Popular Front of Latvia

The Popular Front of Latvia (Latvijas Tautas Fronte in Latvian) was a political organization in Latvia in late 1980s and early 1990s which lead Latvia to the independence from Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the Sajudis movement in Lithuania

Historic background

Latvia, together with Estonia and Lithuania, was occupied by Soviet Union in 1940. While there was relatively little resistance to the occupation, most of Latvians remained unhappy with it and waited for a chance to regain independence. Such a chance came in 1980s when Gorbachev attempted to reform Soviet Union. In particular, Gorbachev's glasnost policy allowed more freedom of speech in Soviet Union than ever before.

Latvia's independence movement started with small demonstrations for independence and human rights in 1986. The first demonstrations were, however, surpressed by the goverment of Latvian SSR. The breaking point came in summer 1988. Many prominent Latvians publicly announced their support for increased autonomy for Latvia. Latvian newspapers started writing about aspects of Latvian history which were banned during Soviet period (for example, how Latvia was occupied in 1940). The flag of Latvia which was banned during Soviet period was brought back. To summarize, a strong resurgence of Latvian national identity has started.

Popular Front from 1988 to 1990

This resurgence created several political organizations devoted to increased autonomy or independence for Latvia. Tautas Fronte was the biggest organization. It was founded on October 9, 1988. Originally, Tautas Fronte took a moderate position, requesting wide autonomy for Latvia but stopping short of calling for independence. Tautas Fronte was supported by moderate members of the leadership of Latvian SSR but opposed by hardline Communists.

Tautas fronte quickly grow to 250,000 members. Its goal was to create a wide coalition devoted to autonomy or independence of Latvia. As 48% of Latvia's population was ethnically non-Latvian (mostly people who have moved to Latvia from other parts of Soviet Union), Tautas fronte reached out for ethnic minorities. In particular, it advocated school education in languages other than Latvian and Russian to attract the support of non-Russian minorities. At the same time, Tautas Fronte worked with more radical Latvian movements advocating the independence of Latvia.

Gradually, the overall opinion within Tautas Fronte shifted from the autonomy of Latvia within Soviet Union to independence. On May 31, 1999, it announced that the goverment of Soviet Union has not been cooperative to Latvia gaining autonomy and the indepent Latvia has become the only option.

In 1989 and 1990, the first free elections were held in Latvia since Soviet occupation in 1940. The most important were the elections of Supreme Soviet, the parliament of Latvian SSR on March 18, 1990. Pro-independence alliance, lead by Tautas Fronte, won 138 out of 201 seats in Supreme Soviet.

Tautas Fronte from 1990 to 1993

After 1990 elections, Tautas Fronte became the governing party in Latvia. On May 4, 1990, the first law passed by the new Supreme Soviet declared Latvia's intention to restore independence. Dainis Ivans, the chairman of Tautas Fronte, became the speaker of parliament and his deputy, Ivars Godmanis, became the prime minister. Many other members of Tautas Fronte took key positions in the goverment of Latvia.

From May 1990 to August 1991, Latvia endured a tense period. Its independence was not recognized to the goverment of Soviet Union and the threat of a military crackdown from Soviet goverment loomed. Finally, the independence of Latvia was recognized in August 1991. Thus, the main political goal of Tautas Fronte was achieved.

It now faced a more difficult task: reforming communist economy of Latvia into free-market system. The economic transition was very difficult, with GDP of Latvia contracting by half from 1990 to 1993. With economy worsening, the popularity of prime minister Godmanis declined. Many politicians left Tautas Fronte and formed new political parties to avoid being associated with the unpopular goverment.

The end of Tautas Fronte

In June 1993, Latvia held the first elections of the parliament since its indepedence was restored. Weakened by economic difficulties and defections of many politicians, Tautas Fronte received just 2.62% of popular vote and gained no seats in the new parliament. It attempted to reinvent itself as a christian democratic party and changed the name to Jauna Kristiga Partija (New Christian Party) but without much success. Eventually, it merged with another party, Kristigi Demokratiska Savieniba (Christian Democratic Union).

The legacy

All or almost all the political goals of Tautas Fronte have been achieved. Latvia is now an independent country, with Latvian as the only official language. Its economy, formerly communist and oriented towards Soviet Union, is now free-market and Western-oriented. While Tautas Fronte itself ceased to exist during economic difficulties of mid-1990s, many of its former activists have important roles in today's Latvia.