ABSTRACT

The Bolshevist forces had met with resistance from the White Army for the first time a few weeks before; but not only that—at the beginning of March the Whites had opened a counter-offensive; in West Courland, in the neighbourhood of Libau and the sea, the Baltic Volunteers had recaptured several places from the Reds, among them the port of Windau. The Red troops in that sector were slowly falling back. The Red General Staff itself announced these facts. Everything was set down in black and white in the Red Flag. There could thus be no doubt about the truth of the reports. The Reds made use of this breathing-space to take drastic measures for the defence of Riga. The new blows fell in swift succession. For every defeat suffered by the Reds during the White advance they wreaked vengeance on the defenceless population of Riga.