History of a Lovely Lady

The lovely lady is the capital of Latvia Riga. She is a grand, gray-haired lady divided by the Daugava River. The city is found on the right bank and the suburbs or Pardaugava (loosely translated “across the Daugava) is on the left bank. Riga dates back from 1201 A.D. This date is in question because there are those who say Riga is older. In 2001 Riga celebrated her 800th birthday. Scholars say that Riga was founded sometime before 1198 on the shores of Lake Riga where there were some villages settled by Livs (also called Livonians who were the inhabitants of Livonia, a large part of what today is northwestern Latvia and southwestern Estonia) and German trader camps. It is believed that these settlements were rather large since chronicler Henricus de Lettis (in the early part of the 13th century) referred to them as towns.

The origins of the name Riga are thought to come from the Baltic word “ring” which signifies a winding river. The city itself was built on a site with a natural harbor. This was good for traders as they could travel upstream on the Daugava to what is now Russia and from there perhaps on to the Orient. Reaching the Baltic Sea traders could make their way to Gotland, Scandinavia and Western Europe.

There is great dispute as to who was the actual founder of Riga and this honor is divided among three possibilities Bishop Berthold of Hanover, Bishop Meinhard and Bishop Albert. The people of Riga obeyed the commands issued by the Pope which were to their advantage. When it came to the Church Riga obeyed the bishop appointed by the Pope but in secular matters remained independent. Large tracts of land were held by the city in the middle of the 13^th century. These were granted as rewards for participating in wars fought against pagans and bought from the Livs. The city of Riga had a constitution which was based on the model of Bremen. The town council held legislative power and was comprised of men belonging to the Great Guild (merchants, goldsmiths, men of letters and artists) or to the Small Guild (tradesmen). The core of military power in Riga became the Blackheads Company (initially accepting only unmarried men) who had gained fame in the crusades. Income for the city came from trade with Pskov, Novgorod and Lithuania to the East, Germany, Scandinavia, Denmark, England and Holland to the West. Trading trips presented great danger as one had to protect oneself from pirates. When it came to transporting expensive merchandise along the Daugava they had to be on the look-out for pagans. The pagans would keep an eye out for boats in order to gain control of the merchandise and take hostages. The ransom for one man was one bag of salt. Food was mostly grown locally. Fields and meadows surrounded the city and townsfolk would grow vegetable in the fields and graze their cows and other domestic animals in the meadows.

All the citizens of Riga had the same rights and obligations and were expected to protect the good name of the city. Some of the regulations they had to live by were:

· No testament could be ratified unless a sum of money was willed to churches and schools.

· Hostelries serving wine, beer and brandy had to be closed by 9 P.M.

· It was forbidden to throw refuse into the Ridzina River, in the moat, on the roads, or in winter on the Daugava.

· Persons who had gained property through their wives could stay in the city only as guests.

· If someone was caught with a woman they had to marry her or pay a fine of ten silver marks.

A lot of regulations pertained to commerce:

· Those carrying scales and measures had to give out precise measure.

· The scales and measures had to be verified once a year.

· Wines couldn’t be imported if the master had not tasted them.

The residents of Riga were a proud people and therefore they built the church steeple of St. Peter’s Church higher than the steeple of the Dom Cathedral because the first belonged to the people and the latter was the seat of the official ruler the archbishop. The city of Riga looked after its own people. A person could become the owner of a house if he was born in Riga or if he paid a fixed sum of money. Riga’s main income came for export. When the Order attempted to get rich from the commerce of Riga the city joined forces with the archbishop against the Order. It was so that when the Grand Master of the Order rode into town the members of the town council had to stand before him barefooted and bareheaded and he in turn would take their money and gold and silver. When the Order started a conquest of the Russian principalities they suffered great defeat. In the end all total the Order lost 600 knights along with the Great Commander and other commanders, 40,000 men were killed and 15,000 taken prisoner with their cannons. However after regrouping the Order conquered Riga in 1491 and the Grand Master became Wolter von Plettenberg.

Finally came the Reformation of Martin Luther which was well received by all in Riga. When the last archbishop departed he sold the Dom Cathedral along with other houses of the clergy to the city for 18,000 marks or 3.6 tons of silver. While Riga was a free city there was constant turmoil between the town council and the Guilds. The town council freely gave the city’s money to whomever they thought it should go to and did it in secrecy. They lost their influence in 1581 when it was time to surrender to the king of Poland. With the Polish rule Catholicism returned to Riga. A decree arrived in Riga in September 1584 which ordered a change to the revised Gregorian calendar and October 4 became October 15. The town council refused to accept Catholic holidays. The Latvians were angry that they were not accepted in St. John’s Church at Christmas and New Year’s and prayed outside in front of the church. There started a riot known as the Calendar Uprising.

