Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis

Significant changes in the social position of women in Europe, including Latvia, began in the 19th century, and peaked during the First World War. In Latvia, however, the momentum intensified during the War of Independence following the Great War, as women became increasingly involved in political, social and even military activities. They not only joined medical services and took on administrative roles, but also actively supported the Latvian army through their work with the Latvian Women’s Relief Corps (LWRC). Established in September 1919, the LWRC quickly became the most prominent and the largest women’s organisation in Latvia, earning recognition as the country’s first mass women’s association. This article discusses the founding and the activities of the LWRC during the Latvian War of Independence, including its contributions to supply, catering, sanitation, soldiers’ entertainment, social work, and more.

In early 1919, Courland, which had already been semi-abandoned during the First World War, turned into an area of the Baltic region where at least four political agendas, and, in many cases, the military forces that supported them, clashed. The Bolsheviks exported their world revolution and acted through the Army of Soviet Latvia. The German armed forces had withdrawn from parts of Estonia and Latvia, and were still under the command of Berlin. Volunteer units formed with the help of the German army, many of which included local Baltic Germans. The Latvian Provisional Government and the units loyal to it was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Oskars Kalpaks. All these forces needed motivated soldiers and loyal civilians who might become engaged in military activities. The article discusses the political, economic and social backgrounds that contributed to the motivation of soldiers and the public support for the warring parties, with a particular focus on how important the sense of belonging and identity was in these circumstances.

When the People’s Council of Latvia gathered in Riga on 18 November 1918 to proclaim Latvia’s independence, the Latvian Provisional Government did not yet have an army capable of defending it, and the entire territory claimed for the future Latvia was still under the control of German troops. In late 1918 and early 1919, the subsequent building up of the first army formations of the Republic of Latvia took place under extremely challenging circumstances. The government lacked financial resources, weapons, equipment and ammunition, while the Red Army advanced rapidly from the east. Initially, the armed forces were formed based on a compromise reached with Germany and according to the principle of ethnic division. After the loss of Rīga and the withdrawal to Liepāja in January 1919, a new line of division emerged: Latvian military units loyal to the Provisional Government were simultaneously formed in two distant regions, in the Liepāja area and in Estonia. The article aims to analyse the impact of both these factors on the development of the Latvian armed forces and the course of the Latvian War of Independence.

The government of the Republic of Latvia began creating a penal system as soon as it took control of the territory it claimed. According to the international understanding, imprisonment was not only seen as the isolation of a person, but also included serious steps in ‘correctional practices’. The article deals with the first stage of the creation of a penal system in Latvia, of which the end can be linked to the ‘Instructions for Prison Employees’, the first law regulating prisons in the Republic of Latvia, which was passed on 16 April 1921. This stage coincided with the period when Latvia switched to peacetime order after the end of the War of Independence. By presenting an overview of the creation of the state penal system, the author highlights the most important steps taken by the prison administration, and the conditions the state prison system faced.

In January 1919, the Army of Soviet Latvia (ASL) emerged out of Red Army units fighting on future Latvian territory. Until its dissolution in early June 1919, units of the ASL participated in a war that covered areas claimed by both the Latvian and Lithuanian governments. The article aims to reevaluate the campaign in northern Lithuania in the first half of 1919. Until today, the fighting on the left flank of the ASL has been seen as a secondary front, and therefore usually overlooked. The article explores the plans of the ASL, the forces involved, and the actual warfare. Attention is also paid to events behind the front line, and the activities of the Soviet Latvian authorities in Lithuania.