The exhibition at the National Library of 14.11.2018.–15.09.2019. #episodes From Sunday to Saturday in 1918 Exhibition organiser National Library of Latvia

Researchers and writers Ruta Almane-Palmbaha, Anita Arājuma, Anda Baklāne, Zane Grosa, Sarmīte Galsa, Elīna Kalniņa, Lilija Limane, Marina Mihaileca, Kristina Papule, Ilze Ramba, Anda Saldovere, Viktorija Surska, Indra Viļumsone, Elita Vīksna, Anda Juta Zālīte, Eridana Žiba

Scientific consultants Dr. hist. Vija Daukšte, Dr. hist. Mārtiņš Mintaurs

Content editor Ieva Zībārte

Project manager Kristiāna Kirša

Exhibition and graphic design Una Grants, Anete Krūmiņa

Illustrations Tatjana Raičiņeca

Exhibition technicians #episodes Ainārs Egle, Jevgenijs Sisojevs From Sunday to Saturday in 1918 Video art Anete Krūmiņa, Kristians Luhaers

Sound Renarts Braufmanis

Digitalisation 1918 is a year full of chaos and disquiet. Events follow quickly Marika Karlsone, Lāsma Timma

one upon the other and everything changes absolutely – front lines, Translations Juris Beņķis borders, political regimes, governments, prices. Despite the harsh conditions, life goes on. Farmers make sure that their city relatives, Special thanks to Jolanta Āboltiņa, Ainārs Roze, Ivars Silārs, Jānis worn-out by food shortages, receive a tasty morsel. Schoolchildren Šiliņš, Maija Zīle, National History Museum of Latvia maintain their joie de vivre. Love blossoms. An art exhibition opens and Inta Robežniece, Latvian National Museum of Art and Vineta Beržinska, Ziemeļblāzma branch of in Rīga. At the beginning of August 1918, a train stands waiting at the Central library and Elita Voicehoviča

a St. Petersburg station platform with three carriages decorated All the documents and images used in in the with the inscription Латышская опера – the Latvian Opera. The exhibition are from the collections of the National Library of Latvia, unless indicated otherwise carriages’ seats are occupied by orchestra players and soloists, On the cover – Personnel of the Latvian Opera, around 120 artists in total. season 1918/1919. Photograph by Kārlis Paucītis The Episodes. From Sunday to Saturday in 1918 exhibition presents, on eight levels, miniature stories that reveal testimonies © National Library of Latvia, 2018 about 1918 from the collection of the National Library of Latvia. lnb.lv #lnblv Visitors can get a feel for the atmosphere in the year the state was founded, through the eyes of a child, a politician, a musician, a romantic lover and a censorship official of that time.

2 A level-by-level guide to the exhibition Start your journey at any episode!

Level 8 Meeting chaos head on with optimism Libraries and librarians in #1918

Level 4 Level 6 An unsuccessful exhibition Everyday life runs its course 1918 at the Rīga City Museum #1918 in ephemera

Level 6 End and beginning The historical landscape in Level 5 #1918 maps Life goes on #1918 in documents, diaries and letters Level 4 Train to the opera From prima donna to lowly chorus member

Level 5 From Sunday Level 1: Book in Latvia room to Saturday The Poetry of Life according to Freedom the #1918 calendar Daugava, a series of poems by Rainis, inspires the struggle for statehood

Level 7 Find your name! Children and pupils in #1918

Level M Level 3 The deleted year Born alongside Latvia #1918 in the library’s Newspapers and magazines Level 4 secret archive founded in #1918 Sound on shellac records Early Latvian recordings #episodes #1918 #lnb #lnb #1918 #episodes

3 Everyone unites

Mārtiņš Mintaurs, PhD in History, answers questions about people’s lives in 1918 posed by the creators of the #episodes exhibition

