List of military occupations of Latvia: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 16:20, 5 December 2006
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This article is about the occupation of Latvia by the USSR in 1940, its subsequent occupation by Nazi Germany 1941-1944, and its reoccupation by the USSR in 1944 through to the end of World War II. Latvia, its neighbours, most Western European countries as well as the USA never recognized the regime put in place after 1945, and thus view the occupation as one that continued until the de facto restoration of the Republic of Latvia in its territory in 1990.
The Russian Federation denies the Soviet Union occupied Latvia and maintains instead that Latvia joined the Soviet Union voluntarily and legally (resolution passed by the Russian Duma, to "remind deputies of the Latvian Saeima that Latvia's being a part of the Soviet Union was grounded by fact and by law," November 19, 1999.)
1918-1939: Historical background
Latvia declared its independence from the Soviet Russia on November 18, 1918. After a prolonged War of Independence, Latvia and Soviet Russia (the predecessor of the Soviet Union) signed a Peace Treaty on August 11, 1920. In its Article 2 Soviet Russia "unreservedly recognises the independence and sovereignty of the Latvian State and voluntarily and forever renounces all sovereign rights (...) to the Latvian people and territory." The independence of Latvia was recognised de jure by the Allied Supreme Council (France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Belgium) on January 26, 1921. Other states followed suit. On September 22, 1921 Latvia was admitted to membership in the League of Nations and remained a member until the formal dissolution of the League in 1946. On February 5, 1932, a Non-Aggression Treaty with the Soviet Union was signed, based on the August 11, 1920 treaty whose basic agreements inalterably and for all time form the firm basis of the relationship of the two states. On September 1, 1939, the day World War II began, Latvia declared its neutrality.
1939-1940: The road to loss of independence
Stalin and Hitler trade on Baltics
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed August 23, 1939 cleared the path for Germany and the Soviet Union to pursue their territorial interests in Eastern Europe. Secret protocols of this pact split up the territory separating Germany and the Soviet Union between the two powers. According to these protocols, the Soviet Union had a right to Finland, Estonia and Latvia, Germany had a right to Poland and Lithuania. (The Soviet Union continued to deny the existence of these protocols until, under pressure from the Baltic SSRs, on December 24, 1989, the Congress of the USSR People’s Deputies officially recognized the secret deals illegal and invalid from their inception.)
Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. As Poland was facing the Nazi military machine, Stalin ordered the Red Army on September 17 to cross the Soviet-Polish frontier under the pretense of protecting the Belorussians and Ukranians in the territory of Poland which Soviets argued "ceased to exist" in the wake of German successes in the west. It was Stalin's means of insuring Hitler go only so far as had been agreed to. Stalin then suggested a "trade" to Hitler to solve the "Baltic problem." On September 28, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a border agreement, including a second secret protocol, handing Lithuania to Stalin in exchange for two Polish provinces. All three Baltic states were now in Stalin's hands.
Baltics accept "mutual assistance" under threat of invasion
The Soviets were now free to push their agenda forward, having for some years already declared that any developments in the Baltics which were not to their liking would be viewed as a threat to Soviet security. It was during talks in Moscow, on October 2, 1939, that Stalin told Vilhelms Munters, the Latvian foreign minister: "I tell you frankly, a division of spheres of interest has already taken place. As far as Germany is concerned we could occupy you." The Baltics took this threat seriously.
Estonia signed their "mutual assistance pact" with the Soviet Union on September 28, 1939; Latvia following on October 5, 1939; and Lithuania shortly thereafter, on October 10, 1939. In Latvia's case, the agreement called for Latvia to:
- lend bases to the Soviet Union at Liepāja, Ventspils, and Pitrags until 1949;
- build special airfields for Soviet requirements; and
- grant the stationing of Soviet military garrisons totalling 30,000 troops.
