Latvian Provisional National Council (LPNP)
I WW1, I Wars of Independence
Latviešu pagaidu nacionālā padome (LPNP) – latviešu politiskās pārstāvniecības organizācija, kuru nodibināja 1917. gada novembrī Valkā (angļu Latvian Provisional National Council, vācu Lettlands Vorläufiger Nationaler Rat, krievu Латышский временный национальный совет).
LPNP deleģēja latviešu politiskās partijas un sabiedriskās organizācijas. Šī organizācija līdz Latvijas Tautas padomes sanākšanai (17.11.1918.) starptautiski aizstāvēja latviešu tautas pašnoteikšanās tiesības. LPNP mērķis bija iestāties par vienotā un etnogrāfiskā teritorijā apvienotu latviešu tautu, pārstāvēt tās intereses nākamā miera konferencē un rūpēties par Satversmes sapulces sanākšanu. Tās uzdevumi – sasaukt Latvijas Satversmes sapulci, kas lemtu par Latvijas iekšējo iekārtu un “attiecībām uz ārieni”; gādāt par izklīdušās tautas atgriešanos dzimtenē; protestēt pret jebkādu Latvijas piesaistīšanu Vācijai; prasīt Latgales atdalīšanu no Vitebskas guberņas un pievienošanu Latvijai.
1917. gada 17. novembrī (j.st. 30.11.) Valkā LPNP nodibināja 29 delegāti no 13 pilsoniskajām partijām un organizācijām. Pēc nodibināšanas sākās LPNP 1. sesija, kas ilga līdz 19.11.(j.st. 02.12.) 1917. Pieņēma vairākas rezolūcijas un deklarācijas, svarīgākā no tām – deklarācija “Ārvalstīm un tautām”: “Latvija, kurā ieiet Vidzeme, Kurzeme un Latgale, ir autonoma valstsvienība, kuras stāvokli, attiecībās uz ārieni un iekšējo iekārtu noteiks viņas Satversmes sapulce un tautas plebiscīts.”
19.11.(j.st.02.12).1917. ievēlēja LPNP valdi. Par priekšsēdētāju ievēlēja advokātu Voldemāru Zāmuelu, par priekšsēdētāja biedriem advokātu Kārli Pauļuku, podporučiku Jāni Rubuli un kareivi Jāni Palcmani; par sekretāru – notāru Kristapu Bahmani, sekretāra biedriem – rakstniekus Kārli Skalbi un Jāni Akurateru; par mantzini – kooperatoru Vili Siliņu, par mantziņa biedru – komercinženieri Eduardu Laursonu.
25.11.(j.st. 08.12.) 1917. LPNP izdeva uzsaukumu “Visiem latviešiem!”, ko izplatīja 30 tūkstošu eksemplāru vācu neokupētajā Latvijas daļā un latviešu bēgļu centros Krievijā. Uzsaukumā LPNP informēja par tās dibināšanu un aicināja latviešus īstenot savas pašnoteikšanās tiesības. 19.12.1917. (j.st. 01.01.1918.) lielinieku Iskolats aizliedza LPNP darbību un tās valde turpināja darboties nelegāli. Organizācijas Ārlietu nodaļa darbojās Petrogradā, kur arī 28.-30. 01.1918. sanāca LPNP 2.sesija, kuras pieņemtajā deklarācijā pirmo reizi izvirzīja mērķi, ka “Latvijai jābūt patstāvīgai demokrātiskai republikai, kas apvienotu Kurzemi, Vidzemi un Latgali”.
1918. gada oktobrī sākās diskusijas starp LPNP un vācu okupētajā Rīgā dibināto Demokrātisko bloku par Latvijas priekšparlamenta izveidi. 1918. gada 17. novembrī notika pēdējā LPNP valdes sēde, kurā nolēma nelikt šķēršļus Latvijas Tautas padomes izveidei, kas 18. novembrī proklamētu Latvijas Republiku. LPNP līdz ar to beidza pastāvēt.
