12 research outputs found
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN INDEPENDENT LATVIA
The aim of the paper is to reflect the political activities of the Roman Catholic Church in two periods of the history of Latvia and the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia ā in the period of First Independence of the Republic of Latvia, basically in the 1920s, and in the period following the restoration of Latviaās independence. With the foundation of the independent state of Latvia, the Roman Catholic Church experienced several changes; - bishops of the Roman Catholic Church were elected from among the people; - the Riga diocese was restored the administrative borders of which were coordinated with the borders of the state of Latvia; - priests of the Roman Catholic Church were acting also in political parties and in the Latvian Parliament. For the Church leadership, active involvement of clergymen in politics was, on the one hand, a risky undertaking (Francis Trasunsā experience), but, on the other hand, a necessary undertaking, since in this way the Roman Catholic Church attempted to exercise control over politicians and also affect the voters in the elections for the Saeima. The status of the Church in the State of Latvia was legally secured by the concordat signed in the spring of 1922 which provided for a range of privileges to the Roman Catholic Church: - other Christian denominations in Latvia are functioning in accordance with the regulations elaborated by the State Control and confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior, but the Roman Catholic Church is functioning according to the canons set by the Vatican; - releasing the priests from military service, introduction of the Chaplaincy Institution; - releasing the churches, seminary facilities, bishopsā apartments from taxes; - a license for the activity of Roman Catholic orders; - the demand to deliver over one of the church buildings belonging to Riga Evangelical Lutherans to the Roman Catholics. With the regaining of Latviaās independence, the Roman Catholic Church of Latvia again took a considerable place in the formation of the public opinion and also in politics. However, unlike the parliamentarian period of the independent Latvia, the Roman Catholic Church prohibited the priests to involve directly in politics and considered it unadvisable to use the word āChristianā in the titles of political parties. Nowadays, the participation of the Roman Catholic Church in politics is indirect. The Church is able to influence the public opinion, and actually it does. The Roman Catholic Church does not attempt to grasp power, but to a certain extent it can, at least partly, influence the authorities so that they count with the interests of Catholic believers. Increase of popularity of the Roman Catholic Church in the world facilitated also the increase of the role of the Roma Catholic Church in Latvia. The visit of the Pope in Latvia in 1993 was a great event not only for the Catholic believers but also for the whole state of Latvia. In the autumn of 2002, in Rome, a concordat was signed between the Republic of Latvia and the Vatikan which is to be classified not only as an agreement between the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia and the state of Latvia but also as an international agreement. Since the main foreign policy aim of Latvia is integration in the European Union and strengthening its positions on the international arena, Vatican as a powerful political force was and still is a sound guarantee and support in international relations
