The History of Latvia

[@NathanLaValley]

I'm so glad my song worked out into one of your videos! keep killing it!

[@besmartoffical]

Provocateur Latvia's flag is older then Austria's flag!

[@nixs7397]

LATVIA IS 1 OF THE MOST SMALES COUNTRIES UT WE HAVE DEVELOPED DRONES AND SOUER ACID AND WE HAVE SO MANY ATHLETES IT'S AMAZING WHAT WE HAVE WENT TROG!

[@nixs7397]

Yes, It is

[@janis2507]

Provocateur latvian flag is one of the oldest flags in the world, that means austria needs to give our flag back...

[@frip7283]

Provocateur nt, Latvian flag is second oldest flag in the World, lol

[@alp196]

Just got back From Latvia, Most Beautiful country and people i have ever seen! Please leave this peace loving people alone.Greetings from U.S.A.

[@Gogeto666]

Cheers!

[@drillaz3671]

Thx im from latvia

[@iluvmyswamp7948]

Latvia is the worst country in europe

[@krebssfish9370]

Okay, have you been there, do you know what it has gone through (This video did not cover all the struggles), and lastly do you know what every single other European country is like?

[@eduardsrobeznieks8040]

thank you from latvia

[@sophbooks2]

as a native lativan whose language and culture was lost after my family left in the 2nd world war and had to discard their culture when they arrived in Australia, this was amazing to watch - im so excited to return one day

[@sv-wr6me]

same thing happened for my grandfather was latvian born and moved to italy after the second world war. They later moved to australia where i live now

[@dominoespizza1756]

My great grandfather came to Australia in 1949, I still don't know that much about him

[@SLINKYshton]

Holy our great/ grandparents might have been on the same ship 🤯

[@princelostinlove]

Back to russia

[@dan3998]

I moved from Latvia to Canada as a kid about 8 years ago and I am so sad that my parents didn’t encourage me to practice the language and stay in touch with friends since I basically have forgotten the language and there are so many cool things I am not learning about the country.

[@Joonaskaa]

Love the freedom monument. I go to see it every time I visit. Much love from Estonia my friends

[@insurgentmapper5239]

Greetings from latvia im from latvia

[@randomstyle1993]

Yo im from latvia ive been in estonia its cool

[@nicozthestar2342]

)

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

Its very ugly, much better one should be built.

[@gaetanlizotte1957]

the puppet latvian government will remove the monument because they try punish the russians in latvia for so many years

[@lazzytroops8066]

I have a japanese friend who loves latvia so much.And now me also wants to know more things About Latvia because she always told me latvia is such a good place with lots of nice peoples,beautiful clean places ,nice foods...I want to visit latvia once in my lifetime...A lot of Love and Greetings From Nepal💕💕💕to All Latvians💕💕💕

[@lunarcat3283]

Lazzy Troops i suggest if you ever go to Latvia, go to the forests and other nature related places because Latvia has the best nature. If you’re not a fan of regular nature walks and such you can go to some climbing parks for some adventure....

[@0AngelOnTheDanceFloor0]

Yeah. Most people only go to Rīga and not outside of it even tho it has such amazing nature views. I hope you can visit too 💕

[@Tsukasaslover]

I may think Latvia could be popular with its forests and farms!

[@Tsukasaslover]

@@0AngelOnTheDanceFloor0 I'm also in the fandom. :0

[@0AngelOnTheDanceFloor0]

@@Tsukasaslover 👌 Nice to hear, honestly first time because I'm the only person around where I live into it or even aware of it

[@dalia9756]

As a Lithuanian, i knew NOTHING about Latvia, god bless our Baltic neighbor friend, Latvia.....

[@emilsdrivins3060]

ty u 2 mine friend )

[@midnightphantom3131]

Thanks i am from Latvia

[@contentcape8942]

Im latvian i respect you now

[@chasesstuff6010]

Thanks for the respect my Lithuanian friend 🇱🇻🤝🇱🇹

[@edgardale4271]

Thank goodness we are not Russians vs Ukrainians. But we should all learn more about each other.

[@SiberHavoc]

4:12 Honestly, fighting for your country against oppression is a noble cause. No matter the army and no matter the leader of that country. Those Latvian soldiers deserve to be remembered as men who fought for their people!

[@lindamazule2289]

If you mean the people who fought on Hitler's side - many of them didn't have a choice. My Granddads brother was called into the Soviet Union army, but my granddad, being yust 2-3 years younger, was called in the Nazi Germany's army. In the battle of "Kurzemes katls" they stood against each other. My granddad's brother died in that place, and untill his ending days my granddad wasn't shure if he shot the bullet that killed his own brother. All the people who say Nazi's are bad but Soviets just protected their country doesn't know our history at all! We were free and developing (for the last two decades during our first independancy) before Russians came in and used us to their own gain, deporting thousands of people (from our already small country) and punishing those who didn't agree with Soviet Union or expressed any willingness to gain back their own country. And many of the deported ones were somehow associated wth germans or jews. No one cared that most (I know, not all) were callled into Nazi army unwillingly and their main thought was that Germany was better than the horrors they saw in the Soviet Union, and there was even an unaccepted document at one point promising Latvians their country if they fought in this war for Germany. And even after the war many Latvians believed someone would come to their rescue, so they became partisans, hiding in the woods and waiting for help to come... We believed Americans or England will come to our aid, but it was all in vain... No one came to our aid, and we suffered long years under Ussr's governance until we almost miraculously gained our independance again. And during all this, I must mention, many people who fought under Nazi Germany's flag did it because they had no choice or they hoped Germany could make their country great again, like back where it was before the war. There, of course, were latvian Nazi soldiers who committed awful crimes, as did so many people in othe countries as well, too, of course, but they were the minority. And, in all of this, just remember that Soviet union was as bad as Nazi Germany and we should despise both of them, Not to hate one and forget about the other. Yes, Soviet Union helped to defeat the Nazi's, but at what cost??? No one's checking the winner, I guess... And it is even more visible now, when some european country's literally struggle between what is right (Final justice for opressed countries) and what is easy(economical benefits for turning a blid eye against other country's commited atroccities )... again....

