
Independent Latvia was governed by democratic coalitions until 1934. In 1939 Latvia was forced to grant military bases on its soil to the Soviet Union, and in 1940 the Soviet Red Army moved into Latvia, which was soon incorporated into the Soviet Union with Latvian farms, properties, and businesses absorbed by the Soviet Union.
The country and economy that had been developing so successfully was stopped in its tracks and relegated to 50 years of stagnation and degeneration. Despite that today we have become a thriving European Union country.