MANIFESTATION OF LATGALIAN IDENTITY IN EXILE
The article deals with some aspects of Latgalian identity and perception in exile, their origin and main key issues. At the end of the Second World War about 120,000 - 140,000 residents of Latvia found their asylum in the West. About 7,000 of them were Latgalians. Despite their common sense of belonging to lost Latvia, common aspirations for freedom and independence of a Latvian state, Latvian intelligentsia was not united in exile. It was composed of different social and scientifi c organizations, etc. The lack of unity is based on heritage and stereotypes. Historically Latgale had different socio-economic conditions, different socio-political development of events and belated national consciousness development. That is why Latgalians in exile were not united. Their beliefs were very different in number of issues: 1. Regarding written language and the language of worship (Latvian or Latgalian). Catholic Church representatives in exile considered the language of worship services should be Latvian, because Catholics were among Latvians. But another part of the representatives of Latgalians insisted on the Latgalian language; 2. Regarding historical concept (authoritarian regime of Karlis Ulmanis and Latgale). One part criticized Karlis Ulmanis about restriction of the Latgalian language and literature in the second part of 30s of the 20th century, while the others supported his economic and other activities in favour of Latgale. The most active and important organization that defended everything Latgalian was Vladislavs LÅcis Publishing House and Latgale Research Institute (LRI). Vladislavs LÅcis Publishing House moved from Daugavpils to the West and started its activities in Germany. The publisher considered Latgalian writer or researcher a person who wrote in Latgalian. In this connection some problems arose with Latgalian authors who tried to keep both languages ā Latgalian and Latvian. Despite of various ideological and material obstacles, V. LÅcis Publishing House has made a substantial contribution. The Publishing House issued in total about 150 Latgalian authorsā books, as well as almanac āTÄvu Zemes Kalendarsā (Father`s Land Calendar), the newspaper āLatgolas Bolssā (Voice of Latgale), āLatgolaā (Latgale), the magazine āDzeiveā (Life), a literary collection of articles āOlÅ«tsā, a scientific collection of articles āActa Latgalicaā. Research institute was established to coordinate research work in exile by the Latgale intelligentsia. Emphasising the authentic Latgalian research orientations, it is also known as Latgalian Research Institute. LRI foundation was a form of protest against disregard of the Latgalian descendants, history, culture, literary research: 1) In Western European research communities; 2) Works of Latvian group of authors in exile; 3) The absence of objective study of history of Latvia in Soviet Latvia. Though LRI staff were cut off from their homeland, without modern means of communication, nevertheless they were able to organize the Latgalian researchers in different countries and continents, could lead to permanent research in history, culture and literature of Latgale. The main issue as well as the