutonic Knights, are abandoned by their Estonian and Couronian vassals and defeated again, this time severely, at the Battle of Durbe in Livonia by the Samogitians. As a result, numerous rebellions break out against the Teutonic Knights all across the Baltics, including military expeditions by the Lithuanians, and it takes around thirty years before complete control is regained.

1273 - 1284

Johannes I von Lune

1282

The towns of Riga, Cesis, Limbaži, Koknese and Valmiera in Livonia, and Tartu within the bishopric of Dorpat, are included in the Hanseatic League of trading towns in Northern Europe.

1285 - 1294

Johannes II von Vechten

1290 - 1307

The principality of Polotsk is controlled by the archbishopric, before the brother of Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania secures the throne.

1294 - 1300

Johannes III von Schwerin

1300 - 1302

Isarnus Tacconi

Archbishop of Lund (1302-1310).

1303 - 1310

Jens Grand

Archbishop of Lund (1289-1302).

1304 - 1310

Jens Grand's occupation of the title is in name only as he never enters Riga. Instead, day-to-day duties are handled by Friedrich von Pernstein, who is appointed the succeeding archbishop when Jens Grand becomes prince-bishop of Bremen in 1310-1327.

1304 - 1341

Friedrich von Pernstein

1341 - 1347

Engelbert von Dolen

1348 - 1369

Bromhold von Vyffhusen

1370 - 1374

Siegfried Blomberg

1374 - 1393

Johannes IV von Sinten

1379

Bishop Dietrich of Dorpat hates the Livonian Knights with some intensity, so much so that he forms a coalition against the Knights with Lithuania, Mecklenburg and the notorious Victual Brothers who are Baltic pirates. The Knights invade the bishopric but achieve no success. In the end their lack of results removes from them the right to demand military service from the Livonian bishops.

1393 - 1418

Johannes V von Wallenrodt

1410

The Battle of Tannenberg sees Polish and Lithuanian forces under Polish leadership halt the eastward expansion of the Teutonic Knights. After this defeat, the Livonian Order begins to weaken and disintegrate.

1418 - 1424

Johannes VI Ambundi

1424 - 1448

Henning Scharpenberg

1448 - 1479

Silvester Stodewescher

1479 - 1484

The seat remains vacant. Information on two of the last archbishops to be subsequently appointed, Linde and Blankenfeld, is contradictory, and due to deflation no coins are minted during their terms of office.

1484 - 1509

Michael Hildebrand

1501 - 1503

As the Orthodox Rus border Livonia to the east, the Livonian Knights can claim to be holding an outpost of Catholic Europe, and while they are more than interested in trade with the Rus, the expansion of Moscow up to Livonia's borders at this time complicates matters. War between Moscow and the Knights breaks out in 1501. Livonians, uniting their forces under the leadership of the Knights, defeat Moscow's army near Lake Smolensk in 1502, and a truce is concluded the following year which lasts until 1558. The Russians are prevented from expanding westwards to the Baltic coast.

1509 - 1524

Jasper Linde

1524 - 1527

Johannes VII Blankenfeld

Already bishop of Reval (1514), and Dorpat (1518).

1525

The German Lutheran reformation reaches Livonia and Dorpat, accompanied by a violent stripping of the churches. This movement weakens the Catholic church in Old Livonia and North Estonia, making it more likely that one or more of the neighbouring centralised states will attempt to seize power. Moscow, Poland, Lithuania, and Sweden are all eager to do just that.

1528 - 1539

Thomas Schoning

1539 - 1563

Wilhelm von Brandenburg

Grandson of Albert III of Brandenburg.

1558 - 1561

Following Russian provocation and the conquest of Dorpat, the Livonian Wars erupt in the Baltic States, ripping apart the old order in Livonia and North Estonia. The Livonian Knights and the archbishop of Riga seek help from Sigismund II of Poland-Lithuania, pawning five Order castles and two archbishopric castles together with their surrounding territory to help procure it. However, the army of the Livonian Knights is completely destroyed by the Russians at the Battle of Ergeme in 1560, and a year later, on 29 November, the master of the Order, Gotthard Kettler, acknowledges the supreme power of Sigismund II over all areas regarding the Order, including its territories, formally dissolving the Livonian Knights. The archbishop of Riga also accepts the treaty of dissolution, known as the Pacta Subiectionis.

Russian troops committed atrocities against the Livonian population, as shown in this print from 'Zeyttung' which was published in Nuremberg in 1561.

