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== Aftermath ==
== Aftermath ==
{{See also|Baltic Russians}}
{{See also|Baltic Russians}}
In the years following the reestablishment of Baltic independence, tensions have remained between ethnic Balts and Russians in Estonia and Latvia. Post-independence citizenship policy in the Baltic states has been characterised {{Who|date=June 2011}} as discriminatory against Russians. In addition, Baltic politicians {{Who|date=June 2011}} have used the occupation as grounds for demanding $24–$100 billion from Russia as financial compensation.<ref name="stillfeuding">{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/9102165|title=Still feuding: Icy relations between Russia and Estonia|publisher=The Economist|date=2007-05-01}}</ref><ref name="russophobia">{{cite book|title=Russophobia|last1=Tsygankov|first1=Andrei|isbn=9780230614185|year=2009|page=63}}</ref>
In the years following the reestablishment of Baltic independence, tensions have remained between ethnic Balts and Russians in Estonia and Latvia. While post-independence citizenship policy in the Baltic states is relatively liberal<ref>{{cite book |title=Constitution-making in the region of former Soviet dominance |last=Ludwikowski |first=Rett R. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1996 |publisher=Duke University Press |location= |isbn=9780822318026 |page=87 |pages= |chapter=|url=http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qw8o0_c0m74C&pg=PA87 |accessdate= }}</ref> and is considered non-discriminatory<ref>{{cite web|work=European Centre for Minority Issues| url= http://www.ecmi.de/download/working_paper_20.pdf |title=Russian-speaking minorities in Estonia and Latvia: problems of integration at the threshold of the European Union |first=Peter |last=van Elsuwege}}</ref>, some claim otherwise{{Who|date=June 2011}}. In addition, Baltic politicians {{Who|date=June 2011}} have used the occupation as grounds for demanding $24–$100 billion from Russia as financial compensation.<ref name="stillfeuding">{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/node/9102165|title=Still feuding: Icy relations between Russia and Estonia|publisher=The Economist|date=2007-05-01}}</ref><ref name="russophobia">{{cite book|title=Russophobia|last1=Tsygankov|first1=Andrei|isbn=9780230614185|year=2009|page=63}}</ref>


==State continuity of the Baltic states==
==State continuity of the Baltic states==

Revision as of 23:15, 16 June 2011

Part of a series of articles on the
Occupation of the
Baltic states
Background
Soviet occupation in 1940
German occupation
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Soviet re-occupation in 1944
Under Soviet rule
State continuity
Aftermath

The occupation of the Baltic states refers to 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 forcible illegal incorporation into the USSR as constituent republics.[3] On 22 June 1941 Nazi Germany attacked the USSR and within weeks occupied a significant part of it including the Baltic republics. 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, Soviet Union recaptured most of the Baltic states and trapped remaining German forces in Courland pocket until their formal surrender in May 1945.[4] The Soviet "annexation occupation" (Annexionsbesetzung or occupation sui generis)[5] of the Baltic states lasted until August 1991 when the Baltic states regained independence.

The Governments of the Baltic states,[6][7] the United States[8][9] and its courts of law,[10] the European Parliament,[11][12][13] the European Court of Human Rights[14] and the United Nations Human Rights Council,[15] have all stated that these three countries were invaded, occupied and illegally incorporated into the Soviet Union under provisions[16] of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact first by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany from 1941–1944, and again by the Soviet Union from 1944–1991.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] This policy of non-recognition has given rise to the principle of legal continuity, which holds that de jure, the Baltic states have remained independent states under illegal occupation throughout the period 1940–91.[25][26][27]

In its reassessment of Soviet history that began during perestroika in 1989, the USSR condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Germany and itself.[28] However, the USSR never formally acknowledged its presence in the Baltics as an occupation or that it annexed these states,[29] and considered the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republics as its constituent republics. The present 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.[30] The Russian government and its state officials insist that incorporation of the Baltic states was in accordance with international law [31][32] and gained de jure recognition by the agreements made in the Yalta and Potsdam conferences and by the Helsinki accords.[33][34] However, Russia agreed to Europe's demand to "assist persons deported from the occupied Baltic states" upon joining the Council of Europe[35][36][37] Additionally, when Russia signed a separate treaty with Lithuania, it acknowledged that the 1940 annexation was a violation of Lithuanian sovereignty and recognised the de jure continuity of the Lithuanian state.[38][39]