[@KimisLV]

@@romanski5811 The Latvian SS didnt kill jews, they were frontline soldiers only. There however was a police established by nazis that did round up jews and kill them.

[@WilllikesMD]

That's how we remember them here in Latvia we have a whole holiday celebrating the long gone soldiers who fought for our country. Rest in peace trops your legacy and the people you protected will live on forever.❤🇱🇻❤

[@blue_stuffwow7432]

We had around 10 thousand soldiers when we fought against ussr and denmark surrendered against denmark. Take note that denmark had 55k active troops. This proves latvia is a brave country

[@AmorFati99]

Finally someone made a video about the history of this lovely country! Greeting to all Latvians from Poland!

[@thebrickbrick]

hi I'm 4 years late

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

This video is so wrong in everything pre 20. century.

[@WilllikesMD]

Hi Poland! Kā iet?(How's it going?) Hi from Latvia!🇱🇻

[@WilllikesMD]

​@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 Why are you also here you already said it once why do you say it twice!?

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@@WilllikesMD What?

[@Lachausis]

This video barely scratched the surface of Latvian history.

[@HakingMC]

Well it is just 8 minute long

[@marekss]

Lachausis that is right he must make like a part 2

[@lolikususs]

Yea and not a single man died. But blood stood still.

[@angrypewds452]

Bomārs.

[@cope9489]

pretty true

[@ToiYeuYAHWEH]

Best of luck to all you Baltic nations. -- With love from Vietnam.

[@lasttoiletpaperroll3685]

We have luck now... exept there ar atleast 25% russians in all 3 countries :(

[@SmokeyTheLarge]

you are from Vieatnam?

[@insurgentmapper5239]

Big thanks from latvia

[@paulacudare6892]

Paldies ( thank you) 😁

[@joshcohen3059]

As stated by the Latvian historian Andrievs Ezergailis, this was the beginning of "the greatest criminal act in the history of Latvia". From July 1941 the Jews of Latvia were also humiliated in different ways and deprived of the rights that were enjoyed by the other citizens of Latvia. Jews were strictly forbidden to leave their homes in the evening, at night and in the morning. They were allotted lower food rations, they could only shop in some special stores, and they had to wear the mark of recognition - the yellow Star of David on their clothes. It was forbidden for them to attend places where public events took place, including cinemas, athletic fields and parks.[8] They were not allowed to use trains and trams, to go to bath-houses, use pavements, attend libraries and museums or to go to schools, and they had to hand over bicycles and radios. Jewish doctors were only allowed to advise and treat Jews, and they were forbidden to run pharmacies.[9][10] Maximum norms for furniture, clothes and linen were also soon introduced for Jews. All articles above the norm were subject to confiscation for the needs of the Reich and the Latvians. All jewelry, securities, gold and silver coins had to be surrendered on demand. Anti-Semitism thus became the source of enrichment of Nazi officials and their local collaborators who confiscated Jewish property. The extermination of Jews suited the purposes of these Nazis and their Latvian allies, since nobody would remain alive to demand the return of stolen items.[11] Liepāja Edit Main article: Liepāja massacres In Liepāja the first mass killing of Jews took place on July 3 and 4, when about 400 people were shot dead, and on July 8 when 300 Jews were killed. The German group of SD and policemen did the shooting, while the Latvian members of Latvian Selbstschutz convoyed victims to the killing site.[citation needed] On July 13 the destroying of the large choral synagogue of Liepāja began. The rolls of the Scripture were spread on the Ugunsdzēsēju Square, and the Jews were forced to march across their sacred things, with watchers merrily laughing at the amusing scene. The above operations took place under the direct leadership of Erhard Grauel, commander of the Einsatzgruppe's Sonderkommando. Ventspils Edit Thereafter Grauel went to Ventspils. The killings were jointly carried out by German Ordnungspolizei and the men of the local Selbstschutz. On July 16-July 18, 300 people were shot dead in the Kaziņu Forest. In July-August the remaining 700 Jews of the town were shot dead, while the Jews of the region were killed in the autumn. The shooting was carried out by German, Latvian and Estonian SD men who had arrived by ship. Soon a poster appeared on the Kuldīga-Ventspils highway, which said that Ventspils was Judenfrei (free of Jews). Daugavpils Edit Main article: Daugavpils ghetto In Daugavpils the extermination of Jews was initially commanded by Erich Ehrlinger, chief of Einsatzkommando 1b.[12] By July 11 they had killed about 1150 people. Ehrlinger's work was continued by Joachim Hamann, who was liable for the killing of 9012 Jews in the city and in southern Latgale. The chief of the local auxiliary Latvian police Roberts Blūzmanis had rendered active assistance by ensuring the moving of the Jews to the Grīva ghetto and transporting them to the killing places. Rēzekne Edit In Rēzekne killings were carried out by a German SD group, which was helped by Selbstschutz men and Arājs murderers(Latvian people). About 2,500 people were exterminated. By October 1941, altogether about 35,000 Latvian Jews were killed. Varakļāni Edit Varakļāni, a relatively small town, had about 540 remaining Jews when the Germans and their Latvian collaboraters gained control. They were shot into graves they were forced to dig on August 4, 1941. The fate of this small town is similar to many other towns, documented by JewishGen and others.[13] See Jungfernhof concentration camp

[@sabinaacuff1006]

As a Latvian... I thank you so so very much for sharing our history... and showing we never had a chance.... I was born in 97.... I am so proud of my country and am proud to be it’s citizen.

