Regions Latvia

Survey Articles (Regional)

• Baltic States and Finland

  By Klaus Richter

  

  This article presents a survey of the First World War in the region of today’s states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. Chronologically the article begins with the outbreak of the war in … READ MORE

  Regional

Regional Thematic Articles

• Commemoration, Cult of the Fallen (East Central Europe)

  By Jussi Jalonen, Klaus Richter and Piotr Szlanta

  

  In the countries of East Central Europe, the commemoration of soldiers who fell during the First World War followed a complex trajectory. After 1918, governments invested in war cemeteries and war … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Food and Nutrition (East Central Europe)

  By Andrea Griffante

  

  The German occupation of the north-western territories of the tsarist empire was characterized by a strong tendency to exploit local natural resources and manpower. In particular, the occupied … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Governments, Parliaments and Parties; Political Movements and Protostate Formation (East Central Europe)

  By Klaus Richter and Piotr Szlanta

  

  Political movements in Poland and the Baltics were heavily influenced by the German occupation, the Russian Revolution, and the political agency of their diasporas. While the establishment of an … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Historiography 1918-Today (East Central Europe)

  By Klaus Richter and Piotr Szlanta

  East Central European historians of the First World War have focused and continue to focus on the regaining independence and state-building processes that took place in East Central Europe in the … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Labour Movements and Strikes (East Central Europe)

  By Paweł Brudek

  

  During the First World War, revolutionary changes occurred in the labour movement in East Central Europe. The total mobilisation of resources by the warring powers and the economic crisis increased … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Post-war Agrarian Economic Policies (East Central Europe)

  By Klaus Richter

  Agrarianism became a major political force in the independent states that emerged from the western periphery of the Russian Empire at the end of the First World War. Politicians of agrarian parties … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Post-war Economies (East Central Europe)

  By Wojciech Morawski

  Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland – all countries founded after World War I on the ruins of the Russian Empire – had to face more complex challenges than most of the stable western … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Post-war Military Action and Violence (East Central Europe)

  By Jochen Böhler

  

  The armistices of 1918 officially ended the First World War in Europe, but violence did not cease with the signing of the peace treaties. Fighting continued not only on the periphery, in Archangelsk … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Post-war Societies (East Central Europe)

  By Maciej Górny

  

  Although in late 1918 countries of East Central Europe had different forms of government and military situations, they all faced similar social problems. First, the wartime ethnicization reached its … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Press/Journalism (East Central Europe)

  By Paweł Brudek

  

  The situation of the press in East Central Europe worsened after the outbreak of the First World War. There was a temporary growth in readership as a result of a desire for information. This did not, … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Prisoners of War (East Central Europe)

  By Piotr Szlanta and Klaus Richter

  

  During the war, hundreds of thousands of East Central Europeans mobilised to the imperial armies of Austro-Hungary, Russia, and Germany were taken prisoner. Beyond the ordinary problems of POWs such … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Propaganda at Home and Abroad (East Central Europe)

  By Paweł Brudek

  

  This article discusses the content and impact of various propaganda strategies which were used in East Central Europe by warring powers, local political parties and national organizations during the … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Revolutions (East Central Europe)

  By Paweł Brudek

  

  This article discusses the influence the Russian Revolution had on countries in East Central Europe. In the Polish Kingdom and Lithuania there was no direct impact because of the German occupation. … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

• Warfare 1914-1918 (East Central Europe)

  By Piotr Szlanta and Klaus Richter

  

  Unlike the war on the Western Front, warfare in East Central Europe during the First World War was characterised by comparatively rapid movements, especially in 1915 and 1917/18. This manifested … READ MORE

  Regional Thematic

Encyclopedic Entries

• Baltische Landeswehr

  By Jarosław Centek

  

  When Latvia felt endangered by the Bolsheviks they called for German help, since Germany had assisted in clearing the country from the Bolsheviks before. However, very soon tensions between the … READ MORE

  Entry

• Cēsis, Battle of

  By Ēriks Jēkabsons

  

  The Battle of Cēsis took place on 6-23 June 1919, near Cēsis, Latvia, during Latvian War of Independence. German units fought Estonian-Latvian units. The Estonian-Latvian victory led to the … READ MORE

  Entry

• Independence Wars (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia)

  By Klaus Richter

  

  The so-called “Wars of Independence” in the Baltics were part of a larger conflict and continuing warfare in Eastern Europe. After the proclamations of independence and the November Armistice, … READ MORE

  Entry

• Latvian Riflemen

  By Ēriks Jēkabsons

  

  The Latvian Riflemen were Latvian territorial units comprised of nine battalions, referred to as regiments from 1916 on, in the Russian army. They were active on the Northern Front (Riga) between … READ MORE

  Entry

• Ulmanis, Kārlis

  By Ineta Lipša

  

  Kārlis Ulmanis was the first prime minister of the Republic of Latvia. His four terms of office saw the successful conclusion of the Latvian War of … READ MORE

  Entry

• Vācietis, Jukums

  By Ineta Lipša

  

  Jukums Vācietis commanded the 5^th ''Zemgale'' Latvian Rifle Battalion. After the October Revolution he sided with the Bolsheviks and became the first commander-in-chief of the Soviet … READ MORE

  Entry

See also

• Occupation during the War

  By Gustavo Corni

  

  After an initial wave of interest in 1914 and the immediate post-war period, international historiography long neglected the wartime occupation of territories inhabited by large civilian populations. … READ MORE

  Thematic

• Refugees

  By Peter Gatrell

  

  This article addresses the scale of wartime population displacement in continental Europe, the relief efforts made on behalf of refugees, their impact on host communities, and the cultural … READ MORE

  Thematic

• Resettlement

  By Peter Gatrell

  

  The conduct of warfare in 1914-1918 included extensive population resettlement in all theatres of war in Europe, both as a result of pre-emptive decisions by civilians to flee in order to evade the … READ MORE

  Thematic

• The Paris Peace Conference and its Consequences

  By Alan Sharp

  

  This article offers an overview of peacemaking after the First World War from the armistices of 1918 until 1923. It considers the outcomes of the five Parisian treaties (Versailles, Saint-Germain and … READ MORE

  Thematic