Russians in Latvia
By Vladislavs Volkovs (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology)
Russians
in Latvia
at the Time of the Russian Empire
1.
The History of the Russian Population in the Territory of Latvia
The history of Russians in Latvia is quite long - about a
thousand years. Russian and Livonian chronicles state that the first Russian
merchants came here as early as the 12th - 13th
centuries. But up to the time of Latvia's
complete incorporation into Russia
in 1795, the Russians made up a very small part of the population here.
The most complete picture of the Russian
population in Latvia
at the time of the Empire is given by the First All-Russia Census of 1897.
According to its data, at the end of the 19th century there were
quite a number of Russians in Latvia
- 171 thousand people spread unevenly on its territory. The biggest number of
Russians, some 77 thousand, lived in Latgale, 68
thousand (5% of total population) - in Vidzeme. The
smallest part of the Russian population lived in Kurzeme
and Zemgale - 26 thousand (3.89% of total
population). By the end of the 19th century Russians had become
the second biggest nationality in Latvia after the Latvians
themselves.
In urban areas of Latvia the Russian population was
twice as large as in the country. The only exception was Latgale
where the number of city dwellers was only half as large as that of country
dwellers. Half of the Russian population of Vidzeme,
Kurzeme and Zemgale came
from the nearby provinces of Russia.
And in the Rēzekne district of Latgale, for example, 10% of Russians had come from other
provinces. The biggest number of newcomers came from the neighbouring
provinces of the Empire - those of Kaunas, Vitebsk and Vilnius.
Like all the other Eastern Slavs of Latvia,
Russians differed from other national groups with their high natural
increment of population.
In their social structure Russians differed
from most of the nationalities of Latvia. The biggest social group
among them were peasants (54%), and they made up the majority of Russians in Latgale. Middle classes made up 35% and hereditary and
personal noblemen made up 8%. As far as their group characteristics are
concerned, Russians were much like the Latvian Poles but differed from the
Latvians who were mainly peasants and from the Germans who belonged mainly to
the middle class.
Formation of the quite large Russian national
group in Latvia
was due to several reasons. In the 19th century a large amount of
Russian capital was invested in trade through the Baltic countries. The
profits from this trade became the basis of a number of Russian - owned
manufacturing establishments. When Russia
acquired Latvia,
some Russian noblemen became landowners here. From the middle of the 19th
century the highly developing industry of Latvia began to attract Russian
workmen. The biggest social source of Russian newcomers, however, were
Russian peasants fleeing from Russia
because of widespread religious and social oppression.
The most dynamic social group which began to
settle in Latvia
were the Russian merchants. Long ago the Polotsk
principality and the merchants of ancient Novgorod
established trade relations with Rīga. Real penetration by
Russian merchants became possible after the conquest of Rīga by the
troops of Count Sheremetjev in 1710. But the
Russian expansion was restrained by local regulations which strictly limited
business activities of those merchants who did not belong to the Rīga Merchant Guilds.
By the end of the 19th century,
there emerged quite an appreciable group of Russian manufacturers in Latvia.
As far back as the beginning of the 20th century, there was
founded the Kuznetsov Porcelain Factory near Rīga.
A very large number of Russians were employed in brickworks supplying the
building industry. The most notable among these manufacturers were E.Nesterov (he had 500 workers in his yards), F.Nesadomov (120 workers), V.Chikov
(over 100 workers), Y.Karjakin (about 200 workers).
But Russians were not at the head of the local business at that time. For
instance, the working share of one worker at the brick-yards made up 259
roubles per annum while the corresponding figure was 120,000 roubles in wine
production which was the monopoly of the Germans. There was no Russian large capital
investment in foreign trade operations.
A big source of additional
population were the Russian peasants. The mass migration of these
peasants began in the second half of the 16th century and up to
the beginning of the 20th century it was sporadic. Its main
reasons were religious oppression of Old Believers and a sharp aggravation of
the economic position of peasants in Russia resulting, in part, from
the conditions of serfdom.
It is difficult to give an exact judgement of
the educational and cultural standard of the Russian population in Latvia
in Tsarist times. The highest level of literacy - 70% - was the privilege of
the Russian Orthodox males. The corresponding figures for Old Believers were:
men 25%, women 8%. As for the female population in total, the level of
literacy of Russian women was the lowest in Latvia at that time.
