Of the Classical Modernism movements, it was Cubism that had the most evident and wide-ranging influence on Latvian early 20th century painting. Classical Cubism is considered to last from 1907 up to 1921, but in Latvia the earliest examples of Cubism appear much later than in Western Europe – only around 1918. In other European countries, familiarity with Cubism was more readily obtainable, by living in Paris and studying under the direct tuition of French artists. But Cubism reached the minds of Latvians only during the time of the First World War. The powerful influence of French Cubism cannot be denied, but Latvians managed to create a local version, which stylistically was a unification of the synthetic stage of basic principles, but each artist found an adequately individual interpretation. A significant feature of Latvian Cubism is that many young artists reached this movement not as the result of a prolonged search for form and means of expression, but rather actually began their creative work with geometrisation. But their work is on a professionally high level, and it has come to represent one of the most vivid episodes in Latvian art history at the present day.
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This paper depicts the mutability and malleability of the concept of tradition. Its development is illustrated in three examples from modern Latvian history: the Latvian national movement and the program of the cultural and social emancipation of Latvians as a modern people, the issue of tradition and modernity in interwar Latvia, especially during the authoritarian regime, and the confrontation between tradition and the Soviet model of modernisation. The cultural and social emancipation of Latvians as a modern people was a consequence as well as an inseparable part of the modernisation processes of the Baltic provinces and the tsarist empire. The program of the Latvian national movement was defined as an attempt to integrate Latvians into the changing social and cultural conditions not only in the traditional Baltic provinces, but, at the same time, the assertion of a modern nation within the wider context of the tsarist empire. The second section examines the issue of tradition and modernity in interwar Latvia, especially during the authoritarian regime, which single-mindedly and systematically attempted to justify historically the statehood of the young country of Latvia. The final section characterises the Soviet model of modernisation.
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In the article, the author focuses on showing the rich, yet little-known and disappearing, Polish cultural heritage in Latvia as a unique potential for cultural tourism. He presents some chosen buildings and places together with the evaluation of their availability and tourist attractiveness. The end of the article introduces an example tourist route which can be created in Latvia to attract Polish cultural tourist as well as to help to enliven and protect the facilities and places included in the route.
Comprehensive research on the issues of Polish prisoners of war on the Eastern front during World War II as well as internments in Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and Hungary that would result in explanation of all their aspects and elaboration of the study on Polish prisoners of war from the Eastern front have not been carried out yet. There are no syntheses on German prisoners of war as well. In the past several years the issues of German prisoners of war have been kept in the background due to system changes and the fact that the issues of the Soviet captivity were removed from the list of taboo subjects in the People's Republic of Poland as well as the archives in the states of former USSR were opened. Despite voices claiming that the issues of Polish prisoners of war in German camps have been thoroughly elaborated, the stories of the prisoners after their release, for example, have not been researched. A lot of monographs bears the stamp of the times they were created in. The interpretation of the events, facts and even the choice of archive sources, frequently besmirches work's quality. What is more, despite rich historiography, the issue of Polish prisoners in USSR has not been comprehensively elaborated yet. It requires further detailed research on the basis of archive sources, particularly those stored in Russian archives. The need to elaborate a comprehensive study on the issues of the Home Army's soldiers in NKVD camps is worth emphasizing, and their formal and legal status should be explained in particular. There are no monographs on internments in Lithuania and Latvia too. Internments in Hungary are also waiting for a new monographic study.
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The paper tries to sketch the ways and strategies that scholarship in Latvia has chosen in the recent years. It tries to look for the answers to the questions whether it is possible to give a systematic description of the development of different cultures and literatures; how they are comprehended in their particularities and similarities, their originality and literary and cultural encounters; whether one must proceed from a large encyclopaedic picture then trying to find specific examples in particular cultures which match general models of development, or one should instead of concentrate on particular aspects of different cultures and specific case studies in order to look for their possible place in the multitude of cultural manifestations. The paper thus offers a succinct summary of literary studies in Latvia after the re-establishment of national independence in 1991, while keeping in focus the mutual ties of literary studies in Baltic countries.
