The Soviet Union in Latvia’s Collective Memory

• In Event: Memory, Nostalgia, and National Identity after the Soviet and Yugoslav Collapses

Abstract

The research is based on an analysis of data from a representative sociological survey of Latvian residents on their attitudes towards life in the USSR. The surveys were conducted in 2016 and 2022 (the next is planned for fall 2025). In the survey, respondents compared various areas of life in Soviet Latvia and contemporary Latvia (for example, medicine, administration, holidays, emotions). An analysis of interviews with people of different generations about their attitudes towards the Soviet Union complements the research. After annexation in 1940, Latvia was part of the Soviet Union for half a century, and its residents had internalized Soviet practices. The theoretical approaches of collective memory, nostalgia and social inequality are the basis of the research framework. The study concludes that the image of the Soviet Union in collective memory is not homogeneous. Welfare, social security, free medicine and education, as well as public sentiments, interpersonal relationships and celebration of holidays are positively assessed. There is a negative attitude towards the power of the Soviet state. The data show that positive attitudes towards the Soviet times tend to decline. The increase in prosperity in contemporary Latvia and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine have had an impact on people’s views on the USSR. The research concludes that the assessment of the Soviet Union in the collective memory is determined by the current economic and social situation, world events, sense of belonging to the country, inclusiveness, as well as family memory and value system.

Author

• Vita Zelce, U of Latvia (Latvia)