History of Latvia: a Brief Survey

On 23 August 1989, fifty years had passed since the signing of the ‘Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact’.In order to call the world’s attention to the fate of the Baltic countries, on this day the People’sFronts of all three Baltic countries held a grandiose political demonstration —‘The Baltic Way’.The Baltic people made a 600-km-long human chain from Tallinn through Rīga to Vilnius. Thiswas a symbolic demonstration of the Baltic peoples’ united will for independence.‘The Baltic Way’ — a human chainthat demonstrated the unity of theBaltic nations in their aspirations forindependence. Latvia, 23 August 1989.Latvian parliamentarians following thedecision to reinstate independence, 4May 1990.An article announcing the renewal ofindependence was published on thefront page of the Latvian newspaperLatvijas Jaunatne, 5 May1990.44New elections of the Latvian Supreme Soviet took place on 18 March 1990, in which thesupporters of independence gained victory. On 4 May 1990, the new Supreme Soviet ofthe LSSR adopted a Declaration of Independence, which called for the renewal of pre-warLatvia and its 1922 Constitution. Moscow and USSR military circles could not come to termswith the plans to reinstate Latvia’s independence. In January 1991 pro-Moscow and procommunistpolitical forces launched an attack. With the use of brutal force, attempts weremade to overthrow the lawfully elected government. The implementation of Moscow’sgoals was thwarted by the Latvian people’s non-violent, organised resistance, which enteredhistory as the ‘Days of the Barricades’. On 19 August 1991, an unsuccessful attempt at acoup d’etat took place in Moscow when a small group of leading Soviet functionaries triedto usurp power. This event resulted in Latvia’s moving toward independence at an evenmore accelerated pace. On 21 August 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Republicannounced that the transition period to full independence that was declared on 4 May 1990had come to an end. Thus, Latvia proclaimed itself a fully independent nation — a nationwhose judicial foundation harked back to thestatehood that existed before the occupationon 17 June 1940. Latvia, alongside the otherBaltic States, demonstrated to the world thatthe renewal of independence of a country canbe achieved in a peaceful manner, withoutwar and bloodshed. Thus the whole process ofrenewing independence since the late 1980s isknown as the ‘Singing Revolution’.