90 Or 17? What’s In A Number?
From Russia Today:
17 going on 90: Latvia confused over independence
Thousands have gathered in the Latvian capital of Riga to watch the display of their nation’s armed forces. The military parade is part of the celebrations to mark 90 years since the creation of the Latvian republic. Festivities are being held amidst a bitter dispute over whether it’s 90 years, or only 17 years, of true independence. The country’s leader stood next to his counterparts from Latvia’s Baltic neighbours of Lithuania and Estonia, as well as Poland.”Today we have many allies,” the Latvian president said. “Today, we feel protected and confident in Latvia’s future. We are sure that Latvia will forever be a free and democratic republic”.
However, the “free” and “democratic” status is very much a novelty for the Latvian statehood. Many historians argue that it only became a truly independent state with the structure of a republic as late as 1991. Since the 18th century all of what is now Latvia, Estonia and most of Lithuania were part of the Russian Empire. Before the end of the First World War, the Empire had collapsed and in 1918 Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn proclaimed their independence, but this independence was short-lived.
In 1940, after a pact between Stalin and Hitler, the Baltic States entered the Soviet Union. Nazi forces pushed the Soviets back in 1941 but the Red Army returned in 1944 to make the countries part of the USSR once again. Its independence was reestablished only with the collapse of the Soviet Union. So, despite the fact that in relation to Russia, Latvia calls itself a republic with a 90 year history, there are essentially no documented facts to prove this.
As historian Vladimir Simindey points out, “Russia recognized Latvia’s independence after the collapse of the USSR just like it did with all the other former Soviet republics”. Even whilst taking into account current affirmations that Latvia retained its independence throughout the years of Moscow rule, on paper it officially held the status of a Soviet republic.
Since the collapse of the USSR Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania went from Communism to NATO and EU membership. Now, they are keen to break away from their Soviet past. The Museum of Occupation in Riga makes little difference between Nazi occupation during WW2 and Latvia’s years within the USSR and grudges over history continue to poison Latvia’s relations with Moscow.
^ I think it is funny to read a Russian’s perspective with regards to the Baltics. I can’t tell you how many times I got into “fights” while I lived in Russia about whether the Baltics were occupied or were invited to rule them. I believe the Baltic States were occupied by the Russian Empire, then gained their independence. Then they were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, then occupied by the Nazis and then re-occupied by the USSR until 1991 when they re-achieved their independence. I have great respect for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia because in just 17 years they have shed their Soviet past to fully rejoin the world. They are all part of both NATO and the EU and stand up for themselves (politically) whenever Russia tries to go back to its’ old tactics. One question I always asked a Russian who would “fight to the death” and not budge that the Baltic States invited the Soviets in and weren’t occupied is “If the Soviet Union was invited into the Baltic States why did they deport the majority of the native population to Siberia and replace them with ethnic Russians?” It doesn’t seem that a country “invited” into another country would do that - only an occupying force. ^
http://www.russiatoday.com/features/news/33442