Latvia as a partner in the political security system of Western democracies in the early 1920s: Latvia’s relations with Great Britain, the United States and Germany

Abstract

For the new states that emerged as a result of the First World War, ensuring the internal political security in the early 1920s was a fundamentally important issue. In the case of Latvia, potential security threats were exacerbated by the country’s geopolitical position – a direct border with Soviet Russia – which made Latvia a protective barrier against the spread of the Communist movement. The aim of the study is to characterize Latvia’s role in the political security system of Western democracies in the early 1920s based on the materials of the Latvian security service, focusing on Latvia’s relations in the field of political security with three Western democracies – United Kingdom, the United States and Germany.