The Popular Front of Latvia () was a political organisation in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the

Sąjūdis The Sąjūdis (, ), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania (), is a political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on 3 June 1988 as the first oppositi ...

movement in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Its newspaper was '' Atmoda'' ("Awakening", cf. Latvian National Awakening), printed in the Latvian and Russian languages during 1989-1992.

Historic background

Latvia,

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and Lithuania were occupied by the

in 1940–1941, by Nazi Germany in 1941–1944 and again by the Soviet Union in 1944–1991. In 1940, almost immediately an armed resistance started, which under the name of

Forest Brothers The guerrilla war in the Baltic states was an insurgency waged by Baltic states, Baltic (Latvian partisans, Latvian, Lithuanian partisans, Lithuanian and Estonian partisans, Estonian) partisans against the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1956. Known ...

continued until 1956. A chance to regain independence came in 1980s when

Soviet general secretary The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. was the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the country's dissolution in 1991, the officeholder was the recognize ...

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

attempted to reform the Soviet Union. In particular, Gorbachev's ''

glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

'' policy allowed more freedom of speech in the Soviet Union than ever before. Beginning in 1986, Latvians began to organise around specific causes. One of the first successes in challenging Moscow was the stoppage of the building of the 4th hydroelectric dam near

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

on the Daugava, the main river in Latvia. This protest inspired the formation of the Environmental Protection Club, which saw the environmentally driven protests as a channel through which to challenge the Soviet regime more broadly. Latvia's independence movement started with small demonstrations for independence and human rights in 1986. The first demonstrations, organised by Helsinki-86, were, however, suppressed by the government of

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

. The breaking point came in summer 1988. Many prominent Latvians publicly announced their support for increased autonomy for Latvia. Latvian newspapers started writing about aspects of Latvian history which had been banned during the Soviet period (for example, how Latvia had been occupied in 1940). The

flag of Latvia The national flag of Latvia () was used by independent Latvia from 1918 until the country was Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. Its use was suppressed during Soviet rule. On 27 February 1990, shortly befor ...

which had been banned during the Soviet period was brought back. To summarise, a strong resurgence of Latvian national identity had started.

Popular Front from 1988 to 1990

This resurgence created several political organisations devoted to increased autonomy or independence for Latvia. The LTF was the biggest organisation. It was founded on 9 October 1988. Originally, Tautas Fronte took a moderate position, requesting wide autonomy for Latvia but stopping short of calling for independence. Tautas Fronte was supported by moderate members of the leadership of the Latvian SSR including head of state Anatolijs Gorbunovs, but opposed by hardline Communists. Tautas Fronte quickly grew to 250,000 members. Its goal was to create a wide coalition devoted to autonomy or independence of Latvia. As 48% of Latvia's population was ethnically non-Latvian (mostly people who had moved to Latvia from other parts of the Soviet Union), Tautas Fronte reached out to ethnic minorities. In particular, it advocated school education in languages other than Latvian and Russian to attract the support of non-Russian minorities. At the same time, Tautas Fronte worked with more radical Latvian movements advocating the immediate independence of Latvia. Gradually, the overall opinion within Tautas Fronte shifted from the autonomy of Latvia within the Soviet Union to full independence. On 31 May 1989, it announced that the government of the Soviet Union had not been sympathetic enough to Latvia gaining autonomy and an independent Latvia had become the only option. In 1989 and 1990, the first free elections were held in Latvia since

Kārlis Ulmanis Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis (; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician and a dictator. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from N ...

' ''coup d'état'' in 1934. The most important were the elections to the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

, the parliament of the Latvian SSR, on 18 March 1990. A pro-independence coalition, led by Tautas Fronte, won 138 out of 201 seats in the Supreme Soviet, more than the 2/3 majority needed to amend the Constitution.

Tautas fronte from 1990 to 1993

After the 1990 elections, Tautas fronte became the governing party in Latvia. On 4 May 1990, the first law passed by the new Supreme Soviet declared Latvia's intention to restore independence. Dainis Īvāns, the chairman of Tautas fronte, became the deputy speaker of parliament and his deputy, Ivars Godmanis, became the

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. Many other members of Tautas fronte took key positions in the government of Latvia. From May 1990 to August 1991, Latvia went through a tense period. Its independence was not recognised by the government of the Soviet Union and a military crackdown threatened by the Soviet government was generally feared. Several Soviet tanks appeared on the bank of the Daugava river in the Riga Old Town. Television networks broadcast footage of rifle shots being exchanged at night in Old Town on the evening of 13 January 1991. On the streets unarmed people built

the Barricades The Barricades () were a series of confrontations between the Republic of Latvia and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in January 1991 which took place mainly in Riga. The events are named for the popular effort of building and protecting ...

and spent days and nights guarding them, singing Latvian songs. Because of this the independence movement is now known as "the

Singing Revolution The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by a ...

". The independence of Latvia was finally recognised after the failure of the Soviet putsch in August 1991. The main political goal of Tautas fronte was thus achieved. It now faced a more difficult task: reforming the socialist economy of Latvia into a free-market system. The economic transition was very difficult, with the GDP of Latvia halving from 1990 to 1993. With the economy in severe decline, the popularity of the Godmanis cabinet declined. Many politicians left Tautas fronte and formed new political parties to avoid being associated with the unpopular government.

The end of Tautas fronte

In June 1993, Latvia held the first

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

of the parliament since the restoration of independence. Weakened by economic difficulties and defections of many politicians, the Godmanis-led Tautas fronte received just 2.62% of the popular vote and gained no seats in the new parliament. It attempted to reinvent itself as a

Christian democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

party and changed its name to ''Kristīgā Tautas partija'' ( Christian People's Party) but without much success. Eventually, it merged with another party, ''Kristīgi demokrātiskā savienība'' ( Christian Democratic Union). The People's Front finally dissolved itself on 9 October 1999 during its 9th congress.

Legacy

All or almost all the political goals of Tautas fronte have been achieved. Latvia is now an independent country, with Latvian as the only official language. Its economy and politics, formerly socialist and oriented towards the Soviet Union, is now free-market and European-oriented. While Tautas fronte itself ceased to exist during the economic difficulties of the mid-1990s, many of its former activists have important roles in today's Latvia. The Museum of the Popular Front of Latvia is located in its former offices, which are owned by the state, in Vecpilsētas iela 13/15 in Riga.

References