Baltic legations or governments in exile formally vested with sovereign authority functioned throughout the Soviet period. Sovereignty was restored to the Baltic states in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The full withdrawal of troops deployed by Moscow was completed in August 1994.[40]


Background

Main article: Background of the occupation and annexation 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 10-year non-aggression pact, called the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact. Most notably, the pact contained a secret protocol by which the states of Northern and Eastern Europe were divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence".[41] In the North, Finland, Estonia and Latvia were assigned to the Soviet sphere.[41] 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.[41] 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.[42] 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.[43][44] The Estonians had no choice but to accept naval, air and army bases on two Estonian islands and at the port of Paldiski.[43] 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[44] 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

Main article: Occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union (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.[45] In May 1940, the Soviets turned to the idea of direct military intervention, but still intended to rule through puppet regimes.[46] Their model was the Finnish Democratic Republic, a puppet regime set up by the Soviets on the first day of the Winter War.[47] The Soviets organised a press campaign against the allegedly pro-Allied sympathies of the Baltic governments. In May, the Germans invaded France, which was overrun and occupied a month later. In late May and early June, the Baltic states were accused of military collaboration against the Soviet Union. On 15 June, 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.[46] However, the Soviets refused this offer and sent Vladimir Dekanozov to take charge of affairs while the Red Army occupied the state.[48]

On 16 June, Latvia and Estonia also received ultimatums. The Red Army occupied the two remaining Baltic states shortly thereafter. The Soviets dispatched Andrey Vyshinsky to oversee the takeover of Latvia and Andrei Zhdanov to oversee the takeover of Estonia. On 18 and 21 June, new "popular front" governments were formed in each Baltic country, made up of Communists and fellow travelers.[48] 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. A month later, the new assemblies met, with their sole piece 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 9 August.[48] The deposed presidents of Estonia (Konstantin Päts) and Latvia (Kārlis Ulmanis) were imprisoned and deported to the USSR and died later in Siberia and Central Asia. In June 1941, the new Soviet governments carried out mass deportations of "enemies of the people". Consequently, many Balts initially greeted the Germans as liberators when they invaded a week later.[45]

The Soviet Union immediately started to erect border fortifications along its newly acquired western border - the so-called Molotov Line.

German occupation 1941–1944

Main article: Occupation of the Baltic states by Nazi Germany

Ostland province and the Holocaust

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.[49] 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.[50] 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 Reichskommissariat Ostland.[51] The area was ruled by Hinrich Lohse who was obsessed with bureaucratic regulations.[51] The Baltic area was the only eastern region intended to become a full province of the Third Reich.[52]

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.[52] 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. Many Balts collaborated actively in the killing of Jews, and the Nazis managed to provoke pogroms locally, especially in Lithuania.[53] Only about ten percent of Estonian, 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.[54] Local puppet regimes performed administrative tasks and schools were permitted to function. However, most people were denied the right to own land or businesses.[55]

Attempts to restore independence and the Soviet offensive of 1944

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.[55] 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.[56] 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.[56] 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.[57]

By 1 March 1944 the siege of Leningrad was over and Soviet troops were on the border with Estonia.[58] 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.[59] 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.[60] 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

Main article: Baltic states under Soviet rule

Resistance and deportations

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.[61] The Soviets carried out massive deportations to eliminate any resistance to collectivisation or support of partisans.[62] Baltic partisans, such as the Forest brothers, continued to resist Soviet rule through armed struggle for a number of years.[63] The Soviets had previously carried out mass deportations in 1940–41, but the deportations between 1944–52 were even greater.[62] In March 1949 alone, the top Soviet authorities organised a mass deportation of 90,000 Baltic nationals.[64]

