Occupation of the Baltic states

Molotov signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

The occupation of Baltic states refers to the occupation of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) first by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany, by Nazi Germany from 1941-1944, and again by the Soviet Union from 1944-91.

When World War II started in September 1939, the fate of Baltic countries had been already decided in the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939.

World War II losses in the Baltic states were among the highest in Europe. Estimates of population loss stand at 25 percent for Estonia, 30 percent for Latvia, and 15 percent for Lithuania. War and occupation deaths have been estimated at 90,000 in Estonia, 180,000 in Latvia, and 250,000 in Lithuania. These include the Soviet deportations in 1941, the German deportation and Holocaust victims.

In the reassessment of Soviet history in USSR that began during Perestroika, in 1989 the USSR condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Nazi Germany and itself that had led to the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the Baltic States' struggle for independence came to a conclusion, the sovereignties of the countries were restored in 1991. The last Russian troops withdrew from the Baltic States in August 1994.

Controversies

Plaque on the building of Government of Estonia, Toompea, commemorating government members killed by communist terror

Views diverge on history of Baltic countries.

During Perestroika, the reassessment era of Soviet history in USSR, in 1989 the USSR condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Nazi Germany and itself that had led to the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the restoration of the Baltic republics' sovereignty in 1991.

According to the European Court of Human Rights, the governments of the Baltic countries, the USA and the EU, the 1940 occupation of the Baltic States by the USSR was illegal. In 1940, some of those who haven't voted for inclusion of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the USSR were executed among millions of other victims of Stalinism. The countries remained occupied by the Soviet Union until restorations of independence in 1991; the 48 years of Soviet occupation and annexation were never recognised as legal by the Western democracies. The USA had applied the earlier-adopted Stimson Doctrine to the events, leading to its becoming an established precedent of International Law.

The Russian government and state officials, however, maintain that the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states was legitimate and that the Soviet Union liberated the countries from the Nazis. They state that Soviet troops entered the Baltic countries in 1940 following agreements and with the consent of the governments of the Baltic republics. Their position is that the USSR was not in a state of war and was not engaged in combat activities on the territories of the three Baltic states, therefore, the word "occupation" cannot be used. "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) There are fears among some historians that the Kremlin is trying to rewrite the Russian history.

The Soviet ultimatums in 1939

The Beginning of WWII

File:German Soviet.jpg

Soviet and German officers meeting after the invasion of Poland.

September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.

September 3, Great Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand declare war on Germany

September 14, the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł reached Tallinn, Estonia

September 17, Soviet Union attacked Poland.

September 18, Orzeł incident, the Polish submarine escaped from internment in Tallinn and eventually made her way to the United Kingdom, Estonia's neutrality questioned by the Soviet Union and Germany.

ORP Orzeł monument in Tallinn

Ultimatums to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

On September 24, 1939, warships of the Red Navy appeared off Estonian ports and Soviet bombers began a threatening patrol over Tallinn and the nearby countryside. The USSR then violated the airspace of all three Baltic states, flying massive intelligence gathering operations on September 25. Moscow demanded that the Baltic countries allow the USSR to establish military bases and to station troops on their soil.

The government of Estonia accepted the ultimatum, signing the corresponding agreement on September 28 1939. Latvia followed on October 5 1939 and Lithuania shortly thereafter, on October 10 1939. The agreements permitted the Soviet Union to establish military bases on the Baltic states' territory for the duration of the European war and station 25,000 Soviet soldiers in Estonia, 30,000 in Latvia and 20,000 in Lithuania from October, 1939.

In early 1939, the Leningrad Military District had already allocated 17 divisions, about 10% of the Red Army, to the Baltic states. Mobilizations followed shortly. The 8th Army was dispatched to Pskov on September 14 1939, and the mobilized 7th Army placed under the Leningrad Military District. Invasion preparations were by now nearing completion. On September 26, the Leningrad Military District was ordered to "start concentrating troops on the Estonian-Latvian border and to finish that operation on September 29th." The order noted, "for the time of starting the attack a separate directive will be issued." Altogether, by the beginning of October, 1939, the Soviets had amassed along the Estonia-Latvia border:

• 437,325 troops;
• 3,635 artillery pieces;
• 3,052 tanks;
• 421 armored vehicles;
• 21,919 cars.

