page_title: Liepāja
section_title: World War I and War of Independence
hierarchical_section_title: Liepāja / History / World War I and War of Independence
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Долговая расписка города Либава на 5 рублей с надписью: Городское самоуправление обязуется оплатить настоящую долговую расписку немедленно по окончании войны. 1915, а.
context_page_description: Liepāja is a city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region and the third largest city in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an important ice-free port. In 2019 the population of Liepāja was 68,945 people.
  In the 19th and early 20th century it was a favourite place for sea-bathers, with the town boasting a fine park, many pretty gardens and a theatre. Liepāja is however known throughout Latvia as "City where the wind is born", likely because of the constant sea breeze. A song of the same name was composed by Imants Kalniņš and has become the anthem of the city. Its reputation as the windiest city in Latvia was strengthened with the construction of the largest wind farm in the nation nearby.
  The coat of arms of Liepāja was adopted four days after the jurisdiction gained city rights on 18 March 1625. These are described as: "on a silver background, the lion of Courland with a divided tail, who leans upon a linden tree with its forelegs". The flag of Liepāja has the coat of arms in the center, with red in the top half and green in the bottom.
context_section_description: Following the outbreak of World War I, the German cruiser SMS Magdeburg shelled Libau, and other vessels laid mines off the approaches to the port. Libau was soon occupied by the German Army, on 7 May 1915, and in memory of this event, a monument was constructed on Kūrmājas Prospect in 1916 (destroyed by Bolsheviks in 1919). Libau's local government issued its own money for a while in this period – Libaua rubles. An advanced German Zeppelin base was constructed at Vaiņode, near Liepāja, with five hangars, in August 1915. On 23 October 1915, the German cruiser SMS Prinz Adalbert was sunk by the British submarine HMS E8, 37 km (23 mi) west of Libau.
  With the collapse of Russia and the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the occupying German forces had a quiet time, but the subsequent collapse of the German Empire and the Allied denunciation of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty changed everything. Independence of the Republic of Latvia was proclaimed on 18 November 1918, and the Latvian Provisional Government under Karlis Ulmanis was created. Bolshevik Russia now advanced into Latvian territory and met little resistance here. Soon the Provisional Government and remaining German units were forced to leave Riga and retreated all the way to Liepāja, but then the Red offensive stalled along the Venta river. A Latvian Soviet Republic was announced. Latvia now became the main theatre of Baltic operations for the remaining German forces in 1919. In addition, a Landeswehr was formed to work in conjunction with the German forces.
  In Liepāja, a coup organized by Germans took place on 16 April 1919 and Ulmanis government was forced to flee and was replaced by Andrievs Niedra. The Ulmanis government found shelter on the steamship "Saratov" in Liepāja port. In May a British cruiser squadron arrived at Libau to support Latvian independence and requested the Germans to leave.
  During the war, the words of "The Jäger March" were written in Libau by Heikki Nurmio.
  The German Freikorps, having recaptured Riga from the Bolsheviks, departed in late 1919 and, with some Polish assistance, the Bolsheviks were driven out of the Latvian hinterlands in early 1920.
caption: Libau's 5 rubles (1915)
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