Tourist place latvia

EtymologyThe name Latvija is derived from the name of the ancient Latgalians, one of four Indo-European Baltic tribes (along with Couronians, Selonians and Semigallians), which formed the ethnic core of modern Latvians together with the Finnic Livonians.[27] Henry of Latvia coined the latinisations of the country's name, "Lettigallia" and "Lethia", both derived from the Latgalians. The terms inspired the variations on the country's name in Romance languages from "Letonia" and in several Germanic languages from "Lettland".[28]

Tourist attractions in Latvia

HistoryMain article: History of LatviaAround 3000 BC, the proto-Baltic ancestors of the Latvian people settled on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea.[29] The Balts established trade routes to Rome and Byzantium, trading local amber for precious metals.[30] By 900 AD, four distinct Baltic tribes inhabited Latvia: Curonians, Latgalians, Selonians, Semigallians (in Latvian: kurši, latga?i, s??i and zemga?i), as well as the Finnic tribe of Livonians (l?bieši) speaking a Finnic language.[citation needed]

In the 12th century in the territory of Latvia, there were 14 lands with their rulers: Vanema, Ventava, Bandava, Piemare, Duvzare, Ceklis, Megava, Pils?ts, Upmale, S?lija, Koknese, Jersika, T?lava and Adzele.[31]

Declaration of independence

K?rlis UlmanisWorld War I devastated the territory of what became the state of Latvia, and other western parts of the Russian Empire. Demands for self-determination were initially confined to autonomy, until a power vacuum was created by the Russian Revolution in 1917, followed by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany in March 1918, then the Allied armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918. On 18 November 1918, in Riga, the People's Council of Latvia proclaimed the independence of the new country, with K?rlis Ulmanis becoming the head of the provisional government.[citation needed] The General representative of Germany August Winnig formally handed over political power to the Latvian Provisional Government on 26 November.

The war of independence that followed was part of a general chaotic period of civil and new border wars in Eastern Europe. By the spring of 1919, there were actually three governments: the Provisional government headed by K?rlis Ulmanis, supported by Tautas padome and the Inter-Allied Commission of Control; the Latvian Soviet government led by P?teris Stu?ka, supported by the Red Army; and the Provisional government headed by Andrievs Niedra and supported by the Baltische Landeswehr and the German Freikorps unit Iron Division.[citation needed]

Estonian and Latvian forces defeated the Germans at the Battle of Wenden in June 1919,[44] and a massive attack by a predominantly German force—the West Russian Volunteer Army—under Pavel Bermondt-Avalov was repelled in November. Eastern Latvia was cleared of Red Army forces by Latvian and Polish troops in early 1920 (from the Polish perspective the Battle of Daugavpils was a part of the Polish–Soviet War).[citation needed]

A freely elected Constituent assembly convened on 1 May 192Latvia in World War IISee also: Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, German occupation of Latvia during World War II, The Holocaust in Latvia, Latvian partisans, and Latvian anti-Nazi resistance movement 1941–45

Red Army troops enter Riga (1940).Early in the morning of 24 August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a 10-year non-aggression pact, called the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. The pact contained a secret protocol, revealed only after Germany's defeat in 1945, according to which the states of Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence".[49] In the north, Latvia, Finland and Estonia were assigned to the Soviet sphere.[49] A week later, on 1 September 1939, Germany and on 17 September, the Soviet Union invaded Poland.[50]:32

After the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, most of the Baltic Germans left Latvia by agreement between Ulmanis' government and Nazi Germany under the Heim ins Reich programme.[51] In total 50,000 Baltic Germans left by the deadline of December 1939, with 1,600 remaining to conclude business and 13,000 choosing to remain in Latvia.[51] Most of those who remained left for Germany in summer 1940, when a second resettlement scheme was agreed.[52] The racially approved being resettled mainly in Poland, being given land and businesses in exchange for the money they had received from the sale of their previous assets.[50]:46

On 5 October 1939, Latvia was forced to accept a "mutual assistance" pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station between 25,000 and 30,000 troops on Latvian territory.[53] State administrators were liquidated and replaced by Soviet cadres.[54] Elections were held with single pro-Soviet candidates listed for many positions. The resulting people's assembly immediately requested admission into the USSR, which the Soviet Union granted.[54] Latvia, then a puppet government, was headed by Augusts Kirhenšteins.[55] The Soviet Union incorporated Latvia on 5 August 1940, as The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic.

German soldiers enter Riga, July 1941The Soviets dealt harshly with their opponents – prior to Operation Barbarossa, in less than a year, at least 34,250 Latvians were deported or killed.[56] Most were deported to Siberia where deaths were estimated at 40 percent, officers of the Latvian army being shot on the spot.[50]:48

On 22 June 1941 German troops attacked Soviet forces in Operation Barbarossa. There were some spontaneous uprisings by Latvians against the Red Army which helped the Germans. By 29 June Riga was reached and with Soviet troops killed, captured or retreating, Latvia was left under the control of German forces by early July.[50]:78–96 The occupation was followed immediately by SS Einsatzgruppen troops who were to act in accordance with the Nazi Generalplan Ost which required the population of Latvia to be cut by 50 percent.[50]:64[50]:56

Under German occupation, Latvia was administered as part of Reichskommissariat Ostland. Latvian paramilitary and Auxiliary Police units established by the occupation authority participated in the Holocaust and other atrocities.[47] 30,000 Jews were shot in Latvia in the autumn of 1941.[50]:127 Another 30,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto were killed in the Rumbula Forest in November and December 1941, to reduce overpopulation in the ghetto and make room for more Jews being brought in from Germany and the West.[50]:128 There was a pause in fighting, apart from partisan activity, until after the siege of Leningrad ended in January 1944 and the Soviet troops advanced, entering Latvia in July and eventually capturing Riga on 13 October 1944.[50]:271

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