Today, the fifteenth of May marks the 73rd anniversary of the day when Latvian democracy was brutally extinguished.  On the night of May 15, 1934 a power mad politician named Karlis Ulmanis usurped power, and set into motion a chain of events that brought misfortune and misery upon the Latvian people.  Several corrupt and misguided officers from the Army and the national guard “Aizsargi” at the behest of General Janis Balodis moved against key government offices, communication and transportation facilities.  Many elected officials were illegally detained, as were any military officers that resisted the coup d’etat.

The Satversme, the constitution of the Latvian Republic was nullified and civil liberties were suspended.  The Saeima (parliament) was was dismissed, political parties were outlawed, newspapers were closed.  Thousands of citizens were rounded up off the streets and arrested.  Some 400 high-profile citizens were deemed “enemies” of Ulmanis’ rule and were herded into a concentration camp established near the city of Liepaja.

Karlis Ulmanis instituted what he called a “Nationalist Dictatorship,” and usurped power—crowning himself as “Vadonis,” a title akin to Führer or Supreme Leader.  The resulting regime was the most authoritarian dictatorship in all of Europe, with Ulmanis ruling by decree and making decisions with practically unlimited powers.  Ulmanis’ state was the only dictatorship in Europe that retained no formal representation whatsoever.  An attache of Mussolini’s Italian embassy praised the resulting Latvian state as being “truly Fascist.”

National policy in Ulmanis’ Latvia was strictly controlled, and an ethno-centric form of government followed.  Ethnic minorities were persecuted.  The economy, especially the agriculture and manufacturing sectors, were micromanaged to an extreme degree.  This resulted in rapid economic growth, during which Latvia attained a very high standard of living.  This, however, came at the cost of liberty and civil rights.

May 15th is a dark day in Latvian history, a stain on the nation’s honor.  My condolances to Ulmanis’ victims and their descendants.

/R

My mentor has an excellent article on the topic up on his blog.

http://lettonica.blogspot.com/

Andrejs

“Brutally extinguished?” “Power mad politician named Karlis Ulmanis?” Are you for real?  “Kauns un negods” back at you for discarding any semblance of historical accuracy.  More “kauns un negods” for being so clueless about the real issues and problems for Latvians.  Muddy roads in Latgale trumps this.
P.S.  I suggest you join a support group for self-hating, petty, “kaskigi” Latvians.  And LEAVE LACPLESIS ALONE!

I was never taught much on the politics of Latvija of that period, but had of course known of the May 15th significance. In what manner did the “leader” affect the filling of other positions in the nation’s political structure. The reason I ask is that my grandfather had been “Aizputes Aprinku Vecaks” (I believe that is close if not the correct title) during this period. I do not know if he was in that position before hand or not. I also know that he had at some point been the Mayor of Ventspils. From what I understand - the “vecaks” was not an elected position. Had these positions previously been filled by popular vote? I take it I am correct in assuming that a Mayor would indeed be an elected representative?

How did the dictatorship affect schooling, if at all? Was there a compulsory miltary service either before or during this time? In short - what aspects of day to day life were primarily affected by Ulmanis’ seizure of power. I take it I am also correct in my assumption that Latvija was affected by the world wide depression? Was that the primary reason given as an explanation of these events?

I guess I am curious, in that I guess I never really heard any criticisms of this particular regime. Growing up - I also had not known any details about my granfather - other than he was dead.

Mikelis

ambersun - 15 May 2007 09:41 AM

“Brutally extinguished?” “Power mad politician named Karlis Ulmanis?” Are you for real?  “Kauns un negods” back at you for discarding any semblance of historical accuracy.  More “kauns un negods” for being so clueless about the real issues and problems for Latvians.  Muddy roads in Latgale trumps this.
P.S.  I suggest you join a support group for self-hating, petty, “kaskigi” Latvians.  And LEAVE LACPLESIS ALONE!

ambersunīt,

Exactly what part of “historical accuracy” are you disputing?  The brutality of Ulmanis’ coup?  Sending armed soldiers into people’s homes in the middle of the night and taking husbands, fathers, and brothers without warrant or due process is rather brutal.  Stealing their homes and depriving innocent civilians of their livelihood and liberty—these are tactics similar to those that the Soviets employed on 14 June 1941. 

As to the Madness of Kārlis Ulmanis—are you suggesting he was anything other than a tin-plated dictator with delusions of Godhood?  Mind you, Ulmanis’ own propaganda of the era touted him as a leader purportedly given to the Latvian people by God himself.

Please, ambersuns, correct the “historical accuracy” here.  I stated that Ulmanis’ regime retained no formal representation.  Was that not so?  Which political parties were permitted to operate during Ulmanis’ regime?  I have met scores of people who were arrested and illegally detained on 15 May 1934—are you calling people like Ādolfs Šilde, Jānis Zalcmanis, Bruno Kalniņš, or Kļaviņu Juris (men from all over the political spectrum) a bunch of liars?

