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Template:Infobox SSR

The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Template:Lang-lv; Template:Lang-ru Latviyskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika), also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union. Established on on July 21, 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by the Soviet army on June 17, 1940 in conformity with the terms of August 23, 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Latvian SSR was formally annexed into the Soviet Union (USSR) on August 5, 1940, when it nominally became the 15th constituent republic of the USSR. Its territory was subsequently conquered by Nazi Germany in 1941, before being retaken by the Soviets in 1944-1945.

The United States, United Kingdom, and other western powers considered the annexation of Latvia by the USSR illegal. They retained diplomatic relations with the representatives of the independent Republic of Latvia, never recognized the existence of the Latvian SSR de jure, and never recognized Latvia as a legal constituent part of the Soviet Union.

In addition to the human and material losses suffered due to war, thousands of civilians were killed and tens of thousands of people deported from Latvia by the Soviet authorities until Joseph Stalin's death in 1953. This formed part of an aggressive campaign of Russification which making Latvians second-class citizens in their own country.

In Soviet Latvia, industrial capacity was rebuilt or increased, including automobile (RAF) and electrotechnical (VEF) factories, the food-processing industry, oil pipelines and bulk-oil port (Ventspils). Most of this was assembly work, however, not based on any natural availability of materials or flow of commerce (that is, materials imported from, and products exported to, elsewhere in the Soviet Union). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, all the artificial industrialization associated with it collapsed as well. While a significant Russian presence in Latgale predated the Soviet Union, and that being primarily agrarian, this artificial industrialization and the heavy importation of labor to feed it, primarily from Russia, led to significant increases in the Russian minority in Riga, even forming a majority in Latvian urban centers such as Daugavpils, Rēzekne, Ogre. Those areas were also hardest hit economically when the Soviet Union collapsed, leading to massive unemployment. Similarly to the end of World War I, which had seen the destruction or evacuation to Russia of Latvia's industrial base, forcing a transition to an agrarian economy, the Soviet industrial base was largely dismantled leading to the need to expand in other sectors following regaining independence: agriculture, forestry, the service economy, tourism. Sharp disagreement with Russia over the legacy of the Soviet era has led to predatory and punitive economic measures by Russia, including the demise of transit trade as Russia cut off petroleum exports through Ventspils in 2003 (eliminating 99% of its shipments) after Latvia refused to sell the oil port to the Russian state oil company, Transneft.

The Latvian SSR, along with the other Baltic Republics was allowed greater autonomy in the late 1980s, and in 1988 the old pre-war Flag of Latvia was allowed to be used, and replaced the Soviet Latvian flag as the official flag in 1990. Pro-independence Latvian Popular Front candidates gained a two-thirds majority in the Supreme Council in the March 1990 democratic elections. On May 4, the Council declared its intention to restore full Latvian independence after a transitional period through negotiations with the USSR. This is also the date, when Latvian SSR was renamed Republic of Latvia. However, the central power in Moscow continued to regard Latvia as Soviet republic in 1990-1991. In January 1991, Soviet political and military forces tried unsuccessfully to overthrow the Republic of Latvia authorities by occupying the central publishing house in Riga and establishing a Committee of National Salvation to usurp governmental functions. During the transitional period Moscow maintained many central Soviet state authorities in Latvia. In spite of this, seventy-three percent of all Latvian residents confirmed their strong support for independence on March 3, 1991, in a nonbinding advisory referendum. A large number of ethnic Russians also voted for the proposition.

The Republic of Latvia declared the end of the transitional period and restored full independence on August 21, 1991 in the aftermath of the failed Soviet coup attempt. Latvia, as well as Lithuania and Estonia de facto ceased to be parts of the USSR 4 months before the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist (December 26, 1991). Soon, on September 6, the independence of three Baltic states was officially recognised by the USSR.

Today's Republic of Latvia is a legal continuation of the sovereign state whose first independent existence dates back to 1918-1940, and does not accept any legal connection with the former Latvian SSR which had been occupied and annexed into USSR 1940-1941 and 1944-1991. Since independence, the Communist Party of the Latvian SSR was discontinued, and a number of high-ranking LSSR officials faced prosecution for their role in various human rights abuses during the LSSR regime.

See also

• Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic (1919–20)

External links

• "Ethnic structure of Latvia" at lettia.lv, illustrating changes in population of Latvia over the last hundred years.

v t e Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars/Ministers of Latvian SSR
Lācis Peive V. Rubenis J. Rubenis Bresis

v t e Latvian SSR First Secretaries
Jānis Kalnbērziņš Arvīds Pelše Augusts Voss Boris Pugo Jānis Vagris Alfrēds Rubiks

1. Nearly 58,000 were deported in the two mass deportations of 1941 and 1949 alone, see Soviet Mass Deportations from Latvia, retrieved July 9 2008.

• Soviet Republics
• Former polities 1945-1991
• History of Latvia
• Soviet occupations