text:
Occupation of the Baltic states
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Part of a series of articles on the
Occupation of the
Baltic states
Baltic states
Nazi Germany
Soviet Union
Background[show]
Baltic–Soviet relations
Non-Aggression Pacts
Soviet-Estonian
Soviet-Latvian
Soviet-Lithuanian
German-Estonian
German-Latvian
German-Lithuanian
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
Soviet occupation in 1940[show]
Mutual Assistance Treaties
Soviet-Estonian
Soviet-Latvian
Soviet-Lithuanian
Orzeł incident
Ultimatums
to Estonia
to Latvia
to Lithuania
People's Parliament
Sovietization
Deportations
from Estonia
from Latvia
from Lithuania
June deportation
Welles Declaration
German occupation[show]
Estonia
Occupation
Resistance
Holocaust
Latvia
Occupation
Resistance
Holocaust
Lithuania
Occupation
Resistance
Holocaust
Soviet re-occupation in 1944[show]
Battle of Narva
Baltic Offensive
Courland Pocket
Forest Brothers
Latvian partisans
Lithuanian partisans
Under Soviet rule[show]
Guerrilla war in the Baltic states
Operation Priboi
Operation Jungle
Estonian SSR
Latvian SSR
Lithuanian SSR
Territorial changes
Baltic Way
Singing Revolution
Sąjūdis
Rahvarinne
Congress of Estonia
State continuity[show]
Baltic diplomatic services (1940–91)
Estonian
Latvian
Lithuanian
Kersten Committee
Helsinki Accords
Aftermath[show]
Estonia–Russia relations
Latvia–Russia relations
Lithuania–Russia relations
Russians in Estonia
Russians in Latvia
Russians in Lithuania
v
t
e
The occupation of the Baltic states was the military occupation of the three Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—by the Soviet Union under the auspices of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 14 June 1940[1][2] followed by their incorporation into the USSR as constituent republics, unrecognised by most Western powers.[3][4] On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR and within weeks occupied the Baltic territories. In July 1941, the Baltic territory was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ostland of the Third Reich. As a result of the Baltic Offensive of 1944, the Soviet Union recaptured most of the Baltic states and trapped the remaining German forces in the Courland pocket until their formal surrender in May 1945.[5] The Soviet "annexation occupation" (Annexionsbesetzung or occupation sui generis)[6] of the Baltic states lasted until August 1991, when the Baltic states regained independence.
The Baltic states,[7][8] the United States[9][10] and its courts of law,[11] the European Parliament,[12][13][14] the European Court of Human Rights[15] and the United Nations Human Rights Council[16] have all stated that these three countries were invaded, occupied and illegally incorporated into the Soviet Union under provisions[17] of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, first by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944, and again by the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1991.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] This policy of non-recognition has given rise to the principle of legal continuity, which holds that de jure, or as a matter of law, the Baltic states had remained independent states under illegal occupation throughout the period from 1940 to 1991.[26][27][28]
In its reassessment of Soviet history that began during perestroika in 1989, the USSR condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Germany and itself.[29] However, the USSR never formally acknowledged its presence in the Baltics as an occupation or that it annexed these states,[30] and considered the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republics as its constituent republics. The Russian SFSR, on the other hand, recognized it in 1991 as "annexation"[31]. Nationalist-patriotic[32] Russian historiography and school textbooks continue to maintain that the Baltic states voluntarily joined the Soviet Union after their peoples all carried out socialist revolutions independent of Soviet influence.[33] The Russian government and its state officials insist that incorporation of the Baltic states was in accordance with international law[34][35] and gained de jure recognition by the agreements made in the Yalta and Potsdam conferences and by the Helsinki Accords,[36][37] whereas the Accords only committed existing frontiers would not be violated.[38] However, Russia agreed to Europe's demand to "assist persons deported from the occupied Baltic states" upon joining the Council of Europe.[39][40][41] Additionally, when the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic signed a separate treaty with Lithuania in 1991, it acknowledged that the 1940 annexation was a violation of Lithuanian sovereignty and recognised the de jure continuity of the Lithuanian state.[42][43]
Most Western governments maintained that Baltic sovereignty had not been legitimately overridden[44] and thus continued to recognise the Baltic states as sovereign political entities represented by the legations appointed by the pre-1940 Baltic states which functioned in Washington and elsewhere.[45][46] De facto independence was restored to the Baltic states in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Russia started to withdraw its troops from the Baltics (starting from Lithuania) in August 1993. The full withdrawal of troops deployed by Moscow was completed in August 1994.[47] Russia officially ended its military presence in the Baltics in August 1998 by decommissioning the Skrunda-1 radar station in Latvia. The dismantled installations were repatriated to Russia and the site returned to Latvian control, with the last Russian soldier leaving Baltic soil in October 1999.[48][49]
Contents
[hide]
1 Background
2 Soviet occupation and annexation (1940–1941)
3 German occupation (1941–1944)
3.1 Ostland province and the Holocaust
3.2 Baltic nationals within the Soviet forces
3.3 Baltic nationals within the German forces
3.4 Attempts to restore independence and the Soviet offensive of 1944
4 Under Soviet rule (1944–1991)
4.1 Resistance and deportations
4.2 Industrialization and immigration
4.3 Restorations of independence
4.4 Withdrawal of Russian troops and decommissioning the radars
5 Aftermath
6 State continuity of the Baltic states
7 Soviet and Russian historiography
7.1 Soviet sources
7.2 Russian historiography in the post-Soviet era
7.3 Position of the Russian Federation
8 Treaties affecting USSR–Baltic relations
9 Timeline
10 See also
11 References
11.1 Citations
11.2 Bibliography
12 Further reading
12.1 Academic and media articles
Background[edit]
Main article: Background of the occupation of the Baltic states
Planned and actual divisions of Europe, according to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, with later adjustments
Early in the morning of August 24, 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed a ten-year non-aggression pact, called the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact. The pact contained a secret protocol by which the states of Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence".[50] In the north, Finland, Estonia and Latvia were assigned to the Soviet sphere.[50] Poland was to be partitioned in the event of its "political rearrangement"—the areas east of the Narev, Vistula and San Rivers going to the Soviet Union while Germany would occupy the west.[50] Lithuania, adjacent to East Prussia, would be in the German sphere of influence, although a second secret protocol agreed in September 1939 assigned the majority of Lithuanian territory to the Soviet Union.[51] According to this secret protocol, Lithuania would regain its historical capital Vilnius, previously subjugated during the inter-war period by Poland.
Following the end of Soviet invasion of Poland on 6 October, the Soviets pressured Finland and the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance treaties. The Soviets questioned the neutrality of Estonia after the escape of an interned Polish submarine on 18 September. A week later on 24 September, the Estonian foreign minister was given an ultimatum in Moscow. The Soviets demanded the conclusion of a treaty of mutual assistance to establish military bases in Estonia.[52][53] The Estonians had no choice but to accept naval, air and army bases on two Estonian islands and at the port of Paldiski.[52] The corresponding agreement was signed on 28 September 1939. Latvia followed on 5 October 1939 and Lithuania shortly thereafter, on 10 October 1939. The agreements permitted the Soviet Union to establish military bases on the Baltic states' territory for the duration of the European war[53] and to station 25,000 Soviet soldiers in Estonia, 30,000 in Latvia and 20,000 in Lithuania from October 1939.
Soviet occupation and annexation (1940–1941)[edit]
Main article: Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)
In September and October 1939, the Soviet government compelled the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance pacts which gave it the right to establish Soviet military bases.[54] In May 1940, the Soviets turned to the idea of direct military intervention, but still intended to rule through puppet regimes.[55] Their model was the Finnish Democratic Republic, a puppet regime set up by the Soviets on the first day of the Winter War.[56] The Soviets organised a press campaign against the allegedly pro-Allied sympathies of the Baltic governments. In May 1940, the Germans invaded France, which was overrun and occupied a month later. In late May and early June 1940, the Baltic states were accused of military collaboration against the Soviet Union by holding meetings the previous winter.[57]:43 On 15 June 1940, the Lithuanian government had no choice but to agree to the Soviet ultimatum and permit the entry of an unspecified number of Soviet troops. President Antanas Smetona proposed armed resistance to the Soviets but the government refused, proposing their own candidate to lead the regime.[55] However, the Soviets refused this offer and sent Vladimir Dekanozov to take charge of affairs while the Red Army occupied the state.[58]
Schematics of the Soviet military blockade and invasion of Estonia in 1940. (Russian State Naval Archives)
On 16 June 1940, Latvia and Estonia also received ultimata. The Red Army occupied the two remaining Baltic states shortly thereafter. The Soviets dispatched Andrey Vyshinsky to oversee the takeover of Latvia and Andrey Zhdanov to oversee the takeover of Estonia. On 18 and 21 June 1940, new "popular front" governments were formed in each Baltic country, made up of Communists and fellow travelers.[58] Under Soviet surveillance, the new governments arranged rigged elections for new "people's assemblies." Voters were presented with a single list, and no opposition movements were allowed to file and to get the required turnout to 99.6% votes were forged.[57]:46 A month later, the new assemblies met, with their sole item of business being resolutions to join the Soviet Union. In each case, the resolutions passed by acclamation. The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union duly accepted the requests in August, thus giving legal sanction to the takeover. Lithuania was incorporated into the Soviet Union on 3 August, Latvia on 5 August, and Estonia on 6 August 1940.[58] The deposed presidents of Estonia (Konstantin Päts) and Latvia (Kārlis Ulmanis) were imprisoned and deported to the USSR and died later in the Tver region[59] and Central Asia respectively. In June 1941, the new Soviet governments carried out mass deportations of "enemies of the people". It is estimated that Estonia alone lost 60,000 citizens.[57]:48 Consequently, many Balts initially greeted the Germans as liberators when they invaded a week later.[54]
The Soviet Union immediately started to erect border fortifications along its newly acquired western border — the so-called Molotov Line.
German occupation (1941–1944)[edit]
Main article: German occupation of the Baltic states during World War II
Ostland province and the Holocaust[edit]
See also: The Holocaust in Estonia, The Holocaust in Latvia, and The Holocaust in Lithuania
On 22 June 1941 the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. The Baltic states, recently Sovietized by threats, force, and fraud, generally welcomed the German armed forces when they crossed the frontiers.[60] In Lithuania, a revolt broke out and an independent provisional government was established. As the German armies approached Riga and Tallinn, attempts to reestablish national governments were made. It was hoped that the Germans would reestablish Baltic independence. Such political hopes soon evaporated and Baltic cooperation became less forthright or ceased altogether.[61] The Germans aimed to annex the Baltic territories to the Third Reich where "suitable elements" were to be assimilated and "unsuitable elements" exterminated. In actual practice, the implementation of occupation policy was more complex; for administrative convenience the Baltic states were included with Belorussia in the Reichskommissariat Ostland.[62] The area was ruled by Hinrich Lohse who was obsessed with bureaucratic regulations.[62] The Baltic area was the only eastern region intended to become a full province of the Third Reich.[63]
