Russians in Latvia
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Total population | |
---|---|
445,612 (2023) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Riga, Daugavpils, Rēzekne | |
Religion | |
Predominantly: Eastern Orthodoxy (Latvian Orthodox Church) Minority: Old Believers |
In
Ancient Latvia
The Latvian word krievi for "Russians" and Krievija for "Russia" (and Krievzeme for
Livonia
Koknese was taken by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword in 1208 and Jersika in 1209 and later both incorporated into Terra Mariana (Livonia).
Early trade
East Slavic presence remained, primarily as merchants in cities; trading ties to
Regional power struggles
In 1481,
From the second half of the seventeenth century religiously repressed Old Believers from Russia settled in Latgale which was part of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In the 17th century, during
Consolidation under Russian rule
Count Sheremetev's capture of Riga in the
The Russian capital was invested in trade through the Baltic countries, including Latvia. Some of those profits went toward establishing a Russian-owned industry. By the middle of the 19th century, the developing industry began to attract Russian workers. The influx of Russian peasantry had also continued, seeking less socially and religiously oppressive conditions within the empire owing to the certain degree of autonomy accorded the Baltic provinces, which were not subject to all the same laws as the rest of the
Latvian National Awakening
While the Russian community in Latvia was largely an extension of Russia's ethnic Russians, it nevertheless also began to develop a sense of community separate from Russia itself, Latvian Russians were beginning to consider themselves one of the nationalities of Latvia.
Latvia had, in fact, taken a lead in this regard, as serfdom had already been abolished in 1819 except for
Decline and end of empire
At the dawn of the 20th century, Russians made up a notable part of the working population in the biggest industrial cities. In Latvia, as in the rest of the Russian empire, the situation of factory workers was grim. They worked on average 11 hours a day, 10 on Saturday, and this under harsh and unsafe conditions. Social agitation built up over the course of several years; when
When the revolution spread to Latvia, instead of frustration or
At the conclusion of the 1905 Revolution, Nicholas II, through various concessions, including the establishment of the representative Duma, retained power. Although
In 1917, class consciousness had continued to develop and was particularly strong in heavily industrialized Riga, the second-largest port in Russia. The
Demographics
By the end of the 19th century, there was a considerably large Latvian Russian population. According to the first All-Russia Census of 1897, it totaled 171,000, distributed as follows: 77,000 Latgale, 68,000 Vidzeme, and 26,000 in Kurzeme and Zemgale. The urban population was roughly twice that of the rural, with the exception of Latgale, where those proportions were reversed.
Half of the Russian population of Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Zemgale came from the nearby provinces of Russia. In the Rēzekne district of Latgale, for example, 10% of Russians had come from other provinces. The largest number of newcomers came from the neighbouring provinces of the Empire – those of Kaunas, Vitebsk and Vilnius.
In their social structure, Russians differed from most other nationalities in Latvia. The largest social group among them were peasants (54%), and they made up the majority of Russians in Latgale. The middle class made up 35% and hereditary and personal noblemen (aristocracy) made up 8%. As far as their group characteristics are concerned, Russians were much like the Latvian Poles but differed from the Latvians who were mainly peasants and from the Germans who belonged mainly to the middle class or nobility.
In independent Latvia (1918–1940)
On November 18, 1918, the
The years of independent Latvia were favourable to the growth of the Russian national group. Not only in the whole of Latvia but in all the historical regions of the country the number of this national minority grew constantly.
According to the first statistical data of 1920, the number of the Russian population at that time was 91,000. In 1935 the number of the Russian minority had increased up to 206,000. During the whole period of independence, Russians remained the biggest national minority of the country. In 1935, the part of Russians in the whole structure of the population of Latvia made up 10.5% (in 1920 – 7.8%).
