The Russian National Union

In 1917, on a wave of democratic upheaval in Russia, the National Democratic Union of Russian Citizens (NDU) was formed in Riga. Its activities were broken by the German occupation and the Bolshevik government. It was not until 1920 that the NDU was reinstated and attempted to lead the splintered Russian society in Latvia. In 1924 two Russian organisations were created based on it: the Russian National Union (with political functions) and the Russian National Association (RNA), which had both individual and collective membership. In 1934 the RNU was closed by the authorities. The RNA was re-named in 1938 the Riga Russian Society and under this name was disbanded in 1940

Photo: Members of the RNA in 1930