Nazi racial attitudes to the Baltic people differed between Nazi authorities. In practice, racial policies were directed not against the majority of Balts but rather against the Jews. Large numbers of Jews were living in the major cities, notably in Vilnius, Kaunas and Riga. The German mobile killing units slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Jews; Einsatzgruppe A, assigned to the Baltic area, was the most effective of four units.[63] German policy forced the Jews into ghettos. In 1943 Heinrich Himmler ordered his forces to liquidate the ghettos and to transfer the survivors to concentration camps. Some Latvians and Lithuanian conscripts collaborated actively in the killing of Jews, and the Nazis managed to provoke pogroms locally, especially in Lithuania.[64] Only about 75 percent of Estonian and 10 percent of Latvian and Lithuanian Jews survived the war. However, for the majority of Baltic people, German rule was less harsh than Soviet rule had been, and it was less brutal than German occupations elsewhere in eastern Europe.[65] Local puppet regimes performed administrative tasks and schools were permitted to function. However, most people were denied the right to own land or businesses.[66]
Baltic nationals within the Soviet forces[edit]
The Soviet administration had forcefully incorporated the Baltic national armies at the wake of the occupation in 1940. Most of the senior officers were arrested and many of them murdered.[67] During the German invasion, the Soviets conducted a forced general mobilisation that took place in violation of the international law. Under the Geneva Conventions, this act of violence is seen as a grave breach and war crime, because the mobilised men were treated as arrestants from the very beginning. In comparison with the general mobilisation proclaimed in the Soviet Union, the age range was extended by 9 years in the Baltics; all reserve officers were also taken. The aim was to deport all men capable to fight to Russia, where they were sent to convict camps. Almost half of them perished because of the transportation conditions, slave labour, hunger, diseases, and the repressive measures of the NKVD.[67][68] In addition, destruction battalions were formed under the command of the NKVD.[69] Hence, Baltic nationals fought in both German and Soviet army ranks. There was the 201st Latvian Rifle Division. The 308th Latvian Rifle Division was awarded the Red Banner Order after the expulsion of the Germans from Riga in the autumn of 1944.[70]
An estimated 60,000 Lithuanians were drafted into the Red Army.[71] During 1940, on the basis of disbanded Lithuanian Army, Soviet authorities organized 29th Territorial Rifle Corps. Decrease in quality of life and service conditions, forceful indoctrination of Communist ideology, caused discontent of recently Sovietized military units. Soviet authorities responded with repressions against Lithuanian officers of the 29th Corps, arresting over 100 officers and soldiers and subsequently executing around 20 in Autumn 1940. By that time allegedly near 3,200 officers and soldiers of 29th Corps were considered "politically unreliable". Due to high tensions and soldiers' discontent the 26th Cavalry Regiment was disbanded. During the 1941 June deportations over 320 officers and soldiers of 29th Corps were arrested and deported to concentration camps of executed. The 29th Corps collapsed with the German invasion into Soviet Union: on June 25-26 a rebellion broke in its 184th Rifle Division. The other division of the 29th Corps, the 179th Rifle Division lost most of its soldiers during the retreat from Germans mostly to deserting of its soldiers. A total of less than 1,500 soldiers from initial strength of around 12,000 reached the area of Pskov by August 1941. By the second part of 1942, most of Lithuanians remaining in the Soviet ranks as well as male war refugees from Lithuania were organized into 16th Rifle Division during its second formation. 16th Rifle Division, despite officially called "Lithuanian" and mostly commanded by officers of Lithuanian origin, including Adolfas Urbšas, a former Chief of Staff of Lithuanian Army, was ethnically very mixed, with up to 1/4 of its personnel made of Jews and thus being the largest Jew formation of Soviet Army. Popular joke of those years said that 16th Division is called Lithuanian, because there are 16 Lithuanians among its ranks.
The 7000-strong 22nd Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps got heavily beaten in the battles around Porkhov during the German invasion in summer 1941, as 2000 were killed or wounded in action, and 4500 surrendered. The 25,000—30,000 strong 8th Estonian Rifle Corps lost 3/4 of its troops in the battle for Velikiye Luki in winter 1942/43. It participated in the capture of Tallinn in September 1944.[67] About 20,000 Lithuanians, 25,000 Estonians, and 5000 Latvians died in the ranks of the Red Army and labor battalions.[68][70]
Baltic nationals within the German forces[edit]
The Nazi administration also conscripted Baltic nationals into the German armies. The Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force, composed of volunteers, was formed in 1944. The LTDF reached the size of about 10,000 men. Its goal was to fight the approaching Red Army, provide security and conduct anti-partisan operations within the territory, claimed by Lithuanians. After brief engagements against the Soviet and Polish partisans (Armia Krajowa), the force self-disbanded,[72] its leaders were arrested and sent to Nazi concentration camps,[73] and many of its members were executed by the Nazis.[73] Latvian Legion, created in 1943, consisted of two conscripted divisions of the Waffen-SS. On July 1, 1944 the Latvian Legion had 87,550 men. Another 23,000 Latvians were serving as Wehrmacht "auxiliaries".[74] Among other battles they participated in the battles in the Siege of Leningrad, in Courland Pocket, in Pomeranian Wall defences, in Velikaya River for Hill "93,4" and in the defence of Berlin. 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) was formed in January 1944 through conscription. Consisting of 38,000 men they took part in the Battle of Narva, the Battle of Tannenberg Line, the Battle of Tartu, and Operation Aster.
Attempts to restore independence and the Soviet offensive of 1944[edit]
Main article: Occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union (1944)
There were several attempts to restore independence during the occupation. On 22 June 1941 the Lithuanians overthrew Soviet rule two days before the Wehrmacht arrived in Kaunas, where the Germans then allowed a Provisional Government to function for over a month.[66] The Latvian Central Council was set up as an underground organisation in 1943, but it was destroyed by the Gestapo in 1945. In Estonia in 1941, Jüri Uluots proposed restoration of independence; later, by 1944, he had become a key figure in the secret National Committee. In September 1944, Uluots briefly became acting president of independent Estonia.[75] Unlike the French and the Poles, the Baltic states had no governments in exile located in the West. Consequently, Great Britain and the United States lacked any interest in the Baltic cause while the war against Germany remained undecided.[75] The discovery of the Katyn massacre in 1943 and callous conduct towards the Warsaw uprising in 1944 had cast shadows on relations; nevertheless, all three victors still displayed solidarity at the Yalta conference in 1945.[76]
By 1 March 1944 the siege of Leningrad was over and Soviet troops were on the border with Estonia.[77] The Soviets launched the Baltic Offensive, a twofold military-political operation to rout German forces, on 14 September. On 16 September the High Command of the German Army issued a plan in which Estonian forces would cover the German withdrawal.[78] The Soviets soon reached the Estonian capital Tallinn, where the NKVD's first mission was to stop anyone escaping from the state; however, many refugees did manage to escape to the West. The NKVD also targeted the members of the National Committee of the Republic of Estonia.[79] German and Latvian forces remained trapped in the Courland pocket until the end of the war, capitulating on 10 May 1945.
Under Soviet rule (1944–1991)[edit]
Main articles: Baltic states under Soviet rule (1944–91) and Soviet re-occupation of Latvia in 1944
Resistance and deportations[edit]
Monument to Lithuanian victims of Soviet occupation in Gediminas Avenue, Vilnius.
54°41′18.9″N 25°16′14.0″E / 54.688583°N 25.270556°E / 54.688583; 25.270556
After reoccupying the Baltic states, the Soviets implemented a program of sovietization, which was achieved through large-scale industrialisation rather than by overt attacks on culture, religion or freedom of expression.[80] The Soviets carried out massive deportations to eliminate any resistance to collectivisation or support of partisans.[81] Baltic partisans, such as the Forest Brothers, continued to resist Soviet rule through armed struggle for a number of years.[82]
The Soviets had previously carried out mass deportations in 1940–41, but the deportations between 1944–52 were even greater.[81] In March 1949 alone, the top Soviet authorities organised a mass deportation of 90,000 Baltic nationals.[83]
The total number deported in 1944–55 has been estimated at over half a million: 124,000 in Estonia, 136,000 in Latvia and 245,000 in Lithuania.
The estimated death toll among Lithuanian deportees between 1945 and 1958 was 20,000, including 5,000 children.[84]
The deportees were allowed to return after Nikita Khrushchev's secret speech in 1956 denouncing the excesses of Stalinism, however many did not survive their years of exile in Siberia.[81] After the war, the Soviets outlined new borders for the Baltic republics. Lithuania gained the regions of Vilnius and Klaipėda while the Russian SFSR annexed territory from the eastern parts of Estonia (5% of prewar territory) and Latvia (2%).[81]
Industrialization and immigration[edit]
The Soviets made large capital investments for energy resources and a manufacture of industrial and agricultural products. The purpose was to integrate the Baltic economies into the larger Soviet economic sphere.[85] In all three republics, manufacturing industry was developed resulting in some of the best industrial complexes in the sphere of electronics and textile production. The rural economy suffered from the lack of investments and the collectivization.[86] Baltic urban areas had been damaged during wartime and it took ten years to recuperate housing losses. New constructions were often of poor quality and ethnic Russians immigrants were favored in housing.[87] Estonia and Latvia received large-scale immigration of industrial workers from other parts of the Soviet Union that changed the demographics dramatically. Lithuania also received immigration but on a smaller scale.[85]
Ethnic Estonians constituted 88 percent before the war, but in 1970 the figure dropped to 60 percent. Ethnic Latvians constituted 75 percent, but the figure dropped 57 percent in 1970 and further down to 50.7 percent in 1989. In contrast, the drop in Lithuania was only 4 percent.[87] Baltic communists had supported and participated the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. However, many of them died during the Great Purge in the 1930s. The new regimes of 1944 were established mostly by native communists who had fought in the Red Army. However, the Soviets also imported ethnic Russians to fill political, administrative and managerial posts.[88]
Restorations of independence[edit]
The period of stagnation brought the crisis of the Soviet system. The new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in 1985 and responded with glasnost and perestroika. They were attempts to reform the Soviet system from above to avoid revolution from below. The reforms occasioned the reawakening of nationalism in the Baltic republics.[89] The first major demonstrations against the environment were Riga in November 1986 and the following spring in Tallinn. Small successful protests encouraged key individuals and by the end of 1988 the reform wing had gained the decisive positions in the Baltic republics.[90] At the same time, coalitions of reformists and populist forces assembled under the Popular Fronts.[91] The Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic made the Estonian language the state language again in January 1989, and similar legislation was passed in Latvia and Lithuania soon after. The Baltic republics declared their aim for sovereignty: Estonia in November 1988, Lithuania in May 1989 and Latvia in July 1989.[92] The Baltic Way, that took place on 23 of August 1989, became the biggest manifestation of opposition to the Soviet rule.[93]
On 11 March 1990 the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet declared Lithuania's independence.[94] Pro-independence candidates had received an overwhelming majority in the Supreme Soviet elections held earlier that month.[95] On 30 March 1990, the Estonian Supreme Soviet declared the Soviet Union an occupying power and announced the start of a transitional period to independence. On 4 May 1990, the Latvian Supreme Soviet made a similar declaration.[96] The Soviet Union immediately condemned all three declarations as illegal, saying that they had to go through the process of secession outlined in the Soviet Constitution of 1977. However, the Baltic states argued that the entire occupation process violated both international law and their own law. Therefore, they argued, they were merely reasserting an independence that still existed under international law.