The growth of the Russian population was due to several factors. The Civil war and the establishment of Soviet power in Russia caused a flow of refugees and emigrants to many countries, Latvia included. After the Battle of Daugavpils in 1920 Poles relinquished control of Dvinsk with the majority of the Russian population to the Latvians. According to the Peace Treaty between the Latvian Republic and Soviet Russia, some lands of the Pskov province with a large number of Russians passed on to Latvia. But the main cause of the Russian population growth was their high natural birth rate. For example, in 1929 the natural increment of Russians was 2,800, while the natural increment of Latvians, whose total number in that same year was nine times as big as that of Russians, made up only 3,700.
Russians used to have the biggest number of large families in comparison with other national groups of Latvia. As in the tsarist times, Russians still remained one of the "youngest" ethnic groups of Latvia. The Russian children aged under fourteen made up 14% of the total number of children of Latvia of the same age. Russian families during the period of independence were characterised by very high stability. The average number of divorces of Russian families was half that of Latvian families and one fifth that of German families.
Big changes took place in the structure of the territorial settlement of Russians in Latvia. Three-quarters of the Russian population lived in Latgale, 14% in Riga.
In comparison with the tsarist period of the history of Latvia, Russians acquired more "country and agricultural" features and lost those of "town and industry". The overwhelming majority of Russians were engaged in agriculture (80%). 7% were engaged in industry, 4.9% – in trade. The fact that Russian inhabitants of the country had their farms mainly in Latgale, the least economically developed part of the country, did not stimulate them to social movement towards prestigious kinds of labour and agriculture. In the towns of Vidzeme, Kurzeme, and Zemgale the social picture of Russians approached the all-Latvian one. But even there, Russians did not belong to economically and socially advanced national groups. Russians differed from Latvians, Germans and Jews by a smaller part of property owners and widespread use of child labour.
The total level of literacy of the Russian population at the very beginning of the history of the Latvian Republic was lower than at the time of the Empire. Only 42% of Russian men and 28% of Russian women of Latvia could read and write in 1920. During the years of independence, the number of Russian pupils at schools increased greatly (1.5 times – the highest rate in the period of 1925–1935). As a result, the difference between the number of Latvian and Russian students aged 6–20 was reduced considerably (54% and 47% correspondingly).
Russians were underrepresented in institutions of higher education. In 1920 there were only 65 Russian students at the University of Latvia, in 1939 – 220 students.
For a long time, the Latvian Republic tried to integrate the Russian minority on the basis of a large national-
The popularity of the Russian language in Latvia resulted from the fact that Russians did not generally seek to learn the Latvian or other minority languages.[citation needed]
The Latvian language was not attractive to the Russian population of Latvia. In 1920–1930 only a little more than 15% of Russians could speak and write Latvian. The Latvian milieu of many towns was a good incentive for Russians to learn the Latvian language. 70% of Russian residents of Jelgava and more than 80% of those of Bauska, Valmiera and Kuldīga spoke Latvian.[citation needed]
Political life and consciousness
The establishment of the Latvian State, on November 18, 1918, made local Russians determine new principles in their relations with the government. Under the new conditions, the Russians of Latvia became a national minority whose special cultural interests were regulated by the Law on the Cultural-National Autonomy of Minorities, adopted by the People's Council of Latvia.
Russians enjoyed full rights as Latvian citizens and therefore, took part in the political life of the country. Russians, as a national minority, participated in the elections to the
From two to six per cent of all Latvian electors voted for Russian parties. In those areas highly populated by Russians (Riga and Latgale) Russian electors increasingly voted for Russian parties during the whole period of the parliamentary state.
Specific historical conditions determined the attitude of Russians towards the idea of national-cultural autonomy. They accepted the autonomous character of Russian culture with respect to Latvian culture but believed there was no specific local autonomy with respect to Russian culture and Russian people in general. Local Russian society did not identify any special features characteristic of local Russians which would differentiate them from the Russians of Russia.
