The history of Riga, the capital of Latvia, begins as early as the 2nd century with a settlement, the Duna urbs, at a natural harbor not far upriver from the mouth of the Daugava River. Later settled by Livs and Kurs, … See more

Under Bishop Albert
1201 was equally significant in marking the first arrival of German merchants in Novgorod, … See more

By the end of the 19th. century Riga had become one of the most industrially advanced and economically prosperous cities in the entire Empire, and of the 800,000 industrial workers in the Baltic provinces, over half worked there. By 1900, Riga was the … See more

There then followed World War II, with the Soviet occupation and annexation of Latvia in 1940; thousands of Latvians were arrested, tortured, executed and deported to See more

The Daugava River (Western Dvina, Dúna in Old Norse ) has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Viking's Dvina-Dnieper navigation route via portage to Byzantium. A sheltered natural harbor 15 km upriver from the mouth of the Daugava—the site of today's … See more

With the demise of the Livonian Order during the Livonian War, Riga for twenty years had the status of a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire before it came under the influence … See more

The 20th century brought World War I and the impact of the Russian Revolution to Riga. The Imperial German Army marched into Riga in 1917. In 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed giving the Baltic countries to Germany as puppet kingdoms. Riga became the … See more