Latvia (LVA)

Military-political developments in Latvia during the First World War and during the independence struggles against the background of the civil war in Russia. The internal power struggle between the Latvian nationalists, the Latvian Bolsheviks and the Baltic Germans was accompanied by the intervention of external forces. The Red Army of Soviet Russia, the Freikorps of Germany, the Western Volunteer Army of the White Guard Russians, and the Royal Navy of Great Britain intervened in local events to advance their interests and influence. As a result, Latvia remained a battlefield until 1920.

The attempt to Sovietize Latvia not only deprived the government of P. Stučka of public support, but also undermined the morale of its main power support - the red Latvian shooters. Mass desertions from the Red Army began, motivated initially by a reluctance to continue fighting when Latvia was already freed from the Germans. Subsequently, disagreement with the policy of the Latvian Soviet government was added, and some of its soldiers even began to move to the tent of the government of K. Ulmanis.