In spring 1988, the Iron Curtain was gradually lifting, and Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost policy paved way for attempts at democracy across the Soviet Union. Amid that atmosphere, a nationally significant event was held in Rīga: namely, the Miss Rīga 88 beauty pageant, the first such pageant in Latvia following the 1940 Soviet occupation, reports Latvian Radio.
On April 12, 1918 in Riga, a union of local, German-dominated land councils announced independence from Russia and declared a constitutional monarchy. The body (Der Vereinigte Landesrat für Livland, Estland, Ösel und Riga) set up a delegation which pleaded for recognition of the new United Baltic Duchy in Berlin.
German forces landed on the shores of southern Finland on April 3, 1918 to put an end to the Finnish Civil War that had raged for more than two years, with more than 40,000 perishing on both sides. It involved Rüdiger von der Goltz, a German general, whose wildly differing roles in the history of Latvia and Finland illustrate the complexities of history.
The Ķempji church in Līgatne, central Latvia, has had its glass panels restored, reported LTV April 2.
Among the many unwanted legacies of the Soviet occupation of Latvia are several ghost villages who once housed the outcasts of the Communist regime - people who for one reason or another were barred from living in Rīga.
Ceremonies were being held across Latvia March 25 in memory of the thousands of people deported to Siberia by occupying Soviet forces in 1949.
Latvia will gain a new square in the near future after Riga City Council on March 23 approved designating the open area around the iconic Freedom Monument "Freedom square" (Brīvības laukums)
The best-remembered Latvian politicians of the early 20th century come from the Bolsheviks (Pēteris Stučka, Jūlijs Daniševskis), the social democrats (Rainis, Fricis Menders, and Pauls Kalniņš), as well as nationalists like Kārlis Ulmanis, Jānis Čakste and Miķelis Valters. The conservatives, however, are less known, but nevertheless they were very much in the public eye in spring 1918, because the rest had gone underground or fled to Russia.
On March 8, 1918 the local Baltic German-dominated Kurländischer Landtag (state diet), in Jelgava, proclaimed the reinstatement of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. 123 years had passed since it annexed by the Russian Empire. Pro-German forces were trying to reanimate a state-like body closely related to the German Empire.
On February 28, 1918 the German forces took Gulbene, which housed the headquarters of the Russian 1st Army. This meant all of Latvia's territory was occupied by German forces, a state of affairs that would last for the next nine months.
Estonia's independence was declared on February 24, 1918, in Tallinn. The next day Estonia's independence drive was quashed by the invading Germans, who captured the city. Like Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia had to wait a further nine months to become fully independent.
Riga City Council City Development Committee on Monday, February 19, approved the naming of the territory around the iconic Freedom Monument as "Freedom square" (Brīvības laukums).
On February 16, 1918 Lithuania declared its renewed independence, which had been interrupted by Russia in 1795. The event took place in German-occupied Vilnius, and was the second declaration of independence within a few months. In a key difference from the declaration that had been adopted in 1917, which was dictated by the German powers, the February 16 document stipulated that Lithuania is fully independent both from Germany and Russia.
The Salaspils Memorial, a key location in the holocaust history of occupied Latvia has finally unveiled its new permanent exposition, which will tell visitors about the complicated history of the Salaspils camp and will allow them to learn more about the no less complex story of the creation of the memorial itself.
World War II didn't really end in 1945, for Latvia. More than 100,000 war refugees couldn't go back home. The people who did remain were stripped of their property, with collectivization in full swing. Soviet secret service arrested at least 40,000 people in the years following the war. An episode of a new LTV show, Atslēgas shows how the repressive state tried to take away the last freedom people had left. Namely, their freedom to think.
A message from the time of the Nazi occupation was revealed at a school in Grobiņa, western Latvia, while it was renovated, reported LTV January 24.
January 22 marks 120 years to the day since the birth in Rīga of one of cinema's true greats: pioneering director Sergei Eisenstein, with search engine Google even including his image on its international homepages.
On January 18, 1918 the first and final meeting of the All Russian Constituent Assembly was held in Petrograd to march on the Tauride Palace. The very next day, it was dissolved by the Bolsheviks.
A group of students in Latvia's eastern Latgale region is working to record one of its most distinctive cultural features - beautiful and sometimes ornate wooden windows that can sometimes be found in even the humblest homes.
Myths abound over Latvia's independence proclamation--but thankfully, respected historian Jānis Šiliņš, whose history pieces regularly appear on LSM, debunks the most persistent ones on the website dedicated to Latvia's centenary.
Kārlis Kangeris, a historian heading the committee charged with researching the trove of former Soviet secret service KGB files, told Latvian Radio on December 29 that the files should be published in their entirety without comment.
On December 27, 1917 the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) issued a decree over separating three regions of Latgale - Daugavpils, Ludza, and Rēzekne - from the Vitebsk Governorate.
On December 20, 1917 the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree creating an organization, The All-Russian Emergency Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage. This was the Bolshevik secret police. Soon after, an initialism, Cheka, was coined for this horrible organization, which carried out mass terror inside Russia.
Early this year the CIA released a massive cache of formerly classified Cold War-era documents, which also described Latvia's 'forest brothers' - a resistance movement to occupying Soviet power following World War II.
On December 8, 1917 the Russian capital Petrograd saw train arrivals from Vidzeme, carrying soldiers from the 6. Tukums Latvian Riflemen Regiment. Latvian Riflemen were to ensure order in Bolshevik-seized Petrograd. The Bolsheviks among them were entrusted with guarding the Soviet government.
Latvia is requesting that two more items of its unique cultural heritage are recognized for inclusion in a UNESCO "Memory of the World" list.
An historic church organ in Latvia's eastern Latgale region has been restored to its former glory.
Latvia's top officials released statements and speeches November 18 marking the 99th anniversary of the nation's founding in 1918.
November 18 is the day upon which the Latvian Republic was declared in 1918, and consequently is independence day - the Latvian equivalent of July 4 in the United States.
Speeches and ceremonies are the order of the day November 11 with Latvia holding its day of remembrance (Lāčplēša Diena) for the military and freedom fighters who dies during the struggle for independence.