About that Concentration camp—it’s a real place.  Next time you find yourself in Liepāja, pay it a visit.  Former mayor Ansis Roberts Bušēvics was one of the political enemies Ulmanis’ imprisoned there.  Ever peruse the contemporary newspaper The Baltic Times?  Keep an eye out for the byline of Elizabeth Celms.  Her great-grandfather Jūlijs Celms, a founder of the Republic of Latvia, decorated hero of the Latvian War of Independence and Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Latvia was one of Ulmanis’ victims.

I dare you, double dirty-dog dare you to try and dispute any of this historical evidence.

As for support groups… don’t think so.  Self-loathing doesn’t seem to be one of my worries.  I like myself just fine.  I can’t wait to look in the mirror every morning, I just get better looking each day.  I despise small-minded twits, as some may have noticed—so we might have a kašķis here after all.  The roads of Latgale… I like them as they are.  I’ve navigated them with a funky French four-banger just fine.  Paving the roads isn’t a panacea for Latgale.  Latgale needs investment, Latgale needs jobs, Latgale needs to combat civic corruption in the industrial centers.  Laying down the black tar macadam to every chickenshack betwixt Krāslava and Rogovka won’t accomplish squat.

Ulmanis as Lāčplēsis?  That’s just plain stupid.  Lāčplēsis fought against the enemies of his people, he didn’t openly invite the enemy in and then slink off to parts unknown.

/R

p.s. I cheerfully look forward to your attempts at rebuttal!

well, well, this should be very interesting, but I believe I’ll just sit this one out, ringside.

Is this really the same Roberts from years ago on LOL? The same one who wrote of my son as being fruit that never fell far from the tree?

However, the fruit is gone, but the tree is still here. Albeit a very quiet tree of late!

Ivars Sulcs
Melbourne, Australia

To answer some of Miķelis’ questions—military service was compulsory for males in both periods of Latvia’s independence, until very recently. Prior to 1931, the term was 18 months—from 1931, for budgetary reasons, it was curtailed (10,5 to 12,5 months). However, it was possible to delay one’s service if one was studying—Ulmanis repealed that option, and the number of students in higher education declined. Many minority schools were closed. Library use fell after books deemed “dangerous” were removed—ironically, one of the things Ulmanis is known for is the invitation to donate books, but this was primarily a cover for censorship. One of Ulmanis’ final acts was declaring mandatory agricultural labor for city folk, but the Soviets invaded before that was implemented.

Re local government: prior to Ulmanis’ dictatorship, there were elections at every level, be that for the civil parishes (pagasti), districts (apriņķi), city and town councils (domes and valdes), and of course the parliament (the Saeima). The way the local levels worked changed a few times prior to the Putsch (partly because some local governments elected in Latgallia were dysfunctional), and turnout had declined. In the valdes of the districts, some people were appointed by the Ministry of the Interior, whilst two to four were elected. After the coup, the elders (vecākie) took over the functions of the valdes. From 1935, the elders were appointed by the Minister of the Interior.

Thousands of people were replaced at every level. Dunsdorfs quotes Bastjānis to write that the shutting down of all political parties, including the Farmers’ Union (ZS, Ulmanis’ party) was merely a blind—in reality, the ZS ran everything, though formally non-existent. Ulmanis’ boys took full control and everyone else was silenced. The ZS Party Bureau continued to function after the Putsch, and it was that organ which made the personnel decisions. Jānis Lejiņš, a ZS member and former MP, described seeing journals full of lists of people and their addresses—so superficially was the fate of those even in the most trivial job was detemined, far from their parishes. Many people lost their jobs solely due to their ethnicity. The more important positions were filled or vacated by Ulmanis himself.

This was true not only for government of any kind, but also for the many cultural associations that were shuttered and for most every institution, theaters and schools included. The Daile, for example, was saved only because the “liquidators” liked their salaries. In summary, everything in Latvia was subject to a vertical of one-man rule, marinated in a mythical and insipid “unity.”

Re the Great Depression—Latvia was recovering before Ulmanis took over. At my blog (thanks for the plug, Andrej), I quote the historian Inesis Feldmanis: “Nothing threatened Latvia at the time that could have justified killing democracy. Neither a political nor an economic crisis encouraged the coup; to the contrary—the approaching end of the economic crisis would have prevented Ulmanis from accusing democracy of weakness.” In essence, Ulmanis barked about various non-existrent threats when he himself was the greatest threat to the Republic of Latvia.

Vysu lobu,
/P

P.S. There is nothing funky about my French four-banger!

History............http://www.historia.lv/alfabets/M/mu/munters/dokumenti/berijam.htm

from http://www.siets.lv/

I wonder if Ulman haters are blaming him
for what’s happening in our government now?

http://vip.latnet.lv/lpra/strelis.html

Thank-you Peteris.

Regarding the banned books - what general category would they have fallen under? Would it be fair to assume that they leaned toward a particular poltical ideology? The military service - what was the magic age for compulsory service?

