History of Latvia: a Brief Survey

In response to an incentive from the German Third Reich, about 80% of Latvia’s Germanminority (the Baltic Germans) moved to German territory in late 1939 and early 1940. At thatpoint in time, Germans constituted the third-largest national minority in Latvia, after Russiansand Jews, and made up more than 3% of the total population.The Latvian government discerned a threat to its independence and empowered the Latvianambassador in London with special authority to represent the country in case Latvia’ssovereignty was lost.In May 1940 the Soviet press in Russia began to voice regular unsubstantiated accusationsagainst the Baltic countries regarding alleged activities against Moscow. On 16 June 1940, anofficial memorandum was issued to Latvia by the Soviet Union, in which Moscow demandedthe formation of a new government and the stationing of additional Soviet military units.The memorandum was a continuation of the Soviet Union’s illegal actions against theBaltic countries, which began on 23 August 1939. This was an act of blatant interferencein the internal affairs of a sovereign country, and its goal was the dissolution of Latvia’sindependence.Unfortunately, Western countries showed no desire to assist the Baltic countries in avertingtheir dismal fate. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were left under the domination of the USSR’saggressive tendencies. In an attempt to avoid bloodshed (war against the USSR), the Latviangovernment decided to fulfil Moscow’s peremptory demands. As a result, 100 000 SovietArmy troops occupied Latvia on 17 June 1940. Red Army units immediately seized control ofall strategically important positions, thereby taking control of the entire country.The secret protocol of the ‘Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact’, which determined thetragic fate of the Baltic countries.33