WINNING WOMEN’S VOTE: EXPERIENCE FROM LATVIA Aija Branta Historical Context Men and women in Latvia were fully enfranchised simultaneously at a relatively early stage, in 1918. The struggle for women’s sufffrage cannot be separated from the development of men’s political rights and was deeply connected to the national liberation movement. Because of this connec- tion, as we shall see, the main actors in the Latvian story of female sufffrage were political parties rather than the women’s movement. In 1795, the territory of Latvia (three separate provinces named Baltic Province) was part of the Russian Empire. The prevailing state system was an authoritarian one, in which the autocracy refused to deal with social problems or to give the people a role in governing the country. It had no constitution or parliament and restricted basic freedoms, such as freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly and association. Moreover, a chauvinistic ethnic policy granted special privileges to Russians and promoted ‘russifycation’ in the educational system, state activities, and municipal institutions. During the second half of the 19th century, the traditionally agrarian Baltic societies gradually embraced modernity, including its characteris- tic economic and social model, lifestyle, and values. Modernization included such features as industrialization, urbanization, commercializa- tion, new social structures, the division between the public and private spheres, the secularization of consciousness, and the development of literacy. People’s attitudes toward society changed. As liberalism and a sense of personal freedom started to spread, people became conscious of themselves as individuals and as participants in social, political, and cul- tural life. At that time, during a period known as the National Awakening, a major national movement known as the Jaunlatvieši (Young Latvians) commenced its activities. The movement raised national consciousness and supported political reform, advocating the idea of a unifijied Latvian people ruling its own destiny in its own land. To this end, the Jaunlatvieši 96 aija branta focused on education and enlightenment and promoted the development of national political organizations.1 The most important ideological and political movement in Latvia, however, was the Jaunā Strāva (New Current). This movement, which began to develop in the late 1880s, united young, democratically minded Latvian intellectuals. It revolved mainly around the newspaper Dienas Lapa (Daily Page) and legally permitted societies, but it also carried out extensive underground activities. Advocating civil liberties and parlia- mentary governance and spreading information about democratic expe- riences abroad, the movement’s activists laid the foundation for Latvia’s democratic tradition, made socialist and Marxist ideas influential, and stimulated the struggle for democracy. Neo-nationalism emerged at the end of the 19th century in protest against what was regarded as the cosmopolitanism and national nihilism of the Jaunā Strāva, based on an uncritical adherence to the Marxist idea of proletariat internationalism. Neo-nationalists paid greater attention to the economic achievements, education, and enlightenment of Latvians. Nevertheless, socialist ideas spread rapidly in Latvia. Both urban factories and rural areas became fertile grounds for numerous underground social democratic organizations. As we shall see, these organizations, as well as those established in later years, played an important role in the national liberation movement and the fijight for female sufffrage. World War I led to great changes in Europe’s political geography, includ- ing in Latvia. The 1917 revolution and the fall of the Russian Empire and the political defeat of Germany propitiated the creation of the indepen- dent democratic state of Latvia on November 18, 1918. Winning the Right to Sufffrage Until the beginning of the 19th century, women could not participate directly in any organized social activity as individuals, but only as mem- bers of their family (i.e., as wives, mothers, or sisters).2 Participation in charity organizations was an exception.3 Women involved in charity were 1 Following Western European ideas, Young Latvians combined elements of liberalism and nationalism, directing Latvian history on a course towards democracy. Due to the political situation, however, it did not consistently voice democratic demands, but ori- ented its activities to bring about a slow process of liberalization. 2 Zelče V., Nezināmā. Latvijas sievietes 19. gadsimta otrajā pusē (Rīga: 2002) 117. 3 The fijirst one was founded in 1817..