Latviešu Sociāldemokrātu Savienība

Latviešu Sociāldemokrātu Savienība ( Latvian Social Democratic Association ) was a socialist political party in Latvia with roots in Liepāja .

Led by Miķelis Valters and Ernests Rolavs , the group was an outgrowth of the New Current , but soon adopted more radical and nationalistic positions vis-à-vis the larger Latvian Social Democratic Labor Party . Many New Current activists were arrested in the late 1890s and many went into exile in Western Europe and the United States. The offshoots of the group of Valters and Rolavs published pamphlets in exile, such as “Proletārietis” ( The Proletarian ), which was printed in 1902 and 1903 in Boston and in 1903 and 1904 in Zurich. They were the first to demand full autonomy for Latvia and the transformation of the Russian Empire into a federation of independent republics. They also advocated the expropriation of the Baltic German properties in a radical land reform .