By mid-June the Soviets started negotiations with the Baltic republics. The Soviets had a bigger challenge elsewhere, as the Russian federal republic proclaimed of sovereignty in June.[97] Simultaneously the Baltic republics also started to negotiate directly with the Russian federal republic.[97] After the failed negotiations the Soviets made a dramatic but failed attempt to break the deadlock and sent in military troops killing twenty and injuring hundreds of civilians in what became known as the "Vilnius massacre" and "The Barricades" in Latvia during January 1991.[98] In August 1991, the hard-line members attempted to take control of the Soviet Union. A day after the coup on 21 August, the Estonians proclaimed full independence. The Latvian parliament made similar a declaration on the same day. The coup failed but the collapse of the Soviet Union became unavoidable.[99] After the coup collapsed, the Soviet government recognised the independence of all three Baltic states on 6 September 1991.
Withdrawal of Russian troops and decommissioning the radars[edit]
The Russian Federation assumed the burden and the subsequent withdrawal of the occupation force, consisting of about 150,000 former Soviet, now Russian, troops stationed in the Baltic states.[100] As of 1992 there were still 120,000 Russian troops there,[101] as well as a large number of military pensioners, particularly in Estonia and Latvia.
During the period of negotiations, Russia hoped to retain facilities such as the Liepaja naval base, the Skrunda anti-ballistic missile radar station and the Ventspils space-monitoring station in Latvia and the Paldiski submarine base in Estonia, as well as transit rights to Kaliningrad through Lithuania.
Contention arose when Russia threatened to keep its troops where they were. Moscow's linkage to specific legislation guaranteeing the civil rights of ethnic Russians was seen as an implied threat in the West, in the U.N. General Assembly and by Baltic leaders, who viewed it as Russian imperialism.[101]
Lithuania was the first to complete the withdrawal of Russian troops—on August 31, 1993[102]—owing in part to the Kaliningrad issue.[101]
Subsequent agreements to withdraw troops from Latvia were signed on April 30, 1994, and from Estonia on July 26, 1994.[103] Continued linkage on the part of Russia resulted in a threat by the U.S. Senate in mid-July to halt all aid to Russia in case the forces were not withdrawn by the end of August.[103] Final withdrawal was completed on August 31, 1994.[104] Some Russian troops remained stationed in Estonia in Paldiski until the Russian military base was dismantled and the nuclear reactors suspended operations on September 26, 1995.[105][106] Russia operated the Skrunda-1 radar station until it was decommissioned on August 31, 1998. The Russian Government then had to dismantle and remove the radar equipment; this work was completed by October 1999 when the site was returned to Latvia.[107] The last Russian soldier left the region that month, marking a symbolic end to the Russian military presence on Baltic soil.[108][109]
Aftermath[edit]
See also: Baltic Russians
In the years following the reestablishment of Baltic independence, tensions have remained between indigenous Balts and Russian speaking settlers in Estonia and Latvia. While requirements for getting citizenship in the Baltic states are relatively liberal,[110] a lack of attention to the rights of Russian-speaking and stateless individuals in the Baltic states has been noted by some experts, whereas all international organisations agree that no forms of systematic discrimination towards the Russian-speaking and often stateless population can be observed.[111]
In 1993 Estonia was noted for having problems concerning the successful integration of some who were permanent residents at the time Estonia gained independence.[112] According to a 2008 report of Special Rapporteur on racism to United Nations Human Rights Council the representatives of the Russian speaking communities in Estonia saw the most important form of discrimination in Estonia is not ethnic, but rather language-based (Para. 56). The rapporteur expressed several recommendations including strengthening the Chancellor of Justice, facilitating granting citizenship to persons of undefined nationality and making language policy subject of a debate to elaborate strategies better reflecting the multilingual character of society (paras. 89-92).[113] Estonia has been criticized by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination strong emphasis on Estonian language in the state Integration strategy; usage of punitive approach for promoting Estonian language; restrictions of the usage of minority language in public services; low level of minority representation in political life; persistently high number of persons with undetermined citizenship, etc.[114]
According to Yaël Ronen, of the Minerva Center for Human Rights at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, illegal regimes typically take measures to change the demographic structure of the territory held by the regime, usually via two methods: the forced removal of the local population and transfer their own populations into the territory.[115] He cites the case of the Baltic states as an example of where this phenomenon has occurred, with the deportations of 1949 combined with large waves of immigration in 1945-50 and 1961-70.[115] When the illegal regime transitioned to a lawful regime in 1991, the status of these settlers become an issue.[115]
State continuity of the Baltic states[edit]
Main article: State continuity of the Baltic states
The Baltic claim of continuity with the pre-war republics has been accepted by most Western powers.[116] As a consequence of the policy of non-recognition of the Soviet seizure of these countries,[26][27] combined with the resistance by the Baltic people to the Soviet regime, the uninterrupted functioning of rudimentary state organs in exile in combination with the fundamental legal principle of ex injuria jus non oritur, that no legal benefit can be derived from an illegal act, the seizure of the Baltic states was judged to be illegal[117] thus sovereign title never passed to the Soviet Union and the Baltic states continued to exist as subjects of international law.[118]
The official position of Russia, which chose in 1991 to be the legal and direct successor of the USSR,[119] is that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined freely of their own accord in 1940, and, with the dissolution of the USSR, these countries became newly created entities in 1991. Russia's stance is based upon the desire to avoid financial liability, the view being that acknowledging the Soviet occupation would set the stage for future compensation claims from the Baltic states.[120]
Soviet and Russian historiography[edit]
Main article: Baltic states in Soviet historiography
Soviet historians saw the 1940 incorporation as a voluntary entry into the USSR by the Balts. Soviet historiography inherited the Russian concept from the age of Kievan Rus carried through the Russian Empire. It promoted the interests of Russia and the USSR in the Baltic area, and it reflected the belief of most Russians that they had moral and historical rights to control and to Russianize the whole of the former empire.[121] To Soviet historians, the 1940 annexation was not only a voluntary entry but was also the natural thing to do. This concept taught that the military security of mother Russia was solidified and that nothing could argue against it.[122]
Soviet sources[edit]
Prior to Perestroika, the Soviet Union denied the existence of the secret protocols and viewed the events of 1939-40 as follows: The Government of the Soviet Union suggested that the Governments of the Baltic countries conclude mutual assistance treaties between the countries. Pressure from working people forced the governments of the Baltic countries to accept this suggestion. The Pacts of Mutual Assistance were then signed[123] which allowed the USSR to station a limited number of Red Army units in the Baltic countries. Economic difficulties and dissatisfaction of the populace with the Baltic governments' policies that had sabotaged fulfilment of the Pact and the Baltic countries governments' political orientation towards Germany led to a revolutionary situation in June, 1940. To guarantee fulfilment of the Pact additional military units entered Baltic countries, welcomed by the workers who demanded the resignations of the Baltic governments. In June under the leadership of the Communist Parties political demonstrations by workers were held. The fascist governments were overthrown, and workers' governments formed. In July 1940, elections for the Baltic Parliaments were held. The "Working People’s Unions", created by an initiative of the Communist Parties, received the majority of the votes.[124] The Parliaments adopted the declarations of the restoration of Soviet powers in Baltic countries and proclaimed the Soviet Socialist Republics. Declarations of Estonia's, Latvia's and Lithuania's wishes to join the USSR were adopted and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR petitioned accordingly. The requests were approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The Stalin-edited Falsifiers of History, published in 1948, states regarding the need for the June 1940 invasions that "[p]acts had been concluded with the Baltic States, but there were as yet no Soviet troops there capable of holding the defences".[125] It also states regarding those invasions that "[o]nly enemies of democracy or people who had lost their senses could describe those actions of the Soviet Government as aggression."[126]
Upon the reassessment of the Soviet history during the Perestroika, the USSR condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Germany and itself that had led to the invasion and occupation.[29]
Russian historiography in the post-Soviet era[edit]
There was relatively little interest in the history of the Baltic states during the Soviet era, which were generally treated as a single entity owing to the uniformity of Soviet policy in these territories. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, two general camps have evolved in Russian historiography. One, the liberal-democratic (либерально-демократическое), condemn Stalin's actions and Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and do not recognize the Baltic states as having joined the USSR voluntarily. The other, the national-patriotic (национально-патриотическое), contend the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was necessary to the security of the Soviet Union, that the Baltics' joining the USSR was the will of the proletariat—both in line with the politics of the Soviet period, "the 'need to ensure the security of the USSR,' 'people's revolution' and 'joining voluntarily'"—and that supporters of Baltic independence were the operatives of western intelligence agencies seeking to topple the USSR.[32]
Soviet-Russian historian Vilnis Sīpols argues that Stalin's ultimatums of 1940 were defensive measures taken because of German threat and had no connection with the 'socialist revolutions' in the Baltic states.[127]
The arguments that the USSR had to annex the Baltic states in order to defend the security of those countries and to avoid German invasion into the three republics can be found in the college textbook “The Modern History of Fatherland”.[128]
Sergey Chernichenko, a jurist and vice-president of the Russian Association of International Law, argues there was no declared state of war between the Baltic states and the Soviet Union in 1940, and that Soviet troops occupied the Baltic states with their agreement—nor did violation by the USSR of prior treaty provisions constitute occupation. Subsequent annexation was neither an act of aggression nor forcible and was completely legal according to international law as of 1940. Accusations of "deportation" of Baltic nationals by the Soviet Union is therefore baseless, as individuals cannot be deported within their own country. He characterizes the Waffen-SS as being convicted at Nuremberg as a criminal organization and their commemoration in the "openly encouraged pro-Nazi" (откровенно поощряются пронацистские) Baltics as heroes seeking to liberate the Baltics (from the Soviets) an act of "nationalistic blindness" (националистическое ослепление). With regard to the current situation in the Baltics, Chernichenko contends the "theory of occupation" is the official thesis used to justify the "discrimination of Russian-speaking inhabitants" in Estonia and Latvia and prophesies the three Baltic governments will fail in their "attempt to rewrite history".[129]
According to the revisionist historian Oleg Platonov "from the point of view of the national interests of Russia, unification was historically just, as it returned to the composition of the state ancient Russian lands, albeit partially inhabited by other peoples." The Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and protocols, including the dismemberment of Poland, merely redressed the tearing away from Russia of its historical territories by "anti-Russian revolution" and "foreign intervention."[130]
On the other hand, Professor and Dean of the School of International Relations and Vice-Rector of Saint Petersburg State University, Konstantin K. Khudoley views the 1940 incorporation of the Baltic states as not voluntary, he considers the elections were not free and fair and the decisions of the newly elected parliaments to join the Soviet Union cannot be considered legitimate as these decisions were not approved by the upper chambers of the parliaments of the respective Baltic states. He also contends that the incorporation of the Baltic states had no military value in defence of possible German aggression as it bolstered anti-Soviet public opinion in the future allies Britain and the USA, turned the native populations against the Soviet Union and the subsequent guerrilla movement in the Baltic states after the Second World War caused domestic problems for the Soviet Union.[131]
