The Workers’ Marseillaise, with subtitles.

Today in 1920, the Palmer Raids began, leading to the deportation of suspected anarchists and extreme leftists from the United States.

Has anybody ever encountered any statistics as to how many were Latvian?

Visu gaišu,
/P

Miku—this was partially a (subtly, ha ha!) angled response to your comments in another thread, about the Riflemen & loyalty & their place in history. What is the difference between this song and the Akuraters hymn? And yet Akuraters would shift his views, the hubristic little Nietzschean internationalist who wanted to join a terrorist group in Finland, finally accepting the grand prize under Ulmanis. Writing a damn good novel about how the Riflemen would not be able to face their mothers after failing to change the world.

What, if following your logic, was then the root of murderous conflict? Can you reconcile Jukums Vācietis with, er, Andrievs Niedra? Laicens? They’re all Latvian? Definitely. But they hated each other more than even brothers do. And never, ever reconciled. Compare the civil war and reconciliation in Finland.

Visu gaišu,
/P

AR KAUJAS SAUCIENIEM UZ LŪPĀM

Ar kaujas saucieniem uz lūpām,
Ar karstām sirdīm kritāt jūs,
Bet jūsu nāve, svēta, brīva,
Kā talismans mums dārga būs.

Un asinis, kas nevainīgas,
Uz balta sniega kvēloja,
Tās neizkvelos gadu gadiem,
Tās kvēlos mūsu karogā.

Miers jums, un jūsu lūpas mēmas,
Bet viņu mēmums skaļi sauks.
Un cīņai tūkstoš ļaunu pulku
No kalpinātas tautas augs.

Bet tev, tu varmāka uz troņa,
Priekš tevis mums jau zobens trīts.
Priekš taviem slepkavām un bendēm
Aust atmaksas un soda rīts.

Kas dzīvs, tas ies uz asins kauju,
Un pilis kritīs, troņi grūs.
Jums, kritušiem, lai mūžam slava!
Mēs, dzīvie, ejam atriebt jūs!

Jānis Akuraters
(1905)

And the “mēs” & “jūs” is?

Or “democracy”?

/P

Talk about whipping up the masses!  That video and this poem could sure send a lot of folks out in the streets.  Propoganda is such a good tool for rallying around a flag, regardless what insignias it has on it at the time.
Thanks Peteri for your links.  It sure does make one think about the fleeting “isms” that at times were so dear to our hearts, even patriotism, when it served our purpose.

According to Cielēns, Akuraters composed the poem when watching the workers killed, falling through the ice, etc., and ran breathlessly into the office with the words on his lips. The actual history of that notorious slaughter is in doubt. Someone fired a gun—probably someone from the Jewish Bund. The rest happened in some degree.

But—caught up with the times? Can’t see it that way. The Latvian Republic is as much an overthrow of everything as the USSR was. Hence Mikus makes sense. There are deep intricacies, and unbelievable contradictions—between edifice and artifice?

And on that score I can even sympathize with Jandžs’ view. Even Rainis, who according to many accounts first asked for a free state, explicitly, was disgusted by the state that came into being.

Visu gaišu,
/P

Addendum—the exiled Latvian Reds in America used to disrupt Latvian church services by singing this louder than the religious sang the proto-anthem. Hence my choice of the song as illustration.

/P

I’ve been meaning to do some more reading, I’ve exchanged notes with the webmaster of marxists.org, an excellent archive of Communist organizational documents as well as providing a historical overview.

The founding convention of the old Communist Party of America, CPA, (Chicago, 1919) did include a Russian Federation contingent (Latvians among them). The Palmer raids drove that organization underground.

Apart from that were Latvian-Americans who joined the Communist movement who had been active earlier, already in in the 1900’s, for example, publishing a twice-weekly newspaper, the “Strahdneeks” (old orthography) out of Massachusetts. The last editor (1911, 1912) was John G. Ohsol (Jānis Ozols). The Latvian Federation also published a newspaper, “Rihts” (old orthography).

More reading on that here.

The “Red bastion” in Boston, yes. But the rest melted in; assimilated swiftly. The leading editor of the Daily Worker and such. I don’t think we have ever come to terms with it. Per capita, this was the most revolutionary country on earth. It is now the most conservative country in Europe, perhaps?

Visu gaišu,
/P

So then if Rainis’ dream had come true and a free state, a free Latvia was created instead of the one under Ulmanis, and had the Legionnaires gone over to the Red side and beat up Hitler, and none of us ever left Latvia, and considering the fall of the Soviet Union happening as it did, would we all now live in a free Latvia with a better government?
I’ll have to ponder on that one.

