Christian National Union (Latvia)

Politics of Latvia
Constitution
Government
Saeima
Elections
Political parties
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations

The Christian National Union was a political party in Latvia in the inter-war period.

History

The party was established in 1920,[1] and won three seats in the 1920 Constitutional Assembly elections.[2] It went on to win four seats in the 1st Saeima after the 1922 elections, but was reduced to two seats in the 2nd Saeima after the 1925 elections. It won four seats again in the 1928 elections, but only three in the 4th Saeima elections of 1931.

Ideology

The party advocated Lutheranism as the basis for governance and also supported prohibition.[1] The CNU had a similar profile to the nationalist National Union.[3] The party leader Gustavs Reinhards [lv] wrote anti-Semitic articles for the official newspaper Tautas Balss [lv].[4][5] It usually sat in the Saeima alongside the National Union, the Party for Peace and Order and some Latgalian parties, in a grouping known as the "National Bloc".[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Vincent E McHale (1983) Political parties of Europe, Greenwood Press, p449 ISBN 0-313-23804-9
  2. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1137 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  3. ^ "Latvia". Political Handbook Of The World 1931. p. 118.
  4. ^ Dribins, Leo. "The Attack of Anti-Semitism". LATVIA'S JEWISH COMMUNITY: HISTORY, TRAGEDY, REVIVA. p. 17.
  5. ^ Žvinklis, Artūrs (2015). "ANTISEMĪTISMS LATVIJĀ NO 1920. GADA LĪDZ 1941. GADA 22. JŪNIJAM". Materials of conferences and seminars 2009–2014 (PDF). p. 59.
  6. ^ McHale, p457