At face value, this pact did not impinge upon Latvian sovereignty. Section 5 of the Pact reads as follows: "The carrying into effect of the present pact must in no way affect the sovereign rights of the contracting parties, in particular their political structure, their economic and social system, and their military measures. The areas set aside for the bases and airfields remain the territory of the Latvian Republic."
With Baltic sovietization imminent, Hitler issued the "call home" to ethnic Germans. Latvia entered into agreement with Nazi Germany on the repatriation of citizens of German nationality on October 30, 1939.
Publicly, on October 31, 1939, the Soviet Supreme Council called fears of Baltic sovietization "all nonsense." Privately, this stationing of Soviet troops in Latvia under the terms of the mutual assistance pact marked the beginning of the fruition of long-standing Soviet desires to gain control of the Baltics.
Finland invaded
With the success of this first stage, the Soviets soon confirmed the threat under which the Baltics had signed the pacts of mutual assistance. On October 5, 1939, the Finns had also been invited to Moscow to "discuss mutual problems." The Finns refused, and on November 30, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, launching the Winter War. Finland succeeded in resisting and on March 13, 1940 signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union. Finland was, however, compelled to give up the Hanko peninsula and parts of Karelia with the city of Viborg in return for guaranteeing its security.
USSR had already determined to incorporate the Baltics
Apparent escape from Finland's fate may have led to a false sense of security for Latvia. Four months after the arrival of Soviet troops in Latvia, Vilhelms Munters, addressing an audience at the University of Latvia on February 12, 1940, stated, "We have every reason to describe the relations existing between Latvia and the Soviet Union as very satisfactory. There are people who will say that these favourable conditions are of a temporary nature only, and that sooner or later we shall have to reckon with internal-political and foreign-political pressure on the part of the Soviet Union. The foundation on which they base these prophesies is a secret of the prophets themselves. The experience of our Government certainly does not justify such forebodings."
Munters was not aware that General Ivan Serov, Deputy People's Commissar of Public Security of the Soviet Union, had already on October 11, 1939 - less than a week after the signing of the mutual assistance pact - issued and signed Order № 001223, "regarding the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia."
With Soviet failure in Finland sealed for the moment, it was little more than a month after Munters' positive expressions that Molotov, speaking on March 25, 1940, essentially announced Soviet intentions to annex the Baltic States, stating, "...the execution of the pacts progressed satisfactorily and created conditions favorable for a further improvement of the relations between Soviet Russia and these States." Improvement of the relations being a euphemism for Soviet takeover.
In March and April, 1940, immediately after Molotov's speech, the Soviet press commenced attacks on the Latvian government. Next, the NKVD orchestrated a series of strikes in Rīga and Liepāja. When those failed to develop into a general strike, the Soviets blamed that failure on the "irresponsible element which spoils the good neighborly relations."
Fearing Soviet action, on May 17, 1940, the Latvian government secretly issued emergency powers to the Latvian minister in London, Kārlis Zariņš, designating Alfreds Bilmanis, the Latvian minister in Washington, as his substitute.
USSR stages events to justify invasion
On May 28, 1940, the Lithuanian Minister in Moscow received a note from Molotov which dealt with the alleged kidnapping of two Soviet soldiers in Vilna. The Lithuanian government sought to clear up this matter by a Soviet-Lithuanian commission under the terms of the mutual assistance pact. Moscow rejected this proposal and cut off further discussion, soon showing and rapidly playing their hand:
- June 14, 1940 - While world attention is focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany a day earlier, Molotov accuses the Baltics of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivers an ultimatum to Lithuania for the establishment of a government the Soviets approve of.
- June 15, 1940 - Soviet troops invade Lithuania and position troops to invade Latvia.
- June 15, 1940 - Soviets attack three Latvian border posts in the East of Latvia, killing three border guards and two civilians, as well as taking 10 border guards and 27 civilians as hostages to the Soviet Union.
- June 16, 1940 - Soviets deliver ultimatums to Estonia and Latvia, to be answered within 6 hours, demanding: (1) the establishment of pro-Soviet Governments which, under the protection of the Red Army, would be better capable of carrying out the Pacts of Mutual Assistance; (2) the free passage of Soviet troops into Estonia and Latvia in order to place them in the most important centers and to avoid possible provocatory acts against Soviet garrisons. Unable to resist on their own, Latvia and Estonia capitulate.
- June 17, 1940 - Soviet troops invade Latvia and occupy bridges, post/telephone, telegraph, and broadcasting offices.
- June 17, 1940 - Andrei Vishinski, Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union (and prosecutor of Stalin's show trials in 1937-1938) introduces himself to President Kārlis Ulmanis as Soviet special envoy.
Loss of independence
Soviet orchestration of events continued following the invasion, complete with protestors, who had arrived with the Red Army troops, organizing mass marches and meetings in order to create the impression of popular unrest:
- June 19, 1940 - Vishinski visits Ulmanis again, this time, to deliver the list, pre-approved by Moscow, of the new members of the cabinet of the Latvian government.
- June 20, 1940 - Ulmanis forced to approve pro-Soviet government which takes office. Jailed members of the formerly illegal communist party released. Public "processions of thanksgiving" organized in honor of Stalin.
- June 30, 1930 - The Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Vincas Kreve-Mickevicius, meets with Molotov. Molotov is blunt in communicating the Soviet intent to occupy the entire region: “You must take a good look at reality and understand that in the future small nations will have to disappear. Your Lithuania along with the other Baltic nations, including Finland, will have to join the glorious family of the Soviet Union. Therefore you should begin now to initiate your people into the Soviet system, which in the future shall reign everywhere, throughout all Europe; put into practice earlier in some places, as in the Baltic nations, later in others.”
- July 5, 1940 - Decree issued announcing new elections; the Latvian democratic parties organize under the National Committee and attempt to participate.
- July 9, 1940 - Vilis Lācis, the Soviet-appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, orders the National Committee shut down, its most prominent members deported. Deportations are already taking place from territory not (yet) part of the Soviet Union.
- July 14-15, 1940 - Rigged elections held in Latvia and the other Baltic states. Only one pre-approved list of candidates was allowed for elections for the Latvian parliament, the Saeima. The ballots held following instructions: "Only the list of the Latvian Working People's Bloc must be deposited in the ballot box. The ballot must be deposited without any changes." The alleged voter activity index was 97.6%. Most notably, the complete election results were published in Moscow 12 hours before the election closed. Soviet electoral documents found later substantiated that the results were completely fabricated.
- July 21, 1940 - The fraudulently installed Saeima votes unanimously to petition to join the Soviet Union. (The consideration of such an action was denied throughout the election.) This petition was illegal under the Latvian Constitution, still in effect, which required a plebiscite referendum for approving such an action: two thirds of all eligible participating and a plain majority approving. Ulmanis is forced to resign.
- July 22, 1940 - Ulmanis deported to the Soviet Union. Land is nationalized (see also below).
- July 23, 1940 - the US Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles condemns the "devious processes" by which "the political independence and territorial integrity of the three small Baltic republics were to be deliberately annihilated by one of their more powerful neighbors."
- July 31, 1940, Minister of Defense Jānis Balodis and family deported to Soviet Union (order hand-written by Vilis Lācis).
- August 3, 5, and 6, 1940 - The Soviet Union grants the petitions of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, respectively, to join. Latvia was incorporated as the 15th Republic of the Soviet Union. Aside from Germany, no western nation recognizes the annexion as legitimate de jure.
1940-1941: The first Soviet occupation
Accurate numbers for the losses the Soviets inflicted on Latvia are not available. They can, however, be conservatively estimated at 290,000 dead from military action, executions, or deportation. Many more found refuge abroad. These losses all began during the first Soviet occupation. This has also been referred to, in Latvian, as "Baigais Gads" (Year of Terror). (This term was also used in anti-Soviet propaganda of the period—these two uses should not be confused or allied in purpose. "Baigais Gads" is also a title of an openly antisemitic, false account of the events of the year penned by Pauls Kovalevskis, a Nazi sympathiser, in 1942.)
Defining and deporting enemies of the state
On June 22, 1940, all three Baltic parliaments passed initial resolutions on the nationalization of land, followed in Latvia by a Bill of Land Reform a week later. Initially, a maximum of 30 hectares of land could be used by a family, reduced during the second Soviet occupation to 15-20 hectares. Anyone holding more land was categorized as an enemy of the state. Based on land ownership in 1935, that put over 40% of Latvian farmers and their families into that category, destined for deportation.
The purpose of deportations was to eliminate the native middle class, replaced through aggressive Russification). Given Latvia's predominantly agricultural economy following independence, this meant elimination of most of Latvia's farming class.
Serov's deportation Order № 001223 applied to all the Baltics. The following NKVD order of November 28, 1940, was issued in Lithuania; this document was left behind when the Soviets evacuated. Similar orders were issued for Estonia and Latvia.
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Later orders expanded the list, including anyone related to someone in hiding from the government or who had fled abroad—which act made them a traitor to the state.
The first Soviet mass deportations took place on June 13 and 14th, 1941, estimated at 15 600 men, women, and children, and including 20% of Latvia's last legal government. Approximately 35 000 total (1.8% of Latvia's population) were deported during the first Soviet occupation. Stalin's deportations also included thousands of Latvian Jews. Hitler was not the first catastrophe to afflict that community. (The mass deportation totalled 131 500 across the Baltics.)
The deportations were swift and efficient and came in the middle of the night. Deportees were given an hour or less to get ready to leave. They were allowed to take with them their belongings not exceeding 100 kg in weight (money, food for a month, cooking appliances, clothing). The families would then be taken to the railway station. That was when they discovered that the men were to be separated from the women and children: "In view of the fact that a large number of deportees must be arrested and distributed in special camps and that their families must proceed to special settlements in distant regions, it is essential that the operation of removal of both the members of the deportee's family and its head shall be carried out simultaneously, without notifying them of the separation confronting them.... The convoy of the entire family to the station shall be effected in one vehicle and only at the station of departure shall the head of the family be placed separately from his family in a car specially intended for heads of families."
The trains were escorted by a NKVD officer and military convoy. Packed into barred cattle cars, with holes in the floor for sanitation, the deportees were taken to Siberia. Many died before even reaching their final destination because of harsh conditions. Many more perished their first winter.
The Soviet-Nazi war cut short this first year of Soviet occupation. The Nazi offensive, launched June 22, 1941, just over a week after the mass deportations were executed, entered Riga on July 1, 1941. This disrupted documented NKVD plans to deport several hundred thousand more from the Baltic states on June 27 and 28, 1941.
1941-1944: Nazi occupation
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Main article: Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany Template:ImageStackLeft With memories of the mass deportations still fresh, the German troops were widely greeted at their arrival by the Latvians as liberators. The Latvian national anthemn played on the radio. Nazi Germany, however, had no plan or desire to restore autonomy to the Baltics. Jewish fears of the Nazis—which had led some to look upon the Soviet occupation as a measure of security—were to prove tragically well founded. [more TBD]
1944(-1945): Second Soviet occupation
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Oct 10-29, 1944 - Soviet troops capture Riga. [more TBD]
Classification of the Soviet presence as an occupation
The Baltic states were occupied by the Soviet Union, then occupied by Nazi Germany, then re-occupied by the Soviet Union.
While this section is written from the perspective of Latvia, for reference purposes its validity extends to all three Baltic republics, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as:
- all were forced into virtually identical "mutual assistance pacts" at the same time;
- all were invaded and occupied under the same false pretenses and fabricated charges as part of the same campaign, Lithuania being the first; and
- the governments of all three states took specific steps to insure their de jure continuity regardless of territorial events.
War (formally declared or de facto) is not a requirement for "occupation"
The earliest definition of occupation is found in Article 42 of the Annex to the 1899 Hague Convention No. IV Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land. It states that “a territory is occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised.” It is important to note that this definition existed in the context of a time when war itself was still considered a legal means for settling disputes between nations.
Paragraph 2 of Article 2 of the Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War states: “The Convention [...] shall apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.” This definition and subsequent legal interpretation focus on de facto control of a territory: "...the occupying power must be in a position to substitute its own authority for that of the occupied authorities, which must have been rendered incapable of functioning publicly".
The invaded authorities (Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian) immediately lost control to Soviet authority, for example, the take-over of all communications facilities (government-run phone and telegraph, radio...). A large portion of the Latvian government was deported. This is wholly sufficient legal basis to categorize the Soviet presence an "occupation," whether or not the Soviet army invaded “legally" under the terms of the pacts of mutual assistance and whether or not the Soviet authorities in charge were "civilian" or "military."
Pacts of mutual assistance
Pravda (November 26, 1939), described the Finnish Prime Minister Aimo Cajander as a "buffoon" for not agreeing to a pact of mutual assistance, characterized the pacts as: "...Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania have concluded with the Soviet government treaties which secure them independence, peace and quiet work." Four days later, on November 30, the Soviet Union invaded Finland, proving Stalin's direct threats, made by him personally under which the Baltic States signed those pacts were not made idly: as noted above, prior to the signing, Stalin (in Moscow) had told Latvian Prime Minister Vilhelms Munters that as far as he was concerned, he could "invade tomorrow."
This initial stationing of troops on Latvian soil was not benign. As noted, less than a week after the signing of the mutual assistance pacts, General Ivan Serov, Deputy People's Commissar of Public Security of the Soviet Union, had already on October 11, 1939 issued and signed Order № 001223, "regarding the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia." Nevertheless this initial stationing of Soviet troops was legal under international law, and was done under terms where the Soviet Union specifically guaranteed that the stationing must in no way impinge on the sovereignty of Latvia. Regardless, the "legality" of this initial stationing (under duress) does not automatically impart "legality" to all subsequent Soviet actions using the pacts as their basis.
Most importantly, the stationing of Soviet troops on Latvian soil under the mutual assistance pacts, the subsequent Soviet invasion, and the expulsion of the Nazis from Latvian soil by Soviet forces are all discrete events widely separated in time, not to be confused or somehow regarded as continuous with each other.
Soviet invasion "under the terms" of the mutual assistance pacts
The mutual assistance pacts are most often cited as the basis for the legality of the Soviet presence. The Soviet position was that they were subsequently forced to enter under the terms of the mutual assistance pact(s) in order to preserve their security. Lack of armed resistance is further cited as proof this was not an invasion. However, lack of armed resistance was only an attempt by the government of Latvia to buy time. The Baltics were strictly neutral in the war and were desperate to avoid its devastation. They would have been crushed by a Soviet onslaught.
The Soviet Union issued similar ultimatums to all three Baltic States which it then used as bases for its subsequent invasion. The ultimatum of June 16, 1940 to Latvia charged Latvia with the following breaches of the terms of their "mutual assistance" pact:
- Latvia's continued Military Alliance with Estonia, signed on November 1, 1923, a defensive alliance registered with the League of Nations, and to which the Soviet Union had not previously objected;
- Estonia's and Latvia's extension of that alliance to Lithuania, thus implicating all three Baltic states in an anti-Soviet plot—this charge was a total fabrication;
- Holding "secret conferences" in December, 1939 and March, 1940, during which the tri-party alliance plotted against the Soviet Union—these were, in fact, regularly scheduled conferences of the Baltic ministers in accordance with the Treaty of Collaboration of the Baltic States, signed in 1934 and registered with the League of Nations, not secret and not objected to prior by the Soviet Union;
- The enhancement of military relations between the Baltic states in secret from the Soviets—this charge was a total fabrication; recall that tens of thousands of Soviet troops were already stationed in all three Baltic states; and lastly,
- The creation of a military Baltic Entente, the Revue Baltique—this charge was a total fabrication; the Revue Baltique did exist, however, it was the tri-lingual press organization of the Societies of Friendship of the Baltic Peoples.
