Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic

Infobox Former Country
native_name = "Latvijas Sociālistiskā Padomju Republika"
conventional_long_name = Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic
common_name = Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic
continent = Europe
country = Latvia
p1 = Latvia
flag_p1 = Flag of Latvia.svg
p2 = United Baltic Duchy
flag_p2 = United Baltic Duchy flag.svg
p3 = Iskolat
flag_p3 = Socialist_red_flag.svg
s1 = Latvia
flag_s1 = Flag of Latvia.svg

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image_map_caption =
national_anthem = Internacionāle
national_motto = "Visu zemju proletārieši, savienojieties!"
(Workers of the world, unite!)
capital = Riga (to 22 May 1919)
government_type = Socialist state
title_leader = Chairman of the Soviet Government
leader1 = Pēteris Stučka
year_leader1 = 1918 – 1920
legislature = All-Latvian Congress of Workers' Soviet Deputies
common_languages = Latvian, Russian, Latgalian
(German, Yiddish, Lithuanian, and Estonian in localised areas) [ [http://www.vvk.lv/index.php?sadala=135&id=169 Decree on use of languages in official documents, 8 March 1919] lv icon]
year_start = 1918
date_start = 17 December 1918
year_end = 1920
date_end = 13 January 1920
event_start =
event_end =
event1 = Recognized by RSFSR
date_event1 = 22 December 1918

The Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic ( _lv. Latvijas Sociālistiskā Padomju Republika, LSPR) was a short-lived socialist republic formed during the Latvian War of Independence. It was proclaimed on 17 December 1918 with the political, economic, and military backing of Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik government in the Russian SFSR. The head of government was Pēteris Stučka.

History

The LSPR armed forces, which consisted of the Red Latvian Riflemen and other units of the Red Army, were quickly able to capture most of the territory of present-day Latvia, forcing Kārlis Ulmanis's provisional government into a small pocket of territory around the city of Liepāja.

Stučka's government introduced sweeping communist reforms, resuming the radical policy direction from the abortive Iskolat regime. Some reforms were initially popular, such as the expropriation of property from what the government called the "bourgeoisie", i.e. the upper and middle class. The decision to unilaterally nationalise all agrarian land, however, had dire economic consequences for the cities, as rural support for the regime declined drastically. The peasants no longer agreed to supply the townsfolk with foodstuffs on the government's terms, and shortages became critical. When the people in Riga and other cities began to starve, contributing to widespread discontent among the proletariat as well, a wave of terror swept both rural and urban areas, seeking out alleged counter-revolutionaries supposedly responsible for the failures of the regime. Arbitrary Revolutionary Tribunals and the so-called Flintenweiber ("Gun-Women") were memorable components of this wave of terror.

When the Entente-backed Ulmanis government counter-attacked with the backing of German Freikorps units in the spring of 1919, they quickly regained the lost territory. The capital, Riga, was recaptured on 22 May 1919, and the territory of the LSPR was reduced to a part of Latgale in eastern Latvia, until finally reconquered by combined Latvian and Polish forces in early 1920.

References

Bibliography

*cite book |last= Stuchka |first= P. |authorlink= Pēteris Stučka |title= Piat’ mesiatsev Sotsialisticheskoi sovetskoi Latvii: Sbornik statei i dokumentov |year= 1919–21 |publisher= Izd-vo TsK KP Latvii |location= Pskov |language= Russian |oclc= 38770737 |pages= 2 v
*cite book |last= Popoff |first= George |title= The City of the Red Plague: Soviet Rule in a Baltic Town |year= 1932 |publisher= George Allen & Unwin; E.P. Dutton & Co |location= London; New York |oclc= 413467
*cite book |last= Krastyn' |first= IA. P. (Krastiņš, J.) (ed.) |title= Sotsialisticheskaia Sovetskaia Respublika Latvii v 1919 g. i inostrannaia interventsiia: Dokumenty i materialy |year= 1959–60 |publisher= Izd-vo Akademii Nauk Latviiskoi SSR |location= Riga |language= Russian and Latvian |oclc= 18861284 |pages= 2 v
*cite journal |last= Zile |first= Zigurds L. |authorlink= |year= 1977 |title= Legal Thought and the Formation of Law and Legal Institutions in the Socialist Soviet Republic of Latvia, 1917–1920 |journal= Journal of Baltic Studies |volume= 8 |issue= 3 |pages= 195–204 |id= |url= http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=0162%2d9778&issue=3&spage=195&volume=8 | format = PDF |accessdate= 2007-07-10

See also

*Iskolat
*Commune of the Working People of Estonia
*Lithuanian-Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
*Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia

External links

* [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/su-lv_h.html Latvia in the Soviet Union (early flags)]
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Latvia.htm Latvia page on www.worldstatesmen.org]
* [http://www.historia.lv/alfabets/L/la/lspr/dok/000.htm Significant documents from the history of the LSPR at HISTORIA.LV] lv icon