{{Short description|Latvian voluntary militia}} {{Expand Latvian|Aizsargi (organizācija)|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox military unit | unit_name = Aizsargi<br>Latvijas Aizsargu organizācija | image = File:Aizsargi 1939 moto.png | caption = Aizsargu motorcyclists during a 20-year anniversary in 1939. | dates = 1919–1940 | country = {{flagicon|Latvia}} Latvia | type = Infantry | size = 60,684 (1940) | motto = ''Visu par Latviju'' (Everything for Latvia) | battles = Latvian War of Independence<br>1934 Latvian coup d'état | notable_commanders = Ludvigs Bolšteins<br>Augusts Tons<br>Kārlis Prauls | identification_symbol = 150px }}
'''Aizsargi''' ({{lit|Defenders|Guards}}; officially – {{langx|lv|Latvijas Aizsargu organizācija|lit=Guards Organization of Latvia}}, or '''LAO''') was a volunteer paramilitary organization, militia with some characteristics of a military reserve force in Latvia during the interbellum period (1918–1939).
The Aizsargi was created on March 30, 1919, by the Latvian Provisional Government as a self-defense force - a kind of National Guard - during the Latvian War of Independence.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arhivi.lv/sitedata/LVVA/dokumenti/Publikacijas/LATVIJAS_AIZSARGU_ORGANIZACIJA.pdf |title=Documents of the Latvian Aizsargi Organization |language=Latvian}} A Latvian state archive exhibition catalog</ref> In 1921, it was reorganized to follow the example of the Finnish ''Suojeluskunta'' (known as the "White Guard").<ref name="lbs40" />
The Aizsargi published a newspaper, entitled {{lang|lv|Aizsargs}} ("Defender"/"Guard"), and the movement had subsidiary sections for women ("'''{{lang|lv|Aizsardzes}}'''", established in 1926)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Augusta mēneša krājuma priekšmets - Aizsardzes formas tērpa nozīmīte |trans-title=Artefact of the month in August - uniform badge of the Aizsardzes |url=https://www.aluksnespils.lv/lv/collection/36/augusta-menesa-krajuma-prieksmets |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=Alūksne Castle |language=lv}}</ref> and youth ("'''{{lang|lv|Jaunsargi}}'''").[[File:Latvian delegation in Warsaw.jpg|thumb|A delegation of Aizsargi officers in Warsaw, 1933. The distinctive oak-leaf pattern collar patches and headgear of the Aizsargi uniform can be seen here.|left|208x208px]]The organization, along with the Latvian Army, provided military support to the 1934 coup d'état of Kārlis Ulmanis.
By 1 January 1940, the organization had a membership of 60,684: 31,874 guards (aizsargi), 14,810 women members (aizsardzes), and 14,000 youth members (jaunsargi).<ref name=lbs40>[http://www.lacplesis.com/120_latvijas_brunotie_speki_1940.htm Latvian Armed Forces in 1940]</ref> The organization consisted of 19 infantry regiments and the separate Railroad and Aviation Regiments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MILITARY AIRCRAFT - National Guard (Aizsargi) - Latvian Aviation |url=http://latvianaviation.com/index.php?en/content/Aizsargi_Index.ssi |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410230032/http://latvianaviation.com/index.php?en%2Fcontent%2FAizsargi_Index.ssi |archive-date=2021-04-10 |access-date=2020-11-15 |website=latvianaviation.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Organization of the Aizsargi |url=https://aizsargi.org/index.php?en/content-070-Organization.ssi#WIKFN1 |access-date=2020-11-15 |website=aizsargi.org}}</ref>
On 23 June 1940, the organization was disbanded as a result of the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940. During the Soviet occupation, the former members of the LAO were heavily persecuted.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ciganovs |first=Juris |date=2022 |title=Latvijas spārni |trans-title=Wings of Latvia |url=https://www.zurnals.lv/lv/vesture/155-latvijas-sparni/ |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=www.zurnals.lv |language=lv}}</ref>
After the restoration of the independence of Latvia, the Aizsargi organization was not re-established by the government, as the Latvian National Guard was formed in 1991 as the main volunteer defence force of the country. Since then, separate small-scale NGOs have claimed to be the successors of the original LAO, which sometimes espoused fringe right-wing political views, e.g. the LAO group led by Riga Film Studio make-up artist Jānis Rība who was assassinated in 1997, possibly by Pērkonkrusts members; the ''Latvijas Aizsargi'' ('Aizsargi of Latvia') and others.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Refugees |first=United Nations High Commissioner for |title=Refworld {{!}} Latvia: Information on a paramilitary organization, reportedly neo-Nazi, called "Zemessarge", which apparently existed prior to WWII as well as today, and one of whose leaders is named Janis Riba |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acb154.html |access-date=2021-10-16 |website=Refworld |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Mudde |first=Cas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bNp6CAlMMcUC&dq=aizsargi+1990s&pg=PA96 |title=Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe |date=2005 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-415-35594-0 |pages=96 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jānis Rība |url=https://timenote.info/en/person/view?id=11553491 |access-date=2024-10-27 |website=timenote.info |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Anti-communist organisations in Latvia Category:Military history of Latvia Category:Paramilitary organisations based in Latvia
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