problem was why during the second generation in exile has the continuity of selflessness ambitions vanished. During the first generation of exile the Latgalian identity has been largely reduced to the usage of Latgalian language. Unlike Latvians from other regions who saw spacious prospects for their activities, the new generation of Latgalians in exile did not see wide enough perspective for the Latgalian language and written form of expression of the language. However, the succession in greater or less extent was saved after the resumption of independence of Latvia ā in Latgale: in 1991 the Institute activities were declared and supported by the official members of exile in Daugavpils. Currently, the LRI is the branch of Daugavpils University; Latgale research nowadays is not limited to LRI. Since 90s RÄzekne University College (RÄzeknes Augstskola) has grown into an important research centre, where the Institute of Regional Studies has started its activities. Latgale Cultural centre Publishing House continues traditions started by V. LÅcis
Book Reviews
2010. gada nogalÄ filozofijas doktora, RA nÄca klajÄ ReÄ£ionÄlistikas institÅ«ta vadoÅ”Ä pÄtnieka, LU profesora Valda TÄraudkalna monogrÄfija āKristus un cÄzars. KristietÄ«ba un vara vÄsturÄā. KÄ monogrÄfijas prezentÄcijÄ 9. decembrÄ« RÄzeknÄ uzsvÄra autors, cÄzars nav konkrÄta vÄsturiska personÄ«ba, bet gan laicÄ«gÄs varas simbols ā tÄpÄc arÄ« grÄmatas nosaukumÄ uzrakstÄ«ts ar mazo burtu. LaicÄ«gÄs un garÄ«gas varas attiecÄ«bas ā daudzveidÄ«ga lÄ«dzÄspastÄvÄÅ”ana un cÄ«Åa par ietekmi ā iezÄ«mÄ plaÅ”u problÄmloku un diskusiju objektu. Neskatoties uz aktualitÄti, atjaunotÄs Latvijas valsts laikÄ Å”ai problemÄtikai veltÄ«tu akadÄmisku, Ärpus kristÄ«go konfesiju oficiÄlajÄm mÄcÄ«bÄm esoÅ”u pÄtÄ«jumu skaits ir nepietiekams.LaicÄ«gÄs un garÄ«gÄs varas attiecÄ«bu aspekti analizÄti vien tiesÄ«bu zinÄtÅu speciÄlista Ringolda Baloža monogrÄfijÄ (Balodis 2000), vÄsturnieces Ineses Runces promocijas darbÄ (Runce 2008) un atseviŔķu pÄtnieku publikÄcijÄs RA ReÄ£ionÄlistikas iznstitÅ«ta žurnÄla āVia Latgalicaā otrajÄ numurÄ (Via Latgalica 2009). TÄpÄc V. TÄraudkalna monogrÄfija vÄrtÄjama kÄ pietiekami nozÄ«mÄ«gs notikums.TÄpat kÄ savÄ pirmajÄ monogrÄfijÄ (TÄraudkalns 2003) par publiskajÄ telpÄ neviennozÄ«mÄ«gi vÄrtÄto VasarsvÄtku kustÄ«bas darbÄ«bu LatvijÄ, V. TÄraudkalna ievÄro āskata no malasā principu ā secinÄjumus veicot akadÄmiskÄs robežÄs un neuzsverot savu viedokli un vÄrtÄjumu.PieteiktÄ tÄma ir plaÅ”a un komplicÄta ar starpdisciplinÄru raksturu. IzvÄlÄtais pÄtÄmo jautÄjumu loks ir pamatots un lielÄ mÄrÄ latvieÅ”u valodÄ lasoÅ”am lasÄ«tÄjam ā novators, jo monogrÄfijÄ ietverti ne tikai tie strÄvojumi un personÄ«bas, kas kristietÄ«bas vÄsturÄ atstÄjuÅ”as paliekoÅ”u lomu (AugustÄ«ns, reformÄcija u. c), bet aplÅ«kotas arÄ« LatvijÄ maz zinÄmas tÄmas (radikÄlÄs reformÄcijas pÄrstÄvju izpratne par valsti, kristietÄ«ba komunistiskajÄ Ä¶Ä«nÄ u. c.)MonogrÄfijÄ analizÄtas laicÄ«gÄs un garÄ«gÄs varas attiecÄ«bas no kristietÄ«bas pirmsÄkumiem lÄ«dz mÅ«sdienÄm, uzmanÄ«bu veltot aprakstÄ«tÄ laika posma ietekmÄ«gÄko teologu atziÅÄm par to, kÄdam jÄbÅ«t Å”o attiecÄ«bu modelim. V. TÄraudkalns plaÅ”i izmanto salÄ«dzinoÅ”o metodi, kas pÄtÄ«jumu paplaÅ”ina laikÄ un telpÄ ā aprakstot agrÄk notikuÅ”u faktu un parÄdÄ«bu, tiek norÄdÄ«ts uz to izpausmÄm arÄ« vÄlÄkajos posmos un mÅ«sdienÄs, rakstot par parÄdÄ«bÄm EiropÄ, ZiemeļamerikÄ un ÄzijÄ, norÄdÄ«ts uz lÄ«dzÄ«gÄm parÄdÄ«bÄm arÄ« LatvijÄ.Autors monogrÄfijas sÄkumÄ atspoguļo, kÄ no marginÄlas sociÄlas kustÄ«bas kristietÄ«ba kļūst par valsts reliÄ£iju ar visÄm no tÄ izrietoÅ”Äm sekÄmā no upura lÄ«dz vajÄtÄjam. Seko turpinÄjums par baznÄ«cas un valsts (valdnieka) varas konkurenci viduslaikos, par valsts un baznÄ«cas attiecÄ«bÄm reformÄcijas laikmetÄ, kad reformÄcijas ideologi norÄda uz kristieÅ”u pienÄkumu lÄ«dzdalÄ«bai arÄ« pilsoniskÄs aktivitÄtÄs. Tiek analizÄta kristietÄ«bas loma ASV politiskÄs sistÄmas izveidÄ, ākristÄ«goā partiju (KristÄ«gie demokrÄti un KristÄ«gie sociÄlisti) izveidoÅ”anÄs 19. un 20. gadsimtÄ un ideoloÄ£iskÄ nostÄdne ā sasaistÄ«t politiku ar kristÄ«gajÄm vÄrtÄ«bÄm.LasÄ«tÄju interesi saistÄ«s monogrÄfijas nodaļa par politikas sakralizÄciju 20. gadsimtÄ (politiskÄs reliÄ£ijas) nacistiskajÄ VÄcijÄ, faÅ”istiskajÄ ItÄlijÄ un komunistiskajÄ Ä¶Ä«nÄ. TÄpat lasÄ«tÄjs tiek iepazÄ«stinÄts ar marksisma sociÄli politisko teoriju iekļauÅ”anu teoloÄ£iskajÄ diskursÄ pÄc OtrÄ pasaules kara (Dieva izredzÄtie un nabadzÄ«gie, Dievs cieÅ” lÄ«dz ar mums, nÄkotne maina tagadni u. c. lÄ«dzÄ«gi lozungi).MonogrÄfijas pÄdÄjÄ nodaļa veltÄ«ta kristietÄ«bas lomai mÅ«sdienu Eiropas publiskajÄ telpÄ, akcentÄjot Anglijas pieredzi. NoslÄgumÄ, runÄjot par kristietÄ«bas saistÄ«bu ar demokrÄtiju, autors secina, ka tieÅ”i demokrÄtija ir atbrÄ«vojusi baznÄ«cu no tÄs privilÄÄ£ijÄm, ļaujot rast savu sÅ«tÄ«bu kalpoÅ”anÄ citiem, nevis mÄÄ£inot sevi saglabÄt kÄ varas struktÅ«ru. TajÄ paÅ”Ä laikÄ tiek pievÄrsta uzmanÄ«ba mÅ«sdienu demokrÄtijas dažiem Ätiskajiem aspektiem.MonogrÄfijas zinÄtnisko kvalitÄti āceļā plaÅ”ais avotu un Kembridžas, KopenhÄgenas, Oksfordas, VÄ«nes u. c. universitÄÅ”u bibliotÄkÄs izmantotÄs zinÄtniskÄs literatÅ«ras klÄsts. V. TÄraudkalna pÄtÄ«jums iezÄ«mÄs jaunus mazÄk zinÄmus faktus un to interpretÄciju laicÄ«gÄs un garÄ«gÄs varas attiecÄ«bÄs gan dažÄdu zinÄtÅu nozaru pÄtniekiem, gan Ärpus akadÄmiskÄs vides esoÅ”iem interesentiem
DISCOURSES ON THE CONCEPT OF THE MONUMENT āUNITED FOR LATVIAā IN LATGALIAN PRESS (THE 1920S AND 1930S)
The monument āUnited for Latviaā, unveiled in the centre of Rezekne in 1939, is dedicated to the participants of the Latvian War of Independence (1918ā1920. ), who took part in the liberation of Latgale from the Bolsheviks. In a broader sense, it symbolizes the whole Latgale, the liberation of the people from foreign powers, as well as the unity of Latgale with the rest of Latvia. Nowadays, the monument is a signature of Latgale, its image is widely used in booklets, souvenirs, on the covers of books and brochures, in advertisements, etc. Despite the significance and popularity of the monument, its history has been little studied. Before the monument was erected, there was a series of discourses on its concept in Latgalian press. The aim of the article is to identify in the course of the exploration of Latgalian press publications the direction of the public opinion in the 1920s and 1930s on the discourses of what should be the ideological and visual appearance of the monument of the liberation of Latgale and its unification with the rest of Latvia. The study is based on the historical approach to discourse and qualitative, comparative analysis of information. The study examines two topics of discourse: the choice of the monument site and the type of the monument; the ideological and visual solution of the monument.