During the period of the Latvian Republic, the local Russian inhabitants tried to work out their own principles of social consciousness. At the beginning of the Republic, 1918–1919, the orthodox wing (N. Bordonos) of the National Democratic League (NDL, the first Russian national union of Riga and then of the whole of Latvia) spoke in favour of the ethnic purity of Russian social organizations. The liberal wing of the NDL, and later the Russian Society of Latvia (N. Berejanski, S. Mansyrev), called for a close co-operation with the whole of Latvian society.
From the liberal consciousness of the NDL there emerged some elements of a specific ideology among part of the Russian population of Latvia – "democratic nationalism". Its mouthpiece was the publicist Berejanski. He thought that the fate of the Russians of Latvia was not easy. Their historical motherland was in the hands of "Bolshevik internationalism", the enemy of Russian national culture and ethics. Russians were grateful to democratic Latvia for granting the opportunity to develop their culture. But Russians themselves, N.Berejanski thought, had to strengthen to the utmost, within their consciousness, the notion of national values. The followers of this idea worked on the Russian newspaper "Slovo" ("Word"). At the same time the most famous Russian newspaper
A flamboyant exponent of Russian national principles was N. Belotsvelov, who considered that the conversion of Russians to nationalism was a natural result of the fate of emigrants fearing for the future of their culture.
The ideas of "democratic nationalism" were supported by the leaders of the Russian Peasants Union which had a right-wing orientation. The RPU became the basis of the Russian Peasant fraction of three deputies in the Fourth Saeima.
A part of Latvia's Russians belonged to the ultra-left of the political spectrum. In the Fourth Saeima, one Russian represented the social democrats and one Russian was a communist representative. But the Russian left-wing parties did not achieve any big success though they had a certain influence among sections of the workers of Riga. In general, the Russian minority was less politically active than the Jewish and Baltic German minorities.[5]
In Soviet Latvia (1940–1990)
1940–1941
In the summer of 1940, Latvia lost its independence and was occupied by the
The attitude of the Russian minority towards these events varied. Three kinds of positions can be discerned:
- Complete disagreement with the Bolshevik regime: characteristic of the Russian intelligentsia and priests
- Part of the Russian public of Latvia was under an illusion regarding Joseph Stalin's dictatorship, hoping that it would turn into a political system similar to that of the Russian monarchy
- Full support for the Bolshevikregime
During one year of Soviet power, local Russians were deprived of all their national periodicals, and many of their prominent public figures were subjected to repression or killed. But the new regime also found supporters among local Russians. Collective farms emerged in Latvia and there were a large number of Russians in the security services and units of the workers' guard. The communist nomenclature was being rapidly developed, with local Russians taking an active part in it.
1941–1944
In 1941,
A part of the local Russian population chose to resist the invaders by serving in the Red Army and in the partisan movement, and supporting the underground Communist Party.
But, at the same time, there were quite a number of Russians collaborating with the Nazi authorities. They worked on the newspapers propagandising the myth of "a national Russia" free of Bolsheviks and Jews, and "the liberating mission" of the Wehrmacht. Russians were won over to militarised units. The Nazis made advances to those of the Russian population who had suffered from the Bolsheviks. The newspapers of that time were full of information about Russian national culture. In Daugavpils a Russian theatre was opened, at the Rēzekne Teachers' Institute, a Russian-language class for teachers of Russian, was set up.
An institution was created to represent the interests of the Russian population in the Generalgebiet of Latvia, as well as the Russian Committee for the Affairs of the Russian population of Latvia. These were designed to help Russians with some of their economic, cultural and legal needs.
Post-war migration
After Latvians, the Russians are the largest ethnic group in today's Latvia. In 1989 this national group made up 34.0% of the population of Latvia, its total number 905,500 [1]. In comparison with the demographic situation of the pre-war period, the number of Russians had increased 4.5 times. Their relative share in the national composition of Latvia had increased 3.5 times. The majority of the Russian national group in Latvia today are a result of migration from other republics of the USSR, mainly from the Russian Federation.