More information sources
Jānis Tomaševskis. Neatkarības čuksti: Latviešu pagaidu nacionālās padomes vēsture, Rīga, Jumava, 2017.; Jānis Tomaševskis. Latviešu pagaidu nacionālā padome. Nacionālā enciklopēdija. https://enciklopedija.lv/skirklis/27579-Latvie%C5%A1u-pagaidu-nacion%C4%81l%C4%81-padome
Saistītās laikalīnijas
Saistītie objekti
Exhibition “Valka – the cradle of Latvia’s independence”
The Valka Local History Museum is located in Valka, on the right side of Rīgas street, in the historical building of the Vidzeme Parish School Teacher Training Seminary. From 1853 to 1890, the building was home to the Vidzeme Parish School Teacher Training Seminary. Until 1881, it was led by Jānis Cimze, a teacher and founder of Latvian choir culture. After the School Teacher Training Seminary was closed, the building served various educational, cultural and household needs for 80 years. The building has been home to the Valka Local History Museum since 1970. The museum’s permanent exhibit – ‘Valka, the Cradle of Latvia’s Independence’ – has been set up as a story about social and political events in Valka from 1914 to 1920 when Latvia became an independent state. The exhibit reflects the preparation leading up to the establishment of the Latvian state and the formation of the North Latvian Brigade in Valka. Through four senses, namely, the Road, the Council, the Headquarters and the Home, the exhibit focuses on topics related to the city of Valka, refugees, the founding of the Latvian Farmers’ Union (1917), the
Latvian Provisional National Council (1917), the Latvian Provisional National Theatre (1918), the Provisional Government of Soviet Latvia known as the Iskolat, the North Latvian Brigade (1919) and General Pēteris Radziņš. In addition to the traditional ways of showcasing collections, the exhibit makes use of interactive multimedia solutions.
Monument "Dedication to the Latvian Provisional National Council"
The monument “Dedication to the Latvian Provisional National Council” is located at the intersection of Rīgas and Raina streets in Valka (address 9A Raina Street).
The monument was unveiled on December 2, 2017 within the framework of the Latvian Centennial Program, in honor of the meeting of the Latvian Provisional National Council in 1917.
The author of the idea of the ensemble is the sculptor Arta Dumpe, the stonemason - Ivars Feldbergs, the architectural planning was performed by SIA "Arhitektu birojs Vecumnieks & Bērziņi".
The base of the monument is formed by a large millstone - as a circle of life, time and events. The names of the members of the LPNP board are engraved on the side. Three counties with their historical coats of arms wind from the millstone as roads of destiny in the sky. Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Latgale. The composition concludes with the star of Bethlehem, which transforms into the sun of the new Latvian state. The Latvian poet, prose writer and politician Kārlis Skalbe / 1879-1945 / has written: "Latvia has also had its own Bethlehem, the little poor Valka ...".
The monument to the Latvian Provisional National Council is the return of a kind of debt to the people who, in 1917, risking their lives in Valka, laid the foundations for the Latvian state in an ideally managed, virtually impossible situation.
At that time, Valka was the city with the largest population of Latvians in the unoccupied territory of Germany. After the fall of Riga, it became the center of Latvian social, political and cultural life. Those who were united by the desire to exercise the right of self-determination of the Latvian nation gathered here. From November 29 to December 2, 1917 (according to the new style) the 1st session of the Latvian Provisional National Council took place in Valka City Hall (now the building in Valga Kesk Street No. 11), which was attended by representatives of almost all the most influential Latvian public organizations and political parties. . For the first time, they officially declared the goal of their activity - the establishment of an independent national state, adopted a declaration on the establishment of a united and autonomous Latvia in the Latvian districts of Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Latgale.
Berth of the ship "Saratov" in Liepaja
The berth of the "Saratov" is located in Liepaja, at 59 Old Harbour, near the boat docks.
