The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian: Latvijas Padomju Sociālistiskā Republika; Russian: Латвийская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Latviyskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika), also known as the Latvian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. It was established on 21 July 1940, during World War II, as a puppet state in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by the Soviet army, in conformity with the terms of 23 August 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, on 17 June 1940. The Latvian SSR was formally annexed into the Soviet Union (USSR) on 5 August 1940, when it nominally became the fifteenth constituent republic of the USSR. Its territory was subsequently conquered by Nazi Germany in 1941, before being retaken by the Soviets in 1944–1945. The first freely elected parliament of the Latvian SSR had passed Sovereignty Declaration "On the Renewal of the Independence of the Republic of Latvia" on May 4, 1990, and renamed the Latvian SSR the Republic of Latvia. The full independence of Republic of Latvia was restored on 21 August 1991.
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