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 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.[62] After the war, the Soviets outlined new borders for the Baltic republics. The Lithuanian SSR gained the regions of Vilnius and Klaipeda while the Russian SFSR annexed territory from the eastern parts of the Estonian SSR (5% of prewar territory) and Latvian SSR (2%).[62]

Industrialization and immigration

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.[65] In all three republics, manufacturing industry was developed at the expense of other sectors, notably agriculture and housing. The rural economy suffered from the lack of investments and the collectivization.[66] Baltic urban areas damaged during wartime and it took ten years to reachieved housing losses. New constructions were often poor quality and ethnic Russians immigrants were favored in housing.[67] Estonia and Latvia received large-scale immigration of industrial workers for other parts of the Soviet Union and changed the demographics changes dramatically. Lithuania also received immigration but in a smaller scale.[65]

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.[67] 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.[68]

Restorations of independence

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 glastnost 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.[69] 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.[70] At the same time, coalitions of reformists and populist forces assembled under the Popular Fronts.[71] 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.[72] The Baltic Way, that took place on 23 of August 1989, became the biggest manifestation of opposition to the Soviet rule.[73]

On 11 March 1990 the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet declared Lithuania's independence.[74] The pro-independence candidates received overwhelming majority in the Supreme Soviet elections of March 1990.[75] On 30 March 1990, the Estonian Supreme Soviet proclaimed the start of a transitional period to independence. On 4 May 1990, the Latvian Supreme Soviet made a similar declaration.[76] 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.[77] Simultaneously the Baltic republics also started to negotiate directly with the Russian federal republic.[77] 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.[78] 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.[79] After the coup collapsed, the Soviet government recognised the independence of all three Baltic states on 6 September 1991.

Withdrawal of former Soviet Military troops

The Russian Federation assumed the burden of the occupation force comprising of about 150,000 former Soviet troops stationed in the Baltic states and its subsequent withdrawal.[80] As of 1992 there were still 120,000 Russian military in the Baltic states[81] as well as a large number of military pensioners particularly in Estonia and Latvia.

During the period of negotiations Russia hoped to obtain places like Liepaja naval base, the Skundra ABM radar station and the Ventspils space monitoring station in Latvia, the Paldiski submarine base in Estonia, as well as transit rights to Kaliningrad through Lithuania.

Removal of active forces became a matter of contention when Russia threatened to not withdraw its troops. Linkage to requests for specific legislation to guarantee rights of ethnic Russians was seen as an implied threat both in the West, by the U.N. General Assembly, and in particular by Baltic leadership, who viewed it as Russian imperialism.[81]

Lithuania was the first to succeed the complete withdrawal of Russian troops on August 31, 1993.[82] owing in part to the Kalingrad issue.[81]

Subsequent agreements to withdraw the Russian troops from Latvia were signed on April 30, 1994 and from Estonia on July 26, 1994.[83] 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 troops were not withdrawn by the end of August.[83] Russian troop withdrawl from the Baltic States was eventually completed on August 31, 1994.[84]

Aftermath

See also: Baltic Russians

In the years following the reestablishment of Baltic independence, tensions have remained between ethnic Balts and Russians in Estonia and Latvia. While post-independence citizenship policy in the Baltic states is relatively liberal[85] and is considered non-discriminatory[86], some claim otherwise[who?]. In addition, Baltic politicians [who?] have used the occupation as grounds for demanding $24–$100 billion from Russia as financial compensation.[87][88]

State continuity of the Baltic states

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[89] As a consequence of the policy of non-recognition of the Soviet seizure of these countries,[25][26] 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[90] thus sovereign title never passed to the Soviet Union and the Baltic states continued to exist as subjects of international law.[91]

The official position of Russia (legal successor of the USSR) is that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania joined freely of their own accord in 1940, and, with its dissolution, these countries became newly created entities in 1991. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) 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.[92]

