Kārlis Ulmanis

**Kārlis Ulmanis** (September 4, 1877 – September 20, 1942) was a leader of the Latvian independence movement, who had served as the Prime Minister and President of Latvia for several times until the Soviet occupied Latvia on July 21, 1940. Ulmanis was deported to Russia and ultimately died of dysentery in prison in Krasnovodsk, Turkmenistan.

### Early life

Ulmanis started out as an agricultural scientist in Latvia, who studied agronomy in Germany. In 1905, he joined the Russian Revolution and got detained, but managed to flee to the United States (US), where he earned a degree in agriculture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and taught as a lecturer.

### World War I

Ulmanis returned to Latvia in 1913 when Tsar Nicolas II declared a general amnesty. In 1915, Latvia was occupied by the German Empire in World War I. In 1918, Ulmanis founded the Latvian Farmers' Union and co-founded the People's Council to prepare for independence from Russia.

## Independent Latvia

Ulmanis led the People's Council to declare Latvia's independence on November 18, 1918, becoming the first Prime Minister of Latvia. The newly founded Republic of Latvia was invaded by Soviet Russia – aided by native Latvian communists. With help from the Baltic German, Finnish, Estonian and Polish forces and Anglo-French navies, the Latvian War of Independence was won.

## 1934 coup d'état

Just as other European states, Latvia's democracy was unstable. The ultranationalist _Pērkonkrusts_ ("Thunder Cross")  party and the Nazified German minority contributed to the instability. Kārlis Ulmanis and general Jānis Balodis launched a coup d'état, dissolving the _Saeima_ (Latvian Parliament) and all parties.

Individuals across the political spectrum, including the _Pērkonkrusts_, were jailed. In 1936, Ulmanis took over the positions of both President and Prime Minister, ruling until the Soviet occupied Latvia.

### Ideology

Several historians saw Kārlis Ulmanis as nationalist and authoritarian. Latvianization is said to have been enforced in education to assimilate minorities, which also greatly improved the literacy among the populace. It is claimed that all secular Yiddish schools were closed, while restrictions were imposed on Hebrew schools.

## Final years

Following the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Ulmanis was deported to Russia and ultimately died of dysentery in prison in present-day Turkmenistan's Krasnovodsk.

## Assessment

Kārlis Ulmanis has been a controversial figure since the end of WWII. In Soviet official history, Ulmanis was demonized as a "corrupt fascist culpable for the bloody repression of Latvian workers". Meanwhile, the then-Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin committed several genocides across the Soviet Union, killing up to 20 million, including the Holodomor and deportation of 10% of Baltic states' population.

In modern Latvia, Ulmanis is quite popular among Latvians for his important role in Latvia's nation-building. His achievements in his early years of prime ministership are viewed positively by historians, despite criticism of his "undemocratic" rule between 1934 and 1940.

## Trivia

It is claimed that Kārlis Ulmanis never married or dated. When asked, he answered,