Latvia parts of the Russian Empire, which may have been influenced by the Protestant religion of the inhabitants. World War I devastated the territory of what became the state of Latvia, and other western parts of the Russian Empire. Demands for self-determination were initially confined to autonomy, until a power vacuum was created by the Russian Revolution in 1917, followed by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between Russia and Germany in March 1918, then the Allied armistice with Germany on 11 November 1918. On 18 November 1918, in Riga, the People's Council of Latvia proclaimed the independence of the new country, with
On the Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia established in Latvia and it should join the Soviet Union and that results of the election were falsified. The declaration observes that the People's Saeima was formed by misleading the people and therefore did not express the sovereign will of people of Latvia. It also notes that the People's Saeima had no right to change the political system in Latvia and liquidate its sovereignty as only the people have such right and the issue was never submitted to a national referendum. Therefore the Declaration rules that, in accordance with international law, the annexation of Latvia to the Soviet Union was