When the Swedish ships reached Riga in August 1600 they sailed into the Daugava and the army of Gustavus Adolphus stationed themselves in the area known as MIlgravis. At this time the residents of Riga burned down the suburbs, destroyed their vegetable gardens and cut down their orchards. Then on August 12 the citizens refused to surrender and the Swedes started to fill moats around the city with brushwood so that men could run over them or set them on fire. On August 30 the Swedes attacked the Marstalu Blockhouse but did not succeed in overcoming Riga. The Polish army attempted to help but eventually the residents of Riga were left to their own resources. By September 12 the Swedes had gotten position under the Smilsu (Sand) Blockhouse and were ready to blow it up. Finally Riga decided to surrender. Gustavus Adolphus entered Riga on September 16 and went to pray at St. Peter’s Church and the town council and those who owned houses in Riga swore allegiance to him. The Swedish king admired the citizens of Riga for their bravery and granted them many privileges as well as granted large tracts of land. However everything wasn’t smooth sailing and the merchants disliked that there was a tax on all goods imported and exported.

In 1656 Czar Alexis Mikhailovich made a very unsuccessful attempt to conquer Riga but before he retreated he ordered to have all the church bells and organs taken away and sent to Russia. For their effort at standing up to this enemy the Swedish king allowed Riga to put the king’s crown into the city’s coat of arms just the same as it was for Stockholm. The market in Riga was controlled by capital which came from Holland and the merchants achieved a monopoly as intermediaries between the Dutch and Russians, Poles and Lithuanians. All Russian and Lithuanina grain exports were channeled through the port of Riga. Soon France took a commercial interest in Riga since they were the chief supplier of salt and wine and France in turn bought grain, linseed and cellulose. Swedish rule in Riga lasted for 87 years.

During the time of Swedish rule Riga saw the publication of the first newspaper, the first reader, the first dictionary and the first translation of the Bible in Latvian. The Swedes also ordered schools to be established in all the parishes of the region of Vidzeme. Riga itself had eight Latvian schools and the printing house of Johann Fischer printed religious literature. Riga received a unified, systematic code of laws that remained in force even during the Russian reign.

Disaster came during the night of April 6, 1709 when the ice broke upon the Daugava and the river divided into two routes. The river washed away an island and the people living on the left bank in Pardaugava along with their housed and belongings, Most of the ships upon the river were destroyed and the raging water flowed into the heart of Riga and flooded lower areas. Then on October 22^nd Russian soldiers appeared in front of one of Riga’s gates Janavarti (John’s Gate). Shortly after November 3^rd Czar Peter I arrived. He fired the three cannon balls in the direction of Riga. All three landed in the Daugava. On December 13 the gunpowder which was stored in the Citadel blew up and 800 people were killed. There was a blockade on the port of Riga. The suburbs fell to the Russians at the beginning of June. Once again the residents of Riga refused to surrender.

The situation was very dismal. St. John’s Church was full of dead bodies, the water pipes were damaged and the Ridzina was full of garbage and slit. The only joy came when Peter I signed the charter of the city. He promised many different privileges. However thing changed drastically. House owners had to be German. Festivities now were held in the church of the state and in the Russian language. Slowly but surely Riga became a European city. Fashions were mostly French or English. The wives and daughters of the Small Guild dressed like real ladies. The town council didn’t allow Latvians to wear German fashions.

Along came the 18^th century and Riga changed. Small simple houses were torn down and replaced by two, three or four story buildings. Those who were wealthy acquired estates outside of the city which were surrounded by parks, terraces and gardens. Dom School students performed Moliere’s comedies in the House of Dunnenstern. A large theater was organized for operas and ballets. Dutch capital was replaced by English capital in commerce.

In 1813 the residents of Riga were divided into gentry, bureaucrats, clergy, house owners and free people and the smallest portion being the serfs. The beginning of the 19^th century didn’t bode well for Riga. Rumor had it that the army of field marshal York was approaching Riga and in the ensuing panic fire was set to the suburbs destroying four churches, 35 public buildings and 705 private homes. Czar Alexander I liberated the serfs in Vidzeme. Peasants could now buy their own land. Small farms were established. The Rigas Latviesu Biedriba (The Latvian Association of Riga) was established. It was a temple that unified Latvians on the basis of common culture and economics. During this time the telegraph was installed, gas lights lighted the streets and sidewalks were built. Two very important events took place – the ramparts were knocked down giving space for buildings and boulevards and the construction of the Riga-Daugavpils Railway Line. Eventually the railway line was extended to Orla and Caricina and Riga became the industrial center between Russia and Western Europe. The downfall at this time was Russification and school children were forbidden to speak Latvian.

