Timeline of Latvian history

This is a timeline of Latvian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Latvia and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Latvia. See also the list of Presidents of Latvia.

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

8th century

Year	Date	Event
800		The ancient Balts began to form specific tribal realms.

11th century

Year	Date	Event
1100		The borders of the Baltic realms became settled.

12th century

Year	Date	Event
1184		The monk Saint Meinhard began missionary work among the Livonian people.
1186		Meinhard was appointed bishop of Livonia by the Pope.
1198		Bishop Berthold of Hanover arrived at the mouth of the Daugava River accompanied by crusaders and was killed in battle with Livonians.
1199		Albert of Riga was elected the third bishop of Livonia.
		Pope Innocent III proclaimed a second Baltic Crusade.

13th century

Year	Date	Event
1201		Albert founded Riga on the site of earlier Livonian settlement.
1202		The Livonian Brothers of the Sword was founded by Bishop Albert.
1206		The Brothers of the Sword and their Semigallian allies defeated the Livonians and Latgalians.
1217		The Brothers of the Sword and their Livonian and Latgalian allies defeated the Estonians at Viljandi.
1229		Bishop Albert died.
1236		Battle of Saule: The Brothers of the Sword were defeated in Lithuania by the combined forces of the Lithuanians and Semigallians.
1242		Alexander Nevsky defeated the Livonian Order on Lake Peipus.
1255		The Bishopric at Riga was elevated to become the Archbishopric of Riga.
1282		Riga became a member of the Hanseatic League.

15th century

Year	Date	Event
1422		A Livonian Diet first met.
1452		The Livonian Order and Archbishopric of Riga began to rule jointly in Livonia.
1481		Russia attacked Livonia.

16th century

Year	Date	Event
1501		The Livonian Order, aided by Lithuania, launched an attack on Russia.
1502		Russia was defeated.
1558		Ivan the Terrible launched an attack on Livonia.
1561		Livonian War: Livonia fell to Lithuania.
1569		Lithuania and Poland joined to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Livonia became a joint domain administered directly by both realms.

17th century

Year	Date	Event
1629		The Peace of Altmark was reached, under which Sweden annexed Livonia and several Courland territories to Swedish Livonia.
1689		The Old and New Testaments were published in Latvian translation by Pastor Ernst Glück.
1700		Great Northern War: A war began which involved the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden, and Russia.

18th century

Year	Date	Event
1710		Riga fell to the Russians, though Courland remained under the control of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1721		Great Northern War: The Treaty of Nystadt ended the war.

19th century

Year	Date	Event
1841		A famine occurred in Livonia.
1873		The first Latvian Song and Dance Festival took place.
1887		Russification measures began in the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire.

20th century

Year	Date	Event
1905	13 January	Russian army troops opened fire on demonstrators in Riga, killing seventy-three and injuring two hundred people.
		A revolution took place in the Baltic region directed primarily against German landowners and Russian autocracy.
1914	1 August	World War I: The war began.
1918	18 November	An independent Latvia was proclaimed.
1920	11 August	The Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty was signed.
1921	22 September	Latvia became a member of the League of Nations.
1922	February	A Latvian constitution was adopted.
1934	15 May	Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis took power in a bloodless coup d'état.
1939	23 August	The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was signed between the Soviet Union (USSR) and Nazi Germany.
1940	16 June	An ultimatum was presented by the USSR to Latvia.
	17 June	Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940: Soviet troops occupied the country.
	5 August	Latvia was incorporated into the Soviet Union, becoming the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR).
1941	13 June	The first mass deportations of Latvians to various sites in the Soviet Union began.
	1 July	Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany: Nazi troops occupied Riga.
1944	October	Occupation of Latvia by Soviet Union 1944-1945: The Soviet army reentered Riga.
1955		About thirty thousand deportees returned to Latvia from the USSR under a general amnesty.
1981		The modern Vanšu Bridge was opened across the Daugava River in Riga.
1987	14 June	The first demonstration in Riga to commemorate the 1941 deportations took place.
1988	23 August	Mass demonstrations took place against the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
1990	4 May	The Latvian SSR Supreme Council adopted the declaration On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia.
1991	January	The Barricades: Pro-Communist political forces attempted to restore Soviet power in Latvia.
	6 September	The Soviet Union recognized Latvian independence.
	17 September	Latvia became a member of the United Nations.

21st century

Year	Date	Event
2002	May	Latvian singer Marija Naumova won the annual Eurovision song competition.
2004	2 April	Latvia became a member of NATO.
	1 May	Latvia became a member of European Union.

References

• Plakans, Andrejs (2008). Historical Dictionary of Latvia. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-5515-1.