{{unreferenced, date=April 2016 Provisional Land Council of Latgale ( ltg, Latgolas Pagaidu Zemes Padūme) was created on April 27, 1917, after the democratic February Revolution in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. The Council was crucial in achieving separation of Latvian inhabited lands of the former

Inflanty Voivodeship The Inflanty Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo inflanckie), or ''Livonian Voivodeship'', also known as Polish Livonia, was an administrative division and local government in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, since it was formed in the 1620s out ...

from the

Vitebsk Governorate Vitebsk Governorate (russian: Витебская губерния, ) was an administrative unit ( guberniya) of the Russian Empire, with the seat of governorship in Vitebsk. It was established in 1802 by splitting the Byelorussia Governorate an ...

and uniting them with the Baltic provinces of Courland and

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in ...

in the new state of Latvia. On April 27, 1917, The First Congress of Latgale Latvians met in

Rēzekne Rēzekne (, ; German: ''Rositten'') is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven hills, Rēzekn ...

. 24 out of the 60 seats were allocated to the Polish, Jewish and Russian minorities.

Francis Trasuns Francis Trasuns (October 16, 1864 – April 6, 1926) was a Latgalian priest, theologian and politician. He was a member of the State Duma of the Russian Empire (in 1906) and a member of the Latvian parliament (1922–1926). All his life, Tras ...

was elected the Chairman of the Council, but as he spent most of his time in the capital Petrograd, much of the daily business was overseen by

Valērija Seile Valērija Seile ( ltg, Valereja Seile; 1891–1970) was a Latvian politician, educator, historian, librarian and writer. She was educated in St Petersburg. She returned to Latvia in 1916, was the secretary of the Provisional Land Council of Latg ...

. The Council met three times, on June 9, September 20 and November 26, 1917. Its goal was to assume full authority over the local government institutions, but it was not recognized by the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...

, which declined Council’s proposals for Latgale to be united with Vidzeme and to create a separate electoral district for Latgale. After the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, on December 3–4, 1917 Bolsheviks organized the Congress of the Latgalian Councils of Vitebsk Governorate. On December 14, 1917, the Bolshevik government of

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

ruled that Daugavpils,

Ludza Ludza (; pl, Lucyn, german: Ludsen, russian: Лудза, ''Ludza'') is a town in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia. Ludza is the oldest town in Latvia and this is commemorated by a key in its coat of arms. Ludza is the administrative centre o ...

and

counties should be separated from the Vitebsk Governorate and united with Vidzeme, which by then was under control of the Bolshevik

Iskolat The Iskolat (russian: Исколат, lv, Iskolats) was the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers, Soldiers, and the Landless in Latvia (Исполнительный комитет Совета рабочих, солдатских и бе� ...

. In January 1918 Latgale was occupied by the German Empire and on May 18, 1918 representatives of Daugavpils, Ludza and Rēzekne counties elected a new Central Land Council of Latgale. It met only once, in October 4–5, 1918 in Daugavpils. On November 17, 1918, the newly created

People's Council of Latvia The People's Council of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Tautas padome, LTP) was a temporary council which declared Latvia's independence on November 18, 1918 and then acted as the temporary parliament of the country until a Constitutional Assembly was elect ...

decided to include 18 representatives from the Provisional Land Council in its ranks. On November 30, 1918, the Council ceased its existence and gave all its authority to the new Republic of Latvia.

See also