The 2oth century came in with the 700^th anniversary of Riga. Then came rebellion in 1905 and many were killed or went into exile. 1500 people were shot or tortured to death. When WWI rolled in Riga was the third largest city in the Russian Empire. In 1915 began the evacuation of factories and workers and 50,000 boxcars of equipment were sent to Russia. In September 1917 the Russian commander General Kornilov left Riga to the Germans and retreated to St. Petersburg as it was the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution. In the spring of 1918 the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty was signed. Latvia became a divided country – Russia took over the region of Latgale, Vidzeme’s fate was left undecided, Germany took over Kurzeme and Riga. Then on November 18, 1918 Latvijas Tautas Padome (The Latvian People’s Council) proclaimed Latvia a sovereign state. Karlis Ulmanis was elected as the Prime Minister. Unfortunately the new state was attacked from the East by the Soviet Latvia forces. They took control of Riga on January 3, 1919. The democratically elected provisional government retreated to the city of Liepaja where they started to put together an army. They joined forces with the Baltic-German Landeswehr under the order of General Von der Goltz. The Red Army was driven out of Riga four months later. Even though their numbers were small the Latvian and the Estonian forces gained the upper hand. Fighting still went on with the communist forces in Latgale. Then General Von der Goltz joined forces with Bermondt, who had an army of Russian mercaneries and attacked Riga. However they did not succeed in taking Riga. Artillery support was given by English and French battleships and the Latvian army went on the offensive. By December 1919 Latvia was free of foreign powers.

Over the next twenty years Latvia achieved more than expected. The standard of living rose to the level of the leading nations of Europe. The evil eye of Joseph Stalin was keeping an eye on things. Then the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was signed and it divided up Poland, the Baltic States, Bessarabia, Western Ukraine and some other European nations. In June 1940 the Red Army proudly marched into Latvia. Russian tanks filled the streets. Along came WWII and much of Riga was destroyed. The Latvian people began to flee and hundreds had to begin their life again in exile. Those were the lucky ones. Other were deported to sparsely inhabited regions of Siberia. Experimentation was begun by the Communists to create a homo sovieticus, an individual without nationality or ethnic origin, who could only speak Russian and when crossing international border would only identify themselves as citizens of the U.S.S.R. There were more Russians in Riga than Latvians. Printed documents and forms were now in Russian and the typewriters had no Latin alphabet. All meetings were conducted in Russian. By the 1980s things had gotten so bad that it was a relief when Mikhail Gorbachov came to power with his policy of perestroika. During this time on June 1 and 2 1988 the plenum of the Latvian Writer’s Union, the Union of Creative Associations of Latvia and a variety of supporters set off the Singing Revolution. The Latvian Popular Front was established. In the coming election its members replaced the Communist deputies to the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. The unique Baltic Way demonstration was organized where the inhabitants of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined hands to form a human chain through the three Baltic States asking for freedom.

On January 1991 Moscow had had enough. The Kremlin decided to try to renew communist dictatorship in the Baltic. Vilnius was the first to be attacked. People began to set up barricades. The Old Town of Riga looked like a fortress. Exits to boulevards were blocked by farm equipment, schools were closed, offices and public buildings gave shelter to people who came from the countryside. Soup kitchens prepared food. People by the barricades warmed themselves by lighting campfires. Then the U.S.S.R. Ministry of the Interior launched an attack and took over the Latvian Ministry of the Interior. Some people were killed and some wounded. When dawn broke over Riga the attackers retreated. The staff of the Latvian T.V. had been able to organize a direct broadcast of these events through Finland. The world held its breath. In August 1991 during the Putsch in Moscow Russian tanks again appeared in the streets of Riga and positioned themselves in Dom Square. However the attackers were not successful in breaking into the Saeima or Parliament Building and deputies proclaimed Latvia an independent democratic republic in accordance with the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Latvia.

The first to recognize the independence of Latvia was Iceland. The ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark accredited Latvia as independent two days later and on September 17^th Latvia was admitted to the United Nations. The lovely lady herself Riga once again became a beautiful, lively and attractive capital city. Although she now has many strands of gray in her hair she stands proud and strong on the banks of the Daugava.