Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)
Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of World War II, the occupation of the Baltic states and military occupations by the Soviet Union | |||||||
Soviet troops in Riga, Latvia (1940) | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Estonia Latvia Lithuania | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Konstantin Päts Jüri Uluots Nikolai Reek Johan Laidoner Kārlis Ulmanis Krišjānis Berķis Jānis Balodis Antanas Smetona Antanas Merkys | Joseph Stalin Vyacheslav Molotov Semyon Timoshenko Aleksandr Loktionov Andrey Vyshinsky Johannes Vares Karl Säre Augusts Kirhenšteins Jānis Kalnbērziņš Justas Paleckis Antanas Sniečkus |
Part of a series of articles on the |
Occupation of the Baltic states |
---|
The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states covers the period from the
In September and October 1939 the Soviet government compelled the much smaller Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance pacts which gave the Soviets the right to establish military bases there. Following invasion by the
Background
After the
The Soviets then turned their attention to
The Soviets reorganized their forces and launched a new offensive along the Karelian Isthmus in February 1940. As fighting in Viipuri raged and the hope of foreign intervention faded, the Finns accepted peace terms on 12 March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Fighting ended the following day. The Finns had retained their independence, but ceded 9% of Finnish territory to the Soviet Union. While the Baltic states were officially neutral in the Winter War, with the Soviets praising their relations with the USSR as exemplary, Soviet bombers had used bases in Estonia for bombing Finland.[13][14]
Soviet occupation
The Soviet troops allocated for possible military actions against the Baltic states numbered 435,000 troops, around 8,000 guns and mortars, over 3,000 tanks, and over 500 armoured cars.[15] On 3 June 1940 all Soviet military forces based in Baltic states were concentrated under the command of Aleksandr Loktionov.[16] On 9 June the directive 02622ss/ov was given to the Red Army's Leningrad Military District by Semyon Timoshenko to be ready by 12 June to a) capture the vessels of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian navies in their bases or at sea; b) capture the Estonian and Latvian commercial fleets and all other vessels; c) prepare for an invasion and landing in Tallinn and Paldiski; d) close the Gulf of Riga and blockade the coasts of Estonia and Latvia in the Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea; e) prevent an evacuation of the Estonian and Latvian governments, military forces and assets; f) provide naval support for an invasion towards Rakvere; and g) prevent Estonian and Latvian airplanes from flying either to Finland or Sweden.[17]
On 12 June 1940, according to the director of the Russian State Archive of the Naval Department Pavel Petrov (C.Phil.) referring to the records in the archive,
On 14 June 1940 the Soviets
On 16 June 1940 the Soviets issued an ultimatum to Estonia and to Latvia.
On 18 June 1940 the German Ambassador to the Soviet Union Graf von der Schulenburg in his telegram have said that earlier V. Molotov had "warmly" congratulated him on Germany's recent success in France and added that:[a]
«[…] it had become necessary to put an end to all the intrigues by which England and France had tried to sow discord and mistrust between Germany and the Soviet Union in the Baltic States. […]Lithuanian border was evidently inadequately guarded. The Soviet Government would, therefore, if requested, assist the Lithuanian Government in guarding its borders.»
Red Army invades
Molotov had accused[when?] the Baltic states of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivered an ultimatum to all Baltic countries for the establishment of Soviet-approved governments. Threatening invasion and accusing the three states of violating the original pacts as well as forming a conspiracy against the Soviet Union, Moscow presented ultimatums, demanding new concessions, which included the replacement of their governments and allowing an unlimited number of troops to enter the three countries.[27][28][29][30]
The Baltic governments had decided that, given their international isolation and the overwhelming Soviet forces on their borders and already on their territories, it was futile to actively resist and better to avoid bloodshed in an unwinnable war.[31] The occupation of the Baltic states coincided with a communist coup d'état in each country, supported by the Soviet troops.[32]
On 15 June the USSR invaded Lithuania.
Most of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Defence League surrendered according to the orders of the Estonian Government and were disarmed by the Red Army.[37][38] Only the Estonian Independent Signal Battalion stationed in Tallinn at Raua Street showed resistance to the Red Army and "People's Self-Defence" Communist militia,[39] fighting the invading troops on 21 June 1940.[40] As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, the battle lasted several hours until sundown. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Independent Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed.[41] There were two dead Estonian servicemen, Aleksei Männikus and Johannes Mandre, and several wounded on the Estonian side and about ten killed and more wounded on the Soviet side.[42][43] The Soviet militia that participated in the battle was led by Nikolai Stepulov.[44]
Western reaction
Estonia was the only of the three Baltic states that established a government in exile.[45] It had legations in London and was the government recognized by the Western world during the Cold War. With the reestablishment of independence by the Soviet Republics leaving the USSR in 1990–1991, the government in exile was integrated into the new governing establishment.