[@LotatosEdits]

I’m half Latvian and half American, I have a whole book of 100 beautiful places in Latvia and they are more gorgeous than my dreams

[@sabinaacuff1006]

@LotatosEdits if you have not visited, I highly suggest Velnezers in the southern side. It's the most majestical place I have ever seen❤️🥹 I went there when I was only 7 the first time and then at 19. Was as beautiful as ever. As well they have a whole outdoor museum of wooden statues. I'm not sure what the place is called, but it's in the same area as velnezers.

[@ugnikalnis]

Greetings from Lithuania BRĀĻI un Māsas our bond is strong let noone destroy it. Mes esame Maži, bet turamies 💪. We are Brothers In Arms! We will always support you and we will fight together no matter what! Lai Dzīvo Latvia 🇱🇻 ❤️ Lai Dzīvo Baltija! Paldies BRĀĻI un Māsas! Mes Nepasiduosim! We Won't Surrender!

[@contrabandest]

Love from Estonia, my Latvian brothers and sisters!

[@jurgis5659]

Tēvzemei un Brīvībai

[@arturskalnins1210]

Jaaaa

[@iluvmyswamp7948]

Lol wat nigga

[@alwayscravingyou]

BigSmokeVEVO it's in latvian

[@iluvmyswamp7948]

Anna Vizule no shit im latvian 2

[@alwayscravingyou]

BigSmokeVEVO soo? Tēvzemei un Brīvibai ir uz brīvibas pieminekļa

[@MaruOfficial]

I'm Latvian and what this video didn't tell is that in our movement for our second independence Latvian citizens were killed during our stand against soviet unions regime, we were shot with machine guns but we kept on standing defenseless for our indipendance

[@arthytales9568]

Yes we did🇱🇻🔪russia Latvia kill russia

[@denizaksoy2475]

Do you think you are better off now? Maybe you won your independence but you gotta admit thousands of people used to live under better life conditions during soviet era

[@viesturs2520]

@@denizaksoy2475 yes thousands on comunist party members, KGB personel or ocupying military personel did. But millions of native Latvians did not as we where ocupied by a barbaric beast from east.

[@crazydragy4233]

@@denizaksoy2475 Ah yes, glory to the Soviet regime who took over the Russian empires mantle of literal ethnic cleansing of the Baltics. Obviously, Siberia was just a nice vacation. It wasn't even that good to the people you seem to think it was good to... Also not to mention the general degradation of society that took place in all of Soviet union.

[@denizaksoy2475]

Viesturs Vikse Ussr were way better even though socialist implementations weren’t executed according to the book.Ussr had been making great strides in every aspects of life until stalin died and then revisionists like khrushchev took over the communist party and then ussr began to regress and the reason of the downfall was because of the policies carried out by the traitors like gorbachev and yakovlev.And yet you people were fooled by west propanda sources and you thought you would get wealthy but as a consequence only small part of baltics and other former soviet citizens became wealthy and majority of the people either has remained same or go broke and thousands faced unemployment and anxiety of future and after the downfall all the wealth ussr were divided into a couple of oligarchs and russia started being governed by oligarchs and baltic countries are governed in accordance with cia and nato rules.

[@Zile.e]

Our history is thousands of years old, but we've only been truly free for 20 years. Honestly, as a Latvian the one thing I would ask of the world is to let us grow in peace.

[@MrsPaulaTorres]

Dude Latvians live with a parasite eating from their political scull, there’s still Russians living in my childhood apartment in Salaspils. What free… you can’t get work without speaking Russian in Riga. WHAT FREE

[@AllanLimosin]

I am 50% French, 25% Flemish and 25% Latvian 🇫🇷🇧🇪🇱🇻 love you from Orléans, France

[@michaelloedel750]

@strawberry_shortcake4life Flanders is a region of Belgium 🇧🇪

[@sunnyy8940]

How are u 25% Latvian?

[@SimplyMartin]

suппч If your parent is 50% Flemish and 50% Latvian, then you will be 25% of each.

[@_bones1049]

le 56% 😂

[@ljuc]

6:20 I was standing in there too. HOWEVER! >No Sweden ban on Latvian language mentioned >No Salaspils was mentioned >No Ulmanis political repressions were mentioned Please tell me you did not "conveniently" didn't put it in the video.

[@marekss]

ljuc yes ikr....i want to see like a part 2

[@lolikususs]

Sweden never banned Latvian language. They build first schools for Latvian peasants in Latvian language. What Ulmanis repressions jailing communists and far right activists :D

[@viktorijakarabesko6752]

lolikususs peasants srsly just because you don't like us doesn't mean you have to use these words I don't believe that you couldn't find a better one

[@unknown-hg6dr]

Well, i think you were very young at that time then.

[@shantismonto]

My great grandpa was deported to Siberia and he never came back even after the war

[@immigrantgaming420epic]

Same with my great great grandpa , he was deported to siberia and died there

[@amazingperson576]

And most of people still think that communism is good

[@DanielKotovsky]

My dad told me what my great grandfather was Soviet sergeant who sent a lot of people to Siberia. And how my great grandpa told, he felt guilty sending people to jail just because they were rich and against communism. So he drank a lot to muffle his "conscience" (or how do you say word Совесть in English). But if he didn't send them to jails just as Soviet Government wanted, these rich and influential people who were against communism would have started their own revolution, would encourage basic people to fight, then Soviet army would try to take territories and people back, then this war could encourage other Baltics to stand up and it would be chaos of death and a lot of people would die meaningless. So 40 thousands lost lives is better than 4 million lost lives.

[@Theplouck]

i'm not latvian and i almost cried when i knew how they gained independence after being occupied

[@Tubemax68]

Most, if not all countries gained independence after they were occupied at some point in history...

[@cirvis240]

Yeah, watching the Baltic Road makes you tear up. A thing to be proud of for us in the Baltics!

