From the period between when Latvia and Estonia first won their independence to when their independence was restored, a great deal of evidence of the monumental events of the time in terms of battle sites, military structures, historical photographs and memoirs have survived. Altogether they make a compelling military heritage story of how the two new countries emerged out of World War I, how they fought for their survival during thewars of independence, how they were devastated by World War II, how national partisans kept up the battle for more than 10 years after the war, and how independence was restored after decades of occupation.The period is divided into four parts: