Latvian War of Independence

Latvian War of Independence
Part of Russian Civil War, Polish–Soviet War and Estonian War of Independence
The North Latvian Brigade entering Riga in 1919
Date 5 December 1918 – 11 August 1920 (1 year, 8 months and 6 days) Location Latvia Result Latvian victory[1] Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty West Russian Volunteer Army evacuate to East Prussia Territorial changes Independence of Latvia Dissolution of the Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic Latvia gains Vidzeme from Estonia
Belligerents
1918–April 1919  Latvia[nb 1] VI Reserve Corps Baltische Landeswehr Latvian Independent Brigade Lieven detachment Eiserne Division Estonia Finnish volunteers North Latvian Brigade		1918–April 1919  Soviet Russia  Soviet Latvia
April–July 1919  Latvia[nb 1] Estonia North Latvian Brigade Danish volunteers	April–July 1919 VI Reserve Corps Baltische Landeswehr (South) Latvian Independent Brigade[nb 2] Lieven detachment[nb 2] Eiserne Division	April–July 1919  Soviet Russia  Soviet Latvia
July 1919–1920  Latvia Latvian Army[nb 3] Baltische Landeswehr  Poland Estonia Naval Support:  United Kingdom[nb 4]  France[nb 4]	October–December 1919 West Russian Volunteer Army[nb 5] Eiserne Division Russian units	July 1919–1920  Soviet Russia  Soviet Latvia
Commanders and leaders
Kārlis Ulmanis Oskars Kalpaks Jānis Balodis Dāvids Sīmansons Jorģis Zemitāns Roberts Dambītis Ernst Põdder Viktor Puskar Martin Ekström Iver de Hemmer Gudme Richard Gustav Borgelin Edward Rydz-Śmigły Harold Alexander Hubert Gough	Rüdiger von der Goltz Alfred Fletcher Josef Bischoff Pavel Bermondt-Avalov Walter von Eberhardt	Jukums Vācietis Sergei Kamenev Dmitry Nadyozhny Vladimir Gittis Pēteris Slavens #
Strength
69,232 soldiers 54 canons 271 machine guns 321 self-propelled guns (January 1920)[2] 6,509 infantry 65 cavalry 106 heavy machine guns 126 light machine guns 23 artillery pieces 3 armoured vehicles 3 armoured trains (June 1919)[3] 22,000 soldiers 25 tanks (January 1920) 1 aircraft carrier 1 monitor 23 light cruisers 85 destroyers 20 submarines 2 minelayers 18 minesweepers 10 coastal motor boats 4 depot ships[4]	45,000 soldiers 10 armoured vehicles 3 armoured trains 18 airplanes 100 artillery 469 machine guns (June 1919)[5]	45,000 soldiers 600 machine-guns 98 field-guns 3 armoured trains[6] 5,600 - 6,300 soldiers[7] 55 machine-guns 42 guns 3 armoured trains[8]
Casualties and losses
3,046 killed 4,085 wounded[9] 300 killed 800 wounded[10]	840 killed 3,000 wounded[11]	Unknown At least 2000 captured 11 executed
^ a b All Latvian national units with formal allegiance to Latvian Provisional Government were under German and Estonian military commands at this period. ^ a b Fought only against Soviets. ^ Formed from merger of (South) Latvian Independent Brigade and North Latvian Brigade. ^ a b Naval support. ^ Fought only against Latvia and its allies.

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Modern Latvia Latvian Riflemen German occupation United Baltic Duchy Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic War of Independence 1934 Latvian coup d'état 1940 Soviet occupation Nazi occupation The Holocaust in Latvia 1944 Soviet re-occupation Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Popular Front of Latvia Singing Revolution Restoration of Independence 2008 Latvian financial crisis
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The Latvian War of Independence (Latvian: Latvijas Neatkarības karš), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles (Latvijas brīvības cīņas) or the Latvian War of Liberation (Latvijas atbrīvošanas karš), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invaded by Soviet Russia, and the signing of the Latvian-Soviet Riga Peace Treaty on 11 August 1920.^[12]

The war can be divided into a few stages: Soviet offensive, German-Latvian liberation of Kurzeme and Riga, Estonian-Latvian liberation of Vidzeme, Bermontian offensive, Latvian-Polish liberation of Latgale.

The war involved Latvia (its provisional government supported by Estonia, Poland and the Western Allies—particularly the navy of United Kingdom) against the Russian SFSR and the Bolsheviks' short-lived Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic. Germany and the Baltic nobility added another level of intrigue, initially being nominally allied to the Nationalist/Allied force but attempting to jockey for German domination of Latvia. Eventually, tensions flared up after a German coup against the Latvian government, leading to open war.

Following a cease-fire, a ploy was developed by the Germans, nominally dissolving into the West Russian Volunteer Army led by Gen. Pavel Bermont-Avalov. This West Russian Volunteer Army included Germans and former Russian prisoners of war nominally allied with the White Army in the Russian Civil War, but both Bermondt-Avalov and von der Goltz were more interested in eliminating the nationalists than fighting the Bolsheviks.

Certain episodes of the Latvian Independence War were also part of the Polish-Soviet War, particularly the Battle of Daugavpils.