appointed minister to Rumania. In 1891 he went to Persia, but in 1894 was recalled from Teheran and sent as ambassador to Russia, where, however, he only remained a year, being trans- ferred in 1895 to the court of Berlin. His period as ambassador to Germany opened in a singularly inauspicious manner, as in 1896 occurred the incident of the Kruger telegram, which natur- ally aroused great anger in England and rendered his position extremely difficult. After the storm had blown over, however, the relations of the British ambassador with the Emperor became of the most friendly and intimate character. He retired in 1908 and died in London Jan. 2 1920. He was made a privy coun- cillor in 1894, G.C.M.G. in 1892, G.C.B. in 1897, and G.C.V.O. in 1904. He married in 1867 Mary Emma, the eldest daughter of Sir Joseph Olliffe, physician to the British embassy in Paris. He left, besides two sons, a daughter, who married in 1904 Sir Cecil Spring-Rice.
LATVIA. The independent republic of Latvia (capital Riga) was proclaimed on Nov. 18 1918, and was recognized by the Supreme Council of the Allied Powers on Jan. 21 1921. Its ter- ritory comprises chiefly districts of the Baltic provinces of the Russian Empire, which linguistically or ethnographically belonged to the Letts, whence the name of Latvia as a new nation-state. Its area is approximately 25,096 sq. m., formed by: (a) four districts of Livonia (Riga, Wenden or Zehsis, Wol- mar or Walmer, and Walk, with the exclusion of the chief town ceded to Esthonia), 7,900 sq. m. ; (b) Courland, about 10,500 sq. m., both parts being united legally by the Russian law of April 12 1917 but actually since Jan. 1919; (c) districts of the province of Vitebsk, called Latgalia, 5,290 sq. m., with the towns of Riczhitsy (Rositten, Resekna), and Lutzin (Ludze), obtained by force of arms from Soviet Russia (Art. 2 of the Russo-Latvian Treaty, Aug. n 1920), with the town of Dvinsk (Diinaburg, Daugapils) obtained by agreement from the Poles. Rectifications of the frontiers with Lithuania, with regard to the coast of Polangen and the zone near Illuxt, were still in process in 1921.
Population. According to the census of June 15 1920 the popula- tion of Latvia was less numerous and homogeneous than was anticipated in 1918, amounting in all to 1,515,815 inhabitants, of whom 1,146,554 were Letts and355,5i8 belonged to other national- ities (Livonia, 477,839 Letts and 104,091 non-Letts; Courland, 404,- 159 Letts and 71,524 non-Letts; Latgalia, 264,556 Letts and 179,103 non-Letts), the non-Letts thus forming about 25% of the total population. These so-called " minority " nationalities were: Rus- sians, Germano-Balts (Baits, Balto-Saxons), Jews, Lithuanians, Poles. In consequence of the political events the number of resident Russians and Baits was in 1921 decreasing, though the number of Russian refugees was considerable. The losses of the Letts were due to: (a) the evacuation of the factories by the Russian Government; (b) the partly forced removal of the population of Courland before the German advance; (c) the wars. In 1916-7 there were 735,000 Lettish refugees in Russia, and 250,000 men aged 20-40 are supposed to have perished between 1914-20. During 1920 and the first two months of 1921 134,000 returned to Latvia, of which 94,000 entered Latvia from Russia, while only 6,400 left for Russia.
Education, in those parts of Latvia where it was standardized by the Protestant Church and Baltic regime, remained on a higher level than in Latgalia with only 38% able to read. The census of June 1920 gave instructive figures: 69-82 % able to read, children below 10 years included; 50% able to read and write. The percentage of literacy according to nationalities was: Germano-Balts 85, Estho- nians 82, Poles 78, Letts 74, Jews 72, unknown 60, Lithuanians 55, Great Russians 36, others 33, White Russians 32. In Sept. 1919 the Polytechnic Institute of Riga was converted into the Latvia Univer- sity. Lectures are delivered in Lettish, Russian and German, and nearly all the staff is Latvian. Students on March I 1921 numbered 2,111 men and 1,145 women, 2,328 students being Letts, 803 minority nationalities, 125 foreigners. In 1912 in the corresponding area there were 98 secondary schools with 22,600 pupils, one per 26,000 inhabitants (in Germany one per 54,000). Compulsory and gratui- tous schooling for the Protestants had been enforced in Livonia since 1860, and in Courland since 1875.
Religion. Seventy-five per cent at least of the Letts are Prot- estants, but there is a Catholic majority in Latgalia and a number of Greek Orthodox among the Letts. The organization of the Prot- estant Church was formerly connected with the corporation of the nobles of Livonia and Courland, but the rights of presentation per- taining to the manorial estates of the knights and to the Government estates have been abolished by the introduction of a democratic free church.
