War and Society in Latvia

Project No.: lzp-2018/2-0147
Implementation period: 1 December 2018 – 1 December 2020
Project costs: EUR 200 000
Principal investigator: Dr. hist. Ēriks Jēkabsons

The aim of the project is to study and analyse the consequences that the processes and developments caused by warfare had on society in the territory of Latvia from 1914 to 1921. The research is to be carried out by choosing social indicators that most clearly reveal the impact and influence of war-related processes on changes in society: population count and composition, changes in social groups and their mutual relations, the refugee issue, changes in social welfare, gender relations and traditions. The scientific results of the project are the enrichment of the Latvian historical science with new, previously unknown information on a very significant period of Latvian history, moreover, in an aspect (social history), which has not been studied in Latvia at all. Taking into account the specifics of the case of Latvia in 1914 – 1921 in a regional and European context (it was one of the most war-affected countries), the information created as a result of the research will also substantially complement the knowledge on the history of the whole region and will open up new possibilities for further comparative research. The project’s most significant publication is the collective monograph of all researchers on the consequences of the war-induced processes on society. Project will create new knowledge about the events of the First World War and the War of Independence, which are some of the central and most important processes in the history of Latvia.