Finland invaded

Finland was offered the same opportunity to sign a pact; however, the Finns refused, and on November 30, 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland, launching the Winter War. As the attack was judged as illegal, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations on December 14. Finland succeeded in resisting and on March 13, 1940 signed the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union. Finland was forced to cede nearly all of Finnish Karelia (with Finland's industrial center, including Vyborg/Viipuri, Finland's second largest city; in total, nearly 10% of the territory), even though large parts were still held by Finland's army. Military troops and remaining civilians were hastily evacuated to areas inside the new border. 422,000 Karelians, 12% of Finland's population, lost their homes. Finland also had to cede a part of the Salla area, the Finnish part of the Kalastajansaarento (Rybachi) peninsula in the Barents Sea, and in the Gulf of Finland the islands of Suursaari, Tytärsaari, Lavansaari and Seiskari. Finally, the Hanko Peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union as a naval base for 30 years. In June 1941, hostilities between Finland and USSR resumed in the Continuation War.

Soviet invasion and occupation, 1940-1941

Soviet invasion

On June 12, 1940 the order for a total military blockade on Estonia to the Soviet Baltic Fleet was given: according to the director of the Russian State Archive of the Naval Department Pavel Petrov (C.Phil.) referring to the records in the archive.

On June 14, 1940 the Soviet military blockade on Estonia went into effect while world attention was focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany a day earlier. Two Soviet bombers downed Finnish passenger airplane "Kaleva" flying from Tallinn to Helsinki carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki. The US Foreign Service employee Henry W. Antheil, Jr. was killed in the crash.

On June 15, USSR invaded Lithuania and Soviet troops attacked the Latvian border guards at Maslenki.

on June 16 1940, USSR invaded Estonia and Latvia.

Molotov accused the Baltic states of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivered an ultimatum to all Baltic countries for the establishment of governments the Soviets approve of. Threatening with an invasion and accusing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania of violating the terms of mutual assistance pacts as well as forming a conspiracy against the Soviet Union, the latter presented ultimatums, demanding new concessions, which included the replacement of governments and allowing an unlimited number of troops to enter the three countries. Hundreds of thousands Soviet troops entered Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania across the borders. These additional Soviet military forces far outnumbered the armies of each country.

The Baltic governments had decided in the conditions of international isolation, given the overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the countries, not to actively resist to avoid bloodshed in a hopeless open war. The occupation of the Baltic states was complete with a communist coup d'état in each country, supported by the Soviet troops.

Most of the Defence Forces of the Baltic Countries surrendered according to the orders of their governments believing that resistance was useless and were disarmed by the Red Army. Although the Estonian Single Signal Battalion stationed in Tallinn at Raua Street showed resistance. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, the battle lasted several hours until sundown. There was one dead, several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Single Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed.

Soviet terror

See also: Communist terrorism

File:Estonian SSR 1940.jpg

1940 Soviet map of the Estonian SSR

File:Latvian SSR 1940.jpg

1940 Soviet map of the Latvian SSR

File:Lithuanian SSR 1940.jpg

1940 Soviet map of the Lithuanian SSR

The repressions followed with the mass deportations carried out by the Soviets. Order № 001223, "On the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia", contained detailed instructions for procedures and protocols to observe in the deportation of Baltic nationals.

Led by Stalin’s close associates, the local communist supporters and those brought in from Russia, proclaimed new "people's governments" in the three occupied countries.

In the following month, rigged parliamentary elections were conducted by local communists loyal to the Soviet Union and all non-communist candidates were disqualified. The election results were completely fabricated: the Soviet press service released them early, with the result that they had already appeared in print in a London newspaper a full 24 hours before the polls closed. The result was that all three Baltic states had communist majorities in their parliaments, and in August, despite claims prior to the elections that no such action would be taken, they unanimously petitioned the Soviet government to join the Soviet Union. The petitions were granted and the three republics were formally annexed by the Soviet Union.

Those who failed to have their passports stamped for so voting were allowed to be shot in the back of the head. Tribunals were set up to punish "traitors to the people." those who had fallen short of the "political duty" of voting their countries into the USSR.

Immediately after the elections, NKVD units under the leadership of Ivan Serov arrested more than 15,000 "hostile elements" and members of their families. In the first year of Soviet occupation, from June 1940 to June 1941, the number confirmed executed, conscripted, or deported is minimally estimated at 124,467: 59,732 in Estonia, 34,250 in Latvia, and 30,485 in Lithuania. This included 8 former heads of state and 38 ministers from Estonia, 3 former heads of state and 15 ministers from Latvia, and the current president, 5 prime ministers and 24 other ministers from Lithuania. The last large-scale cleansing operation was planned for the night of 27-28 June 1941. It was delayed for several years by the the German invasion (Operation Barbarossa). According to historian Robert Conquest, the selective deportations from the Baltic States represented the policy of "the decapitation of the nation by removing its spokesmen", "as was later evidently to be the motive for the Katyn massacre."

