The restoration of Latvia’s independence

Political dissent existed throughout the Soviet period, but opportunities for public organisation remained limited.

During the 1980s, political liberalisation in the Soviet Union created more space for discussion.

Environmental campaigns became an important form of public mobilisation. Opposition to projects affecting the Daugava landscape and plans for a Riga metro allowed wider concerns about decision-making, migration, language and national identity to be expressed.

The Environmental Protection Club was established in 1987.

The Latvian human-rights group Helsinki-86 organised important public commemorations.

On 14 June 1987, people gathered at the Freedom Monument to commemorate victims of the 1941 Soviet deportations.

On 23 August 1987, another demonstration marked the anniversary of the Hitler-Stalin Pact.

These events challenged Soviet control over public memory and made previously suppressed historical subjects visible.

In June 1988, a major meeting of Latvia’s creative unions discussed environmental, cultural, demographic and political problems.

Journalist Mavriks Vulfsons publicly stated that Latvia had been occupied in 1940.

Public use of the term “occupation” challenged the official Soviet account that Latvia had joined the Soviet Union voluntarily.

The Popular Front of Latvia was established in 1988.

It became the largest organisation of the Third Awakening and brought together local groups, cultural figures, political activists and large numbers of ordinary citizens.

Its goals developed from political and economic reform towards the restoration of an independent democratic Latvia.

The Popular Front worked through public meetings, publications, elections and cooperation with independence movements in Lithuania and Estonia. Its archive contains documents, photographs and objects covering the years 1986–1993.

On 23 August 1989, people in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia formed a continuous human chain across the three countries.

The demonstration marked the 50th anniversary of the Hitler-Stalin Pact and its secret protocols.

Official Latvian sources describe participation by more than one million people in a chain approximately 600 kilometres long.

The event demonstrated the scale, organisation and peaceful character of the Baltic independence movements and attracted international attention.

In March 1990, elections were held for the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR.

Candidates supporting the Popular Front won enough seats to pursue the restoration of independence through the legislature.

The elected body still operated within the formal structure of the Soviet system, but it had received a public mandate for democratic change.

On 4 May 1990, the Supreme Council adopted the Declaration on the Restoration of the Independence of the Republic of Latvia.

The declaration stated that Latvia’s incorporation into the Soviet Union had been unlawful and restored the authority of the state proclaimed on 18 November 1918.

A transition period was established rather than immediate complete separation from Soviet institutions.

The legal principle was state continuity: Latvia was restoring its existing republic, not establishing a new state.

Tension increased as Soviet authorities and pro-Soviet forces attempted to stop the Baltic independence movements.

In January 1991, people travelled to Riga and built barricades around parliament, broadcasting facilities and other strategically important institutions.

The confrontation involved violence and deaths, including an attack on the Latvian Ministry of the Interior.

The Barricades became a major symbol of civic participation and defence of the restoration process.

In August 1991, hard-line Soviet officials attempted a coup in Moscow.

On 21 August, Latvia’s Supreme Council adopted the law “On the National Status of the Republic of Latvia.”

The law ended the transition period and restored Latvia’s independence de facto.

International recognition followed rapidly, and diplomatic relations were renewed.

The Satversme and parliamentary institutions were progressively restored.

The first post-occupation Saeima, numbered the fifth to demonstrate continuity with the four interwar parliaments, was elected in 1993.

Latvia rebuilt state institutions, restored private property, reorganised the economy and developed a democratic legal system.

The restoration was difficult and involved major economic, social and demographic changes.

Latvia joined NATO on 29 March 2004.

It became a member of the European Union on 1 May 2004.

Latvia adopted the euro on 1 January 2014 and joined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2016.

These developments were understood as part of Latvia’s return to European and transatlantic political structures after decades of occupation.

The interpretation of the 20th century remains central to Latvian public life.

Important national remembrance dates include 25 March for victims of Communist genocide; 4 May for restoration of independence; 14 June for victims of Communist terror; 4 July for remembrance of the genocide of the Jewish people; 23 August for victims of Stalinism and Nazism; and 18 November for the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia.

Museums and memorials address different parts of this history and should be used together rather than as interchangeable attractions.