Memories, monuments, histories: the re-thinking of the Second World War since 1989

On 17 June 1940, during the period of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, Latvia was invaded by the Red Army and annexed as part of the Soviet Union. Then, just one year later, the country was invaded by Nazi Germany and subjected to a four-year occupation before being invaded by the USSR. Thereafter the country remained part of the Soviet Union until the break up of the latter in August 1991. Taking Latvia as a starting point, this article will explore how the memory of the Second World War has been re-located since the demise of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe between 1989 and 1991. In doing so, it will be argued that the period since the end of the Cold War has produced a thorough reappraisal of the significance of the years 1939 to 1945 not just in terms of the academic history profession, but also wider processes of remembrance operating at the level of the nation-state commemorations, the European Union, the heritage industry, education and personal memories.