THE SITUATION IN THE LATGALIAN COUNTRYSIDE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE AGRARIAN REFORM IN THE 1920s
During the first independence of the Latvian Republic, the radical agrarian reform between 1920 and 1937 was the most important attempt to solve the agrarian problem. At the core of the reform was the nationalization of the estates, the buildings, the interior inventory and the cattle, and the distribution of the land which had become property of the National Land Fund (NLF) among landless peasants and small farmers. The objective of the paper is to identify the different factors that cumbered the beginning of the agrarian reform in Latgale and made it more complicated. In Latgale there was a big problem to abandon the system of land management under collective responsibility, which slowed down the personal initiative of the farmers and therefore constrained the introduction of more progressive methods of land cultivation and management. In Latgale, as a long-term adminstrative part of the guberniya of Vitebsk, archaic methods of managementi similar to those in Russia prevailed. After the formation of the Latvian state, when the region of Latgale joined the better developed regions of Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Zemgale, the agrarian underdevelopment of Latgale became particularly obvious. Therefore, eliminating this gap in the agrarian development became one of the most important tasks on the way to an economically and politically stable state. Although the Latvian law on the Agrarian reform was meant to apply to the whole territory of Latvia, the agrarian reform in Latgale needed to react to peculiarities that demanded additional measures. While preparing and implementing the agrarian reform in Latgale, it was necessary to consider the historical āheritageā from the times when Latgale was part of the Polish- Lithuanian state and the Russian Empire: - A non-efficient system of management which was based on rural management expertise; - An artificially created shortage of land among the Latgalian, i.e. Catholic farmers, since there were restrictions for them in land purchasing; - Poorly educated and conservative farmers. Since 1917, the situation of the Latgalian farmers became worse because of unlawful activities by different armies such as the requisition of cattle and looting. Because of the continuing existence of the Soviet regime until January, 1920, the registration of landless peasants and the land assignment started later in Latgale than in other regions. When the land assignment in Latgale started, at first the data that the land surveyors and regional managers of the National Land Fund had gathered on site had to be processed. The precise area under the administration of the National Land Fund was not known, nor was the area of the land which was used for agricultural purposes. There were no maps of the major part of the estate and village lands in Latgale. As long as Latgale used to be the part of the Guberniya of Vitebsk, there was no data about Latgale. Many archives of the agrarian commission were destroyed by the communists in 1919, and during World War I parts of them had already been taken to Russia. There was no organized land register in Latgale. From a legal point of view, the land was registered under the name of one owner, but in reality many heirs often cultivated the land together. In addition, there were some legally registered shared land properties in Latgale. There were not many landless peasants in Latgale, but there were indeed many small farmers who had obtained the right to acquire additional land. The quantity of the land of the National Fund in Latgale did not correspond to the large number of land claims. In Latgale, about 60% of the small farmers had a right to claim land. Since the procedure of land assignment was therefore much more difficult in Latgale than in other Latvian regions, the special instruction ā 25 was drafted for Latgale in addition to the law on the agrarian reform. This instruction regulated the principles of land assignment from the National Fund in the region. The instruction provided for greater privileges for land claims put forward by locals. Although there were a lot of difficulties and problems during the preparation of the agrarian reform and the land assignment in Latgale, it finally proved to be a great achievement for the solution of the agrarian problems in Latvia in general
AGRARIAN REFORM AND CHANGES IN THE CULTURAL HERITAGE LANDSCAPE OF RURAL LATGALE IN 1920S AND 1930S
In the 20th century, Latvia underwent several rapid rearrangements of social and economic system. One of them were the Latvian Agrarian Reform (1920ā1937) due to the implementation of which also the Latgalian rural cultural heritage landscape changed. In Latgale, there were established farmsteads instead of compactly inhabited locations (villages, in Latvian ā sÄdžas). The rural landscape of Latgale became similar to rural landscape in other regions of Latvia. The aim of the article is, studying the economic and social aspects of life in Latgalian villages, to find out the outcomes of dividing villages into farmsteads during the Latvian Agrarian Reform, their influence on changes in the Latgalian rural cultural heritage landscape