Soviet and Russian historiography

Main article: Baltic states in Soviet historiography

The Soviet historiography saw the 1940 incorporation as voluntary entry by the Balts. The Soviet historiography inherited Russian concept of historical mythology from age of Kievan Rus through Russian Empire to the Soviet state. The Soviet historiography provided legitimate interest of Russia and the Soviet Union in the Baltic area. Majority of the ethnic Russians believed they have moral and historical rights to control and russianize the whole of the Soviet Union, the Baltic area included.[93] In Soviet historiography, the 1940 annexation was not only voluntary entry but also natural thing to do. The military security of mother Russia was improved and nothing could argue against it.[94]

Soviet sources prior to Perestroika

Up to the reassessment of Soviet history in USSR that began during Perestroika, before the USSR had condemned the 1939 secret protocol between Germany and itself that had led to the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries.[28]

The events in 1939, according to the pre-perestroika Soviet sources, were 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[95] 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 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 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.[96] 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 defenses."[97] 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."[98]

Russian historiography in the post-Soviet era

A number of different approaches have been identified amidst the works of the post-Soviet era Russian historians, who cover the Baltic question.[99]

Soviet-Russian historian Vilnis Sīpols argues that Stalin's ultimata of 1940 were defensive measures taken because of German threat and had no connection with the 'socialist revolutions' in the Baltic states.[100]

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 Modern History of Fatherland”,[101] a textbook for colleges. Similarly, Sergey Chernichenko, a jurist and vice-president of the Russian Association of International Law, argues that from the point of view of international law, the events in 1940 cannot be characterised as occupation. He claims occupation is a Baltic governments' thesis used to justify the 'discrimination of Russian-speaking inhabitants' there.[102]

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."[103]

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.[104]

Position of the Russian Federation

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 itself that had led to the division of Eastern Europe and the invasion and occupation of the three Baltic countries.[28]

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 the once the USSR had eliminate the consequences of the 1940 annexation which violated Lithuania’s sovereignty Russia-Lithuania relations would further improve.[39]

Meanwhile, Russia's current official position directly contradicts its earlier rapprochement with Lithuania.[105] as well as its signing of membership to the Council of Europe, where it agreed to 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...."[37][106] The Russian government and state officials maintain that the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states was legitimate[107] and that the Soviet Union liberated the countries from the Nazis.[108] They assert that Soviet troops initially 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.[109] "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 of Soviet conduct on the eve of the Second World War is called the "Myth of 1939–40" by Associate Professor of International Affairs David Mendeloff who states this interpretation that the Soviet Union had neither “occupied” the Baltic states in 1939, nor “annexed” them the following year is a widely held and deeply embedded in Russian historical consciousness.[110]

Treaties affecting USSR–Baltic relations

Main article: Baltic-Soviet relations

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

After the Baltic states proclaimed independence following the signing of the Armistice, Bolshevist Russia invaded at the end of 1918.[111] 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. Subsequently, at the initiative of the Soviet Union,[112] additional non-aggression treaties were concluded with all three Baltic States:

Timeline

Main article: Timeline of the occupation of the Baltic states

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Taagepera, Rein (1993). Estonia: return to independence. Westview Press. p. 58. ISBN 9780813311999. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ Ziemele, Ineta (2003). "State Continuity, Succession and Responsibility: Reparations to the Baltic States and their Peoples?". Baltic Yearbook of International Law. 3. Martinus Nijhoff: 165–190.
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Davies, Norman (2001). Dear, Ian (ed.). The Oxford companion to World War II. Michael Richard Daniell Foot. Oxford University Press. p. 85. ISBN 9780198604464.
  5. ^ Mälksoo (2003), p. 193.
  6. ^ The Occupation of Latvia at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ Feldbrugge, Ferdinand (1985). Encyclopedia of Soviet law. BRILL. p. 461. ISBN 9024730759. 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. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Fried, Daniel (June 14, 2007). "U.S.-Baltic Relations: Celebrating 85 Years of Friendship" (PDF). 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. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Lauterpacht, E. (1967). International Law Reports. Cambridge University Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 0521463807. 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 {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ European Parliament (January 13, 1983). "Resolution on the situation in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania". Official Journal of the European Communities. C. 42/78.
  14. ^ European Court of Human Rights cases on Occupation of Baltic States
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ "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
  18. ^ "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 {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  19. ^ Country Profiles: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania at UK Foreign Office
  20. ^ The World Book Encyclopedia ISBN 0-7166-0103-6
  21. ^ The History of the Baltic States by Kevin O'Connor ISBN 0-313-32355-0
  22. ^ Saburova, Irina (1955). "The Soviet Occupation of the Baltic States". Russian Review. 14 (1). Blackwell Publishing: 36–49. doi:10.2307/126075. JSTOR 126075.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ "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.
  25. ^ a b David James Smith, Estonia: independence and European integration, Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-415-26728-5, pXIX Cite error: The named reference "smith" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  26. ^ 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 1563243601. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ Van Elsuwege, Peter (2004). Flensburg Germany: European Centre for Minority Issues. p. 2 http://www.ecmi.de/download/working_paper_20.pdf. 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. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  28. ^ a b c The Forty-Third Session of the UN Sub-Commission at Google Scholar
  29. ^ 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."
  30. ^ Cole, Elizabeth A. (2007). Teaching the violent past: history education and reconciliation. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 233–234. ISBN 0742551431. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  31. ^ Combs, Dick (2008). Inside The Soviet Alternate Universe. Penn State Press. pp. 258, 259. ISBN 9780271033556. 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. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  32. ^ Bugajski, Janusz (2004). Cold peace. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 109. ISBN 0275983625. 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. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  33. ^ МИД РФ: Запад признавал Прибалтику частью СССР, grani.ru, May 2005
  34. ^ Комментарий Департамента информации и печати МИД России в отношении "непризнания" вступления прибалтийских республик в состав СССР, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), 7 May 2005
  35. ^ 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. 3. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers: 97–164.
  36. ^ Parliamentary Assembly (1996). "OPINION No. 193 (1996) on Russia's request for membership of the Council of Europe". Council of Europe. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  37. ^ a b as described in Resolution 1455 (2005), Honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation, at the CoE Parliamentary site, retrieved December 6, 2009
  38. ^ 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. 3. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers: 97–164.
  39. ^ a b Treaty between the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and the Republic of Lithuania on the Basis for Relations between States
  40. ^ Baltic Military District globalsecurity.org
  41. ^ a b c Text of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, executed August 23, 1939
  42. ^ 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
  43. ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 110.
  44. ^ a b The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith, Page 24, ISBN 0-415-28580-1
  45. ^ a b Gerner & Hedlund (1993). p. 59.
  46. ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 113.
  47. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 112.
  48. ^ a b c Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 114.
  49. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 115.
  50. ^ Baltic states German occupation at Encyclopaedia Britannica]
  51. ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 116.
  52. ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 117.
  53. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 118.