Between July and August 1940, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian envoys to the United States and the United Kingdom made official protests against Soviet occupation and annexation of their countries. The United States, in accordance with the principles of the Stimson Doctrine (Sumner Welles' Declaration of July 23, 1940), as well as most other Western countries never formally recognized the annexation, but did not directly interfere with Soviet control. The Baltic States continued their de jure existence in accordance with international law. Diplomatic and consular representations of the Baltic States continued to function between 1940 - 1991 in some Western countries (USA, Australia, Switzerland). Members of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian diplomatic services in Western countries continued to formulate and express the official opinion of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and protected the interests of these countries and their citizens abroad between 1940–1991, i.e., until the restoration of independence of the Baltic States.

The events in the Baltic Republics were not isolated. In Finland and the Scandinavian peninsula the great powers demanded concessions infringing their neutrality or sovereignty: Germany had pressured Sweden to grant transit rights for material and personnel transportation between Norway and ports of southern Sweden during the fighting in Norway, and achieved this after Norway's defeat. Immediately thereafter, the Soviet Union began to pressure Finland for transfer rights over land between the Hanko naval base and the Soviet border, established as a Finnish concession in the Moscow Peace Treaty, as well as for control of the Petsamo nickel mine.

In August, Finland granted transfer rights to German troops traveling between Northern Norway and ports of the Gulf of Bothnia in a diplomatic effort to improve relations with Nazi Germany that had been chilly since the mid-1930s, due to ideological differences, which was clearly demonstrated when the Third Reich sided with the Soviet Union during the Winter War. Finland now managed to increase the political contacts with Germany, which were seen as the only hope against Soviet occupation. In September, Finland and the Soviet Union came to an agreement on Hanko transitations. When the Soviet foreign minister, Vyacheslav Molotov, in November 1940, requested German acceptance and passive support for invasion of Finland, Hitler declined as he saw Finland as a potential ally in the upcoming invasion of the Soviet Union. The negotiations for the Petsamo mines stalled for several months, until indirect German support allowed the Finns to let those negotiations lapse.

Occupation by the Nazi Germany, 1941-1944

See also: Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany

See also: Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany

Germany occupied the Baltic states after invading the Soviet Union in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa. At the beginning the Balts and Estonians considered the Germans as liberators from the USSR. In Lithuania a revolt broke out on the first day of the war, and a 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. Growing proportion of local population turned against the Nazis regime as Germany turned the Baltic states (except for the Memel (Klaipeda) region annexed into Greater Germany in 1939) and most of Belarus into the Reichskommissariat Ostland, a colony in all but name in which the four predominant nationalities had little role in governance. Hinrich Lohse, a German Nazi politician, was Reichskommissar until fleeing the Soviet advance.

German policy in the area was harsh, culminating with the Holocaust in the Baltic lands. One of the Nazi plans for the colonisation of conquered territories in the East, referred to as Generalplan Ost, called for the wholesale deportation of some two thirds of the native population from territories of the Baltic states in the event of a German victory. The remaining third were either to be exterminated in situ, used as slave labour or Germanised if deemed sufficiently Aryan, while hundreds of thousands of German settlers were to be moved into the conquered territories.

Towards the end of the war once it became clear that Germany would be defeated, many Balts and Estonians joined the Germans once again. It was hoped that by engaging in such a war the Baltic countries would be able to attract Western support for the cause of independence from the USSR. In Latvia an underground nationalist Central Council of Latvia was formed on August 13, 1943. An analogous body, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania, emerged on November 25, 1943. On March 23, 1944, the underground National Committee of the Estonian Republic was founded. In Estonia, as the country was incorporated into the German province of Ostland, that made many Estonians not willing to side with the Nazis join the Finnish army to fight against the Soviet Union. Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 AKA (Estonian: soomepoisid) was formed out of Estonian volunteers in Finland. By January 1944, the front was pushed back by the Soviet Army almost all the way to the former Estonian border. Narva was evacuated. Jüri Uluots, the last legitimate prime minister of the Republic of Estonia (according to the constitution of Estonia) prior to its fall to the Soviet Union in 1940, the head of the National Committee of the Estonian Republic delivered a radio address that implored all able-bodied men born from 1904 through 1923 to report for military service (Before this, Uluots had opposed Estonian mobilization.) The call drew support from all across the country: 38.000 Volunteers jammed registration centers. Several thousand Estonians who had joined the Finnish army came back across the Gulf of Finland to join the newly formed Territorial Defense Force, assigned to defend Estonia against the Soviet advance. In 1943 and 1944 two divisions of Waffen SS were formed from Latvians, predominantly conscripts, to fight against the Red Army.

