This Day in History: November 18, 1918

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by Simonov

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This Day in History

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On November 18, 1918, the People's Council of Latvia declares Latvia independence from Russia. Initially seeking autonomy, Latvia saw an opportunity in the post-First World War environment and the Russian Revolution left a power vacuum which provided the Latvian nation with an opportunity to gain full independence. With the declaration of independence, Kārlis Ulmanis was appointed head of the provisional government; however, this government did not go unchallenged. Two opposing factions, one backed by the Soviets and the other by Baltic Germans, also vied for control over Latvia. The independent Latvians, allied with Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland, eventually defeated their opposition and Latvian independence was made official and the war ended with signing of the Latvian-Soviet Peace Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Riga, in 1920.

By the end of World War II, Latvia would lose its independence at the hands of the Soviet Union and remain part of the Warsaw Pact until the final years of the Soviet Union. Following the Soviet Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia, which viewed the Soviet annexation of Latvia at the end of World War II as an illegal act and that Latvian independence should be restored, a growing pro-independence movement with Latvia, and the failed coup attempt in the USSR, Latvia regained its independence August 21, 1991. Latvia has since joined both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

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