Why go
The interwar period gives meaning to the Freedom Monument and to Riga’s role as a national capital. It also marks a sharp change in language and political direction: Latvian became the state language, and the country built parliamentary institutions and new trade ties.
The full story
After the First World War, Latvia declared independence on 18 November 1918, with Riga as its capital. The new state followed centuries in which German, Swedish and Russian powers had governed the city. Riga’s role now extended beyond its port and commercial networks to the institutions of a national government. In the years between the world wars, Latvia established a parliamentary system and recognised Latvian as its official language. It joined the League of Nations and redirected much of its trade toward Western European countries, including the United Kingdom and Germany. These changes gave the capital a different political and cultural centre of gravity. The Freedom Monument is a central outdoor point from which to consider this shift. Its dedication to fatherland and freedom speaks to independence as a public ideal. The period ended with Soviet occupation in 1940, so the monument also became a point of memory through later decades.