Holocaust

Estonia

Main article: History of the Jews in Estonia

Out the approximately 4,300 Jews prior to the war, between 1,500 and 2,000 were entrapped by the Nazis. Many of Jewish people were deported to Siberia along with other Estonians by the Soviets. It is estimated that 500 Jews suffered this fate. An estimated 10,000 Jews were killed in Estonia after having been deported to camps there from elsewhere in Eastern Europe. There have been knowingly 7 ethnic Estonians: Ralf Gerrets, Ain-Ervin Mere, Jaan Viik, Juhan Jüriste, Karl Linnas,Aleksander Laak and Ervin Viks that have faced trials for crimes against humanity. Since the reestablishment of the Estonian independence Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity has been established.

Latvia

Main article: History of the Jews in Latvia

After the installment of German authority, a process of eliminating the Jewish and Gypsy population began, with many killings taking place in Rumbula. The killings were committed by the Einsatzgruppe A, the Wehrmacht and Marines (in Liepaja), as well as by Latvian collaborators, including the 500-1,500 members of the infamous Arajs Commando, which alone killed around 26,000 Jews, and the 2,000 or more Latvian members of the SD. By the end of 1941 almost the entire Jewish population was killed or placed in the death camps. In addition, some 25,000 Jews were brought from Germany, Austria and the present-day Czech Republic, of whom around 20,000 were killed. The Holocaust claimed approximately 85,000 lives in Latvia.

Lithuania

Main article: History of the Jews in Lithuania

After the German occupation in 1941, Nazis encouraged pogroms against the Jewish population; according to German documentation, between the 25th and 26nd of June, 1941, "about 1,500 Jews were eliminated by the Lithuanian partisans. Many Jewish synagogues were set on fire; on the following nights another 2,300 were killed." Before the Holocaust, Lithuania was home to 160,000 Jews, and was one of the great centers of Jewish theology, philosophy, and learning which preceded even the times of the Gaon of Vilna. By 1941, fleeing refugees (mostly from Poland), had increased the number of Jews in the country to 250,000.

Between June and July of 1941, detachments of German Einsatzgruppe A, together with Lithuanian auxiliaries, started large scale mass shootings of Jews, and by November of 1941, many had been killed in places like Paneriai (Ponary massacre). The surviving 40,000 Jews were concentrated in the Vilnius, Kaunas, Šiauliai, and Švenčionys ghettos, and in concentration camps, where many died of starvation or disease. In 1943, the ghettos were either destroyed by the Germans or turned into concentration camps, and 5,000 Jews were deported to the extermination camps. At the end of the war, only 10% of Lithuania's Jews survived.

Soviet re-occupation, 1944-1991

Main article: Estonian SSR

Main article: Latvian SSR

Main article: Lithuanian SSR

The Soviet Union reoccupied the Baltic states as part of the Baltic Strategic Offensive Operation, a two fold military-political operation to rout German forces and the "liberation of the Soviet Baltic peoples" beginning in summer-autumn 1944, lasting until the capitulation of German and Latvian forces in Courland pocket in May 1945, and they were gradually absorbed into Soviet Union. On 12 January 1949 the Soviet Council of Ministers issued a decree "on the expulsion and deportation" from Baltic states of "all kulaks and their families, the families of bandits and nationalists", and others. More than 200,000 people are estimated to have been deported from the Baltic in 1940-1953. In addition, at least 75,000 were sent to Gulag. 10 percent of the entire adult Baltic population was deported or sent to labor camps.

After World War II, as part of the goal to more fully integrate Baltic countries into the Soviet Union, mass deportations were concluded in the Baltic countries and the policy of encouraging Soviet immigration to the Baltic states continued.

