premise: The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic was a state of the Soviet Union.
hypothesis: The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic ( Latvian SSR ; Latvijas Padomju Sociālistiskā Republika Латвийская Советская Социалистическая Республика , Latviyskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika ) , also known as Soviet Latvia or Latvia , was a republic of the Soviet Union . It was established on 21 July 1940 , during World War II , as a Soviet puppet state in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied on June 17 , 1940 by the Soviet Army , in conformity with the terms of the 23 August 1939 Molotov -- Ribbentrop Pact . The Soviet Union ( [ Сове́тский Сою́з , r = Sovetskiy Soyuz ] [ sɐ ` vʲetskʲɪj sɐˈjʉs ] ) , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ; Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик , [ sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲɛtskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪsˈtʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪˈspublʲɪk ] ) , also known unofficially as Russia ( [ Росси́я , Rossiya , rɐˈsʲijə ] ) , was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991 .