during world war ii latvia had been occupied by ussr. in 1985, mikhail gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika policies, hoping to salvage the failing soviet economy. the reforms also lessened restrictions on political freedom in the soviet union. this led to unintended consequences as problems within the soviet union and crimes of the soviet regime, previously kept secret and denied by the government, were exposed, causing public dissatisfaction, further deepened by the war in afghanistan and the chernobyl disaster. another unintended consequence of glasnost for the soviet central authorities was the long-suppressed nationalist sentiments that were released in the republics of the soviet union.