In July 1989, following the dramatic events in East Germany, the Supreme Soviets of the Baltic countries adopted a "Declaration of Sovereignties" and amended the Constitutions to assert the supremacy of their own laws over those of the USSR. Candidates from the pro-independence party Popular Fronts gained majority in the Supreme Councils in 1990 democratic elections. The Councils declared their intention to restore full independence. Soviet political and military forces tried unsuccessfully to overthrow the governments. In 1991, Baltic countries claimed de facto independence. International recognition, including that of the USSR, followed. The United States, which had never recognized forcible annexation of the Baltic countries by the USSR, resumed full diplomatic relations with the republics.

Historical considerations

In Northern Europe, the fate of small countries during World War II varied considerably. Denmark and Norway were occupied by Germany; Sweden had to make some concessions but with skillful foreign policy and a credible military it was able to stay out of the war. Both Denmark and Norway reverted to democracy after the Nazi capitulation.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were again occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union and only regained their independence nearly fifty years later in the aftermath of the Soviet coup of 1991. Finland, which geographically was in a less advantageous position than Sweden, had to endure two wars: the (Winter War and the Continuation War) with territorial losses, and had to bend its foreign policy in favor of the Soviet Union after the war (Finlandization), but it remained independent, capitalist and maintained a democratic political system after World War II.

Historical, pre-Perestroika Soviet sources

See also: Soviet historiography

Up to the reassessment of Soviet history in USSR that began during Perestroika, before the USSR had condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Nazi Germany and itself that had led to the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries.

The events in 1939 according to the pre-Perestroika Soviet sources were following: The Government of the Soviet Union suggested that the Governments of the Baltic countries conclude mutual assistance treaties between the countries. Pressure from the working people forced the governments of the Baltic countries to accept this suggestion. The Pacts of Mutual Assistance were then signed 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 fulfillment of the Pact and the Baltic countries governments' political orientation towards Nazi Germany lead to a revolutionary situation in June, 1940. To guarantee fulfillment 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 People's 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 majority of the votes. 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.

Official position of the Russian government

Russian government and officials continue to maintain that the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states was legitimate and that the Soviet Union liberated the countries from the Nazis. They state that the Soviet troops had entered the Baltics in 1940 following the agreements and with the consent of the then governments of the Baltic republics. They maintain that the USSR was not in a state of war and was not waging any combat activities on the territory of the three Baltic states, therefore, the argument goes, the word 'occupation' can not be used. "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)

Russia maintains that Soviet forces liberated the Estonian SSR from Nazi occupation.

Treaties affecting USSR-Baltic relations

Treaties in effect between the USSR and the Baltic countries prior to 1940

After the Baltics states proclaimed independence, Bolshevist Russia invaded at the end of 1918, Известия (Izvestia) publishing 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." Bolshevist Russia, however, did not gain control of the Baltics and in 1920 concluded peace treaties with all three states:

Peace treaties

• Estonia, Treaty of Tartu February 2, 1920
• Lithuania, Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty on July 12, 1920
• Latvia, Treaty of Riga on August 111920

In these treaties, Bolshevist Russia renounced "for eternity" all sovereign rights over these three peoples and territories which formerly belonged to Russia.

Non-aggression treaties

Subsequently, at the initiative of the Soviet Union, additional non-aggression treaties were concluded with all three Baltic States:

• Lithuania, on September 28, 1926
• Latvia, on February 5, 1932
• Estonia, on May 4, 1932

The contracting parties undertook to refrain from acts of aggression against one another, and from any acts of violence directed against the territorial integrity and inviolability or the political independence of the other contracting party. Furthermore, they agreed to submit all disputes regardless of origin which could not be settled diplomatically to a formal conciliation in a joint committee.

Kellogg-Briand Pact and Litvinov's Pact

On August 27, 1928 the Kellogg-Briand Pact renouncing war as an instrument of national policy was adopted by the United States, Germany, Belgium, France, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, and the Czechoslovak Republic.

Following this adoption, the Soviet Union signed a protocol confirming adherence to the terms of the Pact with its neighbors: Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Romania on February 9, 1929. (See also Litvinov's Pact). Lithuania declared its adherence to the pact and protocol soon thereafter, on April 5, 1929. In signing, the contracting parties agreed:

• to condemn war as a recourse to solving conflict and to renounce it as an instrument of policy, and
• that all conflicts and disputes be settled only by peaceful means.

With this confirmation of adherence to these protocols (while not yet having ratified the Pact) and associated filings of instruments of adherence to the Pact, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the USSR (listed as Russia) became signatories to the Kellogg-Briand Pact itself the day it came into effect, on July 24, 1929.

