VI Estonian-Latvia History Conference: 100 Years from division of Valga/Valka. Estonian-Latvian Relations in the 1920s.
Background of the Conference
The 2020 conference was supposed to address the 100th anniversary of the Estonian-Latvian border demarcation. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis erupted in 2020, and the issues related to the Estonian-Latvian border had to be postponed because that year's conference simply could not take place. In 2021, the history conference had to be canceled again due to COVID-19 restrictions. Therefore, the VI Estonian-Latvian history conference only took place in 2022. An exception was also made in that while other conferences took place in the autumn, the 2022 conference was held in May.
Immediately after the end of the War of Independence in early 1920, when the young republics of Estonia and Latvia achieved a historic victory over Soviet Russia, the border between Estonia and Latvia had to be established. This was not an easy task, as several areas along the Estonian-Latvian border were mixed settlements. This was also the case in the town of Valga, which both countries desired in its entirety. Since Estonia and Latvia could not independently resolve the border issue, an international border commission was formed, led by British Colonel Stephen George Tallents, dispatched by the Entente, who had experience in resolving border disputes between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Initially, Tallents tried to get the Estonian and Latvian representatives to agree on the border themselves. Since this did not succeed, Tallents had to declare the border for the town of Valga himself on July 1, 1920, dividing the town between Estonia and Latvia. The Estonian side of the town was named Valga, and the Latvian side was named Valka. Previously, the town was known as Walk.
Conference materials are avalable in the Estonian version of the museum website.