When did the First World were evacuated to with their factories, Latvia saw no new refugee flows in 1917 and War actually end in Latvia? 1918. Rural residents in and Latgale In what is now Latvia, the First World War remained in their homes, but townspeople formally ended on 11 November 1918, suffered shortages of food and fuel – both when Germany surrendered to the Entente coal and firewood. In 1917, Valka became countries or the Western allies – Britain, the refugee centre for those still in Vidzeme. France and the United States. At that time, However, for the Kurzeme refugees, the whole of Latvia was under German returning to German-occupied Latvia was occupation. After the Democratic Revolution very difficult at that time, and it was these of February 1917, the Army losses that were the greatest threat to the had quite rapidly lost its combat capability, future existence of the Latvian people. consequently, as early as 1917, German troops had occupied Rīga. The Regiment, after heavy fighting defending Rīga at Mazā Jugla, was Was Latvia totally evacuated to Russia, and shortly thereafter, in devastated? January and February 1918, German troops The greatest damage in 1915-17, apart from occupied the whole of Latvia. After the end the abandoned farmsteads in Kurzeme, of the war in Western Europe, in accordance was on both banks of the river Daugava with the terms of the ceasefire agreement and the immediate vicinity of Rīga on its between the Entente and Germany, German western side. This had been the front line troops were to remain on the Eastern front to for two years and bloody battles were protect Europe from attack by the Bolsheviks fought at some places (near Sloka, Ķekava who had seized power in Russia. and in Tīreļpurvs). In 1916, German troops also used chemical weapons at Nāves sala (Death Island) on the south bank of the What were people’s lives like Daugava opposite Ikšķile, which made the area uninhabitable even after the war had after the war? ended. Until the 1919 autumn battles with Unlike the summer of 1915, when either the Bermontians, Rīga had not suffered any by force or influenced by anti-German significant damage; other Latvian towns, propaganda, about 500 000 refugees fled away from the front line, also passed the war Kurzeme and more than 100 000 workers relatively peacefully.

4 What was the economic situation and people’s everyday lives like? At the beginning of 1918, life in Latvia gradually settled down. During the war, the German administration had demanded food levies from farmers and intensified deforestation, building a broad network of narrow-gauge railway lines for this purpose. However, residential infrastructure remained intact generally: schools and hospitals still functioned, newspapers came out in Latvian and German, postal communications worked. The rural population did not suffer from hunger, but unattainable industrial goods could only be bought on the black market at elevated prices. The financial sphere was in something of a mess because German currency and monetary units issued by the former Russian Empire and subsequently by Latvia’s provisional government, were all in circulation.

Why exactly was the establishment of an independent Latvian state possible in 1918? The proclamation of the Latvian state in Rīga on 18 November 1918 became possible for a number of reasons. First of all, Germany’s losing the First World War allowed Latvian political organisations (the Latvian Provisional National Council in Valka and the Democratic Block in Rīga), previously prohibited during the occupation, to be legalised. Secondly, the principle of national self-determination was proclaimed in international politics after the end of the war: this meant that in place of the great empires of Europe (German, Austro- Hungarian, Russian), nation states were to be established with one dominant nation at the core of the state. Thirdly, at the end of the war, in addition to the Latvian politicians in western Europe trying to gain the support of the Allies in London and for the right of political self-determination in Latvia, members of the Farmers’ Union and various civil parties became active in Rīga. In just one week from the end of the First World War, between 11 and 18 November, agreement was reached on the founding of the state, also involving those Latvian social democrats not under the influence of the Bolsheviks, who until then, had been reserved about the idea of a Latvian state. #episodes #1918 #lnb #lnb #1918 #episodes