  54. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 119.
  55. ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 120.
  56. ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 121.
  57. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 123.
  58. ^ Bellamy (2007). p. 621.
  59. ^ Bellamy (2007). p. 622.
  60. ^ Bellamy (2007). p. 623.
  61. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 126.
  62. ^ a b c d Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 129.
  63. ^ Petersen, Roger Dale (2001). Resistance and rebellion: lessons from Eastern Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 206. ISBN 0521770009. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  64. ^ Strods, Heinrihs (2002). "The File on Operation 'Priboi': A Re-Assessment of the Mass Deportations of 1949". Journal of Baltic Studies. 33 (1): 1–36. Retrieved 2008-03-25. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) "Erratum". Journal of Baltic Studies. 33 (2): 241. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  65. ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 130.
  66. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 131.
  67. ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 132.
  68. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 139.
  69. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 147.
  70. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 149.
  71. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 150.
  72. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 151.
  73. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 154.
  74. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 158.
  75. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 160.
  76. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 162.
  77. ^ a b Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 164.
  78. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 187.
  79. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 189.
  80. ^ Holoboff, Elaine M. (1995). "Reversing Soviet Military Occupation". National Security in the Baltic States. M.E. Sharpe. p. 112. ISBN 1563243601. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  81. ^ a b c Simonsen, S. Compatriot Games: Explaining the 'Diaspora Linkage' in Russia's Military Withdrawl from the Baltic States. EUROPE-ASIA STUDIES, Vol. 53, No. 5. 2001
  82. ^ Holoboff, p 113
  83. ^ a b Holoboff, p 114
  84. ^ Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 191.
  85. ^ Ludwikowski, Rett R. (1996). Constitution-making in the region of former Soviet dominance. Duke University Press. p. 87. ISBN 9780822318026. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  86. ^ van Elsuwege, Peter. "Russian-speaking minorities in Estonia and Latvia: problems of integration at the threshold of the European Union" (PDF). European Centre for Minority Issues.
  87. ^ "Still feuding: Icy relations between Russia and Estonia". The Economist. 2007-05-01.
  88. ^ Tsygankov, Andrei (2009). Russophobia. p. 63. ISBN 9780230614185.
  89. ^ Van Elsuwgege, p378
  90. ^ 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
  91. ^ D. Zalimas, Legal and Political Issues on the Continuity of the Republic of Lithuania, 1999, 4 Lithuanian Foreign Policy Review 111–12.
  92. ^ Gennady Charodeyev, Russia Rejects Latvia’s Territorial Claim, Izvestia, (CDPSP, Vol XLIV, No 12.), 20 March 1992, p.3
  93. ^ Gerner & Hedlund (1993). p. 60.
  94. ^ Gerner & Hedlund (1993). p. 62.
  95. ^ Template:Ru icon1939 USSR-Latvia Mutual Aid Pact (full text)
  96. ^ Great Soviet Encyclopedia
  97. ^ Soviet Information Bureau (1948), Falsifiers of History (Historical Survey), Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, p. 50, 272848
  98. ^ Soviet Information Bureau (1948), Falsifiers of History (Historical Survey), Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, p. 52, 272848
  99. ^ 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.
  100. ^ 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.
  101. ^ Новейшая история Отечества. XX век. Учебник для студентов вузов: в 2 т. /Под редакцией А.Ф. Киселева, Э.М. Щагина. М., 1998. c.111
  102. ^ С.В.Черниченко “Об “оккупации” Прибалтики и нарушении прав русскоязычного населения” – “Международная жизнь” (август 2004 года) – http://www.ln.mid.ru/ns-pobeda.nsf/b33502cdd8144475c3256eda0037e5fc/a9693d8763f70b92c3256f00001e65f2?OpenDocument
  103. ^ Олег Платонов. История русского народа в XX веке. Том 2. Available at http://lib.ru/PLATONOWO/russ3.txt
  104. ^ Khudoley (2008), Soviet foreign policy during the Cold War, The Baltic factor, pp. 56-73.
  105. ^ Žalimas, Dainius. LEGAL AND POLITICAL ISSUES ON THE CONTINUITY OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA. Retrieved January 24, 2008.
  106. ^ OPINION No. 193 (1996) on Russia's request for membership of the Council of Europe, at the CoE Parliamentary site, retrieved December 6, 2009
  107. ^ Russia denies Baltic 'occupation' by BBC News
  108. ^ Bush denounces Soviet domination by BBC News
  109. ^ The term "occupation" inapplicable Sergei Yastrzhembsky, May 2005.
  110. ^ 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 (ed.). Historical injustice and democratic transition in eastern Asia and northern Europe: ghosts at the table of democracy. RoutledgeCurzon. pp. 79–118. ISBN 9780700715992. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |separator=, |laysummary=, |trans_title=, |month=, |trans_chapter=, and |lastauthoramp= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  111. ^ http://web.ku.edu/~eceurope/communistnationssince1917/ch2.html at University of Kansas, retrieved January 23, 2008
  112. ^ Prof. Dr. G. von Rauch "Die Baltischen Staaten und Sowjetrussland 1919–1939", Europa Archiv No. 17 (1954), p. 6865.

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