worked on the Russian newspaper "Slovo" ("Word"). At the same time the most famous Russian newspaper Segodnia did not pretend to propagate Russian national ideas, but advocated the ideas of a defence of the cultural-national autonomy of all local minorities. A flamboyant exponent of Russian national principles was N.Belotsvelov, who considered that the conversion of Russians to nationalism was a natural result of the fate of emigrants fearing for the future of their culture. The ideas of "democratic nationalism" were supported by the leaders of the Russian Peasants Union which had a right-wing orientation. The RPU became the basis of the Russian Peasant fraction of three deputies in the Fourth Saeima. A part of Latvia's Russians belonged to the ultra-left of the political spectrum. In the Fourth Saeima, one Russian represented the social democrats and one Russian was a communist representative. But the Russian left-wing parties did not achieve any big success though they had a certain influence among sections of the workers of Riga. In general, the Russian minority was less politically active than the Jewish and Baltic German minorities. In Soviet Latvia (1940–1990) 1940–1941 In the summer of 1940, Latvia lost its independence and was occupied by the USSR. The attitude of the Russian minority towards these events varied. Three kinds of positions can be discerned: Complete disagreement with the Bolshevik regime: characteristic of the Russian intelligentsia and priests Part of the Russian public of Latvia was under an illusion regarding Joseph Stalin's dictatorship, hoping that it would turn into a political system similar to that of the Russian monarchy Full support for the Bolshevik regime During one year of Soviet power, local Russians were deprived of all their national periodicals, and many of their prominent public figures were subjected to repression or killed. But the new regime also found supporters among local Russians. Collective farms emerged in Latvia and there were a large number of Russians in the security services and units of the workers' guard. The communist nomenclature was being rapidly developed, with local Russians taking an active part in it. 1941–1944 In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the USSR, and subsequently occupied the territory of Latvia. In Soviet times, this period was known as the Great Patriotic War, a term that retains resonance with the Russian community of Latvia today. A part of the local Russian population chose to resist the invaders by serving in the