Peteris C.,

What’s your point and purpose for rehashing this?  I can’t imagine that you think this is a teaching moment for all to learn to never again fall for false human gods, flawed and hypocritical male leaders, delusional and absurd promises of human-engineered goodwill and harmony on earth - but say it’s so and make my year.
 
I would think that a more productive way to begin this new year and really help Latvia would be to stop advocating for one’s favored view of Latvia’s glorious radical past, one’s imagined image of peasants embracing international socialists on the sure road to justice and equality, one’s highly-hypothesized perspective on Latvian history, one’s mind-reading of thoughts and faux lip-synching of aspirations of dead-and-defenseless Latvian senci in some weird hope this contortionist yeoman effort actually changes the reality for Latvia and Latvians in the present.  I would think, rather, it would make more sense to initiate a solution driven dialogue full of fresh, creative, mind-bending ideas (to make your Latvian nationalist senci Aspazija and Rainis proud) with one’s evolved “new century/new year” insights.

But it did become true. For fourteen years, anyhow. Rainis even served as Minister of Education, briefly—and the consensus on his being bad at politics doesn’t work, because he may have been the best minister ever. The creation and defense of Belarusian schools, though? I would urge such as Ambi to plow through those ancient Saeima transcripts. Where would Rainis stand, these days? With a bit of a blush, I suspect that Azarova is wrong—he would likely be a wholehearted supporter of the sort of minority rights most Latvians detest.

What Rainis couldn’t stand was a betrayal of ideals for spoilt herring on American credit. But that was Latvia long before the occupation. Is it so different now?

Visu gaišāko,
/P

The last post was @ Ārija. @ Amberdawg—nu, nu. What do you think my point in rehashing this is? I never fall for male gods, girl—I personally prefer females. P’raps I have had enough of a distorted view in wch Latvia springs from the earth as an angelically innocent nation-state with a right to exist. No state—not even Israel—has a right to exist outside the international system. It just ain’t a right given to whatever occupied Injun territory you are living on. & then I read my name-brother Vecrumba about misprision. I somewhat agree with Vecrumba. But I would rather listen to the village librarian (female, russophobe) than the kids upbraiding each other with “tu žīds”. What has all this occupation theory done, in practice? At least the librarian takes the sour view that Letts must pay for their sins.

/P

“Ai Maskava,tu varena,tu muzam neuzvarama” was taught
to me as a very young boy in Riga.Do not remember if
there are other verses,but it had a melody,easy to sing.

Peteris C. writes: “...the sort of minority rights most Latvians detest.”
Speak for yourself, Latvian Peteris C., if you have a problem with “minority rights.” 

From what wacko grab-bag do you get this slander that you think you can freely and offensively broadcast on this Latvian forum?  In the new year, I have even less tolerance for the open season on Latvians.  It’s just like tom with his ignorant and offensive “ran away” that needs to stop.  If you, Peteris C., want to constructively discuss specific prejudice and bigotry that you believe is a particular problem among Latvians and put this in the context of world prejudice and bigotry, that would be helpful.  This way you are merely venting your own personal anger, prejudice, and bigotry against “Latvians” you feel free and entitled - by your own ancestry - to insult without fact and foundation.  Try tossing off the same sentence with a substitution for Latvians and see what a bigot you really are.  You need to read more about truly repressed or denied “minority rights” as they exist in our world before you launch your slanders against your fellow Latvians.  Some outsider reading your appraisal of “most Latvians” could even lump you in.  How is one to know?

It seems then that what is missing to solve today’s issues is the old revolutionary zeal that Latvians were known for and use that spirit to clean their house.  If the Red Latvians in Boston could drown out a congregation’s hymns by singing louder in the 20’s, then all those voices that come together during Dziesmu Svetki today could surely drown out the Saeima making unpopular decisions that are to the detriment of Latvia’s existence and her future.  If a Rainis type could lead Latvia today and not only grant citizenship to russophones who want to be Latvian citizens but end the divisiveness and celebrate the same holidays together, we could have a Latvia like he dreamt of.  But if most Latvians detest the idea it will be business as usual and nothing will change until my generation is long gone from this earth.  I do envision such a Latvia in the future despite the detestation and protestation and it isn’t that far off in the future either.

Peteris C. writes: “I never fall for male gods, girl—I personally prefer females.” 

Well, boy dawg, what was that “red romance” you had with Trotsky rather than Rosa, Nadezhda, Aleksandre?  In the Latvian context, you sure have a thing for Rainis but Aspazija (really THE MAN?) barely gets a glance from you. 

P.S. I see the lip-synch of “dawg” that passes by the LOL censor.  It’s amusing.