Kārlis Ulmanis
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{{Infobox Officeholder
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| name = {{PAGENAME}}
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| image = Karlis Ulmanis.jpg
| imagesize = 150px
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| caption = Kārlis Ulmanis
| order = 1st [[Prime Minister of Latvia]]
| term_start = [[November 19]] [[1918]]
| term_end = [[June 18]] [[1921]]
| order2 = 4th [[President of Latvia]]
| term_start2 = [[November 4]] [[1936]] <ref name="treijs">{{cite book |last = Treijs |first = Rihards |authorlink = Rihards Treijs |title = Prezidenti : Latvijas valsts un ministru prezidenti (1918-1940). |language = Latvian |publisher = [[Latvijas Vēstnesis]] |location = Riga |year = 2004 |isbn = 9984731472 |oclc = 61227165}}</ref>
| term_end2 = [[July 21]] [[1940]] <ref name="treijs" />
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| successor = [[Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics]]
| predecessor2 = [[Alberts Kviesis]]
| successor2 = [[Guntis Ulmanis]]
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1877|9|4|mf=y}} <ref name="treijs" />
| birth_place = [[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|22px]] Bērze, [[Latvia]]<br><small>(part of the [[Russian Empire]])</small>
| death_date = {{death date and age|1942|9|20|1877|9|4|mf=y}} <ref name="treijs" />
| death_place = [[Image:Flag of the Soviet Union 1923.svg|22px]] [[Krasnovodsk]], [[Soviet Union]] <ref name="treijs" />
| restingplace = Unknown
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| nationality = [[Image:Flag of Latvia.svg|22px]] [[Latvian]]
| party = [[Latvian Farmers' Union]] <ref name="treijs" />
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'''Kārlis Vilhelms Augusts Ulmanis''' (b. [[September 4]], [[1877]] in [[Bērze]], Latvia – d. [[September 20]], [[1942]] in [[Krasnovodsk]] prison, [[Soviet Union]]) was a prominent Latvian politician in pre-[[World War II]] [[Latvia]] during the Latvian period of independence from 1918 to 1940.
== Education and early career ==
[[Image:karlisulmanis student.jpg|thumb|125px|left|Kārlis Ulmanis - Student]]
Ulmanis studied [[agriculture]] at the [[ETH Zurich]], [[Switzerland]], and at [[Leipzig University]], [[Germany]], and then worked in [[Latvia]] as a writer, lecturer, and manager in agricultural positions. He was politically active during the [[1905 Revolution]], was briefly imprisoned in [[Pskov]], and subsequently fled [[Latvia]] to avoid incarceration by the Russian authorities. During this period of exile, Ulmanis studied at the [[University of Nebraska]] in the [[United States]], earning a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture. After working briefly at that university as a lecturer, Ulmanis moved to [[Houston]], [[Texas]], where he had purchased a dairy business.
Ulmanis returned to [[Latvia]] from exile in 1913, after being informed that it was safe to return due to the declaration of a general amnesty by the [[Russia]]n [[tsar]]. This safety was shortlived as [[World War I]] broke out one year later.
== Political career in democratic Latvia ==
In the aftermath of the war, Ulmanis was one of the principal founders of the Latvian People's Council ([[Tautas Padome]]), which proclaimed Latvia's independence from Russia on [[November 18]], [[1918]]. A constitutional convention established Latvia as a parliamentary democracy in 1920. Ulmanis was the first Prime Minister of a [[Latvia]] which had become independent for the first time in 700 years. He also served as Prime Minister in several subsequent Latvian government administrations during the period of Latvian independence from 1918 to 1940. In addition, he founded the [[Latvian Farmers' Union]], one of the two most prominent political parties in Latvia at that time.
== Authoritarian régime ==
On [[May 15]], [[1934]], ostensibly to protect the country from a coup by right-wing extremists from the so-called "Legion" under Lt. Col. Voldemārs Ozols, Ulmanis as Prime Minister dissolved the [[Saeima]] (Parliament) and established executive non-parliamentary [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian rule]]. Several officers from the Army and units of the national guard (Aizsargi) loyal to Ulmanis moved against key government offices, communications and transportation facilities. Many elected officials were illegally detained, as were any military officers that resisted the [[coup d’etat]].
