Neo Westphalian Europe Part 48: Republic of Latvia

Latvia is another Baltic republic, whose history is very similar to that of Estonia. Instead of the Swedish Empire however, it spent a great deal of its time under the control of the Polish-Lithuanian state. Finally it passed into the possession of the Russian Empire.

At the end of World War 1 it declared its independence like neighbouring Estonia. As with Estonia it spent the next three years fighting off German and Russian forces, until it won a stable independent nation by 1920. During World War Two the new nation was forced to surrender to the Soviets and it became a part of the Soviet Union. After the independence of Estonia began to unravel the Soviet Union, Latvia was able to follow suit, in late 1991, and regain its full independence.

Unfortunately Latvia then made the same mistake as Estonia and gave away its newfound independence back to the European Union and NATO, based out of Brussels. Again it is amazing that so many peoples, who fought so hard to escape the grips of the supra national Soviet Union, would give up their rights yet again to the European Union. As the Brussels Empire melts down and collapses, just as the Moscow one did before it, it would seem that Baltic Nationalists will once again be on the forefront in helping to destroy such ridiculous imperial structures.

Because of its recent history, in claiming its territorial rights, it is not expected that any changes to its current borders are likely. This will leave a fully independent Latvia made up of the Courland, Semigallia, Vidzeme and Latgalia Regions, currently in Latvia.

The Latvian flag has a similar history to the Estonian. A student movement began in the 1870s, which sought to restore Latvian nationalism in the Russian Empire. Students found evidence of a flag that had been used by Latvian tribes in the 1200’s, making it one of the oldest flags in use in Europe. Nationalists then used the flag until in 1918 it was adopted by the newly independent state. The flag was replaced during Soviet times but was restored as the state flag of Latvia in 1990, as part of Perestroika, before once again becoming the national flag after independence was restored in 1991.

Go To Part 49