The Baltic states were neutral in the Winter War and the Soviets praised their relations with the USSR as exemplary. An analogous body, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania, emerged on November 25, 1943, and on March 23, 1944, the underground National Committee of the Estonian Republic was founded. [19], On 15 June the USSR invaded Lithuania. [12] According to a Time magazine article published at the time of the invasions, in a matter of days around 500,000 Soviet Red Army troops occupied the three Baltic states—just one week before the Fall of France to Nazi Germany. [20], 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. The fall of France altered the situation. Sovietization moved at a rapid pace, taking little, if any, consideration of the constitutions in force in the three countries. In Latvia an underground nationalist Central Council of Latvia was formed on August 13, 1943. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Independent Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed. On the day that Paris fell, June 15, 1940, Joseph Stalin presented an ultimatum to Lithuania to admit an unlimited number of troops and to form a government acceptable to the U.S.S.R. Lithuania was occupied that day. [5] On June 3, 1940 all Soviet military forces based in Baltic states were concentrated under the command of Aleksandr Loktionov. In 1939 Finland had rejected similar Soviet demands for military bases on Finnish territory. Latvia followed on 5 October 1939 and Lithuania shortly thereafter, on 10 October 1939. 237—253, "Analytical list of documents, V. Friction in the Baltic States and Balkans, June 4, 1940 – September 21, 1940", http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/nsr/nsr-05.html#14, http://www.historia.lv/publikacijas/gramat/mangulis/08.nod.htm, http://books.google.com/books?id=GjY7aV_6FPwC&pg=PA596, http://books.google.com/books?id=b3b5nU4bnw4C&pg=PA113, http://books.google.com/books?id=yXANj6Y_7goC&dq, http://books.google.com/books?id=p2nanp_wpnkC&dq, http://books.google.com/books?id=U6KVOsjpP0MC&pg, http://books.google.com/books?id=lVBB1a0rC70C&pg=, http://books.google.com/books?id=jx4JQycHtnkC&client, http://books.google.com/books?id=scc8EboiJX8C, http://books.google.com/books?id=wRbdAwtxVIAC&client, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iGLp7QEelbIC&lpg=PA111&ots=63gKYP3exm&dq=Baltic%20Yearbook%20of%20International%20Law%20volume%201&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=NRkpNovMd_cC&lpg=PA29&ots=L_JPc--nbS&dq=Consolidation%20of%20Democracy%20in%20East-Central%20Europe&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false, https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Soviet_occupation_of_the_Baltic_states_(1940)?oldid=4380619. [38] 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. After the Soviet invasion of Poland on 6 October, the Soviets pressured Finland and the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance treaties. At any rate, the line is there, and an Eastern front has been created which Nazi Germany does not dare assail. A week after on 24 September, the Estonian foreign minister was given an ultimatum in Moscow. In early August, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "accepted" all three requests. After the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939, the Soviets pressured Finland and the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance treaties. Procommunist and nationalist guerrilla movements existed throughout the war. Relevant events began regarding the Baltic states and the Soviet Union when, following Bolshevist Russia's conflict with the Baltic states—Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia—several peace treaties were signed with Russia and its successor, the Soviet Union.In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Soviet Union and all three Baltic States further signed non-aggression treaties. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. [14][15][16][17], 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. [30][31] The Soviet militia that participated in the battle was led by Nikolai Stepulov.[32]. 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. 120 Soviet vessels participated in the naval blockade, including one cruiser, seven destroyers, and seventeen submarines, along with 219 airplanes including the 8th air-brigade with 84 DB-3 and Tupolev SB bombers and the 10th brigade with 62 airplanes. Hiden, John; Vahur Made, David J. Smith (2008). Greenwood Publishing Group. The official Soviet line—a line carried on by Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union—is that all three Baltic states carried out socialist revolutions and voluntarily requested to join the Soviet Union. [4] The corresponding agreement was signed on 28 September 1939. [6], 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. Estimates of wartime population loss stand at 25 percent for Estonia, 30 percent for Latvia, and 15 percent for Lithuania. In total disregard of international conventions, the German administration declared a compulsory draft into the Reich labour service. Two Soviet bombers downed the Finnish passenger airplane "Kaleva" flying from Tallinn to Helsinki carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki. Under Soviet supervision, new puppet communist governments and fellow travelers arranged rigged elections with falsified results. The Soviet military blockade of Estonia went into effect while the world's attention was focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany. I.Grava-Kreituse, I.Feldmanis, J.Goldmanis, A.Stranga. [23][24] 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,[25] fighting the invading troops on 21 June 1940. Brecher, Michael; Jonathan Wilkenfeld (1997). Political repressions followed with mass deportations carried out by the Soviets. Our latest podcast episode features popular TED speaker Mara Mintzer. Consequently, at first many Balts greeted the Germans as liberators when they occupied the area a week later.[1]. 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. [3]: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. [26] As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, the battle lasted several hours until sundown. [23] The Soviet military forces far outnumbered the armies of each country. 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. [6] On June 9 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. After the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939, the Soviets pressured Finland and the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance treaties. Dawisha, K.; Parrott, B., eds (June 1997). "[33] Led by Stalin’s close associates,[34] 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. The Soviet military blockade of Estonia went into effect while the world's attention was focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany. Under Soviet supervision, new governments of Communists and fellow travelers arranged rigged elections with falsified results. The Soviets began a constitutional metamorphosis of the Baltic states by first forming transitional "People's Governments.

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