All political parties, including his own "Farmers' Union", were outlawed. Part of the [[Constitution of Latvia|constitution of the Latvian Republic]] and [[civil liberties]] were suspended. All newspapers owned by political parties or organisations were closed. 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 concentration 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.<ref>{{cite book |last= Bērziņš |first=Valdis (ed.) |title= 20. gadsimta Latvijas vēsture II: Neatkarīgā valsts 1918–1940 |year= 2003 |publisher= Latvijas Vēstures institūta apgāds |location= Riga |language= Latvian |isbn= 9984601188 |oclc= 45570948 }}</ref> Those convicted by the courts of treasonous acts, such as [[Gustavs Celmiņš]], remained behind bars for the duration of their sentences.
The [[incumbent]] President [[Alberts Kviesis]] was allowed to serve the rest of his term until [[1936]], after which Ulmanis unconstitutionally merged the office of President and Prime Minister in his own person. Kārlis Ulmanis instituted what he called a "Nationalist Dictatorship", styling himself as "Tautas Vadonis" (Leader of the Nation) and "Father of the Nation". Ulmanis was ruling by decree and making decisions with practically unlimited powers{{FixPOV}}{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
Ulmanis was a popular leader, especially among the farmers, during whose leadership Latvia recorded major economic achievements. During Ulmanis' rule, education was strongly emphasized and [[literacy]] rates in Latvia reached the highest levels in Europe.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} Due to an application of the economics of [[comparative advantage]], the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Germany]] became Latvia's major trade partners, while trade with the [[Soviet Union|USSR]] was reduced. The economy, especially the [[agriculture]] and [[manufacturing]] sectors, were [[Micromanagement|micromanaged]] to an extreme degree. Ulmanis [[Nationalization|nationalised]] many industries. State interference in the economy was second only to the Soviet Union. This resulted in rapid economic growth, during which Latvia attained a very high standard of living. At a time when most of the world's economy was suffering, Latvia could point to increases in both gross national product ([[GNP]]) and in exports of Latvian goods overseas.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} This, however, came at the cost of liberty and civil rights.
Ulmanis was a Latvian [[nationalist]], who espoused the slogan "Latvia for Latvians" and held that every ethnic community in Latvia should develop its own authentic national culture, instead of [[Cultural assimilation|assimilating]].{{vague|date=March 2008}}<!-- contradicts itself - says both that he supported only Latvians and encouraged develeopment of other cultures --> The policy of Ulmanis, even before his access to power, was openly directed toward eliminating the minority groups from economic life and of giving Latvians access to all positions in the national economy - sometimes referred to as Lettization.<ref name=id2>[http://www.jewishgen.org/Courland/consular/cons_jews.htm The Jews of Latvia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> According to some estimates, about 90% of the banks and credit establishments in Latvia were in Latvian hands in [[1939]], as against 20% in [[1933]].{{Fact|date=September 2007}} Birznieks, the Minister of Agriculture, in a speech delivered in [[Ventspils]] on January 26, 1936, said:
{{quote|Latvian people are the only masters of this country; Latvians will themselves promulgate the laws and judge for themselves what justice is.|Birznieks, the Minister of Agriculture|<ref name=id2>[http://www.jewishgen.org/Courland/consular/cons_jews.htm The Jews of Latvia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>}}
As the result, the economic share of minorities - [[Germans]], [[Jews]], [[Russians]], [[Lithuanians]] - declined. However, Ulmanis didn't allow any [[Hate crime|physical violence]] or unlawful acts towards minorities and dealt harshly with right- and left- wing extremists, and with both Nazi and Communist sympathisers.<ref>[http://www.centropa.org/index.php?page=rdetails&rtype=report&id=44&land=Latvia Centropa<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Between 1920 and 1938, many Jews, escaping Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, found refuge in Latvia.
