The beginning, course and end of the battles of Cēsis

Events in Latvia before the battles of Cēsis

After more than four years of World War II fighting and the Bolshevik coup in Russia, on November 18, 918, a week after the conclusion of the World War I ceasefire, the state of Latvia was proclaimed in Riga. Kārlis Ulmanis became the head of the Provisional Government. The territory of Latvia was devastated, out of 2.5 million inhabitants, about one million were refugees in Russia.

Latvia and part of Estonia were occupied by the Germans, but on the eastern border stood Bolshevik troops, which, after the annulment of the Brest Peace Treaty of November 13, 1918, attacked with the aim of conquering the former tsarist Russian outlying provinces of Latvia and Estonia. On December 17, the Bolsheviks entered Valka and proclaimed the Soviet Republic of Latvia, another group of troops went to Riga via Daugavpils. German troops did not show serious resistance to the Bolsheviks.

To save the situation, on 7 December the Interim Government signed an agreement with the German government to set up a joint force to fight the Bolsheviks. The agreement provided for the creation of 18 Latvian jewelry, 3 Latvian batteries, 7 German jewelry and 2 batteries, with a total of 6,000 soldiers and 870 horses. The Germans only partially complied with the agreement, mainly by forming their own units, but without providing Latvians with weapons. Meanwhile, the communist troops occupied Latgale and Vidzeme in less than a month and approached Riga.

The representative of the German government A. Vinnigs, contrary to his earlier promises and the will of the allies to delay the occupation of the city, announced that the German troops would not defend Riga. On January 4, 1919, the Bolsheviks entered Riga. Two Latvian companies, led by Lieutenant Colonel Oskars Kalpaks, retreated in the direction of Kurzeme. The caretaker government moved to Liepaja. At the end of January, Bolshevik troops were stopped at Venta, about 100 km east of Liepaja. On February 1, 1919, German General Riediger von der Goltz arrived in Liepaja from Germany. He was entrusted with the command of the Landeswehr (consisting of the Baltic German bodyguards and the iron division formed of German volunteers) and the Latvian Separate Battalion in the fight against the Bolsheviks.

Thanks to the efforts of the Provisional Government, the Separate Battalion eventually became a brigade. The offensive against the Bolsheviks, which began on March 3, 1919, improved the situation on the front, and the communist-led troops gradually had to retreat towards Riga.

In Estonia, the situation was much better: the casualties in World War II were much lower, the influence of communist ideas and Finland's support after the initial failures led to a counterattack and in January 1919 to clear its territory of the Red Army.

Estonian troops had the opportunity to participate in the liberation of Northern Latvia from the Bolsheviks. On February 18, 1919, an agreement was concluded between the Government of Estonia and the Provisional Government of Latvia, which gave Captain Jorģis Zemitāns, the Military Authorizing Officer of the Provisional Government, and Markus Gailītis, an engineer for civil affairs, the opportunity to organize Latvian troops in Estonia. The 1st Latvian Valmiera and 2nd Cēsis Infantry Regiments were formed in Tartu (now Tartu). This laid the foundations for the Northern Latvian Brigade, which was operationally subordinated to the Commander of the Estonian Army's 2nd Division.

On April 16, at a time when the first success in the fight against the Bolsheviks was felt, the Germans made a coup in Liepaja, overthrowing the legitimate Provisional Government, which had to seek refuge on the steamer "Saratov". The Germans managed to form a puppet government led by the pastor and writer Andriev Niedra.

On May 22, 1919, German units liberated Riga from the Bolsheviks. A day later, a brigade of Colonel Jānis Balozs arrived in the city, which stopped the massacres of civilians by the Germans.

Pēteris Stučka's Bolshevik government and troops fled to Latgale, because in May the combined Estonian-Latvian forces had liberated the northern Latvian border from the Bolsheviks and, starting from Ainaži, Rūjiena, Valka and Alūksne, moved to Valais via Valmiera. On June 1 and 2, the Cēsis Infantry Regiment, led by Commander Krišjānis Berkis, arrived in Cēsis. It seemed that the Northern Latvian brigade, the Estonians, the Landesweig, and the Jānis Balozis Southern Brigade had one goal - to continue the fight with the Bolsheviks and to expel them from Latvia. However, instead of moving from Riga to the East and persecuting the Bolsheviks, the Landeswehr and the German Iron Division turned north - towards the combined Estonian-Latvian forces in Vidzeme.


