Latvian independence movement
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Latvian independence movement during Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...

 occupation (1940-1991).

First year (1940-1941) of occupation

The effects of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...

 of August 23, 1939 assigned Latvia to the Soviet sphere of influence. On August 5, 1940, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 annexed Latvia. On June 14, 1941 of the following year 15,000 Latvian citizens were forcibly deported to Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...

 camps and a large number of army officers shot.

Guerrilla warfare (1945-1960)

After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 thousands of resistance fighters (including former members of the pre-WWII Aizsargi
Aizsargi
Aizsargi Aizsargi Aizsargi (literally: "Defenders", "Guards" was a paramilitary organization, or a militia, in Latvia during the interbellum period (1918–1939). The Aizsargi was created on March 30, 1919 by the Latvian provisional government as a self-defense force, a kind of national guard,...

 and 19th Latvian Waffen SS division) participated in unsuccessful guerrilla warfare against the Soviet regime. Most of the armed resistance was suppressed by 1952.

"Third awakening" (1986-1991)

"Perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...

" enabled Latvians to pursue a bolder nationalistic program, particularly through such general issues as environmental protection.

On June 14, 1987, the group Helsinki-86
Helsinki-86
The CTAG Helsinki-86 was founded in July, 1986 in the Latvian port town of Liepāja by three workers: Linards Grantiņš, Raimonds Bitenieks, and Mārtiņš Bariss...

 organised a ceremony of placing flowers at the Freedom Monument in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

. This event demonstrated the rebirth of national courage and self-confidence in Latvia.

On July 28, 1989, the Supreme Soviet of Latvian SSR adopted a "Declaration of Sovereignty" and amended the Constitution to assert the supremacy of its laws over those of the U.S.S.R. Pro-independence Latvian Popular Front candidates gained a two-thirds majority in the Supreme Council in the March 18, 1990 democratic elections. On May 4, the Council declared its intention to restore full Latvian independence after a "transitional" period; 3 days later, Ivars Godmanis
Ivars Godmanis
Ivars Godmanis is a Latvian politician and currently 1 of the 8 Latvian MEPs in the European parliament. He was the first Prime Minister of Latvia after the country became independent from the Soviet Union, and he became a Prime Minister for the second time in December 2007.Godmanis served as...

 was chosen Council of Ministers Chairman, or Prime Minister.

In January 1991, Soviet political and military forces tried unsuccessfully to overthrow the legitimate Latvian authorities by occupying the central publishing house in Riga and establishing a "Committee of National Salvation" to usurp governmental functions. On January 20, 1991, Riga OMON
OMON
OMOH is a generic name for the system of special units of militsiya within the Russian and earlier the Soviet MVD...

 attacked Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

's Interior Ministry, killing six people.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1108059.stm (see January 1991 events in Latvia
January 1991 events in Latvia
The Barricades were events that took place between 13 and 27 January 1991 in Latvia. Latvia, which had declared independence from the Soviet Union a year earlier, anticipated that Soviet Union might attempt to violently regain control over the country....

. Seven OMON members were subsequently found guilty by the Riga District Court and received suspended sentence
Suspended sentence
A suspended sentence is a legal term for a judge's delaying of a defendant's serving of a sentence after they have been found guilty, in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation...

s.

Seventy-three percent of all Latvian residents confirmed their strong support for independence March 3 in a nonbinding "advisory" referendum. A large number of ethnic Russians also voted for the proposition.

Latvia claimed de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

 independence on August 21, 1991 in the aftermath of the failed Soviet coup attempt. International recognition of renewed independence, including the U.S.S.R. (on September 6), followed. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, which had never recognized Latvia's forcible annexation by the U.S.S.R., recognized Latvian independence on September 2 and resumed full diplomatic relations with Latvia on September 5.
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