Sovietization of the Baltic states
Political repressions followed with mass deportations of around 130,000 citizens carried out by the Soviets.[4]: 48 The Serov Instructions, "On the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia", contained detailed procedures and protocols to observe in the deportation of Baltic nationals.
The Soviets began a constitutional metamorphosis of the Baltic states by first forming transitional "People's Governments".[46] Led by Stalin's close associates,[47] and local communist supporters as well as officials brought in from the Soviet Union, they forced the presidents and governments of all three countries to resign, replacing them with the provisional People's Governments.
On 14–15 July, following illegal amendments to the electoral laws of the respective states, rigged parliamentary elections for the "
The new Soviet-installed governments in the Baltic states began to align their policies with Soviet practices at the time.[50] According to the prevailing doctrine in the process, the old "bourgeois" societies were destroyed so that new socialist societies, run by loyal Soviet citizens, could be constructed in their place.[50]
See also
- June deportation – 1940-41 mass deportation of people from newly-annexed Soviet territories in Eastern Europe
- Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940
- Soviet re-occupation of the Baltic states (1944)
Notes
- ^ This telegram and other important documents were originally published by the U.S. State Department. As authors of the pulibcation claimed, the documents, including telegram, were copied verbatim and translated. The documents originate from German Foreign Office archive captured by British and US troops in 1945. The next sources in Russian are duplicates of the same report and telegram translated into Russian.[22]: 154 [23]: 207 [24][25][26]
References
Citations
- ^ Moorehouse, Roger (2014). The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941 (Kindle, Chapter 3: Sharing the Spoils; loc 1961 ed.). New York: Basic Books.
- ^ a b Attitudes of Major Soviet Nationalities (PDF). Vol. II. The Baltics. Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1973. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
- ^ Gerner & Hedlund (1993). p. 59.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-78096-163-7.
- ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 110.
- ^ ISBN 0-415-28580-1
- ^ Manninen (2008), pp. 37, 42, 43, 46, 49
- ^ Reiter (2009), p. 124
- ^ Tanner (1956), p. 114
- ^ Trotter (2013), p. 58, 61
- ^ Trotter (2002), pp. 234–235
- ^ Enkenberg (2020), p.215
- ^ Mälksoo (2003). p. 83.
- ^ Crowe (1993), p.139
- ^ Mikhail Meltyukhov Stalin's Missed Chance p. 198, available at [1]
- ^ Pavel Petrov, p. 153
- ^ Pavel Petrov, p. 154
- ^ (in Finnish) Pavel Petrov at Finnish Defence Forces home page
- ^ (in Russian) documents published Archived 2005-02-19 at the Wayback Machine from the State Archive of the Russian Navy
- ^ Pavel Petrov, p. 164
- ^ The Last Flight from Tallinn Archived 2009-03-25 at the Wayback Machine at American Foreign Service Association
- ^ Sontag R., James; Stuart B., James (1948). Nazi-Soviet relations, 1939–1941: Documents from the archives of the German foreign office. Washington: State Department.
- OCLC 746463927.
- ^ Юрий, Г. Фельштинский (Feb 9, 2004). "Оглашению подлежит: СССР-Германия 1939–1941 (Документы и материалы)". lib.ru. Archived from the original on February 26, 2013. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ ИнфоРост, Н. П. "Посол Шуленбург – в МИД Германии. Телеграмма. Москва. 18 июня 1940 г." docs.historyrussia.org. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
- ^ Фельштинский, Юрий; Серебренников, А. «СССР — Германия, 1939», изд. «Телекс», 1983 г (in Russian). Vol. 1. telex.
- ISBN 0-7166-0103-6
- ^ For Lithuania see, for instance, Remeikis, Thomas (Winter 1975). "The decision of the Lithuanian government to accept the Soviet ultimatum of 14 June 1940". Lituanus. 21 (4). Retrieved 3 March 2007.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ see report of Latvian Chargé d'affaires, Fricis Kociņš, regarding the talks with Soviet Foreign Commissar Molotov in Grava-Kreituse, I.; Feldmanis, I.; Goldmanis, J.; Stranga, A. (1995). Latvijas okupācija un aneksija 1939–1940: Dokumenti un materiāli [The Occupation and Annexation of Latvia: 1939–1940. Documents and Materials] (in Latvian). pp. 348–350. Archived from the original on 6 November 2008.
- ^ for Estonia see, for instance, Kerikmäe, Tanel; Vallikivi, Hannes (2000). "State Continuity in the Light of Estonian Treaties Concluded before World War II". Juridica International (I 2000): 30–39. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
- ISBN 0-415-28580-1.
- ISBN 90-420-0890-3.