2.
Russian Mentality
Under the conditions of tsarism
the dominating trend of Russian mentality in Latvia became the idea of a
political nation. Moreover, it were the Russians who
were thought representatives of the only political nation in the Empire and
bearers of the Russian political system and culture. The ideas of this kind
served as ground for exercising, in Latvia, a persistent policy of russification at the time of Alexander III and Nicholas
II (mainly before the revolution of 1905- 1907). At the same time Russians
tried to distinguish their interests from the interests of the state. Little
by little, a certain part of the Russians of Latvia began to consider
themselves as one of the many nationalities of Latvia. The Russian daily
newspaper "Rizhskij Vestnik"
established the notion of "the needs and wants of the local Russian
population". Since the 1860s there appeared local Russian social organisations.
The period of bourgeois reforms of Alexander II stimulated the rise of
national consciousness of the Russian population in Latvia. In the elections to town
councils and to the State Duma of the Russian
Empire local Russians participated on a political basis.
The
Russian National Minority in the Republic
of Latvia
1.
The Russian Population in the Republic
of Latvia
On November 18, 1918, the Republic of Latvia
was proclaimed as an independent democratic state. All the nationalities who lived in the territory of Latvia
in the period of foreign rule, got the opportunity to develop as national
minorities of the country. All Russians lost the status of their ethnic
belonging to the Empire, but in Latvia they were given all the
rights normally secured by democratic states.
The years of independent Latvia were favourable to the
growth of the Russian national group. Not only in the whole of Latvia
but in all the historical regions of the country the number
of this national minority grew constantly.
According to the first statistical data of 1920
the number of the Russian population at that time was 91 thousand. In 1935
the number of the Russian minority had increased up to 206,4
thousand. During the whole period of independence, Russians remained the biggest
national minority of the country. In 1935, the part of Russians in the whole
structure of the population of Latvia made up 10.5% (in 1920 -
7.8%).
The growth of the Russian population was due to
several factors. The Civil war and the establishment of Soviet power in Russia caused a flow of refugees and emigrants
to many countries, Latvia included. According to the
Peace Treaty between the Latvian Republic and Soviet Russia, some lands of
the Pskov province with a large number of Russians passed on to Latvia. But
the main cause of the Russian population growth was their high natural birth
rate. For example, in 1929 the natural increment of Russians was 2.8
thousand, while the natural increment of Latvians, whose total number in that
same year was nine times as big as that of Russians, made up only 3.7
thousand.
Russians used to have the biggest number of
large families in comparison with other national groups of Latvia. As in the tsarist times,
Russians still remained one of the "youngest" ethnic groups of Latvia.
The Russian children aged under fourteen made up 14%
of the total number of the children of Latvia of the same age. Russian
families during the period of independence were characterised by a very high
stability. The average number of divorces of Russian families was two times
smaller than that of Latvian families and five times smaller than that of
German families.
Big changes took place in the structure of the
territorial settlement of Russians in Latvia. Three quarters of the
Russian population lived in Latgale, 14% in Rīga.
In comparison with the tsarist period of the
history of Latvia,
Russians acquired more "country and agricultural" features and lost
those of "town and industry". The overwhelming majority of Russians
were engaged in agriculture (80%). 7% were engaged in industry, 4.9% - in
trade. The fact that Russian inhabitants of the country had their farms
mainly in Latgale, the least economically developed
part of the country, did not stimulate them to social movement towards prestigious
kinds of labour and agriculture. In the towns of Vidzeme,
Kurzeme, and Zemgale the
social picture of Russians approached the all-Latvian one. But even there,
Russians did not belong to economically and socially advanced national
groups. Russians differed from Latvians, Germans and Jews by a smaller part
of property owners and a widespread use of child labour.
The total level of literacy of the Russian
population at the very beginning of the history of the Latvian Republic
was lower than at the time of the Empire. Only 42% of Russian men and 28% of
Russian women of Latvia
could read and write in 1920. During the years of independence the number of
Russian pupils at schools increased greatly (1.5 times - the highest rate in
the period of 1925-1935). As a result, the difference between the number of
Latvian and Russian students aged 6-20 was reduced considerably (54% and 47%
correspondingly).
