History of Latvia: Primary Documents

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EuroDocs > History of Latvia: Primary Documents


History of Latvia

Overview of various "Germanic" tribes by the Roman historian Tacitus. Includes Aesti living in what are now the Baltic states.
(English translation; 97 AD)
Collection of primary documents about the trade agreement between German and Baltic cities known as the Hanseatic League. Riga was one of these cities.
(English translation; 1157-1659)
Thirteenth century chronicle of events in the Baltic states. Written by Germanic priest.
Also available in Russian translation.
(Latin; 1180-1227)
Rhyming chronicle written for crusaders in Livonia, which is now Estonia and Latvia.
Excerpts also available in Russian on this page of documents.
(Middle High German and Latvian; 1180–1290)
Chronicle of Livonia by Hermann von Wartberge. Originally in Latin.
(German translation; 1196-1378)
Official edicts from bishops, the pope, as well as official complaints and other documents.
(1199-1266; English translation)
Digital Library of the Latvian National Library.
Contains digital history of Latvia and other parts of northern and eastern Europe.
Website also available in English.
(16th to 18th centuries; map facsimiles and descriptions)
(19 October 1558-24 February 1560; Russian transcription)
Chronicle by important German chronicler.
(Low German facsimile; 1584)
J.K. Broce's "Collection of Various Latvian (and Estonian) Monuments."
(18th to 19th centuries; facsimiles of ten-volume set of drawings, documents, writings, etc.)
First complete atlas of Livonia and Estonia containing 14 maps of the countries.
(18th century; zoomable maps)
Site contains documents relating to treaty.
Also available in Swedish and Finnish.
(Russian; 1718-1721)
Latvian National Anthem. Adopted in 1920.
(Latvian with English translation; 1873)
Collection of digitized national periodicals.
(1895-1957; Latvian facsimiles)
Collection of historical documents on recent Latvian history, especially in relation to Russia.
(20th century; Russian)
Treaty in which Latvia gained independence from Soviet Russia.
(English translation, August 11, 1920)
Latvian constitution during interwar period, still in use today.
(English translation; February 15, 1922)
Census data from Latvia. Provided by Latvian Statistics.
(1925-1935; Latvian)
Report of Latvian envoy on negotiations in Moscow.
(Latvian; 21 June 1940)
In 1940, the United States condemned the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and refused to recognize the annexation of the three Baltic states.
From the Wilson Center Digital Archive
(1940-1966; English)
Lists Latvians deported under Stalin's policies.
Scroll to bottom of page to view lists of names, certificates, and camp photos.
(1940-1941; photos, English interface, Latvian facsimiles)
Reported by Latvian Legation in 1944. Scroll to bottom of page to view various sections of the report.
Includes an account of the national culture in Latvia during Nazi Occupation.
(1940-1944; English translation)
E-book with a collection of documents from the aftermath of WWII in Latvia.
(Russian; 1941-1944)
"Cleansing [of Jews] and securing the area of operation"
From Yad Vashem
(1941; English translation)
Database search for orders and records of the KGB from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
Enter country and hit search button.
(English interface with Russian-language documents; 1941-1991)
Moscow Military District Prosecutor's Office investigation into the methods of the "Latvian operations" of the NKVD of the USSR in 1937-8.
Also arrested were "Poles, Germans, Bulgarians."
(1955 report about events in 1937-8; Russian transcription)
Collected primary documents from the end of the Cold War.
(1980s; English)
Declaration of the Lithuanian SSR that the previous independent Latvian constitution should be considered valid. Re-established Latvian independence.
(May 4, 1990; Lithuanian transcription)
The Restoration of Lithuania’s Independence in the Pages of the World Press in 1990
(1990; facsimiles)
Treaty and other documents concerning Latvia's admission to the European Union. Part of EUR-Lex, a service of the European Union.
(2003; English)
Latvia official data files and documents, including country files, parents' occupation, and sample data.
Files available for download
(2006-2008; Latvian & Russian; English interface)

Legal & Political Documents

Collection of Latvian Laws.
Statutes, criminal and civil codes, and other legal materials.
A portal of the BYU Law School.
Library of Congress guide to constitutional, legal and government documents.
Collection of peace agreements entered into by Latvia.
(English)

Maps, Archives & Other Collections

Latvian page of the World Documents Library.
(photos; facsimiles)
Official archives of Latvia. Contains several document databases.
Also available in English and Russian.
(Latvian)
Sources on Lativa from the Latvia State Historical Archives.
Register for a free account to access the records.
(Estonian interface)
Alphabetical list of newspapers in digital archive.
From the Latvian National Library.
(1886-1949; Latvian facsimiles)
Collection of historical maps of Latvia.
(facsimiles)
Collection of historical maps of Europe.
(facsimiles; Hungarian)
Warning: Many of the links are broken.
(Multilingual)
Database of interviews with Jewish people from Latvia.
Includes facsimiles of official documents.
Explore the database by family name, city.
Advanced search here.
(photos, English transcriptions, Latvian and Russian facsimiles)
  • Jewish Genealogy Resources
JewishGen
Courland Research Group
Jekabpils
Riga
(English)
Also contains a collection of coats of arms for other European countries and principalities.
(Facsimiles)



EuroDocs > History of Latvia: Primary Documents



EuroDocs Creator: Richard Hacken, European Studies Librarian,
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
Feel free to get in touch: eurodocs @ byu.edu