Battle of Cesis

German General Riediger, Count von der Goltz, planned not only to abolish the independent states of Latvia and Estonia, but to go to Petrograd to restore the Russian monarchy and later revenge the Entente countries for the defeat of Germany in World War I.

The German forces did not go in the direction of Rēzekne-Daugavpils, but on June 2 entered Ieriķi station (12 km from Cēsis) and demanded a free road to Cēsis. The brigade of Northern Latvia, in contact with the Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Army Johan Laidoner, refused to allow the Germans into Cēsis. On June 3, two Landeswehr squadrons entered Cēsis. Thanks to the actions of the Chief of Staff of the Northern Latvia Brigade Voldemārs Ozols, the Germans were besieged and left Cēsis without fighting on June 5. Between Cēsis and Ieriķi, the Germans attacked an Estonian armored train. The battles of Cēsis began, which can be divided into two stages.

On June 6, at 3:00 a.m., Landeswehr launched a rapid attack backed by strong artillery. The 7 km plateau front had to be defended by three less trained ornaments of the 2nd Cēsis Infantry Regiment and three ornaments formed during the last two days, one of which was a school ornament - boys aged 16-18, supported by two Estonian armed trains. After 10 hours of fighting, the Latvian troops could not withstand the triple German superiority and retreated to the right bank of the Rauna River, leaving Cēsis. On June 8, the Estonian sections (Regiments 6 and 9) launched a counterattack, which failed. The attack on Rauna Bridge launched by the Landesver on June 9 was also unsuccessful. On June 10, a mission of Anglo-American allies intervened in the conflict between the two sides. The battle was suspended for 10 days. The second stage of the battle of Cēsis began with the ultimatum of Landesver Commander Major A. Fletcher to the Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Army J. Laidoner - to withdraw Estonian troops to the ethnographic borders of Latvia. The Estonian Command did not respond to this ultimatum, as, according to the Allies, the Landesvere's representatives were scheduled to attend the talks in Valka on 20 June.

The battles began on the right bank of the Gauja at noon on June 19, when near Vidriži the front parts of the Iron Division collided with the scouts of the 9th Estonian Regiment. On June 20, at 6.30 pm, the commander of the Estonian Division III, Ernest Peders, ordered the start of hostilities against the Landeswehr.

However, on the night of June 20-21, the division headquarters received a report that German main forces had launched an attack on the left bank of the Gauja, from Cēsis to Jaunrauna and Veselava, and desperate fighting was taking place at Rauna Bridge, Lode Station and Liepa Manor.

On the morning of June 21, Landeswehr managed to break the front between the 2nd Cēsis Regiment and the 3rd Estonian Regiment. In the vicinity of Jaunrauna, the left wing of the 2nd Cēsis Regiment had to retreat. The course of the battle was significantly changed by the Kuperjanov partisan battalion commanded by Captain Unta. Landing from the train, it switched to the counterattack from Lode station in the direction of Liepa manor.

J. Kuprejanov's battalion, based on the batteries of an armored train and Latvian cannons, fought the Germans all day and in the evening occupied Liepa manor. Despite this Estonian guerrilla struggle, the Landeswehr managed to bring in enough troops to break (about 6 km), which was divided into three parts. One, in the direction of Jaunrauna, went to Lode station, where he collided with the aforementioned J. Kuperjanov battalion. The second part went further to Skangaļi manor, but German scouts even to Mūrmuiža (10 km from Valmiera); thus endangering the movement of armored trains from Valka to Cēsis. The third part, bypassing the right wing of the 3rd Estonian Regiment, went in the direction of Rauna. The Estonians stopped this German group in the Rauna highlands.

