Historian Kuzmins: Defending the State Begins With Believing in Its Purpose

Military historian and Latvian National Defence Academy researcher Valdis Kuzmins says in an interview with LV portal that Latvia's independence was not merely the result of a military victory. In his view, it became possible because society came to believe in the idea of an independent state, took part in building it and managed to find allies. He says the same conditions matter today, and that a state can be lost even without war, once people stop believing in it.

Public support in the War of Independence

Kuzmins notes that at the end of 1918 society was not united behind the idea of a free, democratic republic; only a few dozen people believed in it at the time. Support grew as the war went on. Some residents initially hoped that representatives of Soviet Latvia under Pēteris Stučka would bring freedom, but collectivisation, concentration camps and mobilisation without supplies dispelled those hopes. Most of society came to trust the Provisional Government led by Kārlis Ulmanis, whose offer included redistributing land and equal voting rights for men and women.

The historian considers the military and political processes to have been linked: once the idea of Soviet Latvia lost support, its army collapsed too. Thousands of former Soviet army soldiers joined the Latvian army, saving ammunition and weapons.

Allies and the Bermondt attack

On the 11 November 1919 victory in Riga over the Western Volunteer Army led by Pavel Bermondt, Kuzmins says that besides the support of allied warships, public sentiment mattered. The Latvian army had numerical superiority, as fewer than 10,000 Bermondt fighters were on the battlefield, not the 45,000 of the popular myth. The landing operation at Daugavgrīva fortress on 15 October 1919 was decisive. He stresses that allied support did not arise by itself; it had to be won.

Lessons for today

Kuzmins believes a clearly defined end goal of a war is needed and that Latvia's security depends on the ability to fight alongside allies. He calls any idea of leaving NATO or the European Union the beginning of collapse. He cites low participation in political parties and a lack of self-organisation as problems.

In a study by the Saeima Analytical Service, only 37% of Latvian residents say they are willing to defend the country; the figure is 45% in Estonia, 52% in Lithuania and over 60% in Finland. Kuzmins does not view this too critically, since 37% is a large number that cannot all be armed.