Russians were underrepresented in institutions
of higher education. In 1920 there were only 65 Russian students at the University of Latvia, in 1939 - 220 students.
For a long time the Latvian Republic
tried to integrate the Russian minority on the basis of a large
national-cultural autonomy. National schools of Latvia widely used their right to
teach children in their mother tongue. Russian schools were not an exception.
The Russian language played a particularly important role at the stage of
primary education. By the end of the 1920s, 92% of Russian children were
being educated at Russian primary schools. The development of the network of
secondary schools also took into account the demands of national minorities
to receive education in their own language. At the end of the 1920s and the
beginning of the 1930s there was an increasing tendency by parents from minority
groups to send their children to Latvian language schools. In 1935 60% of
Russian children were educated in their mother tongue.
The popularity of the Russian language in Latvia
resulted from the fact that Russians did not seek to learn the Latvian language
and other minority languages properly.
The Latvian language was not attractive to the
Russian population of Latvia.
In 1920-1930 only a little more than 15% of Russians could speak and write
Latvian. The Latvian milieu of many towns was a good incentive for Russians
to learn the Latvian language. 70% of Russian residents of Jelgava and more than 80% of those of Bauska,
Valmiera and Kuldīga
spoke Latvian.
2.
Political life and consciousness of the Russians of the Republic of Latvia
The establishment of the Latvian State,
in November 18, 1918, made local Russians work out new principles of their
relations with the government. Under the new conditions, the Russians of
Latvia became a national minority whose special cultural interests were
regulated by the Law on the Cultural-National Autonomy of Minorities, adopted
by the People's Council.
Russians of Latvia enjoyed full rights as its
citizens and, therefore, took part in the political life of the country.
Russians, as a national minority, participated in the elections to the
Constituent Assembly of Latvia and to all the four Saeimas.
From two to six per cent of all Latvian
electors voted for Russian parties. In the areas highly populated by Russians
- Rīga
and Latgale - more and more Russian electors voted
for Russian parties during the whole period of the parliamentary state.
Special historical conditions determined a
specific attitude of Russians towards the idea of national-cultural autonomy.
They accepted the autonomous character of Russian culture in respect to
Latvian culture. But they believed that there was no local autonomy in
respect to Russian culture and Russian people in general. Local Russian
society did not identify any special features characteristic of local
Russians which would differentiate them from the Russians of Russia.
During the period of the Latvian Republic,
the local Russian inhabitants tried to work out their own principles of
social consciousness. A characteristic feature of the Russian social
consciousness was a continuous controversy between adherents of different
ideas.
At the beginning of the Republic, 1918-1919,
the orthodox wing of the National-Democratic League (N.Bordonos)
- the first Russian national union of Rīga
and, then, of the whole of Latvia
- spoke in favour of ethnic purity of Russian social organisations. The
liberal wing of the NDL and, later, the Russian Society of Latvia (N.Berejanski, S.Mansyrev)
called for a close co-operation by the Russian minority with the whole
Latvian society.
From the liberal consciousness of the NDL there
emerged some elements of a specific ideology among a part of the Russian
population of Latvia
– "democratic nationalism". Its mouthpiece was the publicist Berejanski. He thought that the fate of the Russians of
Latvia was not easy. Their historical motherland was in the hands of
"Bolshevik internationalism", the enemy of Russian national culture
and ethics. Russians were grateful to democratic Latvia for granting the
opportunity to develop their culture. But Russians themselves, N.Berejanski thought, had to strengthen to the utmost,
within their consciousness, the notion of national values. The followers of
this idea worked on the Russian newspaper "Slovo"
("Word"). At the same time the most famous Russian newspaper "Segodnia" did not pretend to propagate Russian
national ideas, but advocated the ideas of defence of the cultural-national
autonomy of all minorities.
A flamboyant exponent of Russian national
principles was N.Belotsvelov who considered that
the conversion of Russians to nationalism was a natural result of the fate of
emigrants fearing for the future of their culture.
The ideas of "democratic nationalism"
were supported by the leaders of the Russian Peasants' Union
which had a right-wing orientation. The RPU became the basis of the Russian
Peasant fraction of three deputies in the Fourth Saeima.