Russians settled mostly in towns rather than in the country. They tended to choose larger cities such as Riga and Daugavpils. Russians differed from Latvians in their professional characteristics. Over one-third of the Russian population were engaged in industry (one-quarter of Latvians), 7% of Russians (22% of Latvians) were engaged in agriculture, 1% of Russians (2.5% of Latvians) in the sphere of culture and art.
Russians were the main ethnic group in the USSR both in number and in political influence. Under the conditions of Soviet Latvia, Russian culture dominated the whole non-Latvian population of the Republic. The Russian language also formed a new group of Russian-speaking Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, Jews and Germans[citation needed] of Latvia. In the period of 1959–1979 the number of ethnic Russians in Latvia increased by 47%, but the number of non-Russians considering Russian their mother tongue increased by 78%. A highly developed infrastructure was developed in Latvia on the basis of the Russian language: a broad system of secondary and higher education, science and mass media.
National consciousness
During the whole Soviet period, the Russian (as did the Latvian) mass media of Latvia played the part of active bearers of the communist ideology, influencing the consciousness of the Russians of Latvia.
For the whole Soviet period, there was no agreed-upon formula at the official level to express the national-cultural identity of this large group of Latvian residents. The ideology of the Communist Party rejected the tradition of the Latvian Republic which identified the Russians of Latvia as one of its national minorities. In the USSR there existed a form of national-territorial autonomy of nations, though not for all nations, which made their social representation in the state bodies unequal. As a result, their influence on the social consciousness was unequal as well. A nation could only be considered "fully-fledged" if it possessed a state system in the form of a union republic. Therefore, there was only one recognized nation in Latvia – Latvians. The Russians of Latvia, both those who had deep historical roots there and those who chose it as a place of permanent residence after World War II, having no territorial autonomy, were not considered as an individual cultural and national community in the Latvian Republic but rather as part of the larger Russian community of the Soviet Union.
At the end of the 1980s, the first marked democratic changes in the USSR brought about a national awakening of peoples. New democratic tendencies gave equal chances to the national revival of both Latvians and Russians. Some Russians, both as individuals and organized groups[who?], actively supported the Latvian national awakening, the "Atmoda".
In July 1988, A. Maltsev was one of the 17 prominent figures of Latvian culture who signed an open letter to the Broadened Assembly of the Latvian Writers League with the initiative of establishing a democratic People's Front. The idea of establishing a Popular Front of Latvia was supported by Russian writers of the Republic such as Ludmila Azarova , Roald Dobrovenski , Vladlen Dozortsev and Marina Kostenetskaya , the journalists Alexei Grigoriev , A. Kazakov, the translator and bibliographer Yuri Abyzov , and many others. In 1989 L. Gladkov, V. Dozortsev, V. Zhdanov, V. Kononov and Kostenetskaya were elected to the Council of the Popular Front of Latvia. Dozortsev became a member of the Board of the Council of the Popular Front of Latvia. Grigoriev was one of the editors of "Atmoda" – the newspaper of the PFL. The circulation of the Russian edition of "Atmoda" was quite large (15–100 thousand). It was popular not only with the Russian residents of Latvia but with the Western-minded public of Russia as well.
The PFL became the basis of consolidation of the Russian Culture Society of Latvia (RCSL). The Constituent Assembly of the RCSL was held on March 4, 1989. The aim of the Society was "to develop to the utmost the Russian national culture, to intensify traditional Russian–Latvian relations, and cooperate with the representatives of all nationalities of the Republic".
At the same time, quite a number of the Russians of Latvia viewed the revival of the Latvian state system with mistrust. This is shown by the results of a public opinion poll in 1989. Only 49% of the non-Latvian population supported the idea of the independence of Latvia (the number of Latvians supporting the idea made up 93%). The International Front of the Working People of Latvia or Interfront, established in 1989, came out openly for remaining in the Soviet Union and preserving a socialist economy. Interfront aimed to win the sympathies of those Russians who were opposed to the idea of Latvia as a national state.