DISCOURSES OF LATGALIAN REGIONAL DISTINCTIONS IN THE LATVIAN PRESS: A HISTORICAL OUTLOOK (1920ā1934)
Latgale is characterized by a number of distinctions shaped by historical developments: the uniqueness of the Latgalian language, the dominance of Catholicism and its influence on cultural processes (in contrast to Lutheranism in the rest of Latvia), the mixed ethnic composition of its inhabitants (especially the presence of Russians and Poles and their cultural influence), etc.Even after the creation of an independent state, Latvians still lacked a unified national consciousness. The Latvians of Latgale were often seen in contrast to other Latvians in Latvia ā the āBaltsā. The aim of this article is to clarify the role and activities of Latvian newspapers to shape public perception of Latvia during the first Republican period (1920ā1934). The article examines approximately 80Ā texts in the Latvian (Latgalian and the so-called, at the time, āBalticā) press. These texts are taken from Latgalian papers āLatgolas VÅrdsā āLatgaleās Wordā, āLatgalitsā āThe Latgalianā, āJaunÅ Straumeā āThe New Streamā, āZemnÄ«ka Bolssā āThe Farmerās Voiceā; as well as from the āBalticā newspapers āBrÄ«vÄ Zemeā āThe Free Landā, āLatvijas Sargsā āThe Latvian Guardā, āLatvisā āThe Latvianā, āLatgales ZiÅasā āThe Latgalian Newsā; the journal āEkonomistsā āThe Economistā; and the monthly periodical āBurtnieksā āThe Soothsayerā.The research is supported by qualitative data analysis ā historical discourse approach ā using the discursive construction of the distinction between āus ā themā. The construction of āus ā themā is one usually based on stereotypes and prejudice. A negative experience with an āopponent/Ā enemyā is often seen to be representative of the whole group, whereas a positive experience is seen to be an exception. The article also examines linguistic techniques which are used to accent arguments.In analyzing the discursive themes in Latgalian newspapers, it is possible to observe a constructed opposition between two societies/Ā cultural groups ā āBaltsā and Latgalians. Distinguishing characteristics of the Latgale region according to the Latvian (and especially, national-conservative) press are presented as multifaceted; however, discourse is never focused upon cooperation, but, conversely ā upon mutual cultural alienation
CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS OF DOCUMENTS AND ARCHIVES MANAGEMENT IN ORGANIZATIONS
In Latvia state and municipal institutions document and archive management is strictly regulated. Regularly are made additions and innovations. In recent years actually discussion about the digitization of documents and information into electronic form, but part of the law does not apply to organizations. Nowadays in Latvia is a situation in which private organizations (in witch are not strictly monitored documents and archives management) canāt save documents that provides any specific information. This information can bring legal consequences and it is probable that future researchers may have undisclosed information such a areas research, influential person biography, etc. Very important is analyze the country regulated laws, available literature and use possibilities provided by technologies to make easier your documents and archives organization
ARHIVING OF ORAL HISTORY SOURCES IN LATVIA: EXAMPLE OF MUSEUM OF THE OCCUPATION OF LATVIA
Since second half of 1980s in Eastern Europe and Latvia importance of oral history sources is increasing in various study sectors. It has become relevant material for archiving, preservation, digitization and solving various problematic issues. The research is based on study of Museum of the Occupation of Latvia Audiovisual holdings source archiving experienc
THE USE OF DOCUMENTS OF 1083 STATE AS āVEFā (1985 ā 1990)
The documents of the Fonds of the JSC VEF are stored in NAL State Archive of Personnel Files (SAPF) at Å ampÄtera Street 16 in Riga. Chronological framework of the documents in Fonds is from 1944 until 2000, but research of the Paper is on documents from 1985 until 1990. Archive documents are a specific source of information. This trail includes a distinctive range of information that is impossible to get nowhere else. That why to provide use of documents is an important archival function. JSC "VEF" Fond documents can be used for various purposes. Archive documents can be used for compose reference and for research purposes. The Aim of the research Paper: to study the opportunities of use of documents in Fonds of Joint Stock Company VEF