Position of the Russian Federation[edit]
With the advent of Perestroika and its reassessment of Soviet history, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1989 condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Germany and the Soviet Union that had led to the division of Eastern Europe and the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries.[29]
While this action did not state the Soviet presence in the Baltics was an occupation, the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and Republic of Lithuania affirmed so in a subsequent agreement in the midst of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia, in the preamble of its July 29, 1991, "Treaty Between the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and the Republic of Lithuania on the Basis for Relations between States," declared that once the USSR had eliminated the consequences of the 1940 annexation which violated Lithuania’s sovereignty, Russia-Lithuania relations would further improve.[43]
However, Russia's current official position directly contradicts its earlier rapprochement with Lithuania[132] as well as its signature of membership to the Council of Europe, where it agreed to the obligations and commitments including "iv. as regards the compensation for those persons deported from the occupied Baltic states and the descendants of deportees, as stated in Opinion No. 193 (1996), paragraph 7.xii, to settle these issues as quickly as possible...."[41][133] The Russian government and state officials maintain now that the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states was legitimate[134] and that the Soviet Union liberated the countries from the Nazis.[135] They assert that the Soviet troops initially entered the Baltic countries in 1940 following agreements and the consent of the Baltic governments. Their position is that the USSR was not in a state of war or engaged in combat activities on the territories of the three Baltic states, therefore, the word "occupation" cannot be used.[136] "The assertions about [the] 'occupation' by the Soviet Union and the related claims ignore all legal, historical and political realities, and are therefore utterly groundless."—Russian Foreign Ministry.
This particular Russian viewpoint is called the "Myth of 1939–40" by David Mendeloff, Associate Professor of International Affairs who states that the assertion that Soviet Union neither "occupied" the Baltic states in 1939 nor "annexed" them the following year is widely held and deeply embedded in Russian historical consciousness.[137]
Treaties affecting USSR–Baltic relations[edit]
Main article: Baltic–Soviet relations
After the Baltic states proclaimed independence following the signing of the Armistice, Bolshevik Russia invaded at the end of 1918.[138] Izvestia said in its December 25, 1918, issue: "Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are directly on the road from Russia to Western Europe and therefore a hindrance to our revolutions... This separating wall has to be destroyed." Bolshevik Russia, however, did not gain control of the Baltic States and in 1920 concluded peace treaties with all three of them. Subsequently, at the initiative of the Soviet Union,[139] additional non-aggression treaties were concluded with all three Baltic States:
Peace treaties
Non-aggression treaties
Kellogg-Briand Pact and Litvinov's Pact
The Convention for the Definition of Aggression
The Pacts of Mutual Assistance
Treaties the USSR signed between 1940 and 1945
Timeline[edit]
Main article: Timeline of the occupation of the Baltic states
See also[edit]
Kersten Committee
Forest Brothers, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule
Battle of Määritsa
January 1991 events in the aftermath of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, resulting in deaths and injuries
Litene, where 1,100 Latvian army officers were arrested by the Soviets in 1941
Museum of Occupations, Tallinn, a project by the Kistler-Ritso Estonian Foundation
Occupations of Latvia
Population transfer in the Soviet Union
Rainiai massacre of Lithuanian political prisoners in 1941
State continuity of the Baltic states
Territorial changes of the Baltic states
United States resolution on the 90th anniversary of the Latvian Republic
Villa Lituania, the inter-war Lithuanian legation building in Rome, Italy
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
Jump up ^ Taagepera, Rein (1993). Estonia: return to independence. Westview Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-8133-1199-9.
Jump up ^ Ziemele, Ineta (2003). "State Continuity, Succession and Responsibility: Reparations to the Baltic States and their Peoples?". Baltic Yearbook of International Law. Martinus Nijhoff. 3: 165–190. doi:10.1163/221158903x00072.
Jump up ^ Kaplan, Robert B.; Jr, Richard B. Baldauf (2008-01-01). Language Planning and Policy in Europe: The Baltic States, Ireland and Italy. Multilingual Matters. p. 79. ISBN 9781847690289. Most Western countries had not recognised the incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union, a stance that irritated the Soviets without ever becoming a major point of conflict.
Jump up ^ Kavass, Igor I. (1972). Baltic States. W. S. Hein. The forcible military occupation and subsequent annexation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union remains to this day (written in 1972) one of the serious unsolved issues of international law
Jump up ^ Davies, Norman (2001). Dear, Ian, ed. The Oxford companion to World War II. Michael Richard Daniell Foot. Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-19-860446-4.
Jump up ^ Mälksoo (2003), p. 193.
Jump up ^ The Occupation of Latvia Archived 2007-11-23 at the Wayback Machine. at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
Jump up ^ "22 September 1944 from one occupation to another". Estonian Embassy in Washington. 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2009-05-01. For Estonia, World War II did not end, de facto, until 31 August 1994, with the final withdrawal of former Soviet troops from Estonian soil.
Jump up ^ Feldbrugge, Ferdinand; Gerard Pieter van den Berg; William B. Simons (1985). Encyclopedia of Soviet law. BRILL. p. 461. ISBN 90-247-3075-9. On March 26, 1949, the US Department of State issued a circular letter stating that the Baltic countries were still independent nations with their own diplomatic representatives and consuls.
Jump up ^ Fried, Daniel (June 14, 2007). "U.S.-Baltic Relations: Celebrating 85 Years of Friendship" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 19, 2012. Retrieved 2009-04-29. From Sumner Wells' declaration of July 23, 1940, that we would not recognize the occupation. We housed the exiled Baltic diplomatic delegations. We accredited their diplomats. We flew their flags in the State Department's Hall of Flags. We never recognized in deed or word or symbol the illegal occupation of their lands.
Jump up ^ Lauterpacht, E.; C. J. Greenwood (1967). International Law Reports. Cambridge University Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 0-521-46380-7. The Court said: (256 N.Y.S.2d 196) " The Government of the United States has never recognized the forceful occupation of Estonia and Latvia by the Soviet Union of Socialist Republics nor does it recognize the absorption and incorporation of Latvia and Estonia into the Union of Soviet Socialist republics. The legality of the acts, laws and decrees of the puppet regimes set up in those countries by the USSR is not recognized by the United States, diplomatic or consular officers are not maintained in either Estonia or Latvia and full recognition is given to the Legations of Estonia and Latvia established and maintained here by the Governments in exile of those countries
Jump up ^ Motion for a resolution on the Situation in Estonia by the European Parliament, B6-0215/2007, 21.5.2007; passed 24.5.2007. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
Jump up ^ Dehousse, Renaud (1993). "The International Practice of the European Communities: Current Survey". European Journal of International Law. 4 (1): 141. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-12-09.
Jump up ^ European Parliament (January 13, 1983). "Resolution on the situation in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania". Official Journal of the European Communities. C. 42/78.
Jump up ^ European Court of Human Rights cases on Occupation of Baltic States
Jump up ^ "Seventh session Agenda item 9" (PDF). United Nations, Human Rights Council, Mission to Estonia. 17 March 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-01. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939 assigned Estonia to the Soviet sphere of influence, prompting the beginning of the first Soviet occupation in 1940. After the German defeat in 1944, the second Soviet occupation started and Estonia became a Soviet republic. [permanent dead link]
Jump up ^ Mälksoo, Lauri (2003). Illegal Annexation and State Continuity: The Case of the Incorporation of the Baltic States by the USSR. Leiden – Boston: Brill. ISBN 90-411-2177-3.
Jump up ^ "The Soviet Red Army retook Estonia in 1944, occupying the country for nearly another half century." (Frucht, Richard, Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture, ABC-CLIO, 2005 ISBN 978-1-57607-800-6, p. 132
Jump up ^ "Russia and Estonia agree borders". BBC. 18 May 2005. Retrieved April 29, 2009. Five decades of almost unbroken Soviet occupation of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ended in 1991
Jump up ^ Country Profiles: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania at UK Foreign Office
Jump up ^ The World Book Encyclopedia ISBN 0-7166-0103-6
Jump up ^ The History of the Baltic States by Kevin O'Connor ISBN 0-313-32355-0
Jump up ^ Saburova, Irina (1955). "The Soviet Occupation of the Baltic States". Russian Review. Blackwell Publishing. 14 (1): 36–49. doi:10.2307/126075. JSTOR 126075.
Jump up ^ See, for instance, position expressed by the European Parliament, which condemned "the fact that the occupation of these formerly independent and neutral States by the Soviet Union occurred in 1940 following the Molotov/Ribbentrop pact, and continues." European Parliament (January 13, 1983). "Resolution on the situation in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania". Official Journal of the European Communities. C. 42/78.
Jump up ^ "After the German occupation in 1941–44, Estonia remained occupied by the Soviet Union until the restoration of its independence in 1991." KOLK AND KISLYIY v. ESTONIA (European Court of Human Rights 17 January 2006). Text
^ Jump up to: a b David James Smith, Estonia: independence and European integration, Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-415-26728-5, pXIX
^ Jump up to: a b Parrott, Bruce (1995). "Reversing Soviet Military Occupation". State building and military power in Russia and the new states of Eurasia. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 112–115. ISBN 1-56324-360-1.
Jump up ^ Van Elsuwege, Peter (April 2004). Russian-speaking minorities in Estonian and Latvia: Problems of integration at the threshold of the European Union (PDF). Flensburg Germany: European Centre for Minority Issues. p. 2. The forcible incorporation of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union in 1940, on the basis of secret protocols to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, is considered to be null and void. Even though the Soviet Union occupied these countries for a period of fifty years, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania continued to exist as subjects of international law.
^ Jump up to: a b c The Forty-Third Session of the UN Sub-Commission Archived 2015-10-19 at the Wayback Machine. at Google Scholar
Jump up ^ Marek (1968). p. 396. "Insofar as the Soviet Union claims that they are not directly annexed territories but autonomous bodies with a legal will of their own, they (The Baltic SSRs) must be considered puppet creations, exactly in the same way in which the Protectorate or Italian-dominated Albania have been classified as such. These puppet creations have been established on the territory of the independent Baltic states; they cover the same territory and include the same population."
Jump up ^ Zalimas, Dainius "Commentary to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Compensation of Damage Resulting from the Occupation of the USSR" - Baltic Yearbook of International Law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, ISBN 978-90-04-13746-2
^ Jump up to: a b cf. e.g. Boris Sokolov's article offering an overview Эстония и Прибалтика в составе СССР (1940-1991) в российской историографии (Estonia and the Baltic countries in the USSR (1940-1991) in Russian historiography). Accessed 30 January 2011.
Jump up ^ Cole, Elizabeth A. (2007). Teaching the violent past: history education and reconciliation. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 233–234. ISBN 0-7425-5143-1.
Jump up ^ Combs, Dick (2008). Inside The Soviet Alternate Universe. Penn State Press. pp. 258, 259. ISBN 978-0-271-03355-6. The Putin administration has stubbornly refused to admit the fact of Soviet occupation of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia following World War II, although Putin has acknowledged that in 1989, during Gorbachev's reign, the Soviet parliament officially denounced the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, which led to the forcible incorporation of the three Baltic states into the Soviet Union.
