page_title: Kārlis Ulmanis
section_title: Coup of May 15, 1934
hierarchical_section_title: Kārlis Ulmanis / Coup of May 15, 1934
caption_attribution_description: English: President of Latvia Karlis Ulmanis visiting his supporters, Photo by en:PAT ( Polish Press Agency before 1939)
context_page_description: Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis was a Latvian politician. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the interwar period of independence from November 1918 to June 1940. He served four times as Prime Minister, the last time as the head of an authoritarian regime.
  His legacy continues to divide public opinion in Latvia today.
context_section_description: On the night from May 15–16, 1934, Ulmanis, with the support of Minister of War Jānis Balodis, proclaimed a state of war and dissolved all political parties and the Saeima (parliament).  The bloodless coup was carried out by army and units of the national guard Aizsargi loyal to Ulmanis. They moved against key government offices, communications and transportation facilities. Many elected officials and politicians (almost exclusively Social Democrats, as well as figures from the extreme right and left) were detained, as were any military officers who resisted the coup d'etat. Some 2,000 Social Democrats were initially detained by the authorities, including most of the Social Democratic members of the disbanded Saeima, as were members of various right-wing radical organisations, such as Pērkonkrusts.
  In all, 369 Social Democrats, 95 members of Pērkonkrusts, pro-Nazi activists from the Baltic German community, and a handful of politicians from other parties were interned in a prison camp established in the Karosta district of Liepāja. After several Social Democrats, such as Bruno Kalniņš, had been cleared of weapons charges by the courts, most of those imprisoned began to be released over time. Those convicted by the courts of treasonous acts, such as the leader of Pērkonkrusts Gustavs Celmiņš, remained behind bars for the duration of their sentences, three years in the case of Celmiņš.
  For the next four years, Ulmanis ruled by decree, without a parliament. A decree vested the Saeima's functions in the cabinet until a new constitution could be drafted. Although the incumbent State President Alberts Kviesis did not support the coup, he remained in office and collaborated with Ulmanis.
  On March 19, 1936, Ulmanis' cabinet drafted a law that provided for Ulmanis to become State President as well as Prime Minister upon the expiration of Kviesis' term. This clearly violated the Constitution, which stipulated that the chairman of the Saeima would become acting president pending new elections. However, no one dared object. When Kviesis left office on April 11, 1936, Ulmanis combined the offices of president and prime minister.
caption: Ulmanis in 1934
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