The Convention for the Definition of Aggression

On July 3, 1933 for the first time in history aggression was defined in a binding treaty signed at the Soviet Embassy in London by USSR and among others, Baltic countries.

Article II defines forms of aggression There shall be recognized as an aggressor that State which shall be the first to have committed one of the following actions:

• First—a declaration of war on another State.
• Second—invasion by armed forces of the territory of another State even without a declaration of war.
• Third—attack by its land, sea or air forces, even without declaration of war upon the territory, on the vessels or flying machines of another State.
• Fourth—a naval blockade of coasts or ports of another State.
• Fifth—support accorded armed bands which are organized on its territory and which shall have invaded the territory of another State; or refusal, in spite of the demand of the invaded State, to take on its own territory all steps in its power to deprive the bandits aforesaid of all aid or protection.

The Convention for the Definition of Aggression Article II then states that "no political, military, economic or other considerations may serve as an excuse or justification for the aggression referred to in Article II." And while the annex to Article III lists conceivable reasons for intervention in a neighboring state, it also stipulates that "the High Contracting Parties further agree to recognize that the present convention can never legitimate any violations of International Law that may be implied in the circumstances comprised in the above list."

The Pacts of Mutual Assistance

The Pacts of Mutual Assistance affirmed the sovereign rights of the Baltic states. Using the Pact of Mutual Assistance with Latvia as an example, signed on October 5, 1939, Article V of the Pact declares: "The enforcement of the present Pact may in no way impair the sovereign rights of the Contracting Parties, more especially with regard to their political structure, economic and social systems, and military measures."

Treaties the USSR signed between 1940 and 1945

The Soviet Union joined the Atlantic Charter of August 14, 1941 by resolution, signed in London on September 24, 1941. Resolution affirmed:

• "First, their countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other;
• "Second, they desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples concerned;
• "Third, they respect the rights of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them. ..."

Most importantly, Stalin personally reaffirmed the principles of the Atlantic Charter on November 6, 1941:

We have not and cannot have any such war aims as the seizure of foreign territories and the subjugation of foreign peoples whether it be peoples and territories of Europe or the peoples and territories of Asia....
    We have not and cannot have such war aims as the imposition of our will and regime on the Slavs and other enslaved peoples of Europe who are awaiting our aid.
    Our aid consists in assisting these peoples in their struggle for liberation from Hitler's tyranny, and then setting them free to rule on their own lands as they desire. No intervention whatever in the internal affairs of other nations.

Soon thereafter, the Soviet Union signed the Declaration by United Nations of January 1, 1942, which again confirmed adherence to the Atlantic Charter.

The Soviet Union signed the Yalta Declaration on Liberated Europe of February 4–11, 1945, in which Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt jointly declare for the reestablishment of order in Europe according to the principle of the Atlantic Charter "the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live, the restoration of sovereign rights and self-government to those peoples who have been forcibly deprived of them by the aggressor nations." The Yalta declaration further states that "to foster the conditions in which the liberated peoples may exercise these rights, the three governments will join ... among others to facilitate where necessary the holding of free elections."

Finally, the Soviet Union signed the Charter of the United Nations on October 24, 1945, which in Article I Part 2 states that one of the "purposes of the United Nations is to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples."

WWII losses in the Baltic states were among the highest in Europe. Estimates of population loss stand at 25 percent for Estonia, 30 percent for Latvia, and 15 percent for Lithuania. War and occupation deaths have been estimated at 90,000 in Estonia, 180,000 in Latvia, and 250,000 in Lithuania. These include the Soviet deportations in 1941, the German deportation and Holocaust victims.

Although the United States and the United Kingdom, the allies of the USSR against Germany during the WWII recognized the occupation of the Baltic states by USSR at Yalta Conference in 1945 de facto. The governments as the rest of the western democracies did not recognize the seizure of Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania by the USSR in 1940 and in 1944 de jure. Such countries recognized Estonian/Latvian/Lithuanian diplomats and consuls who still functioned in many countries in the name of their former governments. These aging diplomats persisted in this anomalous situation until the ultimate restoration of Baltic independence.