In independent Latvia (1990–present)
Distribution
Russians in Latvia live mainly in urban areas. In 2006 Russians made up 42.3% of the population in the capital Riga and 53.5% in the second largest city, Daugavpils (not counting others with Russian as mother tongue). Under the Soviet Union, arriving Russians had been settled primarily in industrial centres to staff factory jobs while rural areas remained populated almost entirely by ethnic Latvians, except for some small areas in eastern Latvia with a longer history of Russian-Latvian mixed villages.[6] In the beginning of 2022, ethnic Russians made up 24.2% of the population.
According to Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia 19,932 Russians migrated to Latvia from 2011 to 2017, while 48,851 Russians emigrated to other countries.[7]
Citizenship
After re-establishing independence in 1991, Latvia did not automatically grant citizenship to anyone whose forebears arrived after June 1940, a policy that mainly affected ethnic Russians. Knowledge of Latvian language and history was set as a condition for obtaining citizenship; these initial conditions have been relaxed thereafter.[9] However, a significant number of Russians in Latvia still have alien status. As of January 2022, the vast majority of Latvia's ethnic Russians, 66.5% or 302,230 persons, had citizenship.[8]
Anyone who legally (according to Soviet law) gained a residence in Latvia before the summer of 1992 was able to claim that residence upon Latvian independence, even if that legal basis included Soviet confiscation of property. Returning property owners seeking to reclaim their possessions were compensated with equal land elsewhere, with no recourse to reclaim the particular property itself, or with certificates which could be used as discount coupons in acquiring shares in privatized properties. The Latvian government also pays pensions to all resident retirees regardless of ethnicity or citizenship or non-citizen status.
Russian language
Another issue of contention for some Russians and Russian speakers in Latvia (most notably Social Democratic Party "Harmony",[10] Latvian Russian Union, Headquarters for the Protection of Russian Schools and For the Native Language!) is the status of the Russian language, as Latvian is defined by the Constitution and the Law on State Language as the only official language in Latvia.[11][9][12]
On February 18, 2012, Latvia held a constitutional referendum on whether to adopt Russian as a second official language.[13] 74.8% voted against, 24.9% voted for and the voter turnout was 71.1%.[14]
Beginning in 2019,
Political representation
There are several politicians and political parties in Latvia who claim to represent the Russian-speaking minority. These include the
Several politicians of Russian ethnicity also have held high ranking governmental positions in Latvia, such as
Notable Russians from Latvia
Noteworthy Russians from Latvia include:
- Mikhail Baryshnikov, Russian-American dancer and actor, born in Riga
- Ludmilla Chiriaeff (1924–1996), ballet dancer, choreographer, and director, born in Riga
- Mikhail Eisenstein (1867–1921), architect, designed a number of buildings on Albert Street in Riga, father of Sergei Eisenstein
- Ivan Fomin (1872–1936), architect and educator, received a classical education at a high school in Riga
- Anatolijs Gorbunovs, first Russian to hold the office of the Speaker of the Saeima, born in Pilda Parish
- cosmonaut, born in Jūrmala
- Veniamin Kaverin, writer, grew up Rēzekne
- Jevgenija Lisicina, organist and compilator from Riga
- 2002 Eurovision Song Contestfor Latvia
- Vera Mukhina (1889–1953), Soviet sculptor
- Vladimirs Petrovs, chess player, born in Riga
- Aleksandrs Petukhovs, movie writer and director, born in Riga
- Lev Rudnev (1885–1956), architect, and a leading practitioner of Stalinist architecture, graduated from the Riga Realschule (now the Riga 1st State Grammar School)
- Alexander Shabalov, chess player
- Alexei Shirov, chess grandmaster born in Riga
- Konstantin Sokolsky, singer from Riga
- Ksenia Solo, actress
- cosmonaut, born in Riga
- Viktor Tikhonov, Soviet ice hockey coach, born in Riga
- Nils Ušakovs, first Russian to hold the office of mayor of Riga in independent Latvia
- satirist, born in Jūrmala
- Sergejs Žoltoks, ice hockeyplayer from Riga
- Vitaliy Grachev, singer, born in Daugavpils.
