Activities of the Entente Military Missions in Latvia in 1919

Purpose of the study. The article examines the balance of forces that developed in the territory of today’s Latvia after the end of the First World War. The purpose of the article is to study the political situation in 1919 and the military operations between German volunteer units, Landeswehr, Red Army troops, White Guard formations, national armies of Latvia and Estonia. Under these conditions, the Entente countries, led by France and Great Britain, assumed a leading role in solving the German question and the subsequent evacuation of the remaining German formations after the Great War. For this purpose, several military missions of allied countries were sent to Latvia in 1919.

Conclusions. As a result of the study, the author concludes that each of the victorious countries in the Great War considered itself entitled to determine the fate of small nations that had received the right to self-determination. While French diplomacy was not in a hurry to recognize Latvia internationally, hoping for the revival of «democratic» Russia, which would return the Baltic provinces to its fold, Great Britain prioritized its economic interests in the Baltic Sea and was ready to take Latvia under its control.