Timeline

• December, 1938 Elections to the local council in Memel result in Nazis obtaining an absolute majority (26 of 29 seats).
• March 23, 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania, Lithuania compelled to cede Memel region.
• August 23, 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed. Pact places Estonia, Latvia, Finland and part of Poland in Soviet sphere of interest.
• September 1, 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland.
• September 14, 1939 Polish submarine Orzeł enters Tallinn harbour, crew interned.
• September 17, 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland.
• September 18, 1939 the Polish submarine Orzeł escapes from Tallinn, sails to England.
• September 24, 1939 Soviet Union demands mutual assistance pact and the establishment of military bases in Estonia, using the Orzeł incident as the pretext.
• September 28, 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop pact amended pursuant to German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty; most of Lithuania falls into the Soviet sphere of influence.
• September 28, 1939 Estonia accepts Soviet military bases.
• October 2, 1939 Soviet Union demands mutual assistance pact and establishment of military bases in Latvia.
• October 5, 1939 Latvia accepts Soviet bases.
• October 5, 1939 Soviet Union starts negotiations with Finland for bases and territory exchanges.
• October 10, 1939 Lithuania accepts Soviet bases.

• 

  Memorial to deported Latvian children who died in exile, 1941-1949

  October 11, 1939 NKVD issues Order No. 001223 for deportations of anti-Soviet elements from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Russia.
• October 18, 1939 First Red Army units enter Estonia.
• November 13, 1939 Finland rejects Soviet demands.
• November 30, 1939 start of Winter War against Finland.
• December 1, 1939 Terijoki Government, Soviet puppet government of Finland created in occupied Terijoki border county near Leningrad.
• January 29, 1940 Soviet Union "forgets" Terijoki government.
• March 13, 1940 Winter War ends with Moscow Peace Treaty.
• April 9, 1940 Germany invades Denmark and Norway.
• June 10, 1940 Germany occupies Norway.
• June 14, 1940 Paris falls to Germans.
• June 14, 1940 Soviet air and naval blockade of Estonia starts.
• June 14, 1940 Soviet air force shoots down Finnish passenger plane "Kaleva" flying from Tallinn to Helsinki.
• June 14, 1940 Soviet Union gives ultimatum to Lithuania to form a new government and allow free access for Red Army. The president of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona, proposes armed resistance but as he doesn't get support from government or armed forces, he decides to leave the country, so that he could not be used to legalise the occupation.
• June 15, 1940 Soviet Union occupies Lithuania. President Smetona flees through Germany first to Switzerland then to USA, 1941, where he dies on January 9, 1944, in Cleveland. Prime minister Antanas Merkys following Soviet demands tries to catch Smetona. Vladimir Dekanozov lands in Kaunas to supervise process of annexation of Lithuania.
• June 15, 1940 at 03:00 Soviet troops storm and capture Latvian border posts Masļenkos (Maslenkis) and Smaiļi.
• June 16, 1940 Similar ultimatums were given to Estonia and Latvia.
• June 16, 1940 Prime minister of Lithuania Antanas Merkys removes Antanas Smetona from the post of president and illegally assumes presidency himself.
• June 17, 1940 Estonia and Latvia gave in to the Soviet demands and are occupied. Prime minister of Lithuania Antanas Merkys assigns Justas Paleckis as new prime minister, resigns and is arrested.
• June 18, 1940 Sweden and Germany sign treaty allowing transfer of German soldiers from Norway using Swedish territory.
• June 20, 1940 New Latvian government of Moscow-approved ministers is formed.
• June 21, 1940 New Estonian government containing only left-wing activists is formed. Soviet Union arrange a number of Red Army backed demonstrations in several cities.
• June 22, 1940 France surrenders to Nazi Germany.
• July 8, 1940 Sweden and Germany sign treaty allowing transfer of German war material between Norway and ports in Southern Sweden.
• July 11, 1940, Baltic Military District is created by Soviet Union at Riga, on the territories of theoretically still independent states
• July 14-July 15, 1940 Elections in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where non-communist candidates were disqualified, harassed and beaten.
• July 17, 1940 The acting president of Lithuania, Antanas Merkys, is imprisoned and deported to Saratov, Soviet Union. He dies March 5, 1955.
• July 21-July 23, 1940 New Estonian assembly transforms Estonia according to Soviet style.
• July 21, 1940 New Latvian Saeima accepts wide nationalisation and Sovietization decrees.
• July 22, 1940 The president of Latvia, Kārlis Ulmanis, is arrested and deported to Russia, never returning. He died in a prison in Krasnovodsk on September 20, 1942.