Jump up ^ Bugajski, Janusz (2004). Cold peace. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 109. ISBN 0-275-98362-5. Russian officials persistently claim that the Baltic states entered the USSR voluntarily and legally at the close of World War II and failed to acknowledge that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were under Soviet occupation for fifty years.
Jump up ^ МИД РФ: Запад признавал Прибалтику частью СССР, grani.ru, May 2005
Jump up ^ Комментарий Департамента информации и печати МИД России в отношении "непризнания" вступления прибалтийских республик в состав СССР, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), 7 May 2005
Jump up ^ Khudoley (2008), Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War, The Baltic factor, p. 90.
Jump up ^ Zalimas, Dainius (2004-01-01). "Commentary to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Compensation of Damage Resulting from the Occupation of the USSR". Baltic Yearbook of International Law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 3: 97–164. doi:10.1163/221158903x00063. ISBN 978-90-04-13746-2.
Jump up ^ Parliamentary Assembly (1996). "OPINION No. 193 (1996) on Russia's request for membership of the Council of Europe". Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b as described in Resolution 1455 (2005), Honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation Archived 2009-04-01 at the Wayback Machine., at the CoE Parliamentary site, retrieved December 6, 2009
Jump up ^ Zalimas, Dainius (2004-01-01). "Commentary to the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Compensation of Damage Resulting from the Occupation of the USSR". Baltic Yearbook of International Law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. 3: 97–164. doi:10.1163/221158903x00063. ISBN 978-90-04-13746-2.
^ Jump up to: a b Treaty between the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and the Republic of Lithuania on the Basis for Relations between States Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ Quiley, John (2001). "Baltic Russians: Entitled Inhabitants or Unlawful Settlers?". In Ginsburgs, George. International and national law in Russia and Eastern Europe [Volume 49 of Law in Eastern Europe]. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 327.
Jump up ^ "Baltic article". The World & I. Washington Times Corp. 2 (3): 692. 1987.
Jump up ^ Shtromas, Alexander; Faulkner, Robert K.; Mahoney, Daniel J. (2003). "Soviet Conquest of the Baltic states". Totalitarianism and the prospects for world order: closing the door on the twentieth century. Applications of political theory. Lexington Books. p. 263. ISBN 9780739105337.
Jump up ^ Baltic Military District globalsecurity.org
Jump up ^ The Weekly Crier (1999/10) Baltics Worldwide. Accessed 11 June 2013.
Jump up ^ Russia Pulls Last Troops Out of Baltics The Moscow Times. 22 October 1999.
^ Jump up to: a b c Text of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, executed August 23, 1939
Jump up ^ Christie, Kenneth, Historical Injustice and Democratic Transition in Eastern Asia and Northern Europe: Ghosts at the Table of Democracy, RoutledgeCurzon, 2002, ISBN 0-7007-1599-1
^ Jump up to: a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 110.
^ Jump up to: a b The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith, Page 24, ISBN 0-415-28580-1
^ Jump up to: a b Gerner & Hedlund (1993). p. 59.
^ Jump up to: a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 113.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 112.
^ Jump up to: a b c Buttar, Prit. Between Giants. ISBN 978 1 78096 163 7.
^ Jump up to: a b c Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 114.
Jump up ^ Turtola, Martti (2003). Presidentti Konstantin Päts. Suomi ja Viro eri teillä. Keuruu.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 115.
Jump up ^ Baltic states German occupation at Encyclopædia Britannica]
^ Jump up to: a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 116.
^ Jump up to: a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 117.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 118.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 119.
^ Jump up to: a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 120.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Nõukogude ja Saksa okupatsioon (1940-1991)". Eesti. Üld. 11. Eesti entsüklopeedia. 2002. pp. 311–323.
^ Jump up to: a b Estonian State Commission on Examination of Policies of Repression (2005). "Human Losses". The White Book: Losses inflicted on the Estonian nation by occupation regimes. 1940–1991 (PDF). Estonian Encyclopedia Publishers. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-01-14.
Jump up ^ Indrek Paavle, Peeter Kaasik (2006). "Destruction battalions in Estonia in 1941". In Toomas Hiio; Meelis Maripuu; Indrek Paavle. Estonia 1940–1945: Reports of the Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity. Tallinn. pp. 469–493.
^ Jump up to: a b Alexander Statiev. The Soviet counterinsurgency in the western borderlands. Cambridge University Press, 2010. p.77
Jump up ^ Romuald J. Misiunas, Rein Taagepera. Baltic Years of Dependence 1940—1990. Tallinn, 1997, p. 32
Jump up ^ Bubnys, Arūnas (1998). Vokiečių okupuota Lietuva (1941-1944). Vilnius: Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras. pp. 409–423. ISBN 9986-757-12-6.
^ Jump up to: a b Mackevičius, Mečislovas (Winter 1986). "Lithuanian resistance to German mobilization attempts 1941–1944". Lituanus. 4 (32). ISSN 0024-5089.
Jump up ^ Mangulis, Visvaldis (1983). Latvia in the Wars of the 20th Century. Princeton Junction, NJ: Cognition Books. ISBN 0-912881-00-3. OCLC 10073361.
^ Jump up to: a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 121.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 123.
Jump up ^ Bellamy (2007). p. 621.
Jump up ^ Bellamy (2007). p. 622.
Jump up ^ Bellamy (2007). p. 623.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 126.
^ Jump up to: a b c d Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 129.
Jump up ^ Petersen, Roger Dale (2001). Resistance and rebellion: lessons from Eastern Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 206. ISBN 0-521-77000-9.
Jump up ^ Strods, Heinrihs; Kott, Matthew (2002). "The File on Operation 'Priboi': A Re-Assessment of the Mass Deportations of 1949". Journal of Baltic Studies. 33 (1): 1–36. doi:10.1080/01629770100000191. Retrieved 2008-03-25. "Erratum". Journal of Baltic Studies. 33 (2): 241. 2002. doi:10.1080/01629770200000071. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
Jump up ^ International Commission For the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, Deportations of the Population in 1944-1953, paragraph 14
^ Jump up to: a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 130.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 131.
^ Jump up to: a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 132.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 139.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 147.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 149.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 150.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 151.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 154.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 158.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 160.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 162.
^ Jump up to: a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 164.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 187.
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 189.
Jump up ^ Holoboff, Elaine M.; Bruce Parrott (1995). "Reversing Soviet Military Occupation". National Security in the Baltic States. M.E. Sharpe. p. 112. ISBN 1-56324-360-1.
^ Jump up to: a b c Simonsen, S. Compatriot Games: Explaining the 'Diaspora Linkage' in Russia's Military Withdrawal from the Baltic States. EUROPE-ASIA STUDIES, Vol. 53, No. 5. 2001
Jump up ^ Holoboff, p 113
^ Jump up to: a b Holoboff, p 114
Jump up ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 191.
Jump up ^ President of the Republic in Paldiski on 26 September 1995 Lennart Meri, the president of Estonia (1992-2001). 26 September 1995.
Jump up ^ LAST RUSSIAN MILITARY SITE RETURNED TO ESTONIA. The Jamestown Foundation. 27 September 1995.
Jump up ^ Latvia takes over the territory of the Skrunda Radar Station Embassy of the Republic of Latvia in Copenhagen, 31 October 1999. Accessed 22 July 2013.
Jump up ^ Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania Lonely Planet. January 5, 2009. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
Jump up ^ The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century Ian Jeffries. 2004. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
Jump up ^ Ludwikowski, Rett R. (1996). Constitution-making in the region of former Soviet dominance. Duke University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8223-1802-6.
Jump up ^ van Elsuwege, Peter. "Russian-speaking minorities in Estonia and Latvia: problems of integration at the threshold of the European Union". European Centre for Minority Issues. p. 54.
Jump up ^ "Integrating Estonia's Non-Citizen Minority". Human rights watch. 1993. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
Jump up ^ "Distr. GENERAL A/HRC/7/19/Add.2 17 March 2008 Original: ENGLISH, HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Seventh session Agenda item 9: RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED FORMS OF INTOLERANCE, FOLLOW-UP TO AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DURBAN DECLARATION AND PROGRAMME OF ACTION - Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Doudou Diène, Addendum, MISSION TO ESTONIA" (PDF). Documents on Estonia. United Nations Human Rights Council. 2008-02-20. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2014. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
Jump up ^ "Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Estonia" (PDF). UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
^ Jump up to: a b c Yaël, Ronen (2010). "Status of Settlers Implanted by Illegal Territorial Regimes". In Crawford, James. British Year Book of International Law 2008. Vaughan Lowe. Oxford University Press. pp. 194–265. ISBN 978-0-19-958039-2.
Jump up ^ Van Elsuwgege, p378
Jump up ^ For a legal evaluation of the annexation of the three Baltic states into the Soviet Union, see K. Marek, Identity and Continuity of States in Public International Law (1968), 383–91
Jump up ^ D. Zalimas, Legal and Political Issues on the Continuity of the Republic of Lithuania, 1999, 4 Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review 111–12.
Jump up ^ Torbakov, I. Russia and its neighbors > Warring histories and historical responsibility. FIIA COMMENT. Finnish Institute of International Affairs. 2010.
Jump up ^ Gennady Charodeyev, Russia Rejects Latvia’s Territorial Claim, Izvestia, (CDPSP, Vol XLIV, No 12.), 20 March 1992, p.3
Jump up ^ Gerner & Hedlund (1993). p. 60.
Jump up ^ Gerner & Hedlund (1993). p. 62.
Jump up ^ (in Russian)1939 USSR-Latvia Mutual Aid Pact (full text)
Jump up ^ Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Jump up ^ Soviet Information Bureau (1948). "Falsifiers of History (Historical Survey)". Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House: 50. 272848
Jump up ^ Soviet Information Bureau (1948). "Falsifiers of History (Historical Survey)". Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House: 52. 272848
Jump up ^ According to Sīpols, “in mid-July 1940 elections took place [...]. In that way, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, that had been grabbed away from Russia as a result of foreign military intervention, joined her again, by the will of those peoples.” – Сиполс В. Тайны дипломатические. Канун Великой Отечественной 1939–1941. Москва 1997. c. 242.
Jump up ^ Новейшая история Отечества. XX век. Учебник для студентов вузов: в 2 т. /Под редакцией А.Ф. Киселева, Э.М. Щагина. М., 1998. c.111
Jump up ^ С.В.Черниченко “Об “оккупации” Прибалтики и нарушении прав русскоязычного населения” – “Международная жизнь” (август 2004 года) – "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
Jump up ^ Олег Платонов. История русского народа в XX веке. Том 2. Available at http://lib.ru/PLATONOWO/russ3.txt
Jump up ^ Khudoley (2008), Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War, The Baltic factor, pp. 56-73.
Jump up ^ Žalimas, Dainius. LEGAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES ON THE CONTINUITY OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA. Retrieved January 24, 2008. Archived April 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ OPINION No. 193 (1996) on Russia's request for membership of the Council of Europe Archived 2011-05-07 at the Wayback Machine., at the CoE Parliamentary site, retrieved December 6, 2009
Jump up ^ Russia denies Baltic 'occupation' by BBC News
Jump up ^ Bush denounces Soviet domination by BBC News
Jump up ^ The term "occupation" inapplicable Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine. Sergei Yastrzhembsky, May 2005.
Jump up ^ Mendeloff, David (2002). "CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF HISTORICAL AMNESIA The annexation of the Baltic states in post-Soviet Russian popular history and political memory". In Kenneth, Christie. Historical injustice and democratic transition in eastern Asia and northern Europe: ghosts at the table of democracy. RoutledgeCurzon. pp. 79–118. ISBN 978-0-7007-1599-2.
Jump up ^ http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/communistnationssince1917/ch2.html at University of Kansas, retrieved January 23, 2008
Jump up ^ Prof. Dr. G. von Rauch "Die Baltischen Staaten und Sowjetrussland 1919–1939", Europa Archiv No. 17 (1954), p. 6865.
Bibliography[edit]
Aust, Anthony (2005). Handbook of International Law. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-53034-7.
Brecher, Michael; Jonathan Wilkenfeld (1997). A Study of Crisis. University of Michigan Press. p. 596. ISBN 978-0-472-10806-0.
Frucht, Richard (2005). Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 132. ISBN 978-1-57607-800-6.
Hiden, Johan; Salmon, Patrick (1994) [1991]. The Baltic Nations and Europe (Revised ed.). Harlow, England: Longman. ISBN 0-582-25650-X.
Hiden, John (2008). Vahur Made; David J. Smith, eds. The Baltic question during the Cold War. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-37100-7.
Mälksoo, Lauri (2003). Illegal Annexation and State Continuity: The Case of the Incorporation of the Baltic States by the USSR. M. Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 90-411-2177-3.
Marek, Krystyna (1968) [1954]. Identity and continuity of states in public international law (2 ed.). Geneva, Switzerland: Libr. Droz.
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.
Misiunas, Romuald J.; Taagepera, Rein (1993). The Baltic States, years of dependence, 1940–1990. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-08228-1.
O'Connor, Kevin (2003). The History of the Baltic States. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 113–145. ISBN 978-0-313-32355-3.
Petrov, Pavel (2008). Punalipuline Balti Laevastik ja Eesti 1939–1941 (in Estonian). Tänapäev. ISBN 978-9985-62-631-3.
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.
Rislakki, Jukka (2008). The Case for Latvia. Disinformation Campaigns Against a Small Nation. Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-2424-3.
Talmon, Stefan (1998). Recognition of governments in international law. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-826573-3.
Tsygankov, Andrei P. (May 2009). Russophobia (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-61418-5.
Wyman, David; Charles H. Rosenzveig (1996). The World Reacts to the Holocaust. JHU Press. pp. 365–381. ISBN 978-0-8018-4969-5.
Ziemele, Ineta (2005). State Continuity and Nationality: The Baltic States and Russia. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 90-04-14295-9.
Further reading[edit]
Regarding the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. – Full text, English
The Global Museum on Communism about the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union.
The Occupation museum of Latvia
GULAG 113 – Canadian film about Estonians mobilized into the Red Army 1941 and forced into labour in the GULAG
Soviet Aggression Against the Baltic States by (Latvian Supreme Court justice) Augusts Rumpeters — Short and thoroughly annotated dissertation on Soviet-Baltic treaties and relations. 1974. Full text
Situation in Soviet occupied Estonia in 1955-1956. Manivald Räästas, Eduard Õun. 1956.
Academic and media articles[edit]
Mälksoo, Lauri (2000). Professor Uluots, the Estonian Government in Exile and the Continuity of the Republic of Estonia in International Law. Nordic Journal of International Law 69.3, 289–316.
Non-Recognition in the Courts: The Ships of the Baltic Republics by Herbert W. Briggs. In The American Journal of International Law Vol. 37, No. 4 (Oct., 1943), pp. 585–596.
Alfred Erich Senn What Happened in Lithuania in 1940?(PDF)
The Soviet Occupation of the Baltic States, by Irina Saburova. In Russian Review, 1955
The Steel Curtain, TIME Magazine, April 14, 1947
The Iron Heel, TIME Magazine, December 14, 1953
[show]
v
t
e
Occupation of the Baltic states
Background
Timeline
Soviet occupation (1940)
Nazi occupation (1941)
Soviet re-occupation (1944)
Diplomatic treaties in 1939
German–Lithuanian Pact (March 23)
German–Estonian Pact (June 7)
German–Latvian Pact (June 7)
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact (August 23)
Soviet–Estonian Treaty (September 28)
Soviet–Latvian Treaty (October 5)
Soviet–Lithuanian Treaty (October 10)
Massacres and repressions
Maslenki (1940)
Rainiai massacre (1941)
Kautla massacre (1941)
Deportations
June deportation (1941)
March deportation (1949)
October deportation (1951)
by country
from Estonia
from Latvia
from Lithuania
Armed resistance
Guerilla war
Forest Brothers
Latvian
Lithuanian
Estonian Legion
Latvian Legion
Operation Jungle
Research and investigation
Kersten Committee
Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity
Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania
Museum of the Occupation of Latvia
Art and media
Between Shades of Gray
Nobody Wanted to Die
Utterly Alone
In the Crosswind
1944
The Fencer
[show]
v
t
e
Soviet occupations
Europe
Austria
Baltic states
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
Bornholm
Czechoslovakia
Finland
Germany
East Prussia
Hungary
Poland
Western Ukraine
Romania
Ukraine
Asia
Afghanistan
Northern Iran
Manchuria
North Korea
Italics indicate countries occupied while Soviet Union was a member of the Allies of World War II.
[show]
v
t
e
Nazi–Soviet relations before 1941
Prior antagonism
Anti-Comintern Pact
"Jewish Bolshevism"
Spanish Civil War
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
Political
Relations before 1941
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
negotiations
Boundary and Friendship Treaty
Population transfers
Axis talks
Gestapo–NKVD Conferences
Economic
Economic relations
Commercial Agreement (1939)
Commercial Agreement (1940)
Border and Commercial Agreement (1941)
Military
Invasion of Poland
Soviet invasion of Poland
Occupation of the Baltic states
Winter War
Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
Naval cruiser Lützow
Soviet offensive plans controversy
Basis Nord
Komet Northern Sea Route Raid
German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk
Aftermath
Operation Barbarossa
Eastern Front
Katyń massacre controversy
Falsifiers of History
Baltic Way
Category
‹ The template below (German administrative territories) is being considered for merging. See templates for discussion to help reach a consensus. ›
[show]
v
t
e
Administrative territories of Nazi Germany, 1939–1945
Administrative divisions
Areas annexed by Nazi Germany
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
General Government
Military administrations
Adriatic Littoral (1943–1945)
Alpine Foothills (1943–1945)
Belgium and Northern France (1940–1944)
France (1940–1945)
Greece (1941–1945)
Luxembourg (1940)
Serbia (1941–1944)
Soviet Union (1941–1944)
Poland (1939)
Reichskommissariat
Founded
Norwegen (1940–1945)
Niederlande (1940–1945)
Ostland (1941–1945)
Ukraine (1941–1944)
Belgien-Nordfrankreich (1944)
Planned
Don-Wolga
Moskowien
Kaukasus
Turkestan
Administrations within or including Soviet territory shown in italics.
[show]
v
t
e
The Holocaust in Estonia
Main article
The Holocaust
Related articles by country
Belarus
Latvia
Lithuania
Norway
Poland
Russia
Ukraine
Crimes
Kalevi-Liiva
Prominent victims
Zelig Kalmanovich
Wolf Durmashkin
Major perpetrators
Hans Aumeier
Karl Jäger
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Aleksander Laak
Hinrich Lohse
Ain-Ervin Mere
Alfred Rosenberg
Martin Sandberger
Rudolf Joachim Seck
Franz Walter Stahlecker
Nazi occupation and organizations
Einsatzgruppen
Reichskommissariat Ostland
Notable collaborators
Karl Linnas
Evald Mikson
Concentration camps
Klooga
Jägala
Vaivara
Documentation
Jäger Report
Judenfrei
Concealment
Sonderaktion 1005
War crimes investigations and trials
Einsatzgruppen trial
Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia
Estonian International Commission
Righteous Among the Nations
Uku Masing
Eha Masing
Polina Lentsman
Related articles
History of the Jews in Estonia
Estonia in World War II
Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany
[show]
v
t
e
The Holocaust in Latvia
Main article
The Holocaust
Related articles by country
Belarus
Estonia
Lithuania
Norway
Poland
Russia
Ukraine
Crimes
Burning of the Riga synagogues
Dünamünde Action
Jelgava
Pogulianski
Rumbula
Liepāja (Šķēde)
Victims
Jewish people of Latvia
Gypsies
Joseph Carlebach
Simon Dubnow
Else Hirsch
Perpetrators
Alois Brunner
Rudolf Batz
Fritz Dietrich
Otto-Heinrich Drechsler
Erich Ehrlinger
Karl Jäger
Friedrich Jeckeln
Heinz Jost
Konrāds Kalējs
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Wolfgang Kügler
Rudolf Lange
Hinrich Lohse
Friedrich Panzinger
Hans-Adolf Prützmann
Eduard Roschmann
Alfred Rosenberg
Martin Sandberger
Albert Sauer
Rudolf Joachim Seck
Franz Walter Stahlecker
Eduard Strauch
Nazi occupation and organizations
Einsatzgruppen
Reichskommissariat Ostland
Rollkommando Hamann
Collaborators
Individuals
Viktors Arājs
Herberts Cukurs
Kārlis Lobe
Organizations
Arajs Kommando
Latvian Auxiliary Police
Schutzmannschaft
Ghettos and camps
Daugavpils Ghetto
Jungfernhof concentration camp
Kaiserwald concentration camp
Riga Ghetto
Salaspils concentration camp
Documentation
Generalplan Ost
Jäger Report
Concealment
Sonderaktion 1005
War crimes investigations and trials
Einsatzgruppen trial
Extraordinary (Soviet) State Commission
Righteous Among the Nations
Jānis Lipke
Roberts Sedols
Memorials
Bikernieki Memorial
Related articles
The Holocaust
Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany
[show]
v
t
e
The Holocaust in Lithuania
Main article
The Holocaust
Related articles by country
Belarus
Estonia
Latvia
Poland
Russia
Ukraine
People
Perpetrators
Algimantas Dailidė
Erich Ehrlinger
Joachim Hamann
Karl Jäger
Bruno Kittel
Algirdas Klimaitis
Hinrich Lohse
Franz Murer
Helmut Rauca
Adrian von Renteln
Rudolf Joachim Seck
Franz Walter Stahlecker
Martin Weiss
Victims and
resistance
Chaim Yellin
Alexander Bogen
Josef Glazman
Jay M. Ipson
Shmerke Kaczerginski
Zelig Kalmanovich
Abba Kovner
Ephraim Oshry
Abraham Sutzkever
Elchonon Wasserman
Yitzhak Wittenberg
Jacob Wygodzki
Wolf Durmashkin
Rescuers
Kazys Binkis
Petronėlė Lastienė
Karl Plagge
Antanas Poška
Ona Šimaitė
Chiune Sugihara
Jan Zwartendijk
Groups
Perpetrators
Einsatzgruppen
Police Battalions
Lithuanian Security Police
Rollkommando Hamann
TDA
Ypatingasis būrys
Resistance
Fareinigte Partizaner Organizacje
Events
Jäger Report
Kaunas June 1941
Kaunas 29 October 1941
Ninth Fort November 1941
Ponary
Places
HKP 562 forced labor camp
Kailis forced labor camp
Kovno Ghetto
Lukiškės Prison
Marcinkonys Ghetto
Ninth Fort
Šiauliai Ghetto
Švenčionys Ghetto
Vilna Ghetto
Occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany
History of the Jews in Lithuania
List of Lithuanian Righteous Among the Nations
Songs of the Vilna Ghetto
[show]
v
t
e
Baltic states
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
History
Territorial changes
Baltic Entente
United Baltic Duchy
Occupation
Timeline
Background
by the Soviet Union (1940)
by Nazi Germany
by the Soviet Union (1944)
Deportations
June deportation (1941)
Operation Priboi (1949)
State continuity
Diplomatic services
Under Soviet rule (1944-91)
Guerrilla war
Forest Brothers
Sovietization
Singing Revolution
Baltic Way
Geography
Largest cities
tallest buildings
National parks
Politics
Baltic Assembly
Military
Air Policing
Air Surveillance Network
Defence College
Naval Squadron
Economy
Baltic Tiger
Housing bubble
Busiest airports
Sport
Baltic Cup (football)
Baltic Basketball League
Swimming Championships
Baltic Chain Tour
Records
in athletics
in swimming
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Occupation_of_the_Baltic_states&oldid=838170416"
Categories:
Occupation of the Baltic states
History of the Baltic states
German military occupations
Soviet military occupations
Belarus in World War II
Estonia in World War II
Latvia in World War II
Lithuania in World War II
World War II occupied territories
Reichskommissariat Ostland
Jewish Estonian history
Jewish Latvian history
Jewish Lithuanian history
Military history of Belarus during World War II
Military history of Estonia during World War II
Military history of Finland during World War II
Military history of Latvia during World War II
Military history of Lithuania during World War II
Military history of the Soviet Union during World War II
Annexation
Communist repression
Politics of World War II
Russians in Estonia
Estonia–Soviet Union relations
Latvia–Soviet Union relations
Lithuania–Soviet Union relations
Estonia–Germany relations
Germany–Latvia relations
Political and cultural purges
Germany–Lithuania relations
1940 establishments in Europe
1941 establishments in Europe
1940 in international relations
1941 in international relations
1940 establishments in the Soviet Union
1940 in the Soviet Union
1940s in Belarus
1940s in Estonia
1940s in Latvia
1940s in Lithuania
1941 in Germany
1941 in the Soviet Union
1942 in the Soviet Union
1943 in the Soviet Union
1944 in the Soviet Union
1945 in the Soviet Union
Germany–Soviet Union relations
Hidden categories:
Webarchive template wayback links
All articles with dead external links
Articles with dead external links from February 2018
Articles with permanently dead external links
Articles with Russian-language external links
Articles with inconsistent citation formats
CS1 Estonian-language sources (et)
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
العربية
Беларуская
Беларуская (тарашкевіца)
Català
Dansk
Español
Français
한국어
Հայերեն
Hrvatski
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
Latviešu
日本語
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Suomi
ไทย
Українська
Tiếng Việt
中文
16 more
Edit links
This page was last edited on 25 April 2018, at 10:29.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

