Ultimate Freedom – No Choice

Valdis Tēraudkalns, Ph.D. (2000), is Professor in Church History and History of Religions at Faculty of Theology, University of Latvia.Deniss Hanovs, Ph.D. (2003) on media as a tool for national movement in 19th century Latvia, is Associate Professor in Communication at Rīga Stradiņš University (Latvia)

• IntroductionChapter 1: The Beginning: How Was The Coup Presented Back Then?Inter-war Latvia – pre-history of the Coup, its contextWhy the Coup is Not a Coup, but Salvation?Ulmanis in Foreign Media: The Times Chapter 2: Genesis of a Political Myth – an Official Turns into VadonisChapter 3: Staging Atdzimšanas Dziesma – Technologies of Authoritarianism Cultural PolicyHow to Stage the Principle of Authoritarianism? Staging of a Mass Performance as a Political Program“Atdzimšanas Dziesma will invite every Latvian to serve his nation and country by obeying Vadonis.” What is the Staging Going to Say?“Atdzimšanas Dziesma depicts the fate of the Latvian people” Staging as a Liturgy of Authoritarianism. Vadonis as a Priest and Actor Chapter 4: “Another Land”: Latgale Region in the Discourse of Ulmanis’ Authoritarian Regime on the Unity of the NationPolitical Performance as a Staging of Unanimity Latgale: The Symbolic Stepchild and BrideLatgalians and Ethnic UnityLatgalians and Ethnic Diversity – The Other in the New Political CultureAnswers of Latgale’s MediaEducation Law and Technology of the Melting PotDaugavpils Vienības Nams – An Edifice as a Political MessageChapter 5: The Leader, the Enemy, War and Celebration – Authoritarianism Practices Compared: Stalin and Ulmanis in Latvia’s Authoritarian CultureUSSR – The Land of Workers and Violence. Dual PerceptionCultural Practices of European Dictatorships in the 30iesStalin and Ulmanis: A Functional Comparison of LeadersThe Enemy: Communism and A War of CivilizationsMoscow Trials – the Globalized Political Show of the 30iesChapter 6: Date and Place: Celebration of Authoritarianism in Rēzekne and Riga“The Harvest Booster” – K. Ulmanis as A Hero of Cyclical Times in “Svēta Zeme” Spectacle18 November as a Continuation of 15 May. The Course of Celebration on 18 November 1938Chapter 7: “New Riga”: The City as an Instrument of Authoritarian IdeologyAesthetization of Ulmanis’ Ideology: Key Tendencies and International ContextUlman RigaThe Uzvaras laukums – a Spatial Self-ReferenceChapter 8: Authoritarianism and the Church: Attempts to Develop Latvian Christianity in 1920ies and 1930iesThe Relationship Policy between the Church and the State under Ulmanis’ RegimeThe Church – in Supranational Content and National FormIdeas Expressed by the Radical Wing of Latvianizers of the ChurchConclusionList of LiteratureIndex