President of Latvia Egils Levits and the start date of World War II
On May 8, President Egils Levits announced at the wreath-laying ceremony at the Riga Brethren Cemetery, honoring the memory of the victims of World War II and the fall of Nazism: “Latvia did not participate in World War II, it was a foreign war for us. Our boys were drafted into the armies on both sides of the war, they were fighting for foreign reasons in foreign armies, and we also had a lot of civilian casualties.” The President's statement that World War II "was a foreign war" led to a wide-ranging exchange of views.
First of all, let's talk about basic logic. If a foreign power is wrecking your house, are the damages foreign or not? Although destroyed, my house remains my house. It will not become foreign to me - whether it is destroyed by a foreign or local power.
A war in which foreign and inhumane powers walked all over our lands, killing, pillaging and destroying it without our permission, is not foreign to us. It was deeply personal and close to everyone who lived in Latvia at that time. Because foreign powers tried to force everyone to make a choice, and people found themselves in a situation where a choice had to be made. In order to survive, it was necessary to cooperate with foreign powers. There was almost no opportunity to remain neutral, not even by leaving Latvia.
Therefore, World War II was not a foreign war for us.
Which war is foreign to us? In my opinion, a foreign war is one that takes place so far that warfare does not affect our daily lives in any way, a foreign war is one whose results (victory or loss of one side or the other) do not and will not change anything in our lives. Judging by such criteria, wars foreign to Latvia were the USSR international missions (with the participation of Latvian men) in Afghanistan, Angola and elsewhere, as well as the US wars in Korea and Vietnam, in which many soldiers of Latvian origin participated and died, and also many wars of 21st century - Iraq war, NATO invasion of Afghanistan, Syrian civil war, etc.
On the other hand, the term “foreign war” in relation to Latvia and World War II cannot be used even in a very narrow - legal sense.
When World War II broke out on September 1, 1939, the Latvian government tried to remain neutral and declared neutrality. Kārlis Ulmanis signed the declaration of neutrality already on September 1, 1939, but on September 2 it was published on the front page of all Latvian newspapers. In accordance with international law, from September 1, 1939 to October 7, 1939, following the Hague Convention of 1907 on the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in the case of War on Land, Latvia was a neutral power.
Unfortunately, by signing a treaty of mutual assistance with the USSR, which stipulated that the troops of the state warring against Poland (USSR) would be stationed in Latvia, Latvia lost its status of neutrality under the Hague Convention and was caught in the whirlpool of World War II. Of course, at the time when the great powers agreed on the occupation zones, Latvia had no hope of protecting neutrality.
However, a different interpretation of the foreign war can be obtained if the beginning of World War II is not dated September 1, 1939, but June 22, 1941, when Germany invaded the territory of the USSR. It was this moment that was constantly mentioned as the beginning of the war (so that as few people as possible could remember the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the partition of Poland) in the Soviet propaganda machinery and is now repeated in Russian information channels for the general public. If the beginning of World War II is set as June 22, 1941, then a certain logic can be seen in Egils Levits' speech. At that time, the Latvian state no longer existed, and the interpretation that this war was foreign to Latvia becomes logical.
The President seems to have serious gaps in his knowledge of history. In my opinion, not only for him, but also for his team of advisers, it would be good to repeat the basic facts about the history of the 20th century.