 In the 19th century, when serfdom was abolished, a Latvian nationalist movement, the First Latvian National Awakening, begun.Led by "Young Latvians", it encouraged Latvians to become artists and scholars, while preserving their cultural heritage and the language.The movement was countered by a period of Russification, followed by the leftist movement New Current at the beginning of the 20th century; it is regarded as a period in which Latvian culture thrived.