A part of Russians belonged to the ultra-left
of the political spectrum. (In the Fourth Saeima,
one Russian represented the social democrats and one Russian was a communist
representative). But the left-wing parties of Russians did not achieve any
big success though they had a certain influence among sections of the workers
of Rīga.
Russians
in Occupaied
Territory of Latvia in 1940-1990
1.
The Russians of Latvia
in 1940-1941
In summer of 1940 there began the most tragic
events in the history of Latvia.
The country lost its independence and was incorporated into the USSR.
The attitude of the Russian milieu towards
these events varied. Three kinds of positions can be discerned, in regard to
the political changes:
- A
complete disagreement with the Bolshevik regime was characteristic of
the Russian inelligentsia and priests.
- A part of the Russian public of Latvia were under an
illusion regarding Stalin's dictatorship, hoping that it would turn into
a political system similar to that of the Russian monarchy.
- A
full support for the Bolshevik regime in Latvia. During one year of
Soviet power, Russians here were deprived of all their national
periodicals, many of the prominent Russian public figures were subjected
to repression or killed.
But the new regime also found supporters among
local Russians. Russian collective farms emerged in Latvia and there were a large
number of Russians in the security services and units of the workers' guard.
The communist nomenclature was being rapidly developed, local Russians taking
an active part in it.
2.
The Russians of Latvia
in 1941-1944
Latvia
entered into the Second World War as a part of the USSR. Both Russians and Latvians
shared the fate of Nazi policies of oppression.
A part of the local Russian population took
part in hostilities against fascism in the Red Army ranks and in the partisan
movement, supporting the Communist party.
But, at the same time, there were quite a
number of Russians collaborating with the Nazi authorities. They worked on
the newspapers propagandising the myth of "a national Russia" free of Bolsheviks
and Jews, and "the liberating mission" of the Wehrmacht.
Russians were won over to militarised units. The Nazis made advances to those
of the Russian population who had suffered from the Bolsheviks. The
newspapers of that time were full of information about Russian National
culture. In Daugavpils
there was opened a Russian theatre, in the Rēzekne
Teachers' Institute - a Russian language class for teachers of Russian was
set up, etc.
An institution was created for representing the
interests of the Russian population of the Generalgebiet
of Latvia as well as the Russian Committee for the Affairs of the Russian
population of Latvia.
These were designed to help Russians with some of their economic, cultural
and legal needs.
3.
Peculiarities of the post-war migration of Russians to Latvia
After Latvians, the Russians are the largest
ethnic group in today's Latvia.
In 1989 this national group made up 34,8% of the
whole population of Latvia
and its total number was 905,5 thousand. In comparison with the demographic
situation of the pre-war period, the number of Russians had increased 4.5
times. Their share in the national structure of the population of Latvia
had increased 3.5 times.
Such a big growth of the Russian population
could not be explained solely by natural increase. The majority of the
Russian national group in Latvia today are here as a result of a big
migration movement, mainly from Slav republics of the USSR, first of all, from the Russian Federation.
Russians preferred to settle in towns rather
than in the country. They tended to choose such big cities as Rīga
and the like. Russians differed from Latvians in their social and
professional characteristics. Over one third of the Russian population were
engaged in industry (one quarter of Latvians), 7% of Russians (22% of
Latvians) were engaged in agriculture, 1% of Russians (2.5% of Latvians) - in
the sphere of culture and art. The percentage of Russians in administration
was two times as large as that of Latvians (6.4% and 3%). In other social
activities Russian differences were negligible.
Russians were the biggest ethnic group in the USSR
both in number and in ideological influence. Under the conditions of Soviet
Latvia, Russians dominated the whole non-Latvian population of the Republic. Latvia
was the place where consolidation of Russian-speakers on the basis of their
mother tongue was successfully put into effect. The Russian language also
formed a new group of Russian speaking Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Poles, Jews
and Germans of Latvia. And though in the period of 1959-1979 the number of
Russians in Latvia
increased by 47%, the number of the non-Russian population considering
Russian their mother tongue increased by 78%. A highly developed
infrastructure was developed in Latvia on the basis of the
Russian language (the system of secondary and higher education, science,
means of mass media, state-party control of economy and social life).
4.
National consciousness of the Russians of the Latvian SSR
During the whole Soviet period, the Russian
mass media of Latvia
played the part of active bearers of the communist ideology, influencing the
consciousness of the Russians of Latvia. That is why this consciousness had
purely communist features.