• July 23, 1940 Heads of Baltic diplomatic missions in London and Washington protest against Soviet occupation and annexation of their countries.
• July 23, 1940 Sumner Welles' (US Under-Secretary of State) Declaration. United States pursues the policy of non-recognition of annexation of the Baltic States de jure. Most other Western countries maintain similar position until restoration of Baltic states' sovereignty in 1991.
• July 30, 1940 The president of Estonia, Konstantin Päts, is imprisoned by NKVD and deported to Russia where he dies in the mental hospital of Kalinin on January 18, 1956.
• August 3, 1940 Soviet Union annexes Lithuania.
• August 5, 1940 Soviet Union annexes Latvia.
• August 6, 1940 Soviet Union annexes Estonia.
• September 6, 1940 Soviet Union gets troop and material transfer rights from Finland between Hanko and Soviet border.
• September 22, 1940 Germany gets troop and material transfer rights from Finland between northern Norway and ports of Gulf of Bothnia.
• November 12, 1940 Germany refuses Soviet Union demands for right to handle Finland as they will in negotiations in Berlin.
• December 16, The Russian SFSR penal code is applied to retroactively in Estonia, applying to acts committed before 21 June 1940.
• January 10, 1941 Soviet Union and Germany make an agreement for the late resettlement of Baltic Germans from Latvia and Estonia.
• June 14, 1941 First mass deportations from Estonia (10 000), Latvia (15 000) and Lithuania (18 000) to Siberia.
• June 15, 1941 The Governor of New York, Herbert Lehman, declares 15 June to be Baltic States Day.
• June 22, 1941 Operation Barbarossa, Germany invades Soviet Union.
• 24/25 June, 1941 Rainiai Massacre of Soviet political prisoners in Lithuania
• June 25, 1941 Continuation War starts between Finland and Soviet Union.
• June 2, 1941 General mobilisation is announced in the Soviet Union.
• July 4, 1941 Mass deportations from Estonian islands.
• July 7, 1941 German forces reach Southern Estonia.
• July 9, 1941 Soviet authorities leave Tartu after executing 199 political prisoners.
• July 10, 1941 German forces reach Tartu.
• July 17, 1941 State Commissariat Ostland formed in Riga, Hinrich Lohse appointed State Commissar.
• July 21, 1941 Stalin seeks Churchill's de jure recognition of the Soviet Union's new western border, Churchill does not respond.
• August 14, 1941 Roosevelt and Churchill announce the Atlantic Charter.
• August 31, 1941 Mainland Baltics now fully occupied by German forces.
• September 20, 1941 Heinrich Himmler visits Estonia.
• November 25, 1941 US deputy Secretary of State, Sumner Welles, re-affirms the US policy in regard to non-recognition of Baltic annexation.
• December 19, 1941 Alfred Rosenberg, the German State Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, enacts civil labour obligation for all 18 to 45 year old inhabitants of the occupied territories.
• December, 1941 Within six months of German occupation, 10000 people, including 1000 Estonian Jews, are either imprisoned or executed.
• January 20, 1942 Heydrich declares at the Wannsee Conference that Estonia is "Judenfrei".
• February 25, 1942 German law comes into force in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but are only applied to ethnic Germans.
• March 16, 1942 Goebbels writes in his diary that the Baltic people are naive to believe that the Germans will allow them to re-establish national governments.
• March 30, 1942 Himmler proposes plan to Germanise the Eastern Territories including establishing German settlements after the war.
• May 20, 1942 Molotov visits London, Great Britain refuses to recognise the legality of the new western border of the Soviet Union.

See also

• Forest Brothers
• Military rule
• Occupation of Latvia
• Rainiai massacre
• Territorial changes of the Baltic States
• Population transfer in the Soviet Union
• European Court of Human Rights cases on Occupation of Baltic States
• Villa Lituania
• Litene
• January Events

Further reading

• 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.
• Mälksoo, Lauri (2003). Illegal Annexation and State Continuity: The Case of the Incorporation of the Baltic States by the USSR. Leiden - Boston: Brill. ISBN 9041121773
• Kistler-Ritso Estonian Foundation Museum of occupations of Estonia
• The Occupation museum of Latvia
• Alfred Erich Senn What Happened in Lithuania in 1940?(PDF)
• Leonas Cerskus Crimes of Soviet Communists — Wide collection of sources and links
• Order No 001223: regarding the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. — Full text, English
• GULAG 113 — Canadian film about Estonians mobilized into the Red Army 1941 and forced into labour in the GULAG
• 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.
• The Soviet Occupation of the Baltic States, by Irina Saburova. In Russian Review, 1955
• Crimes of Communism: Communist occupation and its end in Estonia by Mart Laar
• 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
• The Steel Curtain, TIME Magazine, April 14, 1947