Latvian Farmers' Union
라트비아 농민연합
A Latvian agrarian party founded in Valka in 1917 with Kārlis Ulmanis as chairman of its central board. In the parliamentary period (1920–1934) it was Latvia's largest and most influential civic party, leading thirteen of the eighteen governments between 1918 and 1934. It ceased activity along with all other parties after Ulmanis's coup of 1934, and a party of the same name re-established in 1990 regards itself as its successor.
In depth
According to the Latvian source, the Latvian Farmers' Union was founded on 12 May 1917 (29 April Old Style) in Valka; the founding meeting adopted a provisional programme and statutes and elected Kārlis Ulmanis chairman of the central board. By August 1917 it already had more than 20,000 members, its social base being large rural landholders. The provisional programme called for land reform and an eight-hour working day. That year it won 36 percent in the elections of the unoccupied districts of Vidzeme and 23 percent in the November elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly, and the Latvian Provisional National Council was created with its support and on its initiative.
On 15 November 1918 the party decided to support the proclamation of an independent Latvian state, and it held 13 of the 40 seats in the People's Council founded on 17 November. The head of the Provisional Government set up by the People's Council was the party's Ulmanis, and foreign minister Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics and interior minister Miķelis Valters, among others, also belonged to it. The source names Ulmanis, Meierovics, Ādolfs Klīve, Hugo Celmiņš, Arturs Alberings and Jānis Balodis among the party's leaders.
Of the eighteen governments between 1918 and 1934 it led thirteen, and it took part in all except the Zāmuels government of 1924 and the Skujenieks government of 1927. The English source calls it the most influential conservative party in Latvia from independence until 1934 and the second most popular party after the Social Democratic Workers' Party. Closely tied to banking and commercial capital, it lost influence in the early 1930s and won only 14 seats in the Saeima election of 1931.
The Latvian source says that the party leadership, realising it might not be elected at the next election, began preparing a coup. On the evening of 15 May 1934 a coup was carried out under Ulmanis's leadership; after a state of emergency was declared the next day all parties were banned, and the Farmers' Union ceased activity. Its loyal members were not repressed, however, and later held leading posts under Ulmanis's authoritarian regime.
A restoration conference attended by 384 members met on 5 July 1990, and the first congress followed on 16 February 1991, electing Aivars Berķis as the first chairman. The new party regards itself as the successor of the Farmers' Union founded in 1917. In 2002 it formed the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) with the Latvian Green Party, and Augusts Brigmanis led it from 2000 to 2019. In the 2026 Saeima election the ZZS list failed to pass the 5 percent threshold.