Saturday, July 21, 2007

A Little Latvian History



For most of their history, Latvians were peasants in other people's empires -- the Poles, the Swedes and the Russians all ruled Latvia over the centuries. However, after a national awakening in the late 1800s and the collapse of the Russian empire in World War I, Latvia became an independent state. The Freedom Monument was erected in 1935 to honor the Latvian nation and surprisingly stayed up during Soviet rule. The Occupation Museum tells the story of Latvia's occupation by the Soviets then the Nazis then the Soviets from 1940-1990. It is housed in the former Latvian Riflemen's building. The Latvian Riflemen were an elite ethnic unit in the Russian imperial army and sided with the Bolsheviks in 1917. They were highly praised by the Soviets, although Stalin had the remaining members killed during the purges in the 1930s. Despite this somewhat controversial history, the monument remains in Riga in recongition of the important historical role that they played.

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