Travel to Latvia - Where Freedom Really Matters

Today, Latvia is an independent country, a member of the EU and of NATO. While most nations take such things in their stride, they really do matter to Latvians as the country enjoys a rare period of freedom from foreign occupation.

Latvia's troubled history has seen occupation by Germans, Poles, Lithuanians, Swedes, the Russia of Peter the Great, Germany again, the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and then the Soviet Union again in 1944 until 1989. All too often, invasion was followed by mass slaughter and deportations with foreign workers and troops moving into Latvia in large numbers.

Latvia's modern history began in 1180 with the arrival of Christian missionaries. The locals weren't too pleased and didn't take to being christened, so German crusaders were sent in to enforce membership of the Church! The more violent approach worked and the foundations of Riga Cathedral were in place by 1211.

Four hundred years later, Sweden was the mighty power that controlled much of the Baltic, its dominance only ended in 1721. Russia's Peter the Great had decided a few years earlier that he wanted an outlet to the sea and founded St. Petersburg in 1703. He then conquered what are now the Baltic States to enhance the security of his new capital city.

It was the Twentieth Century that saw the greatest turmoil in Latvia. Vaught between the German and Russian armies in the Great War from 1914, the country was devastated. When the Bolshevik Revolution forced Russia out of the conflict to concentrate on wholesale class slaughter at home, Latvia, like neighboring Estonia and Lithuania, grabbed the opportunity to declare independence, and a two year War of Independence followed. The Latvians eventually triumphed and a period of relative tranquility followed that lasted just twenty years. In 1941, the Soviet Union and then the Germans - this time as Nazis - were back again!

Over 200,000 Latvians perished in the 2nd World War. The Jewish population of 70,000 was virtually wiped out by the Nazis while Latvians were forced into both the German and Soviet armies. The Russians eventually reconquered the country and it was annexed to the Soviet Union in 1944. Over 40,000 Latvians, particularly anyone that might be described as of the country's elite, were sent to the Gulags and almost certain death. With Russians taking many jobs, little more than half the population was native Latvian by the 1960s.

Glasnost, and the incredible changes in the Soviet Union introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s, gave the Latvians their opportunity to seize independence once more. On May 4, 1990, came the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia. There was a worrying transition period before full independence arrived on August 21st 1991, although Russian troops hung around for another three years.

After its traumatic history, Latvia wanted to ensure its future by joining NATO and the European Union. Both were achieved in 2004 and hundreds of years of foreign dominance look to be over.

Against this background, it's hardly surprising that Latvia's capital Riga is so full of historical museums. Few countries have seen so many invasions. Independence has been so long coming, it's easy to see why any disrespect shown to national monuments by unthinking visitors will be clamped down vigorously. Riga is enjoying a boom as visitors flood into Latvia. In contrast to previous 'invasions', for once the foreign visitors are made more than welcome.

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