<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Jelgava" class="extiw" title="w:en:Jelgava">Jelgava</a> is a city in central <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Latvia" class="extiw" title="w:en:Latvia">Latvia</a> about 41 kilometres southwest of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Riga" class="extiw" title="w:en:Riga">Riga</a>. It is the largest town in the region of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Zemgale" class="extiw" title="w:en:Zemgale">Zemgale(Semigalia)</a>. Jelgava was the capital of the united <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Duchy_of_Courland_and_Semigallia" class="extiw" title="w:en:Duchy of Courland and Semigallia">Duchy of Courland and Semigallia</a> (1578–1795) and the administrative center of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Courland_Governorate" class="extiw" title="w:en:Courland Governorate">Courland Governorate</a> (1795–1918).
<p>After centuries of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Swedish_Livonia" class="extiw" title="w:en:Swedish Livonia">Swedish</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Commonwealth" class="extiw" title="w:en:Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth">Polish-Lithuanian</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Russian_Empire" class="extiw" title="w:en:Russian Empire">Russian rule</a>, a rule mainly executed by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Baltic_Germans" class="extiw" title="w:en:Baltic Germans">Baltic German</a> aristocracy, the Republic of Latvia was established on 18 November 1918 when it broke away and declared independence in the aftermath of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:WWI" class="extiw" title="w:en:WWI">World War I</a>. However, by the 1930s the country became increasingly autocratic after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:1934_Latvian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat" class="extiw" title="w:en:1934 Latvian coup d'état">coup in 1934</a> establishing an authoritarian regime under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:K%C4%81rlis_Ulmanis" class="extiw" title="w:en:Kārlis Ulmanis">Kārlis Ulmanis</a>. The country's 'de facto' independence was interrupted at the outset of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:WWII" class="extiw" title="w:en:WWII">World War II</a>, beginning with Latvia's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Soviet_occupation_of_Latvia_in_1940" class="extiw" title="w:en:Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940">forced incorporation</a> into the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Soviet_Union" class="extiw" title="w:en:Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>, followed by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:German_occupation_of_Latvia_during_World_War_II" class="extiw" title="w:en:German occupation of Latvia during World War II">invasion and occupation</a> by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Nazi_Germany" class="extiw" title="w:en:Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a> in 1941, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Soviet_re-occupation_of_Latvia_in_1944" class="extiw" title="w:en:Soviet re-occupation of Latvia in 1944">re-occupation by the Soviets</a> in 1944 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Courland_Pocket" class="extiw" title="w:en:Courland Pocket">Courland Pocket</a> in 1945) to form the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Latvian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic" class="extiw" title="w:en:Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic">Latvian SSR</a> for the next 45 years. The peaceful <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Singing_Revolution" class="extiw" title="w:en:Singing Revolution">Singing Revolution</a>, starting in 1987, called for Baltic emancipation from Soviet rule and condemning the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Soviet_Union" class="extiw" title="w:en:Soviet Union">Communist</a> regime's illegal takeover. It ended with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:On_the_Restoration_of_Independence_of_the_Republic_of_Latvia" class="extiw" title="w:en:On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia">Declaration on the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia</a> on 4 May 1990, and restoring 'de facto' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:State_continuity_of_the_Baltic_states" class="extiw" title="w:en:State continuity of the Baltic states">independence</a> on 21 August 1991.
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<br><span style="color:blue;"><i>The <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Scotch_Mist/Poland" class="mw-redirect" title="User:Scotch Mist/Poland">Scotch Mist Gallery</a> contains many photographs of historic buildings, monuments and memorials of Poland and countries that previously comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.</i></span>
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Scotch_Mist" title="User:Scotch Mist">Scotch Mist</a>
CC BY-SA 4.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>