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On January 25, 1908, an Orthography Commission was founded at the Science Union of the Latvian Society with Karlis Milenbahs as a chairman. On June 17, 1908, the Orthography Commission held a convincing vote for the new orthography. The main principles of this new orthography can be characterised by the following traits: use of Roman letters in print; dropping 'h' as a lengthening mark; all long vowels must be denominated with a horizontal dash notwithstanding their position; diphthongs ie and o must be denominated according to the Lithuanian model – ie and uo; cluster letters sch, zch, tsch must be discarded; palatal consonants must be denominated by a mark above or a comma under the respective consonant; w must not be used in any position. Starting with 1909, this orthography was taught at schools. In 1919, an instruction was passed by the Commissariat of Education 'On the Latvian Language Writing at Schools' accepting the 1908 orthography with a single exception - the diphthongs ie and o had to be written as ee and o. During the 20ies and 30ies of the 20th century, the consolidation process of this orthography in writing was going on. The first authors in the 16th century of the books written in Latvian were German clergymen who moulded the Latvian writing according to their German reading and writing skills. The main features of this orthography were the Gottic letters, 'h' as a lengthening mark, the so called 'cluster letters' for indicating the consonants 'diacritical s, z, c', differences in the reproduction of diphthongs, for example 'ee' and 'o' and an immense inconsistence all in all. Several rather successful attempts to improve the Latvian writing were made as early as in the 17th-18th century (G. Mancelis, K. Firekers, H. Adolfijs, orthography sessions for the second edition of the Bible), but they mostly concerned the changes in sound denominations. The possibility to change the Gothic type for Roman letters was not discussed. In 1847, the Latvian doctor Juris Bars initiated essential changes in the writing of the Latvian language. He had the following proposal: to use Roman letters; to denominate the long vowels with two types of lengthening marks depending on intonation; to denominate the diphthongs 'ie' and 'uo' with 'ia' and 'ua'; to denominate the letters s, z, c with Roman letters, but to reflect the palatal consonants by crossed respective consonant letters; to retain 'w'. In 1876, the Science Union of the Latvian Society elaborated an orthography of its own containing the following proposals: to use Roman letters, to denominate the sibilants s, c, z with a mark above the letters, to denominate the palatal consonants l, n, r, k with a comma mark under the letters, to abandon intonation differences in the denomination of long vowels, to retain the reflection of the diphthong 'ie' by 'ee'.
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The article is devoted to ethnic changes occurring on the territories of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the last decades of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century. After an introduction in which historical-political situation is discussed, the next part of the article has a dualistic character. In the first part the ethnic situation of the three Baltic republics in the Soviet period are discussed. These were the years of intensive processes of Sovietization and Russification. A lot of migrants from other Soviet republics came to the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Soviet republics. The newcomers who spoke Russian influenced their ethnic structure. At the same time they marginalized their mother tongues. The demographic-ethnic questions were documented with the data coming from the Soviet censuses conducted in 1959, 1970, 1979 and 1989. The second part of the text is concerned with the ethnic situation after Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia gained independence. On the basis of censuses and estimates new tendencies in ethnic changes are defined. They result from mass departures of the Russian-speaking population and from the increase of importance of the three native nations. The processes are documented with statistical data. The final effect of the work is a demographic-ethnic balance-sheet in a dynamic formula.
The Orthodox State Church of the Russian Empire was radically reorganised in the wake of the First World War. In addition to the new internal structures including the re-introduction of the Moscow Patriarchate, this was especially necessary in the Eparchies now situated outside the Soviet Union, such as in the Baltic States. In each of these states, the ecclesiastic restructuring and the 'normalisation' of the relationship with the political authorities pursued specific paths. This article explores these developments in Lithuania and Latvia, where the Orthodox Church was first eyed suspiciously as imperial state institutions by the young nation states. In both cases, new ruling Archbishops were named in 1921, and both had to fight a hard battle for legal recognition of their church. However, after 'entering' secular state territory, both of them achieved a rather favourable modus vivendi with the secular authorities.
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The Czech interest in the Baltic countries, including Latvia, brought about the creation of the Czechoslovak-Latvian Society in 1925. The Society, in spite of being a sort of relic of the 19th century love for clubs and associations, was also a response to the new organization of Europe after World War I. The emergence of a number of independent countries in 1918, including Czechoslovakia and Latvia, made it possible to establish direct contacts between these two countries. Czechoslovak diplomacy was well aware of Latvia's strategic position in the Baltic Region because of its most advanced industry in that area. The possibility of close military contacts was also discussed. Czechoslovakia, in turn, appeared to be Latvia's useful ally in the heart of Europe due to its highly advanced economy, respectable level of education and abundant cultural life. Such contacts were also favored in view of Czechoslovakia's close alliance with the victorious Entente Powers, particularly with France, which is what Latvia also strived for. Therefore, the emergence of an association or club to develop non-political, purely cultural and social contacts between the two countries seems almost natural. The idea of Czechoslovak-Latvian Society was supported by a number of political and business groups, which helped its development. The Society was created on the initiative of Eduards Krasts, Latvia's consul in Prague, and helped develop cultural and economic relations between the two countries, particularly during the first decade of its existence. Then, its activities declined as a result of the political development in Latvia and of the aggravating international position of Czechoslovakia. The occupation of Bohemia and Moravia, the outbreak of World War II and the occupation of Latvia by the Soviet Army put an end to the Society's existence at the turn of the year 1940. In spite of its short life the Society could significantly contribute to the mutual understanding and relations between Czechoslovakia and Latvia.
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