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The Red Army reoccupied Latvia (1944-45). The Red Army launched Operation Bagration, timed to coincide with the Allied D-Day invasion in the West, smashing Germany's powerful Army Group Center (June-July 1944). This permitted Soviet reoccupation of the Baltics. German Army Group North was by then a weakened force. The Red Army Baltic Offensive began (September 1944). Important German forces were cut off in Courland until the end of the War. There were many arrests after the Soviet reoccupation, people who were accused of collaborating with the NAZIs or believed to be Latvian nationalists. Deportations resumed. Large numbers of ethnic Latvians were resettled elsewhere in the Soviet Union or confined to the Gulag, a process begun during the World War II occupation (1940-41). Many ethnic Russians migrated to Latvia because of the better economic conditions. The Soviet promoted Russian emigration as a way of securing their control. The result was a substantial shift in the Latvian ethnic balance. Language became a major issue. The Soviets promoted the Russian language. Strangely NKVD Chief Beria promoted a policy of giving more power to local communists and accepting a role for local languages. This process gained more traction with Destalinization (1956). Soviet authorities recognized that among the different Soviet republics, the Baltics has the most well-developed infrastructure and technical specialists. As a result, Soviet authorities decided to locate some of the country's most most advanced manufacturing factories in the Baltics, prioritizing Latvia over Lithuania. This led to important new industries being located in Latvia. They including the machinery factory RAF, and several electronics factories. there were also food and processing plants and petroleum refineries. The policy of respecting the Latvian language was, however. reversed. This was a reassessment of national (non-Russian) languages. Soviet officials were becoming concerned about nationalist sentiment among Party members. While not solely centered on the Baltics, it was a real concern there. The Baltics were the most recent Soviet territorial acquisition (1940s). The Soviets made learning national languages optional (1958). A purge followed with Latvian Communists losing much of their influence. This was not a Stalinist-style purge with mass arrests,executions, and deportations, but Latvian Party members lost influence and were demoted. Latvia was subject to Soviet laws mandating a highly centralized school system. Soviet law did allow some distinctive characteristics in the schools of the 16 republics, including a degree of national traditions. Compulsory secondary education was achieved (1980s). Some 90 percent of the school age population attended comprehensive or vocational secondary schools. This was a substantial increase over pre-World War II levels. The programs, texts, and teaching methods were standardized throughout the Soviet Union. In many republics this had already occured, but in the Baltics it involved major changes as the school system was standardized throughout the Soviet state. But standardization meant the creation of two parallel school systems based on language, one for Latvian speakers and the other for Russian speakers. Both secondary and tertiary education was expanded. One source describes the Soviet system as being biased toward theory rather than 'practical applicability'. 【Zogla, et. al, p. 419.】 Some liberalization occurred at the end of the Soviet era as a result of perestroika. Standard Soviet school uniforms were introduced into Latvian schools. Latvian clothing designers suggested a change of uniform in 1975, but it was not approved by Soviet authorities.
The Red Army reoccupied Latvia (1944-45). The Red Army launched Operation Bagration, timed to coincide with the Allied D-Day invasion in the West, smashing Germany's powerful Army Group Center (June-July 1944). This permitted Soviet reoccupation of the Baltics. German Army Group North was by then a weakened force. The Red Army Baltic Offensive began (September 1944). Adm. Dönitz and Hitler refused to evacuate German forces in time. Important German forces were cut off in Courland until the end of the War. The Red Army essentially turned Courland into an open-air POW camp.
There were many arrests after the Soviet reoccupation, people who were accused of collaborating with the NAZIs or believed to be Latvian nationalists. Deportations resumed. Large numbers of ethnic Latvians were resettled elsewhere in the Soviet Union or confined to the Gulag, a process begun with even greater brutality during the initial World War II occupation of all three Baltic Republics (1940-41).
Many ethnic Russians migrated to Latvia because of the better economic conditions. Economic conditions throughout the Baltics were better than in the other Soviet republics, primarily because Communism had been avoided during the inter-War era and agriculture had not been collectivized. The Stalin promoted Russian emigration as a way of better securing Soviet control control. This was a time-tested tactic combined with deporting some of the captive population. The tactic was adopted by imperial powers to secure newly won-territory dating back to ancient times. It is for example why the Jews wound up in Babylon. Stalin used this tactic aggressively in the Baltics. The result was a substantial shift in the ethnic and linguistic balance, not only in Latvia, but the other Baltic republics as well. The Balts has been acquired during the Tsarist era, but Russian immigration had been minor. Under Stalin it was massive. .
Soviet educational standardization in Latvia ironically meant the creation of two parallel school systems based on language, one for Latvian speakers and the other for Russian speakers. Both secondary and tertiary education was expanded. The Soviet the law on education mandated that school children should receive their education basic primary and secondary education in their mother tongue. But because of the influx of ethnic Russians (meaning Russian-language speakers, two parallel education systems developed in Latvia and the other Baltic Republics. There were schools with Latvian as the language of instruction for the ethnic Latvians. But because of the influx of Russians, separate schools were opened for the ethnic Russian immigrants with Russian as the language of instruction. In the Latvian-language schools, students were required to study Russian beginning in the first grade. To accommodate that and so as to not dilute the economic program, an extra year was added to the secondary program, taking the total school program to 11 years. As a result, almost all Latvians developed Russian language competency. The Russian-language schools had only a 10-year programs. There were mandatory Latvian language classes in the Russian schools, but it was not a priority. Fewer hours were mandated and the teaching was said to be of generally poor quality. Nor was there any great interest among he Russian students. Soviet promotion of emigration to Latvia required opening many new Russian-language schools steadily increasing the size of the Russian system. One impact of the parallel system was to separate Latvian society even more than it already was because school was so important in forming friendships and relationships. And the Russians were almost entirely an urban population.
