Voldemārs Ozols (17 October 1884, Vidreja,

Vitebsk Governorate Vitebsk Governorate (, ) was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with the seat of governorship in Vitebsk. It was established in 1802 by splitting Belarusian Governorate and existed until 1924. Today most ...

– 12 July 1949) was a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n military commander, lieutenant colonel, honored with the

Order of Lāčplēsis The Order of Lāčplēsis (also Lāčplēsis Military Order, ), the first and the highest Latvian military award, was established in 1919 on the initiative of Jānis Balodis, the Commander of the Latvian Army during the Latvian War of Independ ...

, one of the

Latvian Riflemen The Latvian Riflemen (; ) were originally a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army assembled starting 1915 in Latvia in order to defend Baltic governorates against the German Empire in World War I. Initially, the battalions were forme ...

, a military theorist, and a

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

politician. On 15 December 1932, he founded a right-wing organization, The Society of the Cavaliers of the

and Freedom Fighters "Legion" (Lāčplēša kara ordeņa kavalieru un brīvības cīnītāju biedrība "Leģions"), known simply as the Legion. It was a rather small organization, primarily of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

Latvian War of Independence The Latvian War of Independence (), sometimes called Latvia's freedom battles () or the Latvian War of Liberation (), was a series of military conflicts in Latvia between 5 December 1918, after the newly proclaimed Republic of Latvia was invade ...

veterans. In 1934, in the declaration of the

martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

Kārlis Ulmanis Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis (; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician and a dictator. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from N ...

, the Legion was the only organization mentioned by name as a threat to the state. Ozols was arrested and accused of the preparation of a coup.''The Radical Right in Interwar Estonia'' by Andres Kasekamp (2000);
pg. 143
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References

1884 births 1949 deaths 20th-century Latvian politicians People from Lyozna district People from Orshansky Uyezd Latvian Lutherans Latvian military personnel of the Latvian War of Independence Latvian Riflemen Latvian prisoners and detainees {{latvia-bio-stub Prisoners and detainees of Latvia Recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis