Communist Party of Latvia
Latvijas Komunistiskā partija |
|
---|---|
Founded | 1904 |
Banned | 1991 |
Headquarters | Riga |
Newspaper | Cīņa |
Ideology |
Communism Marxism–Leninism |
Political position | Far-left (1920–1940) |
International affiliation | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
Colours | Red |
Party flag | |
Communist Party of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Komunistiskā partija, LKP; Russian: Коммунистическая партия Латвии) was a political party in Latvia.
The party was founded at a congress in June 1904. Initially the party was known as the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party (LSDSP). During its second party congress in 1905 it adopted the programme of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) as its own. At the Fourth Congress of the RSDLP in 1906, the LSDSP entered the RSDLP as a territorial organisation, and after the congress its name was changed Social-Democracy of the Latvian Territory.
The party held its fourth congress in Brussels January 26 to February 8, 1914.
In May 1918 Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party was founded by the Menshevik elements who had been expelled from the LSD.
The party briefly governed the Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic in 1919; and changed its name to the Communist Party of Latvia in March 1919; 7,500 members in 1919. The youth wing of the party was the Young Communist League of Latvia (LKJS).
The LKP was a member of the Comintern (Third International) from 1919.
In the aftermath of the Latvian War of Independence, the LKP was banned in Latvia. Its leadership resided in exile in the USSR, while the organisation in Latvia operated clandestinely, either through underground cells, or via proxy organisations, such as "Red" leftist trades unions.
In 1928 the party started operating more openly, and contested the 1928 Saeima elections through a proxy list known as the "Left Trade Unions". The list won five seats, but was banned in 1930. They reformed the following year to contest the next elections as the "Trade Union Workers and Peasants Group", winning six seats. However, in 1933 the Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the party, and its MPs were arrested and charged with treason.