[@schnitzel2121]

everyone knows, that winter war was won by ussr. finland proposed a treaty to ussr and lost some territories. these territories were the reason of this war, and before it, there were long negotiations, but finland refused them. ussr wanted to move finnish border out from leningrad, because finland was nazi puppet, and ussr was preparing for war with germany. i dont hope that fucktard like you will be interested in real history, but you just can read some fucking wikipedia at least. here you are, my incompitent brainwashed friend - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War . red army broke mannerheims line and was advancing into finland, when finns decided to make an agreement and give territories to ussr.

[@autumn_rain]

象形文字

[@rigastudentsrent7759]

gues what we are not independet any more ,...

[@RyanZurch]

I'm from Latvia! We may be small, we may seem to be easy to take over but still , we are strong , we are family , we fight for our coutry! Thank you for the video, you are awsome! :)

[@monsteramer2950]

Did you know Dr. Doom😏

[@tooth7924]

as a latvian that had to immigrate to america, this was so interesting. My father always told me the story of the freedom statue in latvia, i was so happy to hear it mentioned.

[@Goldenknife3000]

Really good video. Especially with Latvia's 100'th birthday coming up. You did miss a few large points of Latvian history like the barricades, but i can't expect you to fit all of Latvian history in a 10 minute video. But I can't ignore the fact that, when talking about soviet buildings you mentioned The Latvian academy of art whilst showing b-roll of Latvian science academy. Latvian academy of art is actually a neo-Gothic styled building.

[@Iwasonceadog.]

Greetings from Lithuania 🇱🇹 to Latvia 🇱🇻!

[@superboy-yz1ex]

ja saproti spied like

[@madara9813]

thevengeous es nepipeeju es dirsu legaalo

[@madara9813]

A Potato es rakstu

[@lithiumirl2238]

nav ko te stavet kad beha lido!

[@ok-se9jf]

???

[@mlggamerlv5928]

super boy man jau sak besi ara tas kad latvija dzivo krievi

[@markheithaus]

Having been to all three Baltic republics, I can say first hand how beautiful and complex their stories are. Thanks for posting the video

[@sampletext823]

Nice country, greetings from Poland.

[@ralfs4598]

Hey, i'm from Latvia! Keep it safe in Poland.

[@lampojolo1442]

Nē tu nedābūsi sešsimtsešdesmitsešus abonumentus

[@Perririri]

Poland - Lithuania Commonwealth occupied most of Latvia, including Riga, the capital!

[@Ivan_StandWithUkraine]

Thanks very interesting video. Greetings from Ukraine. Here we love Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians. I personally think they were most smart ex-USSR nations in terms of building a strong partnership with reliable allies as EU, USA, NATO and eliminating the influence of KGB and other nation-threatening forces.

[@rebeli-argum]

Wanna find some allies,little ukrainian?Your country dont have allies

[@fizzuser6501]

Silly Billy, your comment is silly. Poland and Lithuania - our allies

[@autothemexican2166]

Ivan how does it feel that ur goverment is killing ur ukrianian brothers and bomming danmask? and latvia was smart maybe but now we dont eaven own our contury because some idiot sold about half of it.

[@mer3abec]

Ivan Alekseichuk specialy for u. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYK0o3Vpn82tjdU . Latvian about how it was and how it is. I asume u know russian. Video has subtitles.

[@tomascc9367]

We Lithuanians and also Poland also Canada are with You wonderful Ukrainian people. I traveled a lot in my life already, and one of the most amazing and brave people are Ukrainians

[@georgeslapins8040]

My father was Latvian, from Vecpiebalga. My mother was German, from Bayern where I was born. I came to USA in winter 1957 on a refugee ship from Bremen, at age 7. I have always thought myself living in a foreign land. Latvian language is firmly embedded inside me. Once I was sitting in jacuzzi when a Latvian family came by. The father was Russian and mother was Latvian speaking to her children. At that moment, I would have followed her anywhere. Thank you for your remembrance.

[@MissKrisstt]

Thank You so much for this! I'm from Latvia. Glad to see how other's care about our country. Dievs svētī Latviju🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻

[@zamanium7517]

Почему по-корейски ник ?

[@zamanium7517]

@Krabis ja потому что он меня понимает и так . Возможно

[@Dana-ey2cz]

@@zamanium7517 tas, ja viņš vai viņa ir no latvijas, nenozīmē, ka viņš/viņa saprot krievu valodu. Jūs, krievi, vienmēr gribat lai mēs zinan jūsu valodu, taču mums viņa nav jāsaprot, jo mums pašiem ir sava valoda :)

[@zamanium7517]

@@Dana-ey2cz Я ж написал "возможно" . То есть возможно и понимает . Если молодежь то наверняка не понимает а вдруг ему больше 40 ? То есть у меня есть шансы что меня поняли .

[@TheKidrauhul]

As a Latvian I enjoy the positivity from the comment section! The video left a lot of things out and got some wrong, but the message was clear and thank you for talking about my country!

[@klintakupce6166]

Thank you for the video! It is very well made. This makes me proud to be Latvian.

[@princelostinlove]

Lol 😂

[@autumn_rain]

Latvians live in this territory almost since the end of the ice age. 10 000 years or more.

[@lifecycles9861]

I once watched the video where all Baltics were doing the Baltic chain, and it was beautiful, people care about their homeland and want to become independent with such huge urge. I just love to live in one of those 3 Baltic states. Greetings from Estonia.

[@ilves7869]

cool video. Will you do video like this for Estonia and Lithuania?

[@jorislal]

It's pretty much the same story for Lithuania just that we have a lot less russians living in Lithuania thankfully, just 4.8% They would also add the bloody 13th of January.

[@gvid1]

That's if you ignore the fact that Lithuania had what was basically a pagan empire in eastern Europe in the 14-16th century

[@jorislal]

It's mostly "recent" history which was really similar in both countries. The period till russian occupation is kinda just mentioned and it falls out of the context of how a country was formed.

