The Battle on the Ice in the public-political vision of Latvia (on the materials of periodicals of the end of 19th – beginning of 21st centuries)

Abstract

The author has identified and analyzed how the Battle on the Ice is mentioned in the Latvian periodicals from the last quarter of the 19th century to the present days: that is, in the periodicals of the Lifland province of the Russian Empire, the Republic of Latvia, the Latvian SSR, modern Latvia, and the Latvian post-war emigration. A number of articles specifically examine this historical event, but in most of them the stories about the battle on Lake Peipus are given in the context of papers dealing with the history of the crusaders in the Eastern Baltics and crusaders’ attack on Novgorod Russia in the 13th century.  In different articles this milestone can be used as a reminder of the courage of the Russian people, of the joint struggle of the Russian and Latvian peoples against the invaders, or as an example of the aggressiveness of the Russians (Soviets). The attitude to the battle depended on Latvia’s political status as an independent state or as part of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The errors in describing the place of the battle, its organization and the consequences of the battle show that it was important for the authors of the articles to mention the Ice Battle as such, and the details did not matter. In other words, the Battle on the Ice is perceived not as a historical event, but as a certain political symbol of the past reflected in the present.