- ^ a b "Five Years of Dates". Time. 24 June 1940. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
- ^ The Occupation of Latvia Archived 2007-11-23 at the Wayback Machine at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
- TIME Magazine, June 24, 1940
- ISBN 0-674-07608-7.
- ISBN 978-1-59942-983-0.
June 14 the Estonian government surrendered without offering any military resistance; The occupation authorities began...by disarming the Estonian Army and removing the higher military command from power
- ISBN 0-8108-4904-6.
The Estonian armed forces were disarmed by the Soviet occupation in June 1940
- ISBN 9780930342418.
- ^ "The President of the Republic acquainted himself with the Estonian Defence Forces". Press Service of the Office of the President. December 19, 2001. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
- ^ (in Estonian)51 years from the Raua Street Battle at Estonian Defence Forces Home Page
- ^ 784 AE. "Riigikogu avaldus kommunistliku režiimi kuritegudest Eestis" [Riigikogu's statement on the crimes of the communist regime in Estonia] (in Estonian). Riigikogu. Archived from the original on 21 June 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Lohmus, Alo (10 November 2007). "Kaitseväelastest said kurja saatuse sunnil korpusepoisid" [Forced by evil fate, the soldiers became corpsmen] (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
- ^ "Põlva maakonna 2005.a. lahtised meistrivõistlused mälumängus" (in Estonian). kilb.ee. 22 February 2005. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
- ISBN 0-8108-4904-6.
- ^ Misiunas & Taagepera 1993, p. 20.
- Schulenburg) to the German Foreign Office. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
- ^ a b Misiunas & Taagepera 1993, pp. 26–7
- ISBN 0-912881-00-3.
- ^ a b O'Connor 2003, p. 117
Bibliography
- Brecher, Michael; Wilkenfeld, Jonathan (1997). A Study of Crisis. ISBN 978-0-472-10806-0.
- Crowe, David (1993). The Baltic States And The Great Powers: Foreign Relations, 1938-1940. ISBN 978-0813304816.
- Enkenberg, Ilkka (2020). Talvisota Väreissä [Winter War in Värei] (in Finnish). Readme.fi. ISBN 978-952-373-053-3.
- Gerner, Kristian; Hedlund, Stefan (1993). The Baltic States and the end of the Soviet Empire. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-07570-X.
- Hiden, John; Salmon, Patrick (1994) [1991]. The Baltic Nations and Europe (Revised ed.). Harlow, England: Longman. ISBN 0-582-25650-X.
- Mälksoo, Lauri (2003). Illegal Annexation and State Continuity: The Case of the Incorporation of the Baltic States by the USSR. The Netherlands: ISBN 978-90-411-2177-6.
- O'Connor, Kevin (2003). The History of the Baltic States. ISBN 978-0-313-32355-3.
- Rislakki, Jukka (2008). The Case for Latvia. Disinformation Campaigns Against a Small Nation. Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-2424-3.
- Plakans, Andrejs (2007). Experiencing Totalitarianism: The Invasion and Occupation of Latvia by the USSR and Nazi Germany 1939–1991. AuthorHouse. p. 596. ISBN 978-1-4343-1573-1.
- Wyman, David; Rosenzveig, Charles H. (1996). The World Reacts to the Holocaust. ISBN 978-0-8018-4969-5.
- Frucht, Richard (2005). Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture. ISBN 978-1-57607-800-6.
- ISBN 978-951-37-5278-1.
- Misiunas, Romuald J.; Taagepera, Rein (1993), The Baltic States, years of dependence, 1940–1990, University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-08228-1
- Senn, Alfred Erich (2007). Lithuania 1940: Revolution from Above. Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-42-02225-6.
- Petrov, Pavel (2008). Punalipuline Balti Laevastik ja Eesti 1939–1941 (in Estonian). Tänapäev. ISBN 978-9985-62-631-3.
- Hiden, John; Vahur Made; David J. Smith (2008). The Baltic question during the Cold War. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-37100-1.
- Reiter, Dan (2009). How Wars End. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691140605. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
- Talmon, Stefan (1998). Recognition of governments in international law. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-826573-3.
- McHugh, James; James S. Pacy (2001). Diplomats without a country: Baltic diplomacy, international law, and the Cold War. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-31878-6.
- Tanner, Väinö (1956). The Winter War: Finland Against Russia, 1939–1940, Volume 312. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
- Trotter, William (2013). A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939–1940. Algonquin Books.
- ISBN 1-85410-881-6.
Further reading
- Žiemele, Ineta, ed. (2002). Baltic Yearbook of International Law (2001). Vol. 1. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISSN 1569-6456.
- Dawisha, K.; Parrott, B., eds. (June 1997). The Consolidation of Democracy in East-Central Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-59938-2.