Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty
I WW1, I Wars of Independence

On January 30, 1920, at the end of the liberation of Latgale from the Red Army, Latvia and Soviet Russia concluded a secret ceasefire agreement. The secrecy of the agreement had been insisted by the Latvian side in order not to cause unnecessary complications with its ally Poland, which fought a heavy war with Russia in 1920. Peace talks could not be hidden and began in Moscow on April 16, 1920. Exactly a year ago, the Germans had committed a coup in Liepaja, reducing the jurisdiction of the Latvian government to one ship ("Saratov") and some parishes in North Vidzeme. A year later, Latvia was liberated and its government was able to talk to the leadership of mighty Soviet Russia as a winner. Russia was also interested in reaching an early peace so that it could concentrate all its forces on Poland and on the anti-great army in Crimea led by General Wrangel. It seems that the biggest opponents of the peace talks were the Latvian Bolsheviks who fled to Russia, who dreamed of the possibility of taking over Latvia, but the peace between the two countries would dispel that dream.

The Latvian delegation was led by Social Democrat Jānis Vesmanis in peace talks with Russia. The delegation also included Pēteris Bergis, Ansis Buševics, Eduards Kalniņš and Kārlis Pauluks. Peace talks took place in six commissions: military, political, legal, concessions, financial and re-evacuation. In July 1920, the talks moved from Moscow to Riga. After long and difficult negotiations, the two sides signed a peace treaty on August 11, 1920. On behalf of Soviet Russia, the peace treaty was signed by Ā. Jofe and J. Gaņeckis.

The peace treaty consisted of 23 articles. In the second clause of the agreement, Russia recognized Latvia's independence and "voluntarily and forever" renounced "all sovereign rights (..) to the people and land of Latvia". At the Constitutional Assembly, the peace treaty was ratified swiftly and unanimously on 2 September. There were no votes against. The principles determining the basis of the relations between Latvia and Russia, which are rooted in the peace agreement signed by both countries on August 11, 1920, are still valid. After the conclusion of the Peace Treaty, the demarcation of nature continued in nature. The description of the border with surveys was completed in 1923. The conclusion of a peace agreement with Latvia also meant that Russia recognized Latvia's independence de jure. This was the basis for the de jure recognition of Latvia by the Supreme Council of the Entente (the great powers that won in World War I) on January 26, 1920.