Latgale

Name

Due to its history several different names are historically used for Latgale.

• Other names for the region include Lettigallia, Latgallia, and Latgola.
• The people are called latgalieši in Latvian (as distinct from latgaļi, which refers to the ancient tribe, though some modern Latgalians prefer latgaļi) – latgalīši in Latgalian, sometimes latgali – Latgalians, Latgallians, or Lettigalls in English, and are sometimes referred to as čangaļi (sometimes derogatory – the reference is to a novel, and Latgalians often call other Latvians "čiuļi"). The term latgalieši dates only to the early 20th century, and before that Latgalians were long referred to as Vitebsk Latvians or Inflantians (Latgalian: vitebskīši, inflantīši).

From 2004 on, the Latgalian language is the subject of the biggest sociolinguistic/ethnolinguistic poll in Europe, held by the Rēzekne Augstskola and the Centre d'Étude Linguistiques Pour l'Europe.

Historical regions of Latvia, together with Latvian cultural groups; Latgale in green

As of 2011 97,600 people in the region spoke Latgalian language,^[2] which is a standardised form of local varieties of High Latvian dialect.

Early history

Originally the territory of what is now Latgale was populated by Eastern Baltic Latgalian tribe. During the 10th–12th centuries two principalities, Jersika and Atzele, existed on the territory of modern Latgale and Eastern Vidzeme. In addition Latgalians inhabited parts of modern Pskov Oblast in Russia and Vitsebsk Voblast in Belarus.

Medieval Livonia, Duchy of Livonia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Coat of Arms of Latgale (historical)
Details
Adopted	1566

In the first decade of the 13th century the principality of Jersika, also known as Lettia, was allied with the Principality of Polotsk and Lithuanian dukes against the Bishopric of Livonia, but was defeated in 1209. Part of it was divided between the Bishopric and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, the remainder became a vassal country. In 1239, after the death of King Visvaldis, the latter was incorporated into the territory of the Livonian Order.

In 1242, after defeat in the Battle of the Ice, Eastern Latgale (Lotigola) temporarily passed to the Novgorod Republic. In 1263 Livonian knights started to build the Volkenberg castle near to the Rāzna lake (today within the Rāzna National Park).

In 1277 Grand duke Traidenis of Lithuania unsuccessfully besieged the newly built castle of Daugavpils .

In 1481–1493 Grand Prince Ivan III of Russia temporarily occupied Latgale.

During the Livonian War Latgale was annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1559–1562), which in 1569 was incorporated into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Ivan IV of Russia annexed Latgale in 1577, but renounced his claims to Livonia in Truce of Jam Zapolski (1582).

In 1621 most of the Duchy of Livonia was ceded to the Swedish Empire, but part of the Duchy including Latgale remained under Polish-Lithuanian control. This became known as the Inflanty Voivodeship.^[3] The creation of Polish Inflanty is the birth of the region we now know of as Latgale. During this period the Latgalian dialect was influenced by Polish and developed separately from the Latvian spoken in other parts of Latvia.

Latgale during and after World War I

In 1772, Latgale was annexed by the Russian Empire, and in 1865, as part of Russia's anti-Polish policies, a period of Russification was begun, during which the Latgalian language (written in Latin script) was forbidden. This ban was lifted in 1904, and a period of Latgalian reawakening began. Many Latgalian public figures sought reunification with the rest of Latvia at the Congress of Rēzekne in 1917, while some preferred autonomy or incorporation in Russia. The decisions of the 1917 Congress and the declaration of independence on 18 November 1918, claiming Latgale as part of the Latvian state, moved both Latvian armed forces as well as local partisans to fight for the liberation of Latgale: a difficult task, given the territorial interests of both Bolshevik Russia and Poland.

Latgale as part of interbellum Latvia

In 1920 Latgale was incorporated into Latvia. By the peace treaty of 1920 with Soviet Russia, parts of the Vitebsk Governorate and Pskov Governorate were incorporated into the new Republic of Latvia. United with other ethnic Latvian territories, as claimed by the declaration of independence (ethnic borders as national borders), they formed the districts of Daugavpils, Ludza, Rēzekne and Jaunlatgale, later Abrene district.

Latgale during and after World War II

In 1944, at the beginning of the second occupation of Latvia by the USSR, the eastern municipalities of the Abrene district including Abrene were incorporated into the Russian Federation.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Latgale became one of the cultural regions of the Republic of Latvia. Some Russians favour the re-integration of Latgale into Russia, as evidenced by a small demonstration at the Latvian Embassy in Moscow in April 2014.^[4]