Occupations. The pre-war growth of industries, especially in Riga and Libau, tended to reduce the percentage of the agricultural population, but agriculture is still the chief occupation, and the re- division of the rural population was the outstanding feature after 1918. (a) The large landowners, owning about 1, 899 estates (of these 310 were in Latgalia), mostly Baits and gentry ("Baltic barons"), were expropriated (Land Act, Sept. 16 1920) ; (b) about 40,000 owners of small holdings, averaging from 26 to 150 ac., formed the backbone of the Lettish middle class, and the liberal professions (nicknamed the " grey barons ") were partly supported by about 10,000 tenants of small farms; (c) the owners of very small holdings in Latgalia and Courland numbered some 10,600. Of the agricultural proletariat two-thirds were employed by small owners and One-third by the owners of large estates. This class, who desired to own their own land, were believed to have been won over and pacified by the expropriation of the owners of the large estates. In the territory of Latvia the creation of peasant proprietorship was secured before the war in different ways : (a) on the manorial estates ; (b) on the Govern- ment estates; and (c) in Latgalia, on the Russian system.
Effects of the World War. The losses suffered by Latvia from evacuation, war, occupation, invasion and Bolshevik rule almost ruined her beyond hope; the official statistician Skuieneeks esti- mated in 1920 that it would take 50 years to bring her back to the pre-war level. In 1920 there were only 17,606 workers and em- ployees in private industrial enterprises, 988 in municipal enterprises, and 2,880 in state enterprises; in Riga alone, 9,739 in private enter- prises against 62,000 in 1914. In Jan. 1913 Riga numbered 517,522 inhabitants, in Aug. 1917 210,590. According to the census of 1920, of 609,475 buildings in the rural districts 84,163 had been com- pletely destroyed and 117,015 partly. In 1920 there were 238,736 horses, 730,421 cattle, 934,084 sheep and 457,052 pigs, against 297,- 645 horses, 940,319 cattle, 1,100,481 sheep and 538,920 pigs in 1913. Of the total area of arable land, i.e. 4,091,490 ac., only 2,978,570 were under cultivation in 1920, with 473,410 ac. under winter rye against 862,400 in 1913. The total losses suffered by private citizens and corporate societies until the advent of Bolshevism is valued at 1,930,000,000 gold rubles; Soviet Russia inflicted losses to the amount of 953,000,000 gold rubles; German occupation and warfare to that of 481,000,000 marks. Through confiscation of money, and deposits in banks removed to Russia, cancellation of shares, destruc- tion of private and public bonds, and loss of interest, a loss of 379,- 000,000 gold rubles was caused by Russia, and 6,000,000 marks by Germany. Courland during the advance of the German army lost two-thirds of the population, which began to return after the Brest Litovsk Peace in 1918. In 1916-7 there were 735,000 Lettish refugees in Russia. Lettish man-power suffered more particularly. Soviet Russia found many soldiers among the Lettish refugees, and retained the Lettish rifle division which had fought during the war. In Aug. 1913-4 there were 550 engines and 18,000 carriages and trucks, 3,000 telegraph and 800 telephone apparatus; on Aug. 5 1919 only 25 engines, 64 carriages and 2,023 trucks, 49 telegraph and 28 telephone apparatus were left. Only II engines were working. Trade was therefore still a mere fraction of what it was before the war. Both industry and commerce were largely dependent on foreign (German, Baltic and Russian) capital, and agriculture on large and small agricultural enterprise constantly and rapidly growing. The Ger- man industrial capital in Riga amounted to 40,000,000 rubles be- fore the war. The arable land in Livonia covered 15-28% in 1866, 16-52% in 1881, 26-65% in 191 1- What the war and revolution had left of the large farms, subsequent agrarian legislation further dam- aged; and in 1921 the Latvian state was still struggling against the dislocating effects of war and revolution, and its finance and com- merce were seeking new methods of reconstruction. The rate of exchange had become adverse (by May 1921 l = 1, 850-1,900 Latvian rubles), and imported goods were getting more and more expensive to the consumer. The returns for 1920 show that 805 ships left Libau, 751 Riga and 123 Windau. British tonnage held the first place, German the second and Danish the third.
Resources. The natural resources of Latvia are mainly timber and agricultural produce. Brown coal has been discovered in Cour- land, while peat is already a valuable fuel.
History of Latvian Independence. With the outbreak of the World War in 1914 a prospect of some kind of national existence opened out to the Lettish intelligentsia, whose antipathy to Germany did not imply a readiness to die for Russia. They rose in order to fight for their own rights, liberties and land. The immediate, object was to overthrow Russian administrative supremacy and to emancipate themselves from the Baltic barons. Great political skill was displayed in finding subsequently sup- port against both. Libau was taken on May 7 1915 by the Ger- mans; the rest of Courland, with one-third of its former popu- lation left, was occupied, and German preponderance material- ized.- The Russian Government permitted the formation on July 13 1915 of a Lettish rifle division 50,000 men strong. During the winter of 1916-7 these volunteers experienced heavy losses; after the Russian revolution in March 1917,