5 Level 1: Book in Latvia room newspapers and magazines about art and The first ‘gramophone’ or record player culture, as well as literary and satirical was patented by the German inventor Emil The Poetry of Freedom publications are printed. Many of them can Berliner in 1887. At first, the records were one- Daugava, a series of poems by Rainis, be termed as one-offs in the truest sense sided, 12 cm in diameter, and made of tin. of this word – only one edition is issued, After several experiments and improvements, inspires the struggle for statehood but there are some that also continue to be a mixture of shellac was identified as the most published after the war. suitable material for production, (until vinyl was Most of Daugava, the dramatic poems The newspapers and journals published discovered), consequently these records are by Rainis, had already been written during by various political and social organisations known as shellac records. The optimum playback the First World War. He completed the work and individuals in the Latvian, German, speed evolved as 78 rpm, although other in 1919, when it was set out in the form it Russian and other languages are each a variations in playback speed existed. The most reached readers before Bermondt-Avalov’s unique fragment of the historical mosaic common size for records was 25 cm in diameter, attack on Rīga in autumn 1919. The first enabling us to examine the events of 1918. and about three minutes of sound could be 4 000 copies sold out in two weeks. Publisher recorded on each side of the record. 30 cm sized Ansis Gulbis printed an extra run. The poems records were also common, used for longer were read by Bermondt’s soldiers and their Level 4 pieces of music, for example opera fragments. supporters. The fact that the poem was personally An unsuccessful exhibition important to people at that time is 1918 at the Rīga City Museum Level 5 demonstrated by the inscriptions in two of the five pre-release copies held in the The evacuation of Rīga in July 1915 Train to the opera NLL’s Rare Manuscript and Book collection. disrupts the city’s art scene for several One inscription says that the pre-release years. Art associations cease their activities, From prima donna to lowly copy was owned by Kārlis Līdaks of Rīga, a exhibitions are rarely held, art schools close. chorus member musician and teacher who volunteered for Most of the best-known Latvian and German the Latvian National Army on 31 May 1919. artists escape as refugees (Vilhelms Purvītis, In May 1918, Rīga lawyer Andrejs He was awarded the Order of the Three Jānis Rozentāls), are deported (August Volz, Frīdenbergs arrives in St. Petersburg to Stars for his efforts on behalf of the state. He Ernst Gaehtgen) or are conscripted into the implement his idea of moving Latvian musicians was repressed in the first year of the Soviet army (Ludolfs Liberts, Oto Skulme, Niklāvs living there to Rīga and restoring the opera. occupation and shot dead in Norilsk on Strunke, Jāzeps Grosvalds). Others take He involves Jāzeps Vītols, Teodors Reiters, 29 June 1942. the opportunity to continue their studies at Edvarts Virza and Jānis Zālītis, the best Latvian The second inscription is by a woman Russian art schools, for example, members of musicians are spoken to, contracts are signed, named Mirdza, who, giving the pre-release the Zaļā puķe (Green Flower) group of artists directors sought, documents are prepared for copy to an acquaintance, wrote on the title Valdemārs Tone, Konrāds Ubāns and Roberts the journey to Rīga. page: “In memory of the days of pain and Johansons come together at the Penza Art At the beginning of August 1918, a train was doubt in 1919/1920. Mirdza”. from 1915 to 1917, also attended by stationed at the platform with its three carriages Jēkabs Kazaks, Romans Suta and others. decorated with the inscription Латышская Level M In 1917-1918, when Rīga is occupied опера – the Latvian Opera. The carriage by German troops, German artists try to seats are occupied by orchestra players and The deleted year revive their former activities. In September soloists, around 120 artists and other creative and October 1918, to enliven the centenary professionals in total. The opera is allocated a #1918 in the library’s secret archive celebrations of the Rīga City Museum, the temporary home on the premises of what today Under the Soviet occupation, the secret Baltic Artists’ Union holds a large exhibition is the , where musicians archive was the most secretive and most at the museum. There are 49 exhibitors with start intensive rehearsals as soon as in mid- repressive place in the library. It existed to 293 exhibits, including only two Latvians – August. The Latvian Opera is officially opened instigate intellectual genocide in the country – Jānis Rozentāls and Vilhelms Purvītis. This on 15 September 1918. the censorship of literature available to readers. event is the culmination of Baltic-German Thanks to the funding attracted by The library’s secret archive or the Section cultural life of the era, but at the same time Frīdenbergs and the energy of Vītols and for Literature Requiring Special Storage was the last German exhibition in a German- Reiters, Latvia acquires a theatrical troupe, founded in 1941. All publications whose administered Rīga. The Latvian state will which, with minimal changes, later forms the “content is not in line with the Soviet system” be proclaimed within a month, and the first core of the . had to be removed from libraries. major exhibition of 1919 will already be The General Directorate for the Protection devoted to a retrospective of Latvian art. of State Secrets in the Press of the Latvian SSR or Glavlit paid special attention to the history Level 4 of Latvia from 1917 to 1940. The Directorate worked closely with the Soviet Security Service and became known as a the ‘book ’. Sound on shellac records The number of publications placed in Early Latvian recordings the secret archive cannot be accurately determined: they included prohibited The first sound recordings in Latvia, as in publications and yet-to-be-examined literature, many European countries, were made by the which staff did not process even until the Gramophone company. The company’s factory section was closed in 1988. The basement of in Riga also became its first factory in Eastern Anglikāņu iela 5, where the secret archive was Europe, and many records with Latvian located, held around half a million printed content – works by Latvian composers and items. All works on the founding of the Latvian folk songs – were recorded here. Other record state in 1918 were also consigned to the labels also made Latvian sound recordings secret archive. in the early 20th century. Between 1903 and 1915, Gramophone, Zonophone and His Master’s Voice released around 400 Latvian Level 3 recordings. Born alongside Latvia Newspapers and magazines founded in #1918 1918 is a year full of chaos and disquiet. Events rapidly follow one upon another and absolutely everything changes – front lines, borders, political regimes, governments, prices. Only one thing does not change – people want to understand what is happening. Therefore, the newspapers and journals published during this turbulent time are of particular significance. For many people in Latvia, the press was often the only chance to receive even minimal information about events inside and outside the country. The range and content of the periodicals of this period is as colourful as 1918 itself. #episodes #1918 #lnb #lnb #1918 #episodes In spite of the unstable situation and the lack of finance in Latvia, both socio-political 6 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7 Life goes on End and beginning Find your name! #1918 in documents, diaries The historical landscape Children and pupils in #1918 and letters in #1918 maps During the First World War, people had In 1918, the twists and turns of world What were schoolchildren taught in 1918 been torn away from the rhythm of their history stand out for the fundamental apart from the alphabet and calligraphy? everyday lives, they feared enemy bullets, changes in the European political map. This What did schoolchildren have to write about death and starvation came ever nearer – it year saw the end of the First World War and themselves in the schoolyear calendar? Do is hardly surprising they lost their emotional the disappearance of the Austro-Hungarian, the names of your friends, relatives and stability. Added to this was their ignorance Russian, German and Ottoman Empires. On classmates appear in the name-day calendar of the fate of relatives, as the postal service the other hand, this year was the beginning of the period? was interrupted and letters only arrived for new and independent states, including The primers of that period taught children occasionally. Latvia. Cartographic materials provide visual not only to read and write neatly, but also Documents surviving from 1918 show evidence of these historical changes and how to sit properly, hold a pen, and showed, that, despite the harsh conditions, life went prove the fact of the establishment of the with simple lines, how to draw the living on. Soldiers in their barracks or prisoner-of- Latvian state. beings and objects in their surroundings. war camps wondered what was happening Throughout all periods of history, war has Opening the Schoolchildren’s Calendar at home. Farmers made sure that their influenced the development of cartography for the 1918/19 Schoolyear, the first pages city relatives, worn-out by food shortages, as an industry and publisher of maps. War required answers to a variety of questions received a tasty morsel. Misfortune was also raises the necessity for accurate maps for about children’s weight, height, chest accompanied by light and cheerful moments. military purposes, while civilian needs for measurement, illnesses suffered, character, Schoolchildren maintained their joie de vivre. teaching, tourism and other maps remain temperament, pastimes, and favourite author. Love blossomed. a secondary priority. This is evidenced by The most interesting item is the calendar In letters and diaries, concerns about maps of the territory of Latvia, dated 1918, of ancient name days with unusual names. one’s fate and depictions of frugal lives went available in the NLL collection. They are In the 2018 calendar, Knowledge Day hand in hand with good news. Some people, German-army topographic maps to various (1 September) has three people celebrating taking advantage of respites in hostilities, scales, showing local topography, the their name day: Ilmārs, Iluta and Austrums, completed their interrupted educations and locations of front lines and dispositions of but in 1918 there is only one celebrator. graduated from . There were also forces. Some publications are also intended Can you find your name in this calendar! people who, in their personal records, gave to inform the public about the current the notion of a Latvian state an important situation at the front and the new political place, although this idea was not as self- scene in Europe. evident to a large part of the population.