There were additional Soviet provocations in the Baltics (alleged kidnapping of border guards, et al.) to set the stage. In the case of Latvia, after the first ultimatum was delivered to Lithuania, but before an ultimatum was delivered to Latvia, the Soviet Union attacked three Latvian border posts in the east of Latvia, killing three border guards and two civilians, as well as taking 10 border guards and 27 civilians as hostages to the Soviet Union.
The Soviet invasion of the Baltics was a completely unprovoked military action based on lies and in completion of a pre-meditated plan which, already in 1939, had included the printing of maps labeled "Latvian S.S.R."
Finally, in sending Andrei Vishinsky as an official representative of the Soviet Union to take control of power and form a new government in Latvia subsequent to the invasion, the Soviet Union violated the terms of the mutual assistance pact which explicitly stated the pact must have no effect on Latvia's sovereignty.
"Petitions to join" the Soviet Union
After the invasion of the Baltics, during which period they were purportedly still "sovereign," Molotov told the Lithuanian foreign minister, Vincas Kreve-Misckevicius, to prepare for the Soviet system. Puppet governments were elected two weeks later in all three republics.
The notion that the Baltics freely, willingly, and legally joined the Soviet Union is the most persistent fabrication of Soviet propaganda. This is a position that Russia has continued to espouse, for example, in the passage of a resolution by the Russian Duma in November, 1999 to "remind deputies of the Latvian Saima that Latvia's being a part of the Soviet Union was grounded by fact and by law from the international juridical point of view...."
Latvia's petition, and those of the other Baltic states, to join the Soviet Union were illegal and void, as follows:
- First, the governments "elected" were fraudulent. Beyond only "approved" Soviet candidates being on the ballot, the election results were announced in Moscow hours before the polls closed, and Soviet documents verify that the results were completely fabricated. The "election" was an outright fraud executed by the Soviet Union. Any actions subsequently taken by the puppet government were equally fraudulent.
- Second, the subsequent petition to join the Soviet was illegal regardless of the circumstances of the fraudulent election. In the case of Latvia, any change to its borders or territorial sovereignty had to be ratified by a two-thirds majority plebiscite of all eligible voters in accordance with the Latvian constitution. Paradoxically, Soviet (now Russian) insistence that the joining of the Baltics to the Soviet Union was undertaken at the initiative of the parliaments of the respective sovereign nations (thus making it "technically" legal) confirms that these joinings were completely illegal as, in the case of Latvia, the joining was effected in a manner which fundamentally violated the terms of its constitution. (It is also noteworthy that prior to the parliamentary "election," the Soviet-installed candidates all took pains to disavow the possibility of any action to incorporate Latvia into the Soviet Union.)
The sovereign Baltic States did not, therefore, join the Soviet Union; furthermore, their rightful governments continued to exist de jure.
Continued existence of the Baltic states after WWII
The argument has also been advanced that as the Baltic states no longer existed de facto after World War II, that they could no longer have been occupied. This argument fails in two regards:
- First is the falsehood based on the notion that the Baltic states "voluntarily" joined the Soviet Union and in doing so, ceased to be sovereign entities.
- This is a critical item regarding current Baltic-Russia relations: The logical extension of this argument states that the Baltic states are not "continuances" of the respective territorial and governmental entities which were sovereign prior to WWII, which is the official position of the Russian government.
- As the joining was both fraudulent and illegal, based on both outright election fraud and on constitutional violation, there is no basis to any legal termination of sovereignty.
