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The Recognition of Latvia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2017

Max M. Laserson
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Extract

The process by which Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania attained legal sovereignty is typical and serves as an example of the process whereby other new States in post-war Europe came into being. There is no doubt that after World War II the important lessons presented by the Baltic case may be drawn upon in planning future European international relations.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , April 1943 , pp. 233 - 247
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1943

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References

1 Livonia is the eastern and northern part of Latvia bordering with Estonia. In the Middle Ages and afterwards the name “Livonia” was often used for the territory of the Livonian Order including, in addition to Livonia proper, Estonia and Courland with their surrounding districts.

2 The word “Soviet” means Council and is an old notion in Russian public and constitutional law. The Russian Upper House, under the Czarist régime, was called State “Council”—Gosudarstvenny Soviet. On the other hand, an organ of executive character was also called Soviet Ministrov, meaning Council of Ministers.

3 See Seskis, J., Latvijas walsts izcelsanas (The Emergence of the Latvian State), Riga, 1921, p. 46 Google Scholar. The author was one of the most prominent Latvian diplomats and president of the Latvian delegation to the Peace Conference of Paris.

4 Art. VI, par. 2, of the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk reads as follows: “Estonia and Livonia will likewise, without delay, be cleared of Russian troops and the Russian Red Guard…. Estonia and Livonia will be occupied by a German police force until security is ensured by proper national institutions and until public order has been established. Russia will liberate at once all arrested or deported inhabitants of Estonia and Livonia, and ensures the safe return of all deported Estonians and Livonians.” Texts of the Russian “Peace” (U. S. Dept. of State, 1918, p. 13).

5 Compare Temperley, H. W. V., A History of the Peace Conference of Paris, Vol. VI (London, 1924), pp. 300–301 Google Scholar.

Du Parquet, , L’aventure allemande en Lettonie (Paris, 1926), pp. 126–156 Google Scholar.

6 Albat, G., Recueil des principaux Traités conclus par la lettonie avec les Pays Étrangers (1918–1928), Riga, 1928, p. 33.Google Scholar

7 League of Nations Treaty Series, Vol. II, p. 213.

8 Documents de l’Assemblee, 20/48/100, Annex V.

9 See my paper, “Die Verfassungsentwicklung Lettlands,” in Jahrbuch d. oeff. Rechts der Gegenwart, Vol. XI, 1922, p. 220 et aeg.

10 The same communication was sent on July 25, 1922, by the Secretary of State to the American Commissioner at Riga (see Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the U. S., 1922, Vol. II (Washington, 1928), pp. 873-874).

11 From the 25th Plenary Meeting, Dec. 15, 1920 (League of Nations, Records of the 1st Assembly, Plenary Meetings, Geneva, 1920).

12 See The Baltic States Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Oxford University Press (1938), p. 65 et seq.

13 Department of State Bulletin, Vol. I, pp. 542–543.

14 Department of State Bulletin, Vol. III, p. 48.

15 Ibid., p. 199. As a matter of fact we have on record a certificate issued by the Department of State, No. 1228, over the signature of Sumner Welles, Acting Secretary of State, on March 14, 1942, declaring that “the absorption of Latvia by either Germany or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is not recognized by the Government of the United States.” The Latvian Legation is mentioned in the March, 1943, issue of the Diplomatic List of the Department of State.