[@fercojurado9948]

Rokas Gr. Pagan?, what do you mean by pagan, the polish-lithuanian commonwealth was not pagan at all, in fact they were one of the most fanatic countries against the Ottomans along with Spain and Austria

[@gvid1]

Well, Lithuania converted to christianity in the year 1385, but by that point they already held most of modern-day Ukraine and Belarus.

[@MTmerm]

This needs way more views.

[@user-dz8pg5sw6s]

Who would give a shit about them anyways

[@cowpow5327]

Antonio Valeri Pimonov Russians or latvians because I'm latvian

[@superforheadsupersugerpoke7764]

MTmerm Latvian based videos don't get many views.

[@livonianmapping3221]

@@user-dz8pg5sw6s and who wold give a shit about you

[@SmokeyTheLarge]

@@cowpow5327 me to!

[@Arnas3321]

I am Lithuanian and i love seeing my brother Latvia's History

[@adixmax1558]

wait... you just skipped all Latvian history... knights... explorers...soldiers... no... why not just start from russian occupation...

[@ljuc]

Because it is the whole point of the video... I was disappointed too, it didn't say anything about Tobago Island. Nobody even knows about this.

[@janisozols2055]

And no mentioning of good old times, when Curonians ruled the Baltic see. Even one of viking capitals - Upsala ir named in latvian and literally means "Island in river" and Upsala was located on islands in river delta where Stockholm is located now.

[@compatriot852]

Adix Max it's very complicated, it could be it's own video, most of it would be about Lithuania vs the Teutonic Knights

[@Λυκάων]

He thought that Jews were more important than Latvian history...

[@tetreb93]

Because of Western propaganda.

[@seekerz9178]

Thanks for doing Latvia :D

[@arturskalnins1210]

Wool step are you Latvian i am

[@karlisberzins2539]

Not to interpret that in a sexual way or anything... But yeah ty!

[@KingDayDayDay00]

6:16 Damn my eyes started to tear up. that's beautiful

[@janis7077]

ImageSounds Yeah's that's awesome, my grandfather and grandmother were a part of the chain.

[@crazwizardlizard]

im only partially descended from baltic people but i got real emotional too

[@NoxSorce]

My grandfater too. :)

[@RustyyHaloo]

This was our best thing that happened in our country

[@artiscaunans7869]

Vaine

[@SpatsirkSpart2.0]

I'm Latvian myself and while I would have liked for the video to be more detailed, but the video is pretty good at explaining the history of Latvia in a simple way to people who might not know much about Latvia. So good job on the video.

[@elzastepina7294]

Fun fact- Latvia is the smallest country in Europe that had colonies in other contintents- South America (Tobago) and a small island in Africa

[@gszikora2000]

I just got back from there myself. I was there for two months. Riga is a beautiful city. The people were very friendly and loved to talk about their country and culture. Great place to visit and lot of people are able to speak English. I highly recommend you g to old town Riga.

[@raikalaka]

Old Rīga truly is beautiful. as a Latvian, I'm proud of that place.

[@midnightphantom3131]

U could go to Cesis too its an beatfull place too

[@TheAgavi]

Great video. Up until now all I knew about Latvia came from extremely depressing memes.

[@RealHellession]

As a Lithuanian, it was interesting to find out about the history of a neighbouring country. I visited Latvia many times and was surprised by how many Russian speaking people live there. I would easily speak Russian(I speak Russian since birth, although I have no other clear biological bonds with Russia) within the services and mostly everyone would understand what I am on about. While in Lithuania, the amount of Russian speaking people drops. Those Russians are rare to stumble upon. You shouldn't expect to be understood, if you come into a shop and start speaking Russian, although that happens occasionally. Edit: Oh and by the way, nice video.

[@thev3131]

Labai stipriai priklauso nuo to kur gyveni. Yra vietų kur be rusų kalbos tavęs į parduotuvę nepriimtų dirbt, nes ten gyvena daug rusakalbių. Lietuvoj turim tokių miestelių, kuriuose didžioji dalis populiacijos yra rusakalbiai.

[@raikalaka]

As a Latvian, who's been to Lithuania many times, I can confirm that only people who work in cafes, shops, etc. can speak Russian, all though not all of them.

[@icesalesman2644]

As a Latvian i am glad of my country and i ove this video, keep it up man!

[@mobilelexus7592]

Nice that someone talks about my country's history 😉🇱🇻

[@zook101]

I haven't seen a video on Latvia ain a while, also I live in latvis

[@r0lt0ns31]

Latvian Legion was not nazi. It was formed after the mass killings of jews when the nazi occupation came. The Legion has nothing to do with that. As a matter of fact, the Legion was not a "free choice". It was a conscription, that was masked by nazis so that they would not break the rules and it wouldn't count as a war crime since you could not conscript people from foreign lands into your army, which Germany did do. Since Latvian people were sick and tired of the Soviet regime, they saw nazis as liberators at first. After everything started to settle down, Latvians understood that the nazis won't let Latvia be free again, thus the first guirella units started to form in 1943/1944 and were called in the names of Mežabrāļi (Forest Brothers) and Daugavas vanagi (Hawks of Daugava) that killed a lot of NKVD officers after the end of the World War 2. But that's a different story. Either way, there were only few people in the Latvian Legion that believed the nazi ideology. Most of them didn't. They went and fought for Latvia, not anything else. You have to know the history of WW1 and the War of Independence in order to make conclusions about the attitude towards Germans in WW2. Since Latvia didn't fight the Russians when they came in 1940, people had their chance in 1943 when the Latvian Legion was formed. Those were the 2 divisions - 15th Waffen SS Panzergrenadier Division and the legendary 19th Waffen SS Panzergrenadier Division that was never beaten by the Russian army in the battle that was is known as the Courland Fortress. It is very complicated and can't be told in 8 minutes, but the Latvian Legion has nothing to do with the nazis, nor holocaust because, as I said, the Legion was formed after the jew roundups and these divisions served only in front line action against Soviets in the Leningrad front (Army group North)

[@ljuc]

Salaspils was operational almost up until the war ended. The fuck are you talking about?