Language throughout the Baltics became a major issue. This was part of the larger Soviet nationalities problem. The Soviets had inherited the multi-ethnic Tsarist Empire. Only about half of the Soviet Union were ethnic Russians. Thus the nationality question was potentially explosive. (It would in fact eventually destroy the Soviet Union.) And language was a major component of nationalism. The Soviets thus promoted the Russian language as a unifying force. Strangely NKVD Chief Beria promoted a policy of giving more power to local communists and accepting a role for local languages. Beria was, however, quickly eliminated after Stalin's death. This process gained more traction with Soviet Primer Khrushchev's startling Destalinization decision (1956). The policy of respecting the Latvian language was, however, eventually reversed. There was a reassessment of national (non-Russian) languages. Soviet officials were becoming concerned about nationalist sentiment among Party members in several of the republics. While not solely centered on the Baltics, it was real concern there. The Baltics were the most recent Soviet territorial acquisition (1940s). The Hungarian Revolution (1956) gave Soviet officials realm pause about opening up the system and the potential impact on he nationalities question. There was push for the language in the Baltics. They were small countries and with Russian immigration io=ere no the brink of being overwhelmed. Think of American attitudes toward immigration even with its large population. and imagine how the Balts much have been thinking including local Party members. General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev encountered considerable opposition to his Destalinization effort announced at the 20th Party Congress (1956), not so with the Latvian Party officials who were fully on-board with the effort. But apparently the Latvian Party officials went one-step too far with reform. A reformist faction within the leadership of Soviet Latvia, emboldened by Khrushchev's Destalinizatiion effort, launched an impactful language law in response to what they with good reason saw as the decline of their language. Seeking to restore the primacy of the Latvian language, the Latvian communists mandated knowledge of the Latvian and Russian languages for not only Communist Party and government functionaries, but also service sector employees (1956). While the new law included knowledge of Russians, in realistic terms, for the most part only the Russians were immolated. Virtually all Latvian Party members spoke Russians. In contrast many if not most Russian immigrants did not speak Latvian. Russian speakers were required to learn Latvian within a 2-year period or face possible dismissal. 【Loader】 Union officials promptly responded. Soviet authorities as part of an edification reform made rearming national languages optional (1958). Union decrees of course overrode edicts made by the republics. This reform resulted in the most significant confrontation between Khrushchev and the various Union republics during Khrushchev's rule. It was a major factor in the the resulting purges in two of them, Azerbaijan and Latvia. 【Smith】 Latvian Communists lost much of their influence. This was not a Stalinist-style purge with mass arrest, executions, and deportations, but Latvian national Party members lost much of their influence and many were demoted.
Soviet authorities recognized that among the different Soviet republics, the Baltics had the most well-developed infrastructure and technical specialists. As a result, the Soviet planners decided to locate some of the country's most most advanced manufacturing factories in the Baltics, prioritizing Latvia over Lithuania. This led to important new industries were located in Latvia. They including the RAF machinery factory and electronics factories. Electronics was a wanness in the Soviet economy during World War II and the Cold War and Soviet planners were anxious to catch up with the West. There were also food processing plants and petroleum refineries.
Latvia was subject to Soviet laws mandating a highly centralized school system. Soviet law did allow some distinctive characteristics in the schools of the 16 republics, including a a limited degree of national traditions. Compulsory secondary education was achieved (1980s). Some 90 percent of the school age population attended comprehensive or vocational secondary schools. This was trend occurring throughout Europe at the time. This was a substantial increase over pre-World War II levels. The programs, texts, and teaching methods were standardized throughout the Soviet Union. In many republics this had already occured, but in the Baltics it involved major changes as the school system was standardized throughout the Soviet state. As in most countries, the primary and secondary schools provided the basic education. Soviet education expanded the system, creating an impressive vocational schools offering both basic secondary and technical career training programs. There 10 more academically oriented institutions of higher education. One source describes the Soviet system as being biased toward theory rather than 'practical applicability'. 【Zogla, et. al, p. 419.】 Some liberalization occurred at the end of the Soviet era as a result General Secretary Gorbachev's perestroika effort. The impact was not what Gorbachev intended because it fueled dangerous nationalist sentiment.
Standard Soviet school uniforms were introduced into Latvian schools. Latvian clothing designers suggested a change of uniform (1975), but it was not approved by Soviet authorities.
Loader, Michael. "The rebellious republic: The 1958 education reform and Soviet Latvia," (Latvijas Vēstures Institūta Žurnāls: 2016)
Jeremy, Smith. "The battle for language: Opposition to Khrushchev's education reform in the Soviet Republics, 1958–59," Slavic Review Vol. 76, no. 4 (Winter 2017).
Zogla, Irena, Eudite, and Emilija Cernova. "Latvia," in Hörner, Wolgang, Hans Döbert, Botho von Kopp, Wolfgang Mitterhe, eds. Education Systems of Europe.
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