Polish Governors of Livonia
AD 1561 - 1621

Following the dissolution of the Livonian Knights in 1561, southern Estonia remained within Livonia which, along with the duchy of Courland, became part of Poland-Lithuania. Grand Duke Sigismund II of Lithuania took possession and became grand duke of Livonia in 1566. The city of Riga refused to accept the Pacta Subiectionis, although it was secularised in 1563 (and only restored in 1918 as the diocese of Riga). Instead Riga became a Free City until the end of the Livonian Wars in 1583, while Polish military governors controlled the rest of Livonia.

1559 - 1560

Jan Chodkiewicz

1559 - 1560

Jerzy Zenowicz

Ruled jointly. Last of the military governors.

1560 - 1561

Mikolaj Radziwilj

First Polish governor.

1561 - 1562?

Mikolaj Radziwill

Administrator.

1562 - 1566

Gotthard Kettler

Duke of Courland & Semigallia.

1566 - 1578

Jan Chodkiewicz

Administrator.

1570 - 1578

Magnus of Livonia

Prince of Denmark. Titular 'king of Livonia'.

1570 - 1578

Magnus, bishop of Courland and of Reval, claims the title, 'king of Livonia', although his power is very limited. He is, however, supported by the Russian czar, Ivan the Terrible, who launches a new offensive in this decade, and reaches Riga and Tallinn. He does not manage to capture either town.

1578

Aleksander Chodkiewicz

Acting governor.

1578 - 1584

Mikolaj Radziwill

Second term of office.

1582 - 1583

An armistice agreement is concluded between the Russian czar and the Polish-Lithuanian kingdom proclaiming Livonia a possession of the latter. In 1583, Russia concludes a similar agreement with Sweden, acknowledging its supreme power in North Estonia.

1582 - 1588

Stanislaw Pekoslawski

Commissar.

1588 - 1598

The post is vacant, but the duties are administered by Jan Dymitr Solikowski, the commisar.

1588 - 1598

Jan Dymitr Solikowski

Commissar.

1598

Lew Sapieha

Commissar.

1598 - 1603

The post is vacant again, but the duties are administered by Jan Abramowicz, the governor of Dorpat province.

1598 - 1603

Jan Abramowicz / Abrahamowicz

Administrator.

1600 - 1605

The Swedish king initiates the First Polish-Swedish War by assembling troops in Tallinn in order to attack Poland-Lithuania's Livonia, but instead the army suffers significant losses at Cesis and Koknes. The Swedes are driven out of Livonia in 1601. Further attacks on Riga in 1604 and Courland in 1605 also fail, but the Swedish-Russian alliance diverts Polish efforts towards Moscow.

1603 - 1621

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz

1621 - 1629

Sweden captures Riga in 1621, and the First Polish-Swedish War ends with the Treaty of Altmark, which sees most of Poland-Lithuania's Livonia come under Swedish rule. The remainder, the eastern part of Livonia, named Latgallia, remains in Polish hands (Inflantia or the Inflanty Voivodeship, the principality of Livonia), and survives today as the Latgale region of Latvia.

Swedish Governors-General of Livonia
AD 1629 - 1721

The First Polish-Swedish War ended with the Treaty of Altmark in 1629, which formalised the occupation of Poland-Lithuania's Livonia under Swedish rule as Swedish Livonia. In fact, parts of Livonia as far south as Riga had been in Swedish hands since 1621. Only the remainder of Livonian territory, the small eastern part of Livonia, named Latgallia, remained in Polish hands. In the Swedish territory, serfdom was eased and a network of schools was established for the peasantry. The country also retained its own diet, or parliament.

1622 - 1628

Jacob De la Gardie

Former governor of Swedish Estonia.

1628 - 1629

Gustaf Horn

1629 - 1633

Johan Skytte

1633 - 1634

Nils Assersson Mannersköld

1634 - 1643

Bengt Oxenstierna

Son of Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna (1645).

1643

Herman Wrangel

1644

Erik Eriksson Ryning

1645 - 1647

Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna

Former governor of Swedish Estonia.

1649 - 1651

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

1652 - 1653

Gustaf Horn

1655 - 1657

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

1655 - 1660

Seeing a golden opportunity following the Russian capture of large areas of Lithuania in 1654, Swedish troops enter the duchy of Courland, triggering the Second Polish-Swedish War. It ends when Livonia is officially ceded to Sweden following Poland-Lithuania's signing of the Treaty of Oliva.

During this period, Russian settlers who have seceded from the Orthodox church following the Great Schism migrate to the south-western shores of Lake Peipsi (now the eastern border of Estonia), forming small fishing communities along the lake's shore.

1661

Axel Lillie / Lillje

Former governor of Pomerania (1652).