[@paint_thinner]

Someone's got a bias. The legion divisions were part of the SS. Even if the divisions had conscripted men, there were certainly made up of volunteers coming from the police battalions. And to deny that any SS unit never committed war-crimes, no matter how big or small, is just mad.

[@r0lt0ns31]

So you're saying that Latvian Legion did make war crimes during WW2. Okay. Show me proof. Official documents (check in the wikipedia for Latvian Legion. The sources are also shown there) have stated that Latvian Legion has not been recorded to commit war crimes nor has anything to do with the holocaust. If you can prove me wrong, do it. Show me an official statement where it says that the Latvian Legion has commited ANY war crimes or taken part in the holocaust. There were about 1000 Latvian Legion soldiers in the Nuremberg trial guarding the nazi officials. It has also been stated that the Waffen SS is a criminal organization, with the exception being the Latvian and Estonian Legions because of the reasons I mentioned previously. People wearing nazi uniforms because somebody made them to does not make them nazis

[@Justlatvian1994]

r0lt0ns Red army or Soviet army, not Russian. It is very complicated to explan the diffirence between the Soviet Union and Russian Federation.

[@Slashplite]

Latvian Legion was Nazi and collaborator. But i understand complexity of the situation

[@therealbricker]

Greetings from Latvia! Thanks for making this video!

[@jinkzer0]

I am both British and Latvian and I have alot of Latvian roots, I am also pagan and my father told me about the German Empire taking parts of Latvia and making them Christian. As I have Latvian roots, there is a chance my ancestors were pagans and orthodox christians. My history may be a little awful, but my culture is still amazing and really fun. Eastern Europe is always called an 'aesthetic' but I hope they know why now. My grandma lives in Latvia and in Riga, it's really fun :D

[@Blank-lp4fz]

The Baltics are both Eastern and Northern European countries.

[@silje_therese]

My grandfather was Latvian and he was born in 1912 and lived until he became over 90 years old, so he've been through a lot. I grew up in Sweden and my grandfather died when I was very little so I know almost nothing about Latvia, hence I'm here in hopes of learning more about the country where my grandfather was born in.

[@nooby7881]

My parents are from latvia and I speak Latvian and I saw a comment saying the country is beautiful,

[@ludmilaruguma8672]

Latvia has tried to do so much for Estonia and Lithuania but so many sacrifices had been made Latvia is indeed very smart and wise about their choices

[@bizbite2]

Cheers to Latvia from it's brother Lithuania... ;) and yes we also fear big bad uncle Russia :/ :)

[@niandralades8180]

Do you genuinely fear or you fear because the media tells you to?

[@lieneviskupaite5905]

Edvinas Ceilytka no, because our memory is good and 1991 wasn't too long ago

[@soranoso]

thank you bro

[@VilRapt]

speak for yourself, especially when was born in >1992. I have no bad memories about being as a part of USSR, moreover Lithuanian never was as poor, destroyed and empty as it is now. Majority of well educated people left the county long ago, those who was capable of thinking not only about their pocket, but about wealth and health of others. We are the only county that managed to sell it legacy by someone who never owned it! just deal with it, there is no pride or honor in a sentence "I am Lithuanian.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

+Aleksandr Kotikov Yeah, yeah, whatever (yawns) "Играй шарма-а-а-анка-а-а!"

[@samantazakalovska2685]

Im latvian so thank you for that! :)

[@charliemay9893]

Samuel here

[@kristazarina2654]

Čau:)

[@WilllikesMD]

As a Latvian my country's tragic horrible past breaks my heart cause people were forced to fight without a choice were shipped off to Siberia with no hope to see their families again. But the amazing thing is Latvia didn't give up we kept fighting on even if the chances were slim we weren't going to let some other people control us and take what we love away from us. Wich is our language and culture. And i'm so happy we got our freedom and independence now we are free along with Lithuania and Estonia we are independent countries now wich is insane that we actually achieved that but it's for the better i could not imagine my country if still now it was under the control of Russia or Germany. I love my country it's beautiful and the people who fought for kur country will always be remembered as heroes the best people that Latvia could ask for.❤🇱🇻❤

[@TRESYKES]

Latvians didnt just join Nazis, half was forced to joing USSR and half were forced to nazi. Friends were shooting each other since they were split. And whoever was in power told them to.

[@JBsoloman5000]

WOW! This was perfect!!!! I have so big respect for Your efforts. Noce job, have all the strenght to continue this further!!!!

[@Asmuk]

Adhering to the Russian Orthodox church wasn't mandatory during the Russian Empire, and neither was Latvia "heavily Russified" then. Actually, the Germans retained much of the control they had for 600 years before. Russification attempts came mostly after 1945, together with the mass-deportation of thousands of Latvians. We survived, though.

[@simonkupec4344]

I like how you often touch controversial topics and you still dont get the hate that everyone else does for this kind of education... GOOD JOB!! keep it up

[@streips]

I spotted two errors in this video. The building that you described as the Latvian Academy of Art is actually the building of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. And Latvia had independence during the interwar period that lasted for only 22, not 26 years. Other than that, good job!

[@tinamadzule3895]

Living in Latvia is one of the best things. It's so calm and peaceful. Nothing crazy happening here. 🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻

[@albinusclark9561]

Riga is an amazing place to visit. Just got back last night.

[@Seshex]

i like how latvia is gettin noticed more often over time

[@r4im0h48]

Hey guys I'm Latvian and this was like learning Latvian history for 12 years in School only in 9 mins

[@borissman]

The statue and the fact that it's still there is amazing

[@edzus9070]

Hey, great video overall, but if I did hear it right, then you got our Academy of Arts wrong with Latvian Academy of Sciences (when you mentioned old Soviet Stalinism buildings). But I really did enjoy your video, good job! :)

[@ernestbatiy1070]

Born in this beautiful country. Adopted to USA, but I will fight if called up. It's a terrifying time to be alive.