- Second, the Baltic governments all took individual action to insure continuity of the exercise of their sovereignty regardless of territorial situations. Power of state was vested in these individuals/organs by the respective sovereign governments and was exercised by them until transfer of power of state by them back to the re-established sovereign governments. In the case of Latvia, power of state was formally vested in Kārlis Zariņš, head of the Latvian legation to Great Britain, with Alfreds Bīlmanis, his counterpart in the United States, as his substitute should he fail to be able to execute his duties. After the death of Kārlis Zariņš in 1963, Latvia's diplomatic and consular services were overseen by the chargés d'affaires in the United States until the reestablishment of independence.
The Baltic states are continuous to their initial independence, remaining in existence de jure in exile during the Soviet presence. This is the official position of all three governments, which can point to officially documented and de jure transfers of power which completely validate their position in this regard.
"Liberation" of the Baltics from Hitler
Russia maintains the Soviet Union liberated, not occupied, the Baltics. For example, Pravda (October, 2004) complained that Latvia does not celebrate May 9 as the Soviet defeat of Nazism, noting: "One of the leaders of Latvian Veterans Association Alexander Komarovsky wrote in Chas Russian-language Latvian newspaper that 154,000 Soviet soldiers died when fighting for Latvia's liberation." Latvian Russians are reported in the Russian press as complaining, "Soviet soldiers were greeted with flowers and songs. If it weren't for the Soviets, then the Nazis would be here."
During the first occupation alone, the Soviet Union deported over 150,000 Baltic citizens. The welcoming of Soviet troops after that experience is a manufacture of Soviet propaganda, as is the story that the Freedom Monument in Riga, Latvia built was built to thank Stalin their liberator, its three stars alleged to be the three Baltic states--a British tourism brochure published a decade after Baltic independence repeated this fiction as fact, demonstrating the influence Soviet propaganda continues to exercise in the post-Soviet era.
Gross violations of international law
It is a severe breach of the Geneva Convention to deport citizens from the occupied territory to the territory of the occupier. As well, it is a severe breach to import citizens of the occupier into occupied territory:
- The Soviet Union already deported Latvian citizens to its territory at the time when it was taking great pains to insist the Baltics were still "sovereign", not counting the many more deportations which occurred after Latvia was sovietized, all in violation of international law.
- The subsequent Soviet campaign of Russification after re-occupation equally violated international law.
Summary
- Only the initial stationing of Soviet troops in Latvia under the terms of the mututal assistance pact can be considered "legal," and that in the technical sense only, as the agreement was signed under duress after Stalin's direct and personally stated threat of invasion.
- Latvia was illegally invaded by the Soviet Union, regardless of the "legality" of the initial stationing of Soviet troops on Latvian soil under the terms of the mutual assistance pact;
- Latvia neither voluntarily nor legally joined the Soviet Union.
- The sovereign powers of state of Latvia continued to exist de jure and to be exercised in exile during the entire Soviet tenure in the Latvian territory.
- Latvia is de jure continuous with its pre-World War II predecessor.
- The Soviet presence in Latvia is therefore classified an occupation for its entire tenure.
Various motives have been ascribed to Russia as to its denial of Soviet occupation of the Baltics, from the genuine belief the Soviets were liberators to Russia's concerns it could be held accountable for Soviet-related reparations under international law. This article does not offer to speculate in that regard.
References
- ^ Inesis Feldmanis, Daina Bleiere, "История Латвии. 20 век." (2005), Riga, Jumava, ISBN 9984058662
- "Latvia: Country & People," Jānis Rutkis, editor, Latvian National Foundation, Stockholm, 1967
- "Latvian Economic Review, No. 2 (18), April 1940," Alberts Zalts, editor, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- "The Story of Latvia - A Historical Survey," by Arveds Švābe, Latvian National Foundation, Stockholm, 1949
- "These Names Accuse-Nominal List of Latvians Deported to Soviet Russia," Latvian National Foundation, Stockholm, 2nd edition, 1982
External links
- The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia
- Overview of Soviet atrocities during occupation of Latvia by Soviets in 1940-1941
- Centropa Reports, Latvia, July 1, 1941, by Frank Gordon
- Vilis Lācis handwritten note (facsmile and translation) deporting General Jānis Balodis and family