Built in 1888 in Copenhagen by the shipyard Buvmeistar & Wain under the name "Leopold II", in 1911 it was bought by the joint-stock company Russian North-West Shipping and renamed "Saratov", with the Latvian Aleksandrs Remess becoming the ship's captain.
In May 1915, when Liepaja was occupied by German troops, the Saratov was in a damaged state in the harbour.
On 10 January 1919, the steamship Saratov was taken over by the Latvian Provisional Government. From April to July 1919, after the "16 April coup d'état", the Provisional Government headed by K. Ulmanis was on board the Saratov and was forced to take refuge under the protection of the Allied fleet.
On 8 July 1919, after the delivery of the Provisional Government of K. Ulmanis to Riga, the steamers were used for traffic between Riga, Ventspils and Liepaja.
Under the terms of the Peace Treaty of 11 August 1920 between Latvia and Soviet Russia, the steamship Saratov had to be returned to the Soviet side. On 2 January 1923, the steamship was handed over to a Soviet Russian representative. On 15 January 1923, the steamship "Saratov" was wrecked off Akmenrags.
In 1936 the Latvian Maritime Department sold the wreck to a company, which scrapped it and handed it over to the Liepaja Cloth Factory.
Rubenis' battalion museum
Rubenis’ Battalion Museum is located in Ugāle. It is dedicated to the Battalion of R. Rubenis, who served and fought under General J. Kurelis in Kurzeme in 1944, the activities of the Kurelians and the national resistance movement. Museum has an exhibit on the activities of the Latvian Central Council (LCC) and its Ventspils group, as well as the LCC Memorandum with 188 signatures and photographs of signatories that is included in the Latvian National Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. The LCC was a joint centre of Latvia's highest political leadership with an underground government that operated during the occupation of Latvia from 1943 to 1994. It was formed with the aim of coordinating the activities of various Latvian resistance movements in order to restore Latvia's national independence. The museum also offers a trip to places significant to the history of the battalion (settlement with a reconstructed bunker in the Usma parish, battlefields in Renda and Zlēkas parishes, etc.).
Related stories
March 1917 - an important month in the history of Valmiera and Latvia
In March 1917, more than a year before the proclamation of the State of Latvia, the Vidzeme Provisional Land Council was founded in Valmiera, which adopted a resolution on Latvia's right to autonomy and self-determination. On the day of the founding of the Council, a red-white-red flag was raised at the meeting place for the first time.
Memories of Artūrs Ozols about the ship "Saratov"
Artūrs Ozols graduated from Riga Polytechnic and served as a naval officer (midshipman) and engineer in the Russian Black Sea Fleet aboard the warship Panteleimon. During the Latvian Liberation Struggle, he joined the Student Company. In Liepaja he put the ship "Saratov" into service. Arthurs Ozols' memoirs about the ship "Saratov" were published in the Dauagava Vanagi monthly
From Adolf Ers' book "Vidzeme in the Freedom Fights" about the life of refugees in Valka
From the time of the refugees, Valka agreed to play a more important role than other cities in Vidzeme, because the politically active newspaper Līdums was located here, where Latvia's spiritual and political weapons were minted, and also because there was a crossroads where roads from three On the Latvian side: from Riga, Alūksne, Mozekile, and also from Estonia and Russia, she had links with refugees everywhere - in Tartu, Pliskava, Moscow and St. Petersburg. There was a large refugee center here.
Cape and ship Saratov
It can be assumed that Liepaja was the capital of Latvia for a short period of time, because during the Freedom Struggle the Provisional Government was stationed on the ship Saratov in this very city. The Saratov took the Provisional Government to Riga after its liberation, but many people do not know that the history of such an important ship for us ended at sea at Akmenrags.
Akmeņrags lighthouse and shoal - one of the largest ship cemeteries in the Baltic Sea
It was in the Akmensrags lighthouse area that on January 13, 1923, a steamer Saratov ran aground and crashed, on which the interim government, led by K. Ulmanis, took refuge, when the independent state of Latvia became independent.