For the whole Soviet period there was no
suitable formula at the official level to express national-cultural features
of this large group of Latvian residents. The ideology of the Communist party
rejected the tradition of the Latvian
Republic which
identified the Russians of Latvia as one of its national minorities. In the USSR
there existed a form of national-territorial autonomy of nations, but not for
all nations, which made their social representation in the state bodies
unequal and, as a result, their influence on social minds was unequal as
well. A nation could be considered "fully-fledged" only if it
possessed a state system in the form of a union republic. Therefore, there
was only one nation in Latvia
- Latvians. The Russians of Latvia, both those who had deep historical roots
here, and those who chose it as a place of permanent residence after World
War II, having no territorial autonomy, were not considered as an individual
cultural and national community in the Republic.
During the almost forty years of the history of
the Russian communist consciousness of Latvia there were no new ideas.
Such ideas came only with the first marked democratic changes in the USSR
at the end of the 1980's.
The start of democratic processes brought about
national awakening of peoples. New democratic tendencies gave equal chances to
the national revival of both Latvians and Russians. Some part of Russians
actively supported the Latvian awakening. Both individual representatives of
the Russian public and some groups of Russians believed that "Atmoda" (Awakenining)
should be irreversible. Thus, in July 1988, A.Maltsev
was one of the 17 prominent figures of Latvian culture who signed an open
letter to the Broadened Assembly of the Latvian Writers' League with the
initiative of establishing a democratic People's Front.
The idea of establishing the Popular Front of
Latvia was supported by the Russian writers of the Republic - L.Azarova, R.Dobrovenski, V.Dozortsev and M.Kostenetska,
the journalist A.Grigorjev, A.Kazakov,
the translator and bibliographer J.Abyzov, and many
others. In 1989 L.Gladkov, V.Dozortsev,
V.Zhdanov, V.Kononov and M.Kostenetska were elected to the Council of the People's
Front of Latvia. V.Dozortsev became a member of the
Board of the Council of the Popular Front of Latvia. A.Grigorjev
was one of the editors of "Atmoda"
(Awakening) - the newspaper of the PFL. The circulation of the Russian
edition of "Atmoda" was quite big (15 -
100 thousand). It was popular not only with the Russian residents of Latvia but with the democratic public of Russia
as well.
The PFL became the basis of consolidation of
the Russian Culture Society of Latvia (RCSL). The Constituent Assembly of the
RCSL was held on March 4, 1989. The aim of the Society was 'to develop to the
utmost the Russian national culture, to intensify traditional Russian-Latvian
relations, cooperate with the representatives of all nationalities of the
Republic".
But at the same time quite a number of the
Russians of Latvia viewed the revival of the Latvian state system with
mistrust. This is shown by the results of a public opinion poll in 1989. Only
49% of the non-Latvian population supported the idea of the independence of Latvia
(the number of Latvians supporting the idea made up 93%).
"The International Front of the Working
People of Latvia" or "The Interfront",
established in 1989, came out openly against the idea of Latvian
independence.
"The Interfront"
aimed to win the sympathies of those Russians who were not deeply integrated
into the Latvian society, did not speak Latvian and did not prize much the
national characteristics of this country.
Russians
in the Restored Republic
of Latvia
1.
Russian remigration
The formation of the Latvian national state was
accompanied by a number of political measures which were strategically aimed
at the increase of the proportion of Latvians in Latvian society. Evidently,
it couldn't be achieved without stimulating a big number of non-Latvians to
leave the country. No less important incentive for remigration of Russians,
as well as Ukrainians and Byelorussians, was the foundation of the
independent states of Russia,
Belarus and Ukraine
in 1991 which could provide for a better development of the national identity
of these peoples. But, of course, it can't be stated that remigration of
Russians was characteristic only of the period of the restored independent Latvia.
In 1991-1992 there was a big leap in the
migratory outflow from Latvia.
In 1991 the number of people who left the country exceeded by 11.2 thousand
the number of arrivals, in 1992 the figure had
increased to 47.2 thousand.
Russian remigration from independent Latvia
show that it has resulted in the ageing of the Latvian society and the loss
of people of working age. While the number of immigrants aged 30-44 and under 18 made up 32% of the total number of immigrants,
the same groups made up 61% of the remigrants in
1993.
This broad Russian emigration from Latvia
aggravated the problem of their own national
identity. There appeared two tendencies in the Russian consciousness. One
tendency is stimulating the ethnic consolidation of Russians. The other one,
on the contrary, is reducing the intra-ethnic dependence. The second tendency
becomes most apparent when a nation does not see any favourable prospects of
its development within some national structure, when people consider their
ethnicity as an obstacle to achieving social comfort. In this case, many
people would prefer to assimilate in the milieu of the socially prestigious
and dominating nation. If it is not so easy for themselves,
at least, their children might have a chance to do so.
2.
Self-consciousness of the Russians in the Republic of Latvia
The restoration of the Latvian
Republic took place in the period of
the crisis in the Soviet Union, leading to
its complete break-up. And the Russian state system began to be restored in
its place. For the first time in history there were established such
conditions under which Latvia
and Russia
could coexist as independent and democratic states.
This process had an immediate effect on the
minds of the Russians of Latvia. They found themselves in a situation which
suggested different norms of behaviour. One of them is a natural desire of
people to develop within their own national culture which had had a
longstanding support from the state. But taking up this option now meant remigration
back to Russia.
The formation of the legal state system in Latvia created conditions for advancing social
organisations of the Russian residents of Latvia and of their social
initiatives. The most well-known of them is the Russian Community of Latvia
(President of the RCL is B.Borisov).
The RCL was founded in 1991 immediately after
the recognition of Latvia's
independence by the world community. At the first stage, the Russian
Community included 360 members, in 1995 - over 800 members. From the very
beginning the RCL determined cultural and social priorities – "creation
of an integral real and effective system of different kinds of defence and
mutual assistance, both spiritual, moral and
material, for all members of the community during their lives".
According to the RCL's ideology, the consolidating basis of Russians is the
Russian language but not their ethnic origin. In the constituent documents of
the Russian Community, the idea of the national minority of Russians in Latvia
did not meet support. The RCL does not support the official standpoint
distinguishing the Russian residents of Latvia
by their political status - citizens of the Republic and non citizens, who
were previously citizens of the former USSR. Neither does it
differentiate ethnic Russians from other Russian-speaking residents of the
country.
The Russian Community of Latvia may be
considered as reviving those elements of Russian consciousness which were
cultivated at the time of the Latvian
Republic in 1918-1940.
Like in 1920-1930 there is a tendency to develop a Russian social
infrastructure. Contemporary Russians appreciate the idea of
cultural-national autonomy which had been put into effect in the pre-war Latvia.
The RCL is a social organisation rather than a political one, but it has
undertaken to strengthen the Latvian state system.
The statutes of the Russian Community of Latvia
still reflect, however, the difference between the Russian consciousness of
the period of the restored Latvia
and that of the pre-war State. At that time, life outside Russia was a tragedy for
Russians. They couldn't go home where they could be physically destroyed. The
Russians of pre-war Latvia
hoped for the revival of the legal Russian state with which they connected
their fully fledged development.
Apart from the RCL the most prominent Russian
national societies in Latvia
are:
- The
Balto-Slavonic society of cultural development
and cooperation (the oldest Russian social society in contemporary Latvia,
founded in 1988). The BSS includes about 100 members. The Chairman of
the BSS is B.Popov.
- 'Tle Latvian society of Russian culture. It was
founded in 1989. The membership is about 100. The Chairman is Jury Abyzov.
- The
centre of humanities and education "Yedi"
established by the Council of the Old Believers' Community and the
Orthodox Eparchy. The President is I.Ivanov.
- Tle Latvian Foundation of Slavonic Written Language
and Culture. It was founded in 1989. 'The members of the Foundation are
the Rīga Russian community, the Ukrainian
society "Dnipro" and the
Byelorussian society "Svitanak". 7he
President of the Foundation is M.Gavrilov.
On June 16, 1995, eleven Russian
national-cultural societies and other organisations of the Latvian Republic
signed the agreement on the constitution of the Council for the Russian
Societies of Latvia. The aim of the constituent agreement is "to promote
preservation, study, and popularisation of Russian national traditions and
culture, spiritual and ethical values and intellectual and creative heritage
of the Russian people".
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