During World War II, more than 200,000 Latvian soldiers ended up in the rank and file of both occupation forces; approximately half of them (100,000) were killed on the battlefield. It is estimated that, as a result of the war, the population of Latvia decreased from 500,000 to 300,000 (a 25% decrease compared to 1939).

On October 5, 1939, Latvia was forced to accept a "mutual assistance" pact with the Soviet Union, granting the Soviets the right to station 25,000 troops on Latvian territory. On June 16, 1940, Vyacheslav Molotov presented the Latvian representative in Moscow with an ultimatum accusing Latvia of violations of that pact.

3 天之前 · When World War II started in September 1939, the fate of Latvia had already been decided in the secret protocol of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of August 23. In October Latvia had to sign a dictated treaty of mutual assistance by which the U.S.S.R. obtained military, naval, and air bases on Latvian territory.

For a period of several years during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic states after it invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. The initial Soviet invasion and occupation of the Baltic states began in June 1940 under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, made between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in August 1939 before the outbreak of World ...

From the dual occupation of Germany and the Soviet Union to mass genocides, captures, and deportation, Latvia endured extreme turmoil during World War II. This section provides visual and auditory aids in order to receive a digestible, understandable grasp of what occurred during the Second World War.

On 22 Sep 1921, Latvia was admitted into the League of Nations. On 5 Feb 1932, Latvia and the Soviet Union, which had supported Latvian independence during the Russian Civil War, signed a non-aggression treaty.

2021年12月6日 · Struggling against both Germany and the Soviet Union, Latvia emerged as an independent nation state after the First World War. In 1940, the Soviets occupied neutral Latvia, deporting or executing more than 30,000 Latvians before the Nazis invaded in 1941 and installed a puppet regime.

Latvia during the Second World War. On the 22 June 1941 Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. In the first hours of the war the territory of Latvia had already been subjected to bombings. The Soviet army retreated. On 1 July German troops occupied Riga. The inhabitants of Latvia reacted in different ways to news of the war.

During World War II, Latvian citizens were forced to fight on both sides of the front - in the armed forces of Nazi Germany and in the Red Army of Soviet Union. The exposition “Latvia in World War II” tells the story of both occupation regimes and the fates of the Latvian people who were called up by the armed forces of those regimes.

Struggling against both Germany and the Soviet Union, Latvia emerged as an independent nation state after the First World War. In 1940, the Soviets occupied neutral Latvia, deporting or executing more than 30,000 Latvians before the Nazis …