tag: div

attr: id class

value: mw-page-base noprint

key: html

type: local

value: mw-head-base noprint

tag: a

attr: id class lang

value: firstHeading firstHeading en

value: siteSub noprint

value: jump-to-nav mw-jump

attr: href title

value: Category:Occupation of the Baltic states

tag: td

tag: tr

tag: br

tag: th

value: padding:0.2em 0.4em 0.2em;padding-top:0;font-size:145%;line-height:1.2em;padding:0 0.2em;font-size:150%;

tag: img

attr: alt src width height data-file-width data-file-height

value: Baltic states between nazis and soviets title picture.png

attr: href class

tag: li

tag: ul

value: padding:0 0.1em 0.4em;padding:0 0.4em 0.4em;

value: Background of the occupation of the Baltic states

value: Soviet–Latvian Non-Aggression Pact (page does not exist)

value: font-size: 105%; padding: 0.2em 0px 0.4em; text-align: center; display: none;

value: Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1940)

value: Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty

value: Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty

value: Soviet ultimatum to Estonia (page does not exist)

value: Soviet ultimatum to Latvia (page does not exist)

value: Soviet deportations from Latvia (page does not exist)

value: German occupation of Estonia during World War II

value: Estonian anti-German resistance movement 1941–44

value: German occupation of Latvia during World War II

value: Latvian anti-Nazi resistance movement 1941–45

value: German occupation of Lithuania during World War II

value: Resistance in Lithuania during World War II

value: font-size: 105%; text-align: center; padding: 0px 0px 1.1em; display: none;

value: Soviet occupation of the Baltic states (1944)

value: Baltic states under Soviet rule (1944–91)

value: Territorial changes of the Baltic states

value:
/wiki/Latvian_diplomatic_service
mw-redirect
Latvian diplomatic service

value:
/wiki/Lithuanian_diplomatic_service
mw-redirect
Lithuanian diplomatic service

value: United States House Select Committee to Investigate Communist Aggression and the Forced Incorporation of the Baltic States into the U.S.S.R.