See also
References
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia. January 15, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
- ^ Фейгмане Т. Д. Русская школа в Латвии: два века истории
- ^ "Russians in Latvia" at the Latvian Institute, by Vladislav Volkov, retrieved December 23, 2007
- ISBN 9984-630-01-3
- ^ Hiden, J. Defender of Minorities: Paul Schiemann 1876–1944, C. Hurst & Co. 2004, in discussing Schiemann's organization and progressing of minority interests and consensus on issues and legislation
- ^ PIRLS 2006 Encyclopedia, retrieved December 21, 2007
- ^ "IBG041. International long-term migration by ethnicity of migrants". Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
- ^ a b Distribution of the population of Latvia by ethnicity and nationality (in Latvian)
- ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia. November 12, 2015.
- ^ Concord (Harmony) party programme
"Concord" advocates full implementation of the provisions of the Framework Convention for the protection of minorities and withdrawal of reservations (declarations) made upon ratification of this Convention. "Concord" advocates using of minority languages in communication with state and local authorities in areas where minorities live traditionally or in substantial numbers
- ^ "Official Language Law". LIKUMI.LV. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
- ^ "The Constitution of the Republic of Latvia". LIKUMI.LV. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
- Central Election Commission of Latvia. 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- Central Election Commission of Latvia. 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- ^ "Latvian president promulgates bill banning teaching in Russian at private universities". The Baltic Course. April 7, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
- ^ "Government okays transition to Latvian as sole language at schools in 2019". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. January 23, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia. March 23, 2004. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
- ^ "Vjaceslavs Dombrovskis – new education and science minister in Latvia". The Baltic Course. May 2, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2018.
- ^ "Harmony party names potential prime ministerial candidate". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. LTV. June 4, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
- ^ "Riga mayor marks five years in power". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. July 1, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
- ^ "Third term as Riga mayor for Ušakovs". Public Broadcasting of Latvia. June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
Literature
- This article incorporates information from The Latvian Institute fact sheet about Russians in Latvia, with permission
- The Latvian Legation, Facts about Latvia, 1944
- "Project: Attitudes of the Major Soviet Nationalities," Latvia, Demography – Center for International Studies at M.I.T., 1973
- Sovetskaya Latviya, June 23, 1971
- Data from the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia
- The New York Times, April 7, 1995; Foreign Desk article (Russian troops in Latvia 7 months after Russian withdrawal)
- Russians in the Baltics: Full-right members of society or not?
- Russian FM Lashes out at Latvia Over “Profanation” of Russian Minority Rights, Moscow News, May 27, 2005
- Latvian lessons irk Russians at BBC News
- Citizenship row divides Latvia at BBC News
- BBC Journalist Perpetuates Lies About Latvia – Latvian news article responding to above two BBC News stories, translation on Talk page
- Latvia: Treatment of ethnic Russians; whether ethnic Russians face discrimination; availability of state protection (January 2004 - December 2005) Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2006
- Russia and nation-state building in Latvia
External links
- "Russians of Latvia", an on-line reference book by the Institute of Russian Cultural Heritage of Latvia
- "Desegregating the Latvian School System Ends a Divisive Soviet Legacy," by Ojārs Kalniņš.
- "Minority Education in Latvia" at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia site.
- LRU data on minority issues in Latvia, in English
- Latvian-Russian relations: Domestic and International Dimensions, University of Latvia, 2006
- G. Frunda Memorandum on Post-monitoring dialogue with Latvia, 2005 (CEPA)