Latvia 1 Kopek from 1915 Banknote F/VF

Latvia became a part of the Russian Empire during the reign of Tsar Peter I in 1710.  During the reign of Tsar Alexander III in the 1880s and 1890s, Russian replaced Latvian and made German the primary language in administration, court and public education.   The Russian government suppressed revolutionary and nationalistic sentiment in Latvia during the Russian Revolution in 1905.  At the onset of The Great War, The German Empire declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914.  The following year, in 1915, the conflict reached Latvia.  On May 7, 1915, the Germans captured the port city of Liepāja and Talsi followed by Tukums and Ventspils. By 1917, the Germans occupied Lithuania and most of Latvia with the exception of Riga.  After Tsar Nicholas II was deposed in Russia by the Bolsheviks, the Germans finally occupied Riga on September 13, 1917.  The provisional Russian government did not want to continue in the war and the Bolsheviks agreed to very onerous terms in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk when they had to cede Ukraine, Polish territories, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland to Germany.

Those are the 1915 low denomination fractional banknotes in denominations of 1 Kopek, 3 Kopek, 5 Kopek, 10 Kopek, 50 Kopek and 5 Ruble issued during the German occupation of Latvia.  100 Kopek is equivalent to 1 Ruble.  These notes have an interesting trait - they are identical on both sides.