The Latvian Provisional Government () was formed on November 18, 1918 by the

People's Council of Latvia The People's Council of Latvia (, LTP) was a temporary council which declared Latvia's independence on November 18, 1918 and then acted as the temporary parliament of the country until a Constitutional Assembly was elected. The People's Council ...

as the

interim government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revolut ...

of the newly-proclaimed Republic of Latvia during the

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

. The term encompasses three cabinets led by

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 ...

, the leader of the Agrarian Union, who was chosen to be

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 ...

. The Ulmanis' government led the country until the formation of an elected cabinet after the elections to the

Constitutional Assembly of Latvia The Constitutional Assembly of Latvia () was independent Latvia's first elected legislative body. Its main task was creating the constitution of Latvia, the Satversme, which is still in effect to this day. The Speaker of Assembly was Jānis Čaks ...

in June 1920.

History

After the Proclamation of the Independence of the Republic of Latvia on November 18, 1918, the interim parliament – the

– chose Kārlis Ulmanis to form the country's first government. In December, the first

ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

were created. From December 1918 until May 1919, the Latvian territories (that were not under German occupation) were invaded and controlled by a provisional Soviet Latvian government led by

Pēteris Stučka Pēteris Stučka, sometimes spelt Pyotr Stuchka; ( – 25 January 1932), was a Latvian jurist and communist politician, leader of the pro-Bolshevik puppet government in Latvia during the 1918–1920 Latvian War of Independence, and later a stat ...

. During these months, the Ulmanis government had evacuated from the capital

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

to the western city of

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

, which was defended by troops of the nascent Latvian armed forces and the Baltic German Landeswehr. Joint military operations of the growing Latvian armed forces of the Ulmanis government together with the Landeswehr and the German

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...

, coupled with supportive attacks from the

Estonian Army The Estonian Land Forces (), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. The Estonian Land Forces is currently the ...

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', ) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in north-centra ...

, succeeded in pushing Soviet armies back into

Latgale Latgale (; ; ; ; ; ; Belarusian Latin alphabet, Belarusian Latin: ''Łathalija''; ), also known as Latgalia or Latgallia, is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. It is the easternmost region of the country and lies north of the Daugava River. Wh ...

during the late spring of 1919. In April 1919, however, the German forces attempted a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

in an effort to install a pro-German puppet government led by pastor

Andrievs Niedra Andrievs Niedra ( old orthography: ''Andreews Needra''; 8 February 1871 – 25 September 1942) was a Latvian writer, Lutheran pastor and the Prime Minister of the German puppet government in Latvia between April and June 1919, during the Lat ...

. With protection from the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

and the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

the Ulmanis government took refuge on the ship ''Saratov'' in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

near the coast of Latvia. After the German forces were forced to leave Riga due to an Estonian-Latvian offensive and the Niedra government collapsed, the Ulmanis cabinet was able to return to land in July 1919. After the liberation of Latgale in January, the Ulmanis government signed an armistice with

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

on February 21, 1920, and a peace treaty on August 11, 1920. Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in Latvia between 14 and 16 April 1920. The interim government was succeeded by the elected , which was approved on June 20, 1920.

References

* * *{{cite book , title=Latvia in Transition , last=Dreifelds , first=Juris , year=1996 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , isbn=978-0-5215-5537-1 , page=24 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0d9svpuxozkC Political history of Latvia 1918 establishments in Latvia Independence of Latvia Provisional governments

History

See also

References