Latvian Riflemen - White Latvian Riflemen

White Latvian Riflemen

In 1917, a smaller number of Latvian Riflemen (mainly officers) did not side with the Bolsheviks. Some were very active (Kārlis Goppers, Frīdrichs Briedis, etc.) in trying to prevent Bolshevik ideas from spreading among the Latvian soldiers, but the physical and moral exhaustion after the bloody Christmas and January battles which were fruitful ground for bolshevik ideology. Opponents left, or were forced to leave, military service or joined the White forces. During the last phase of the Civil War, two Latvian units were created in the Urals and Far East of Russia (Troitsk Battalion and Imanta Regiment), but they did not take part in significant military action, and were sent to Latvia, by then already an independent nation.