Level 8 Meeting chaos head on with optimism Libraries and librarians in #1918 Level 5 In terms of the development of Latvia’s From Sunday to Saturday culture, the twentieth century had started full of promise and inspiration. The 1918 Life according to the #1918 calendar Level 6 map shows that, by then, the network of libraries already covered a significant part In 1918, did weeks in Latvia begin on Everyday life runs of the country – various associations and Mondays? Is it possible that for some the its course organisations were founded, and with them – year began on 1 January, but for others that libraries. The publishing sector and writing was already 14 January? #1918 in ephemera itself progressed. Nonetheless, a broad- In Latvian homes, calendars were often based cultural upsurge and wave of wave of the only publications of a secular nature. 1918 is an anxious time. The First World founding new libraries will only start after the Calendars helped plan everyday life as War ends, the War of Independence begins, establishment of the state. Even the founding they published weather forecasts, sunrise a foreign power rules in Latvia, ideas about of the National Library of Latvia (then – the times, hours of daylight, and upcoming having one’s own country are in the air, but State Library) was still just an idea cherished markets. The Latvian calendar was never ordinary life also goes on in troubled times. by the intelligentsia. Sadly, such optimistic just an indicator of the day; it tried to be an For people in Latvia, everyday life runs its activity was brought to a halt by the war and encyclopaedia, fiction, a newspaper and a course. People follow time on the 1918 the ensuing political chaos. chronicle, developing the knowledge and calendar, travel shorter or longer distances But what happened in Latvian libraries and literary tastes of that period’s users. after referring to train timetables. If you need publishing during the war, especially in 1918? In times of war, when delivery of the to contact anybody, the most important Who and what were the cultural people of the press became more difficult, calendars also phone numbers can be found in the directory. day – people of letters and librarians, who did became the primary source of information Order is maintained through various not remain silent, and were prepared to do for German-speaking residents. When the instructions, regulations, declarations and their utmost, even beyond the borders of our political situation changed yet again and injunctions printed in three languages – country, to protect at least part of the people’s one had to live in accordance with new German, Russian and Latvian. spiritual property in the difficult conditions of laws, calendars included legal and financial Social processes and cultural events carry World War I. The data and research available information, and unit-of-measurement on. Music lovers can listen to concerts and for the relevant period are limited, but the systems. opera recitals put on by the Latvian opera. findings give rise to optimism. Even though, In financially difficult times, the calendar Theatre lovers attend performances at the given the historical situation, it would appear also served as a notebook and a diary. Latvian Temporary National Theatre. impossible, however books were published, #episodes #1918 #lnb #lnb #1918 #episodes and some libraries continued to operate. 7 In order to become healthy, you must control your will and banish One needs to live simply. any doubts about making a In terms of both eating complete recovery. A goal must and what we wear, every be set and a healing plan excess is superfluous. created, in line with that goal.

