Peace of Riga (1920)

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This map from 1920 shows the indefinite borders before the peace agreement

The Peace of Riga of 1920 is an agreement between the Democratic Republic of Latvia and the Russian Socialist Federal Republic on the end of the Latvian-Russian War and the recognition by Russia of Latvia, which declared itself independent on November 18, 1918 the contractually stipulated limits "for all time".

The treaty was prepared in Moscow and completed on August 11, 1920 in Riga (Latvian: Rīga ). The Latvian side was represented by Jānis Vestmanis , Pēteris Berģis , Ansis Buševics , Eduards Kalniņš and Kārlis Pauļuks . The Russian side was represented by Adolf Abramowitsch Joffe and Jakow Chaniecki .

The Saeima ratified the treaty in Riga on September 2, 1920 , and the treaty was approved in Moscow on September 9, 1920. The exchange of the ratified documents took place on October 4, 1920.

In Article 1, the war between the parties was declared to be over when the contract came into effect. With Article 2, the Soviet Union recognized Latvia as an independent republic. Article 3 stipulated mutual borders and the withdrawal of armies to their own territory within 14 days of the conclusion of the contract.

Furthermore, the prisoner exchange was regulated. Several articles are devoted to the return of all cultural goods stolen by Russia during the First World War .

Latvian independence lasted until October 1939. Then, by means of an ultimatum, Stalin forced Latvia into a “support and base agreement” in accordance with the additional protocol of the German-Soviet non-aggression pact. This eventually led to the occupation of Latvia by Soviet troops in June 1940 .

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