Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party (1918)
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The Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Latvian: Latvijas Sociāldemokrātiskā Strādnieku Partija, abbreviated as LSDSP) was a political party in Latvia. It was founded on June 17, 1918, by the Menshevik elements who had been expelled from the Social Democracy of the Latvian Territory in 1915. Once Latvia became independent, LSDSP was one of the two most influential political parties (along with the Latvian Farmers' Union). LSDSP held 57 out of 150 seats in 1920 Constitutional Assembly (Satversmes Sapulce). It won most seats in every of 4 parliamentary elections of that period (31 out of 100 in 1922, 33 in 1925, 26 in 1928 and 21 in 1931). The leader of LSDSP, Pauls Kalniņš, was the speaker of Latvian parliament from 1925 to 1934.
The party itself, however, would often be in opposition because of many smaller right-wing parties forming coalition governments, typically led by the Latvian Farmers' Union.
LSDSP was banned after the 1934 coup by Kārlis Ulmanis, together with all other political parties, and remained banned after the Soviet annexation in 1940. When many Latvians left Latvia during World War II, LSDSP was restored as an "exile organization" operating in Sweden in 1945 and, later, other Western countries as well.