Bedrooms must be light, How airy and not too cold.

People will not control their nerves if they rely solely on external means rather than on to live their own will as the better? main agency. Advice and wartime recipes from 1918 publications

You must force yourself to stay calm. Serenity can be learned in the same way as everything else, and every effort and concern should be followed by a period of serenity.

Rhubarb and carrot jam Chop 3.5 kg of carrots into Vegetable soup with small cubes and boil until fried onions soft. Add 5 kg of cleaned A soup of white and chopped rhubarb. cabbage, beetroot, Add 1.5 kg of sugar carrots, finely cubed and finely chopped vanilla turnips and potatoes is and boil. very tasty. You can also add pearl barley. Before the soup is ready, fry finely sliced onions in fat or oil and add to the soup.

Potato dumplings Grate large, uncooked potatoes. Add salt and flour, form dump- lings and cook in water, oil or fat, sprinkling with grated cheese when serving.

How did the transition from the old lettering to modern Latvian script occur? Answered by Mārtiņš Mintaurs, PhD in History

At the beginning of the 20th century, the reform of Latvian orthography began. The Knowledge Commission of the Rīga Latvian Society, following the recommendation of Jānis Endzelīns and Kārlis Mīlenbahs, decided in 1908 that, in the future it would be necessary to replace the gothic letters borrowed from German script, or the ‘old orthography’ with writing based on the so-called Renaissance antique style. Consequently, softened consonants and long vowels could be denoted by a single letter, rather than by several: writing š rather than sch and ā rather than ah. The official change to the ‘new orthography’ only started in Latvia in 1920 and evolved gradually. Because Latvian readers were accustomed to the ‘old orthography’, some newspapers 8 conservatively retained this form of writing until the end of the 1930s.