Not a flag-raising, but an order on paper. On 1 August 1915 – 19 July by the old calendar – the Russian North-Western Front commander Mikhail Alekseyev authorized the formation of the first two Latvian Riflemen battalions: the 1st Daugavgrīva and the 2nd Riga. The organizing committee led by Jānis Goldmanis was entrusted with taking volunteers, and the appeal “Gather under Latvian flags!” soon entered circulation – a direct, ringing call to a society battered by war.

The creation of the Latvian Riflemen battalions came at one of the harshest moments of the First World War in Latvia – German troops were already moving through Courland, Riga was being evacuated, and the refugee movement was enormous. These units within the Russian army later held a highly visible place both in frontline fighting and in Latvia’s political memory.