[@yourpizzadeliveryman2736]

When youtube tracks where i live.

[@bb-kc9be]

Thank you very much for the brief history. This has been both enlightening and heartwarming.

[@MusiCaninesTheMusicalDogs]

What a great video! I never thought about researching Latvian history, and this was very, very interesting! 👍

[@Lachausis]

There's barely any history in this video.

[@MusiCaninesTheMusicalDogs]

Lachausis Recent history.

[@smolfifi]

Thanks by making this video dude!

[@mairaratniece6102]

I live in latvia😍😍💗🔥❤

[@ivoplays3054]

Maira Ratniece same

[@kristianazahare2049]

baigi labi!

[@SmokeyTheLarge]

tiešām?

[@lillilillillililil5665]

Es arī

[@pinksprite5037]

Es ārī

[@UsermannnnyNotNow]

I am Latvian and personally. Getting mentioned by one of the most famous informational channels on yt (no potatoes) makes you happy Yes the potatoes are a refrance

[@Morbidejs]

Anexed? No, occupied.

[@Morbidejs]

And not Russians only moved in, but Russian speaking people - this includes native Russians, Belarussians, Ukrainians + people from other republics.

[@ok-se9jf]

kautkads anglu dzerajs pali pie datora sez

[@letzterwunsch9080]

Charles McCarron stalin was more evil, that hitler... u dont know full history in ww2 about latvia

[@iluvmyswamp7948]

Hotel?Trivago

[@thebluerebellion]

Currently in Latvia. I love the country. I may not have been born there, but my parents were. Therefore I love the country, even now.

[@SextonSounds]

The truth of the matter is that Latvia was occupied and colonised, but has not been de-colonised up to this day, so the independence it has feels quite relative and unstable, because the putler-zombies are still there and even form a majority in several large cities including the capital.. oh and by the way, the Duchy of Kurland was only annexed by Russia in 1795, not 1760s.

[@marissedlenieks5570]

you're an idiot for saying that. keep your mouth shut if you don't know the truth, my american friend.

[@ab11593]

wow, what a nice person you are for saying us who is aloud to live in latvia and who is not) the truth is that "americans" occupieted America (if we look on our world with your vision) long time ago, but as you wrote "still has not been de-colonised up to this day". So please do not be hypocritical and just you know, go fuck another people brains with such ridiculously idiotic things. In the end you are not being tolerant. I thought this is what USA teaches the world.

[@krissa9664]

What about the barricades tho? In january of 1991 The soviets were threatening to attack riga with their helicopters flying near riga. But Riga survived because the people all over Latvia came together to defend Rigas most important buildings with barricades made out of their own materials, farming tractors wood and anything the people had. In the end Riga stood victorious but 110 people were injured and 14 dead by the soviets. It's a fascinating part of our history so i would suggest anyone looks into it because it and the people who stood up for our independence are incredible incredible. Imo this is one of the most telling things about Latvian culture.

[@aleksandras5521]

love from lithuania braliukai

[@7S5y3X.0th]

Amazing video, keep up the good work man!

[@TheNewTimeGamer]

61% latvian, i have no words..

[@liquidgoose1518]

Yeah, right. My grandfather with two degrees in math and engineering was a drunk factory worker. People were actually competing to be sent to one of the Baltic states, since standards of living there were always higher (not really thanks to Soviet Union, however) and either hard-working or complete ass-kissing douchebags were actually sent, excluding Daugavpils of course, since this place was flooded with russians spontaneously. Im not denying occupation/annexation or claiming that it was a right thing to send here my grandfather for example, but if you think that there are no russian-speaking people who support Latvia and laugh at Россия 24 you are mistaken.

[@rgmoviess]

Ormed-because of people like you i still believe we have chance to make things work out some day in Latvia between latvians and russians.

[@tomascc9367]

yeah, they broke Geneva convention and make massive colonisation, in Lithuania also. I offer you to read about Russian eastern (asian) neighbours, some of the nations were completely wiped out (exterminated)

[@atsstaaatsssatss4501]

@@weiful latvia is the poorest in the baltics xd

[@karlisberzins2539]

@@atsstaaatsssatss4501 I'm 90% sure lithuania is poorer...

[@cdog990609]

Thank you so much for making this dude! Glad to see someone discussing and teaching our history!

[@marayzex2788]

My solution for Russian language would be if people that want to live in Latvia for a long amount of time then should learn Latvian, Russian language is hard I don't want to learn It just to get a job. One country one language, if there is a job with languages or politics then go ahead learn Russian. That's my opinion.

[@LordOrio]

The problem is, that Russian goverment forces us that (and we dont have migth to just say no to them, not to mention russian propoganda in wests make Latvins look like nazies for ''opresing'' russian rigths)

[@cirvis240]

Then again i doubt Luxembourg was occupied and intentionally "russified" for 50 years. There's a difference.

[@cirvis240]

I don't think you quite get it if that seems to be a good argument to you... Latvia was quite well off as a national state before WW2 screwed us over and even during the Soviet occupation we continued to fund the Soviet Central Budget with more money than we received back for the next 50 years. We were not some tribes living in tents or something (not to diminish British/French colonies, but we were pretty advanced before WW2 even compared to some Western countries in Europe).

[@karlisberzins2539]

MarAyzex 14 Krievu valoda nav grūta. Rakstība gan ir, bet diez vai vajag mācēt rakstīt. Galvenais ir prast izlasīt un saprast, tad jau krievi paši sarakstīs tavā vietā to ko tu gribi ;) Russian isn't hard, but writing in russian is. You probably don't even need to write, if you can read and understand it. Then russians may write instad of you, because you "don't" have to know it. ;)

[@marayzex2788]

Janis Wespers Nu es pats iemācījos lasīt krieviski xD Es skolā pat paņēmu vācu valodu ,jo tā ir līdzīga angļu valodai

[@Jermacaans]

This video was awesome!!! Keep up the good work! :)

[@TheDelime]

Thanks for video. You mentioned 16th of March, but i didn't hear 9th of May which is a "Victory Day" for russians over Germany and is also celebrated in Latvia. So every year we have both sides protesting against celebrations of the other side. Though I will say that 16th of March is usually quiet while 9th or May is when most celebrators hope to reunite this country with Russia and has large celebrations over victory which never really happened. Even more... you mentioned that latvians were fighting alongside germans, but forgot to mention the same about latvians being called also in the red army. So there are some stories where 2 brothers or father and son were fighting on the opposite sides. Don't know the truth for that, but it makes for a sentimental story. But thanks :) good video!

[@TheDelime]

oh, try to say something about it to latvian-russians, you'll get all kinds of backlash. There's a russian monument of victory in Riga which is about 2km from monument of freedom which in turn is latvian. So every year there are HUGE celebratons next to russian victory monument celebrating "the day that WW2 ended"... and no mention of that WW2 end date is May 8 and not May 9... they don't care :)

[@sanavip]

they are not celebrating "Victory day", they are celebrating how ussr soldiers raped and killed many women in Germany

[@TheDelime]

sanavip, so true... but no one there thinks of that.

[@rgmoviess]

It is celebrated but not officially and only by those who'd like to see Latvia under russian occupation again.Also mayor of Riga is some russian guy who still can't say out loud that Latvia were ever occupied by Russia-he and all those others think we were freed by russians from german occupation LOL,only after they "freed" us they refused to leave.But in that 9th of may celebration is one good thing-most of Rigas scum bags are concentrated near that monument busy by drinking vodka and puking in the bushes :D.So latvians can feel taste of real freedom for whole one day-as log as they stay away from that monument of shame.

[@ievazagante5527]

It's not celebrated. The old ... are allowed to go to the monument of Soviet "liberators" together with their kids and grandkids (if they are willing), drink alcohol in public, without being punished, unless they get too rowdy, and turn the territory around the monument into pigsty. City council tries to organize som concert, usually on the 8th, and by attracting public organizations that are collecting money. But not all performers are allowed. I think the ensemble that had to stay at home was from Rusian armed forces.

[@Yolaf_]

My mother is Latvian and I don’t no anything about Latvia thanks for making this video 🇱🇻

[@jamesgrouch50]

Random question, how big is your team? (also can I help I'm a massive fan of your videos)

[@TravelToTheWorldAaliyahtravel]

Absolutely love your video! Cant wait till your next upload!

[@ray-tf8nj]

LATVIA HIT 100 YEARS NOVEMBER 18 THIS YEAR ^°^ MĪLU TEVI LATVIJAAAA

[@research5304]

tevi arī

[@1111unamed]

i have found my reasons to subscribe! keep up with the good videos! wasn't expecting to see a video about my native country...

[@elimalinsky7069]

The Latvian language was never banned and no one was asked to join the Russian Orthodox Church. There was a process of Russification from the 1880s until the 1910s, only then was the Latvian language banned from official documents and the education system, and the Lutheran Church was banned from evangelising in public (outside Lutheran designated places of worship), but no one was forced to speak Russian or join the Orthodox Church.

[@rinalds1620]

Viņa tika aizliegta....

[@rinalds1620]

Tu vispār kautko zini par latvijas vēsturi pirms 100 gadien? Pirms kautko dirsies, padomā

[@Madara___]

Eli malinsky. It was Banned. Do research first.

[@hatemkhrouf8955]

Thank you so much for the quality of this video.

[@emilija1363]

I am from Latvian and i am speaking latvian

[@Rokturis1]

im from vagina.

[@patfranks4024]

Lettish

[@Hrafnasson]

As a person with Eastern Slavic and Latvian roots, I really don't like when people use the word "Russian" when they mean "Soviet". During the time of Soviet Union most politicians in USSR were not ethnic Russians. Latvia is a great country, and I am glad through all this oppression they still have they their culture, would love to visit someday. Thank you for the video.

[@thejensvlog3177]

Can You please do the history of the netherlands?

[@neoexplains]

Yes! I'm planning a trip there this summer - and then I'll do a similar video about the netherlands :)

[@TheFrenzygirl]

oh my, can't believe you covered Latvia! can't wait to properly sit down and watch it

[@oo-ty1sb]

lostalongtheway are you trying to be sarcastic about my country?

[@brug6924]

Estonia next?

[@prtauvers]

This is a great, concise, comprehensive video- thanks! 🇱🇻🇱🇻🇱🇻

[@silenthose7210]

My grand grandfather was in the German army at ww2 and I'm happy about it because after war they told us they were saving us but they where killers they held us like 60-70 years

[@silenthose7210]

The Russia was those who held us

[@karlisbaumanis6549]

There's one problem with this. After german occupation, there were indeed volunteers who joined the wehrmacht to fight the soviets due to intense repressions that occured during the soviet occupation. That was in 1941. Latvian Legion was formed in 1943 and it was a mandatory legion. It was called volunteer legion to bypass the laws that stated that an occupation country cannot conscript people from occupied countries. The reality of the legion was that, you had to go if you didn't want to go to a prison camp. To add, during the Nuremberg trials, Latvian Legion was classed as just combat divisions and it was ruled that Latvian Legion didn't commit any war crimes (while there were some latvians that did commit war crimes, they weren't part of the legion, they were part of einsatzgruppen). The march we hold every year on 16th of march is not some nazi march as people describe it. It is a march to show respect to all the people who died fighting against the soviets. It is so hard to see some fellow latvians saying that those are nazi marches while they are not.

[@MrHrKaidoOjamaaVKJV]

@lngfcjhn So what's your point? All of the Latvian and Estonian Wafen SS Units were cleared by the US Government's,War Crimes Commission of any and all allegations of War Crimes. Case Closed.