A dramatic situation developed in the area of Skangaļi manor, where there were a lot of Landesvere forces. The situation was saved by an echelon with fighters of Kalev Battalion and 1st Regiment II Battalion, who arrived on June 22 at 3.00 am. 3 km north of Lode station, the soldiers disembarked and, armored train no. Based on 2 landings, went in the direction of Skangaļi manor. At 6.30, these forces broke into the manor, but after a short time, the Landeswehr seized Skangaļi manor. German losses - 60 dead. The number of fallen, injured, and injured people in Kalevė was 62. Landeswere began to retreat in the direction of Cēsis. A few kilometers away, at the Start, the Germans lost another 31 dead. The rest of the Estonian-Latvian part also engaged in active hostilities. The guerrillas of the J. Kuperjanov Battalion continued their attacks in the direction of Jaunrauna, cutting off the retreat of 3,000 Germans from Skangaļi. It ended on a decisive day in the historic battle. The enemy was defeated in the center.

In the late evening of June 22, N. Riekk, the Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Estonia, issued a directive:

"We must not allow the enemy to organize and regroup after the blow of two days of fighting. The defeat of the enemy must be continued and occupied by Cesis. ”

Thus, June 23 was marked by the attack of the Estonian-Latvian joint forces on both banks of the Gauja.

At 7.30 Cēsis was captured, at 8.00 the 6th Estonian Regiment on the right bank of the Gauja also attacked. In the evening of the same day, the enemy was shot down 50 km from Cesis to Inčukalns. On June 26, German forces were also expelled from these positions to the outskirts of Riga. On July 3, under pressure from the Allies, a ceasefire was signed in Strazdumuiža, which saved the Germans from complete disaster and gave them the opportunity to start fighting the new Latvian state under the Avalov-Bermont flag again in October. Today we can say with confidence that in the battles of Cēsis, Latvians fought for the independence of Estonia and Estonians for Latvia.


The role of the countries that won the First World War - the USA, England, France in the creation of the free states of Latvia and Estonia

The right of self-determination declared by the Allies was intended to destroy the adversaries - the German, Austro-Hungarian, Turkish empires, and to create difficulties in the German-occupied territory of Eastern Europe, but it was not intended to crush themselves and the Russian Empire. There was no unity among the Allies - England, France and the United States - regarding the status of Latvia and Estonia. Only for a short time, until December 31, 1918, the British supported the independence of Russia's border lands.

It was in the interests of the Americans and the French to rebuild the Russian Empire in order to preserve their deposited capital. As a result of Allied pressure, the British government decided to end active support for the Provisional Governments of Russia's border states, using them only in anti-Soviet and anti-German combinations. We can justify this with the decision of the Entente of 26 May 1919 on the recognition of the autonomy of the Baltic nations within the Russian Empire.

Only when the Germans in Latvia became unmanageable to the Allies (on May 23 and 24 in Liepaja the Germans arrested Entente officers and instructors), after the discussions in Liepaja on June 5-7, the Allies decided to use the Latvian-Estonian national armed forces to restrain the Germans. This was also necessary because the German attack on the combined forces had stopped the persecution of the Bolsheviks, and it was not in the interest of the Entente. On June 22, the German National Council decided to sign a peace treaty with the Entente. Thus, the Estonians and Latvians, fighting for their own interests, had done a valuable service to the Entente, preventing the German attempt to take over absolute power in the Baltics. It was not until June 25 that the Entente's top leadership decided that the Germans should no longer be supported. On June 28, the Germans signed the humiliating Treaty of Versailles.


Latvia 1919 - different governments during the War of Independence

The government of the Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic, led by Pēteris Stučka and supported by the Red Army, was located in the territory of Latvia. The goal of P. Stučka's government is to liberate the territory of the newly founded state and strengthen the Soviet power here.

The Provincial Government of Andrieva Niedra, based on the German Landeswere and the Iron Division, was located in Kurzeme. The aim of this government was to expel the Bolsheviks from Latvia, to conquer as much territory as possible and to retain German power in the Baltics.

The third - the Provisional Government of Latvia led by Kārlis Ulmanis - had found refuge on the steamer "Saratov" on April 16 after a coup organized by the Germans. The Southern Latvian Brigade in Kurzeme, commanded by Jānis Balozs, and the Northern Latvian Brigade in the northern part of Latvia, commanded by Colonel Jorģis Zemitāns, remained loyal to the government of K. Ulmanis. Politically, both brigades were loyal to the Provisional Government of Latvia, but militarily, the Southern Latvian Brigade was subordinate to General von der Golz, who also commanded Landeswehr and the Iron Division, while the Northern Latvian Brigade was subordinate to the Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Army, General Johan Laidoner.