1662 - 1665

Bengt Oxenstierna

1665 - 1671

Clas Åkesson Tott the Younger

1671 - 1674

Fabian von Fersen

1674 - 1686

Krister Klasson Horn

1687 - 1695

Jacob Johan Hastfer

1696 - 1702

Erik Dahlberg

1700

Sweden fights Russia, Poland and Denmark in the Great Northern War, which is another attempt at empire building in the Baltic states by outside powers.

1702 - 1706

Carl Gustaf Frölich

1706 - 1709

Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt

1709

Henrik Otto Albedyll

1709 - 1710

Niels Jonsson Stromberg af Clastorp

Former governor of Swedish Estonia.

1710 - 1721

Sweden is defeated at the end of the Great Northern War, and much of Livonia has been devastated by it, with castles and strongholds destroyed, farms laid waste, and peasants chased off the land. The victors, Russia, Poland and Denmark, divide the spoils with the Treaty of Nystad. Much of Livonia is handed to Russia, although it has already been occupied by Russian troops since 1710.

Vastseliina Castle (now in Võrumaa in Estonia but in 1721 well within Livonia) was destroyed by the Russians during the Great Northern War

Russian Governors of Livonia
AD 1710 - 1915

The captured territories, in Russian hands from 1710, were divided by the Russian empire into three Baltic Provinces: Courland, Estonia and Livonia (the Riga Governate, to which Ösel was attached). In 1801-1809 and from 1819 onwards supreme authority was vested in a governor-general who was based in Riga, but at other times the provinces were governed independently. The governor-general was also the military governor of Riga until 1864 and then commanders of the military district of Riga until 1870.

1710 - 1711

Prince Anikita Repnin-Obolenskiy

Interim governor.

1711 - 1719

Prince Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov

Also governor of Estonia.

1719 - 1726

Prince Anikita Repnin-Obolenskiy

Second term of office.

1726 - 1727

Herman Jensen de Bohn

Acting governor.

1727 - 1729

Count Grigoriy Petrovich Chernyshev

1729 - 1751

Count Peter Lacy

Governor (1729-1740), then governor-general.

1751 - 1753

Prince Vladimir Petrovich Dolgorukiy

Acting governor.

1753 - 1758

Pyotr Voyeykov

Acting governor.

1758 - 1761

Prince Vladimir Petrovich Dolgorukiy

Second term of office.

1761 - 1762

Fyodor Matveyevich Voyeykov

1762 - 1783

Livonia is administered directly by the governor-general of the Baltic Provinces, Count George Browne. Local governors are re-introduced in 1783.

1783

Naumov

Died in office.

1783 - 1790

Aleksandr Andreyevich Bekleshev

1790 - 1792

Johann von Reck

1792 - 1795

Peter Ludwig Freiherr von der Pahlen

1795 - 1797

Gerhard Konrad K Freiherr von Meyendorff

1795

The joint kingdoms of Poland-Lithuania are extinguished. Lithuania and the unconquered remains of Livonia, known as Latgallia, are submerged within imperial Russia. The following year, the Riga Governorate is renamed the governorate of Livonia.

1797

Balthasar Freiherr von Campenhausen

1797

Ernst Burchard Graf von Mengden

1797 - 1808

Christoph Adam von Richter

1808 - 1811

Ivan Nikolayevich Repyev

1811 - 1827

Joseph Duhamel

1812

Napoleon invades the Russian empire with one of the largest armies Europe has ever seen, occupying the Baltic Provinces for several months until he is forced to drag his French-led army back to Germany. The governor of Courland flees to Riga and remains there for the period of French occupation.

1817 - 1819

The emancipation of the serfs in Latvia is something which is advantageous to the nobility, as it dispossesses the peasants of their land without compensation. The social structure changes dramatically, and a class of independent farmers establishes itself after reforms allow the peasants to repurchase their land.

1827 - 1829

Paul Baron von Hahn

1829

Ludwig Johann Ferdinand von Cube

Acting governor.

1829 - 1847

Georg Friedrich Baron von Fölkersahm

1847

Ludwig Johann Ferdinand von Cube

Acting governor for the second time.

1847 - 1862

Heinrich Magnus Wilhelm von Essen

1862 - 1868

August Georg Friedrich von Öttingen

1863 - 1880

The January Uprising results in a policy of Russification. It spreads from Latgallia to the rest of what is now Latvia.

1868 - 1871

Friedrich Woldemar von Lysander

1871 - 1872

Julius Gustav von Cube

Acting governor.

1872 - 1874

Michael Baron von Wrangell

1874 - 1882

Alexander Karl Abraham

Acting governor until 18 Dec 1874.

