Ultimate freedom-- no choice : the culture of authoritarianism in Latvia, 1934-1940 / / by Deniss Hanovs & Valdis Tēraudkalns ; [translator, Laura Bleidere].

• Author: Hanovs, Deniss.
• TeilnehmendeR: Tēraudkalns, Valdis.; Bleidere, Laura.
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Series: Central and Eastern Europe 2.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (282 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

The Republic of Latvia is a fascinating mirror of the development of European democratic culture and reflects both the rise of democracy in Eastern Europe after the end of World War I and its deterioration into authoritarianism in the early 1930's. The regime, which lasted for only six years (1934-1940), was shaped by the controversial figure of Prime Minister and Leader of the People (Vadonis) Karlis Ulmanis. This new, archive-based study illustrates the development of authoritarianism in the region, shows controversies and similarities and places the regime's leader in the international context of European authoritarian culture. The book shows how mass culture and technologies, ancient drama and European modernism were combined to reinforce the idea of legitimacy of a new non-democratic regime.

Table of Contents

Chapter one. The beginning : how was the coup presented back then? -- Inter-war Latvia : prehistory of the coup, its context -- Why the coup is not a coup, but salvation? -- Ulmanis in foreign media : the Times -- Chapter two. Genesis of a political myth : an official turns into Vadonis -- Chapter three. Staging Atdzimšanas Dziesma : technologies of authoritarianism cultural policy -- How does one stage the principle of authoritarianism? staging of a mass performance as a political program -- "Atdzimšanas Dziesma will invite every Latvian to serve his nation and country by obeying Vadonis" : what is the staging going to say? -- "Atdzimšanas Dziesma depicts the fate of the Latvian people : staging as a liturgy of authoritarianism, Vadonis as a priest and actor -- Chapter four. "Another land" : Latgale region in the discourse of Ulmanis' authoritarian regime on the unity of the nation -- Political performance as a staging of unanimity -- Latgale : the symbolic stepchild and bride -- Latgalians and ethnic unity -- Latgalians and ethnic diversity : the other in the new political culture -- Answers of Latgale's media -- The education law and the technology of the melting pot -- Daugavpils Vienības Nams : a building as a political message -- Chapter five. The leader, the enemy, war and celebration : authoritarianism practices compared : Stalin and Ulmanis in Latvia's authoritarian culture -- USSR--the land of workers and violence : a dual perception -- Cultural practices of European dictatorships in the 30s -- Stalin and Ulmanis : a functional comparison of leaders -- The enemy : communism and the war of civilizations -- Moscow trials--the globalized political show of the 30s -- Chapter six. Date and place : a celebration of authoritarianism in Rēzekne and Riga -- "The harvest booster" : K. Ulmanis as a hero of cyclical time in Svēta Zeme spectacle -- 18 November as a continuation of 15 May : the course of celebration on 18 November 1938 -- Chapter seven. "New Riga" : the city as an instrument of authoritarian ideology -- Aesthetization of Ulmanis' ideology : key tendencies and international context -- Ulman Riga -- The Uzvaras laukums : a spatial self-reference -- Chapter eight. Authoritarianism and the Church : attempts to develop Latvian Christianity in 1920s and 1930s -- The relationship policy between the Church and the state under Ulmanis' regime -- The Church : in supranational content and national form -- Ideas expressed by the radical wing of Latvianizers of the Church -- Conclusion.