value: Template:Occupation of the Baltic states sidebar

value: Template talk:Occupation of the Baltic states sidebar

value: float:right;clear:right;width:22.0em;margin:0 0 1.0em 1.0em;background:#f9f9f9;border:1px solid #aaa;padding:0.2em;border-spacing:0.4em 0;text-align:center;line-height:1.4em;font-size:88%

value:
/wiki/Western_powers
mw-redirect
Western powers

value:
/wiki/Courland_pocket
mw-redirect
Courland pocket

value:
/wiki/Socialist_revolution
mw-redirect
Socialist revolution

value:
/wiki/Yalta_conference
mw-redirect
Yalta conference

value:
/wiki/Potsdam_conference
mw-redirect
Potsdam conference

value: Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

attr: alt src width height class srcset data-file-width data-file-height

value:
/wiki/Molotov%E2%80%93Ribbentrop_pact
mw-redirect
Molotov–Ribbentrop pact

value:
/wiki/Spheres_of_influence
mw-redirect
Spheres of influence

value:
/wiki/Orzel_incident
mw-redirect
Orzel incident

value: Edit section: Soviet occupation and annexation (1940–1941)

value:
/wiki/Puppet_regime
mw-redirect
Puppet regime

value:
/wiki/Andrey_Zhdanov
mw-redirect
Andrey Zhdanov

value:
/wiki/Fellow_traveler
mw-redirect
Fellow traveler

value:
/wiki/Rigged_election
mw-redirect
Rigged election

value:
/wiki/Mass_deportation
mw-redirect
Mass deportation

value: Edit section: German occupation (1941–1944)

value: Edit section: Ostland province and the Holocaust

value:
/wiki/Third_Reich
mw-redirect
Third Reich

value:
/wiki/Einsatzgruppe_A
mw-redirect
Einsatzgruppe A

value:
/wiki/Ghettos_in_Nazi-occupied_Europe
mw-redirect
Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe

value:
/wiki/Estonian_Jews
mw-redirect
Estonian Jews

value:
/wiki/Latvian_Jews
mw-redirect
Latvian Jews

value: Edit section: Baltic nationals within the Soviet forces

value:
/wiki/Hague_Conventions_(1899_and_1907)
mw-redirect
Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)

value:
/wiki/16th_Rifle_Division
mw-redirect
16th Rifle Division

value:
/wiki/Lithuanian_Army
mw-redirect
Lithuanian Army

value: Edit section: Baltic nationals within the German forces

value:
/wiki/Polish_partisans
mw-redirect
Polish partisans

value:
/wiki/Armia_Krajowa
mw-redirect
Armia Krajowa

value: 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)

value: Edit section: Attempts to restore independence and the Soviet offensive of 1944

value: National Committee of the Republic of Estonia

value:
/wiki/Free_French_Forces
mw-redirect
Free French Forces

value:
/wiki/Warsaw_uprising
mw-redirect
Warsaw uprising

value:
/wiki/Baltic_Offensive_(1944)
mw-redirect
Baltic Offensive (1944)

value: Edit section: Under Soviet rule (1944–1991)

value: Edit section: Resistance and deportations

value: Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location

value:
/wiki/Secret_speech
mw-redirect
Secret speech

value:
/wiki/Lithuanian_SSR
mw-redirect
Lithuanian SSR

value: Edit section: Industrialization and immigration

value:
/wiki/Capital_investment
mw-redirect
Capital investment

value: Edit section: Restorations of independence

value:
/wiki/Brezhnev_stagnation
mw-redirect
Brezhnev stagnation

value:
/wiki/State_language
mw-redirect
State language

value:
/wiki/Soviet_Constitution_of_1977
mw-redirect
Soviet Constitution of 1977

value: Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

value:
/wiki/Vilnius_massacre
mw-redirect
Vilnius massacre

value: Collapse of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)

value: Edit section: Withdrawal of Russian troops and decommissioning the radars

value:
/wiki/Baltic_Russians
mw-redirect
Baltic Russians

value:
/wiki/Permanent_resident
mw-redirect
Permanent resident

value: Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

value:
/wiki/Public_services
mw-redirect
Public services

value: Edit section: State continuity of the Baltic states

value: Edit section: Soviet and Russian historiography

value:
/wiki/Soviet_historiography
mw-redirect
Soviet historiography

value:
/wiki/Supreme_Soviet_of_the_USSR
mw-redirect
Supreme Soviet of the USSR

value: Edit section: Russian historiography in the post-Soviet era

value:
/wiki/Molotov-Ribbentrop_pact
mw-redirect
Molotov-Ribbentrop pact

value: Sergey Chernichenko (page does not exist)

value: Russian Association of International Law (page does not exist)

value: Konstantin K. Khudoley (page does not exist)

value: Edit section: Position of the Russian Federation

value: Edit section: Treaties affecting USSR–Baltic relations

value: Timeline of the occupation of the Baltic states

value:
/wiki/January_Events
mw-redirect
January Events

value:
/wiki/Occupations_of_Latvia
mw-redirect
Occupations of Latvia

value:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.1163%2F221158903x00072

value:
/wiki/Russian_Review
mw-redirect
Russian Review

value:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.2307%2F126075

value:
nofollow
external text
//www.jstor.org/stable/126075

value:
nofollow
external text
//doi.org/10.1163%2F221158903x00063

value:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/issn/0024-5089

value:
nofollow
external text
//www.worldcat.org/oclc/10073361

value:
/wiki/The_Jamestown_Foundation
mw-redirect
The Jamestown Foundation

value:
/wiki/Human_rights_watch
mw-redirect
Human rights watch

value: Falsifiers of History (Historical Survey)

value:
nofollow
external free
http://lib.ru/PLATONOWO/russ3.txt

value:
/wiki/Sergei_Yastrzhembsky
mw-redirect
Sergei Yastrzhembsky

value: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

value:
nofollow
external text
http://www.tnp.ee/raamat?id=717

value:
nofollow
external text
http://www.realworldpictures.ca

value: Edit section: Academic and media articles

value: Nordic Journal of International Law (page does not exist)

value:
/wiki/TIME_Magazine
mw-redirect
TIME Magazine

value: Template:Occupation of the Baltic states

value: Template talk:Occupation of the Baltic states

value: Occupation of the Baltic states by Nazi Germany

value:
/wiki/Kautla_massacre
mw-redirect
Kautla massacre

value:
/wiki/Guerilla_war_in_the_Baltic_states
mw-redirect
Guerilla war in the Baltic states

value: Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania

value: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

value: Military occupations by the Soviet Union

value: Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina

value:
/wiki/Soviet_occupation_of_Hungary
mw-redirect
Soviet occupation of Hungary

value: Soviet annexation of Eastern Galicia, Volhynia and Northern Bukovina

attr: alt src width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

value:
navbox-image
2
width:1px;padding:0px 0px 0px 2px

value: Germany–Soviet Union relations before 1941

value:
/wiki/German-Soviet_Frontier_Treaty
mw-redirect
German-Soviet Frontier Treaty

value:
/wiki/Gestapo%E2%80%93NKVD_Conferences
mw-redirect
Gestapo–NKVD Conferences

value: Nazi–Soviet economic relations (1934–41)

value: German–Soviet Commercial Agreement (1940)

value: German–Soviet Border and Commercial Agreement

value: German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk

value: nowraplinks hlist collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

value: Wikipedia:Templates for discussion/Log/2018 April 25

value: background-color: transparent; padding: 0; font-size:xx-small; color:#000000; text-align: center; border-bottom:1px solid #AAAAAA;

value: Template talk:German administrative territories

value: Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany

value: Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral

value: Operational Zone of the Alpine Foothills

value: Military Administration in Belgium and Northern France

value: German military administration in occupied France during World War II

value: Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia

value: Military Administration in the Soviet Union

value: Reichskommissariat of Belgium and Northern France

value: Collaboration with the Axis Powers during World War II

value: nowraplinks hlist collapsible collapsed navbox-inner

value: List of Lithuanian Righteous Among the Nations

value:
navbox-image
5
width:1px;padding:0px 0px 0px 2px

value: List of cities in the Baltic states by population

value: List of tallest buildings in the Baltic states

value: List of the busiest airports in the Baltic states

value: Category:World War II occupied territories

value: Category:Military history of Belarus during World War II

value: Category:Military history of Estonia during World War II

value: Category:Military history of Finland during World War II

value: Category:Military history of Latvia during World War II

value: Category:Military history of Lithuania during World War II

value: Category:Military history of the Soviet Union during World War II

value: Category:1940 in international relations

value: Category:1941 in international relations

value: Category:1940 establishments in the Soviet Union

value: Category:Webarchive template wayback links

value: Category:All articles with dead external links

value: Category:Articles with dead external links from February 2018

value: Category:Articles with permanently dead external links

value: Category:Articles with Russian-language external links

value: Category:Articles with inconsistent citation formats

value: Category:CS1 Estonian-language sources (et)

value: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

value: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

value: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

value: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

value:
/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Baltic_states
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

value: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

value: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

value:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

value: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

value: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

value:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

value:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

value:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

value: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

value: Find background information on current events

value:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

value: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

value: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

value: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

value: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

value: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

value: احتلال دول البلطيق – Arabic

value: Далучэнне Прыбалтыкі да СССР – Belarusian

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-be
display: none;

value: Акупацыя Балтыйскіх дзяржаваў – Belarusian (Taraškievica orthography)

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-be-x-old
display: none;

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ca
display: none;

value: Sovjetunionens besættelse af de baltiske lande – Danish

value: interlanguage-link interwiki-da badge-Q17559452 badge-recommendedarticle

value: Ocupación de las Repúblicas bálticas – Spanish

value: 소비에트 연방의 발트 3국 점령 – Korean

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ko
display: none;

value: Բալթյան երկրների բռնակցումը Խորհրդային Ռուսաստանի կողմից – Armenian

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-hy
display: none;

value: Sovjetska okupacija baltičkih država – Croatian

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-hr
display: none;

value: Pendudukan negara-negara Baltik – Indonesian

value: Occupazione sovietica delle repubbliche baltiche – Italian

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-it
display: none;

value: כיבוש המדינות הבלטיות – Hebrew

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-he
display: none;

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-lv
display: none;

value: バルト諸国占領 – Japanese

value: interlanguage-link interwiki-ja badge-Q17437798 badge-goodarticle

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-pl
display: none;

value: Ocupação das Repúblicas Bálticas – Portuguese

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ro
display: none;

value: Присоединение Прибалтики к СССР – Russian

value: Sovjetska aneksija baltičkih država – Serbo-Croatian

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sh
display: none;

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-fi
display: none;

value: การยึดครองรัฐบอลติก – Thai

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-th
display: none;

value: Окупація балтійських країн – Ukrainian

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-uk
display: none;

value:
interlanguage-link interwiki-vi
display: none;

value: 蘇聯佔領波羅的海國家 – Chinese

value: All languages (initial selection from common choices by you and others)

value: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Occupation_of_the_Baltic_states rootpage-Occupation_of_the_Baltic_states skin-vector action-view