Would you agree that the glorification of the peasantry would have greatly contributed to the popular image of Ulmanis?

I am very curious on many aspects of this regime - since it seems that the Latvians that raised families in exile, chose in many ways not to educate their offspring about the negative aspects of Mr Ulmanis. This may make sense when you consider that many of Latvians that were displaced at the end of WWII had possibly been too young at the time of the coup to recall anything but the possible benefits of this so-called benevolent dictaorship. In short - they saw only that the Latvian standard of life had indeed flourished.

The web is naturally a wonderful source of information - but at the same time it can a marvelous source of misinformation as well. Are there any recommended sites that would have reliable information regarding reading more on this subject (since I want to learn more about it). I am beginning to know some of the unreliable sources - but at the same time am not truly sure about some others. In other words - how can one tell if they do not have the basic information first? Is there a site that rates the reliabilty of some of the hostorical sites that would benefit me in this interest.

Wait, wait, wait… Roberts actually sat in a French four-bagger prior to Sarkozy’s election??? I am shocked. This is treason! Someone notify Homeland.

Andrejs

The Iguana says to tell Roberts that the French four-banger still remembers him! [emoticon]

/P

Alas, poor Kārlis Ulmanis! Wherever your missing bones are resting at some undisclosed spot inside mother Russia, you were a hero to many in your time and true villain to the opposition. Today few wonder about the “cause” leading up to the coup as focus is on the more subjective “effect,” which in itself is left to interpretation rather than an analysis of the whole complete picture.

A number of these posts by Roberts, especially, and to a lesser extent Cedrins remind me of the song we used to sing about Lulu in Latvian gatherings. It had a starting point but there was no end, depending on how many beers had been quaffed. The refrain part “Bang, bang Lulu …” grew louder as emotions cut loose. It reminds me of the effort on this thread to hammer the coffin shut without examining the evidence.

As bad as it is made to sound, it could have been worse if the opposition had managed to pull off the coup. It was an effort to stem dirty politics in Latvia which some like to call democratic, while others saw it merely as a façade.

Nevertheless Ulmanis is accountable for all the things that happened or failed to happen during his watch.

Here is a more balanced run down on what lead to the coup and why it happened by Janis Rogainis (1971):

The Emergence of an Authoritarian Regime in Latvia, 1932-1934
http://www.lituanus.org/1971/71_3_03.htm

Cheers, Ivars

Thanks, Pete B., for your post and link to KAM PIEDER VESTURES PATIESIBA?. It’s too bad that PATIESIBA is also not available in English translation for a broader LOL readership since the exchange between two opposing views of history is civilized and thoughtful.

Robert, you identified your LOL INTERESTS as “Taisneiba, Baltiesu tautu vienibas veicinasana.” So far you are batting 0, as we say here in the U.S., land of slave-holding national heroes like Jefferson, concentration camps for U.S. (Japanese) citizens, segregation (before, during, and after the Ulmanis years) , banned books in 2007, the death penalty, home of Comander-and-Chief (Varonis) Bush (friend of Comrade-Varonis Putin). I hope this brief page from American history helps give you a more-balanced perspective on Latvian history and Ulmanis. I do not want to further debate the Ulmanis Legacy with you since your eagerness for “battle” is palatable and alarming. I see many more worthy “battles” to wage on behalf of Latvian and Latvia’s interests. I don’t think you wrote your “critique” of Ulmanis with a desire to enlighten and further Latvian unity but to provoke. I injected my comments because you did provoke me. You have further provoked me with your flip response to “muddy roads in Latgale.” You wrote: “Laying down the black tar macadam to every chicken shack betwixt Kraslava and Rozovka won’t accomplish squat.” While you and the “good old boys” high-fiving in your LOL posts cruise around Latgale in the “French four-banger” maybe you could take one of those unpaved, ungraded, overgrown, dirt-two-tracks to my elderly relatives “chicken shack(s)” and share with them your wisdom about Ulmanis, Latvian unity, and what Latgale really needs.

Correction from AMBERSUN to previous post :  UNpalatable, DISTASTEFUL - “eagerness for ‘battle’”

Ivars writes:

“Alas, poor Kārlis Ulmanis! Wherever your missing bones are resting at some undisclosed spot inside mother Russia....”

I’ve been wondering about this.  Has the Latvian government or any private foundations, individuals, etc. made a serious effort to gain access to formerly secret soviet files and confirm when, where and how Ulmanis died and where his remains might be located today?

I ask because organizations like “Memorial” in Russia have succeeded in getting this information for many thousands of cases involving well-known victims and ordinary folk alike, in some cases actually discovering the exact location where they were buried, not just the general geographic area.

Does anyone know if such efforts were made for Ulmanis and what the results were?

ak

AK ~ the answer is yes. The following article (2/3 way down) has a bit on the efforts made to recover Ulmanis. I do not know where they stand on this project today.

Archaeology of Terror
http://vip.latnet.lv/lpra/zemitis.htm

Cheers, Ivars