== Later life and death ==
In 1939, [[Hitler]]'s Germany and [[Stalin]]'s USSR signed a non-aggression agreement, known as the [[Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact]], which contained a secret addendum (revealed only in 1945), dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Latvia was thereby assigned to the Soviet sphere. Following a Soviet ultimatum in 1939, Ulmanis had to allow Soviet military bases in Latvia, and in June 1940, Latvia was completely occupied by the [[Soviet Union]]. Ulmanis ordered Latvians to show no resistance to the Soviet Army. The phrase "I will remain in my place and you remain in your places" from his radio speech on this occasion is still famous, and may have saved lives, however, Ulmanis is now sometimes accused of not forging a military alliance with [[Lithuania]] and [[Estonia]], and not doing enough to defend Latvia against Soviet aggression the way [[Finland]] did ([[Winter War]]).{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
On July 21, 1940 Ulmanis resigned and asked the Soviet government for a pension and to allow him to emigrate to [[Switzerland]]. Instead, he ended up in [[Stavropol]] in the present [[Russia]], where he worked in his original profession for a year. In July 1941, he was imprisoned. A year later, as German armies were closing in on Stavropol, he and other inmates were evacuated to a prison in [[Krasnovodsk]] in the present [[Turkmenistan]]. On the way there, he contracted [[dysentery]] and soon died on 20 September 1942. Ulmanis [[confirmed bachelor|had no wife or children]], as he used to say that he was married to Latvia.
== Later assessments ==
[[Image:karlisulmanis plaque.jpg|thumb|174px|right|Commemorative plaque in the USA from 1954]]
Kārlis Ulmanis's legacy for Latvia and Latvians is a complex one.
In the postwar [[Latvian SSR]] the Soviet régime characterised Ulmanis and his ruling clique as typical fascists, ideologically little distinguishable from the Nazis.
Amongst the postwar Latvian émigrés in exile, Ulmanis was idealised by many of those who viewed his 6-year authoritiarian rule as a [[Golden Age (metaphor)|Golden Age]] of the Latvian nation. Some traditions created by Ulmanis, such as the "Draudzīgais aicinājums" (charitable donations to one's former school), continued to be upheld.
[[Image:ulmanis monument.jpg|thumb|left|Monument to Kārlis Ulmanis in downtown Riga today]]
In independent Latvia today Ulmanis remains a popular, if also controversial figure. Many Latvians view him as a symbol of Latvia's independence in pre-World War II Latvia, particularly in his early role as prime minister during the country's formative years.{{Who|date=October 2007}} Others credit Ulmanis for the rise of ethnic Latvians' economic prosperity during the 1930s.{{Who|date=October 2007}} Others think that someone who disbanded Parliament and adopted [[authoritarian]] rule cannot be regarded as a positive figure, even if that rule was in some terms a prosperous one.{{Who|date=October 2007}}
One sign that Ulmanis was still very popular in Latvia during the first years of regained independence was the election of his grand-nephew [[Guntis Ulmanis]] as [[President]] of Latvia in 1993.
One of the major traffic routes in Riga, the capital of Latvia, is named after him (K.Ulmaņa gatve).
In recent years, a monument of Ulmanis was also unveiled in a park in the city centre.
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==See also ==
*[[Latvian War of Independence]]
*[[Freikorps in the Baltic]]
==External links==
* {{lv icon}} [http://www.historia.lv/alfabets/U/ul/ulmanis/ulmanis.htm Biography]
* [http://www.jewishgen.org/Courland/consular/cons_jews.htm Documents obtained and donated by Paul Berkay and transcribed by Sherri Goldberg and Margaret Kannensohn ]
== Notes ==
<sup>1</Sup> - [[Anatolijs Gorbunovs]] assumed presidential duties upon the restoration of Latvian [[independence]] in 1990.
{{Latvia Presidents}}
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[[Category:Presidents of Latvia]]
[[Category:Prime Ministers of Latvia]]
[[Category:University of Nebraska-Lincoln alumni]]
[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:Victims of Soviet repressions]]
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