1876 - 1905

Between these years, authority over the Baltic Provinces is devolved, with the governor in each province apparently gaining more power. Revolution in the Baltics takes on a nationalist character, and in the same year the position of governor-general of Courland and Livonia, but not Estonia, is revived.

1882 - 1883

Hermann von Tobiessen

Acting governor.

1883 - 1885

Ivan Yegorovich Shevich

1885

Hermann von Tobiessen

Acting governor for the second time.

1885 - 1895

Mikhail Alekseyevich Zinovyev

Died in office.

1895 - 1896

Aleksandr Nikolayevich Bulygin

Acting governor.

1896 - 1900

Vladimir Dmitriyevich Surovtsev

1900 - 1901

Aleksandr Nikolayevich Bulygin

Acting governor for the second time.

1901 - 1905

Mikhail Alekseyevich Pashkov

1905

P P Neklyudov

Acting governor.

1905

Yakov Dmitriyevich Bologovskoy

Acting governor.

1905 - 1914

Nikolay Aleksandrovich Zvegintsev

1905 - 1906

Janis Ozols

Leaders of the rebel Federated Committee of Riga, Oct-Jan.

1905 - 1906

Samuil 'Maksim' Klevansky Bund

Leaders of the rebel Federated Committee of Riga, Oct-Jan.

1914 - 1916

Arkady Ippolitovich Kelepovsky

1914

The position of special plenipotentiary for the civil administration of the Baltic Provinces of Livonia, Estonia and Courland is created. The first incumbent is given responsibility for Estonia and Livonia, but excluding the district of Riga in 1914, then Reval (Tallinn), Baltischport (Paldiski), and Dünamünde (Daugavgriva).

1916

Sergey Sergeyevich Podolinsky

Acting governor.

1916 - 1917

N N Lavrinovsky

Feb 1916 - Feb 1917.

1916 - 1917

Sergey Alekseyevich Shidlovsky

Feb-Mar 1917.

1915 - 1918

Thanks to Russian First World War defeats up to 1917, the Baltic Provinces are conquered by Germany between 1915 (Courland) and 1918 (Estonia), much to the relief of the German-descended land-owning aristocracy. In 1917, Bolshevik-inspired thoughts of revolution are swiftly put down by the Germans and a semi-independent pro-German regime is established. The Baltic provinces are formally transferred to German authority by Russia in 1918 following the Treaties of Brest-Litovsk and of Berlin.

Modern Latvia
AD 1918 - Present Day

After centuries of German, Swedish, and Russian rule, and despite entering the modern period still under Russian rule, Latvia gained its independence in 1918, following the collapse of empires in Eastern Europe. It was formed from various territories which had been created by the crusaders of the eleventh and twelfth century, and which included the duchy of Courland, Latgallia, Livonia, much of which was ruled by the Livonian Knights, and the small Polotsk principality of Koknese.

1919

Three governments, Karlis Ulmanis' government, the Iskolat (which occupies almost all of the country, and the Baltic German government struggle for control.

1920

A freely elected Constituent Assembly is convened, which in 1922 adopts a liberal constitution, the Satversme, under Latvia's first president, Janis Cakste. It is suspended after Karlis Ulmanis' coup in 1934 but is reaffirmed in 1990.

1939

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is signed in Moscow on 23 August. It places the Baltic States under Soviet Russian control, and on 5 October Latvia is forced to accept a mutual assistance pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station 25,000 troops on Latvian territory.

1940

On 16 June Vyacheslav Molotov presents the Latvian representative in Moscow with an ultimatum accusing Latvia of violations of that pact and on 17 June Soviet forces occupied the country. Annexation is formalised on 5 August, but the German army swiftly occupies Latvia until 1944, and in the following war more than 200,000 Latvian citizens die.

1944 - 1945

The Soviets reoccupy Latvia, and mass deportations follow as the country is forcibly Sovietised. A total of 42,975 persons are deported in 1949.

1989

The Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopts a resolution on the 'Occupation of the Baltic States', in which it declares that the occupation had been 'not in accordance with law', and not the 'will of the Soviet people'. A national movement coalescing in the Popular Front of Latvia takes advantage of glasnost under Mikhail Gorbachev.

1990 - 1991

On 4 May the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR adopts the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia, which results in Latvian independence. This is fully realised on 21 August 1991 under the direction of Anatolijs Gorbunovs, the caretaker president. A parliament (the Saeima) is elected in 1993, with Guntis Ulmanis as its first elected president, and Russia completing its military withdrawal in 1994.

Modern Riga's Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site