When the Baltic States joined the Soviet Union. How the Baltics became Soviet

These days marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Soviet power in the Baltics. On July 21-22, 1940, the parliaments of the three Baltic countries proclaimed the creation of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republics and adopted the Declaration on joining the USSR. Already in early August 1940, they became part of the Soviet Union. The current authorities of the Baltic states interpret the events of those years as an annexation. In turn, Moscow categorically disagrees with this approach and points out that the accession of the Baltic states was in line with international law.

Let us recall the background of this question. The Soviet Union and the Baltic countries signed agreements on mutual assistance, according to which, by the way, the USSR received the right to deploy a military contingent in the Baltics. Meanwhile, Moscow began to declare that the Baltic governments were violating the agreements, and later the Soviet leadership received information about the activation of the German fifth column in Lithuania. The Second World War was on, Poland and France had already been defeated by that time, and, of course, the USSR could not allow the transition of the Baltic countries to the zone of German influence. In what was essentially an emergency, Moscow demanded that the Baltic governments allow additional Soviet troops into their territory. In addition, the USSR put forward political demands, which, in fact, meant a change of power in the Baltics.

Moscow's terms were accepted, and early parliamentary elections were held in the three Baltic countries, in which pro-communist forces won a landslide victory, despite a very high voter turnout. The new government carried out the accession of these countries to the Soviet Union.

If you do not engage in legal chicanery, but speak on the merits, then calling what happened an occupation would mean sinning against the truth. Who does not know that in Soviet times the Baltics were a privileged region? Thanks to the colossal investments that were made in the Baltic States from the all-Union budget, the standard of living in the new Soviet republics was one of the highest. By the way, this gave rise to unfounded illusions, and at the everyday level, conversations in the spirit began to be heard: “if we live so well under occupation, then, having gained independence, we will achieve a standard of living like in the West.” Practice has shown what these empty dreams were worth. None of the three Baltic states ever turned into a second Sweden or Finland. Quite the opposite, when the “occupier” left, everyone saw that the really very high standard of living in the Baltic republics was largely supported by subsidies from Russia.

All these things are obvious, but political demagogy ignores even easily verified facts. And here our Foreign Ministry needs to keep an eye out. In no case should one agree with the interpretation of historical facts that the current authorities of the Baltic countries adhere to. They will also charge us for the "occupation", because Russia is the successor of the USSR. So the assessment of the events of seventy years ago is not only of historical interest, but also has a direct bearing on our life today.

In order to sort out the issue, KM.RU turned to MGIMO Associate Professor Olga Nikolaevna Chetverikova.

“We do not recognize this as an occupation, and this is the main stumbling block. The arguments of our country are that this cannot be called an occupation, because what happened is in line with the international legal norms that existed in those years. From this point of view, there is nothing to complain about. And they consider, that elections in diets have been falsified. The secret protocols to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact are also being considered. They say that this was agreed with the German authorities, but no one has seen all these documents, no one can confirm the reality of their existence.

First, it is necessary to clear the source base, documentary, archival, and then you can already say something. Serious research is needed, and as Ilyukhin said well, those archives that present the events of those years in a light that is unfavorable to the West are not published.

In any case, the position of our leadership is half-hearted and inconsistent. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was condemned, and, accordingly, the unknown, existing or non-existent secret protocols were condemned.

I think if the Soviet Union had not annexed the Baltics, then Germany would have annexed the Baltics, or it would have had the same conditions as France or Belgium. All of Europe was then actually under the control of the German authorities.

and Estonia) into the Soviet Union on the rights of the Soviet Socialist Republics.

background

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia gained independence in 1920 as a result of the territorial collapse of the former Russian Empire. In the next two decades, they became the scene of a sharp political struggle between the leading European powers - France, Great Britain, Germany and the USSR. On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed on the division of spheres of interest in Eastern Europe, according to which the USSR laid claim to all three Baltic states. The accession to the Soviet Union of Western Belorussia pushed the state border directly to all these states.

The accession of the Baltic States to the USSR was an important military-strategic task of the Soviet Union, for the implementation of which a whole range of diplomatic and military measures was taken. Officially, any accusations of Soviet-German collusion were rejected by diplomats from both sides. However, already in September 1939, the USSR began to create a military group on the border with Estonia and Latvia, which included the 3rd, 7th and 8th armies.

Accession of Estonia

On September 28, 1939, a Mutual Assistance Pact was concluded between the USSR and Estonia. This document was the result of political pressure on the republic - accusations were made by the USSR of violating neutrality in favor of Poland. Finland refused to support Estonia, Great Britain and France, who were connected by the war with Germany, also did not come to her aid. As a result, the Pact was concluded, on the basis of which Soviet military bases and a contingent of 25 thousand fighters and commanders were stationed in Estonia. The treaty was ratified by the Estonian parliament in early October.

On June 16, 1940, the Soviet Union presented Estonia with an ultimatum, in which it accused it of flagrantly violating the terms of an earlier agreement and demanded that a new, pro-Soviet, government be formed. On June 19, 1940, the Estonian government headed by J. Uluots resigned. The President of the Republic, K. Päts, accepted it and entrusted the formation of a new main body of executive power to General J. Laidoner. On June 21, 1940, as a result of a coup d'état, a government led by the writer J. Barbarus (Vares) came to power. In July-August, a radical restructuring of the entire state system was undertaken. On July 21, 1940, Soviet power was officially proclaimed in Estonia with the formation of the Estonian SSR. The next day, the Declaration of Accession to the USSR was adopted. On August 6, 1940, at the 7th session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a resolution was adopted to admit Estonia to the Soviet Union under the rights of the Soviet Socialist Republic.

Accession of Latvia

On October 5, 1939, an agreement on mutual assistance was signed between the Soviet Union and Latvia for a period of ten years. The USSR was allowed to have its own naval bases in and Ventspils on the territory of the republic, as well as several airfields, a coastal defense base to protect the Irben Strait. As in the case of Estonia, the maximum number of the Soviet contingent in the territory of Latvia was to be 25 thousand people. The transfer of troops began at the end of October 1939.

On June 16, 1940, on the same day as Estonia, Latvia was presented with an ultimatum about the violation of the agreement and containing the requirement to form a pro-Soviet government and allow an additional contingent of Soviet troops into the country. These conditions were accepted, and on June 17, 1940, new troops entered Latvia. The microbiologist A. Kirchenstein became the head of the pro-Soviet government.

The new government held elections for the People's Sejm, which was won by the Bloc of the Working People, a pro-communist political organization. On July 21, 1940, at its very first meeting, the new Seimas proclaimed Soviet power in the country and sent a request to accept Latvia into the USSR as a Soviet Socialist Republic. On August 5, 1940, this request was granted.

Accession of Lithuania

On October 10, 1939, the Mutual Assistance Treaty was signed between the USSR and Lithuania. In accordance with this document, the Vilna region, which was previously part of Poland and occupied by Soviet troops during the Polish campaign, was transferred to the republic. The Soviet Union received military bases and the possibility of deploying a 25,000-strong contingent on Lithuanian territory.

On June 14, 1940, Lithuania received an ultimatum from the Soviet Union demanding the admission of an additional contingent to the territory, the dissolution of the government and its replacement with a pro-Soviet one, and the arrest of several ministers. The President of the country A. Smetona was inclined to the need to organize armed resistance to the Soviet troops, but neither the leaders of Latvia and Estonia, nor the commander-in-chief of the army, General V. Vitkauskas, supported him. As a result, the ultimatum was accepted the next day, and Smetona fled the country. Journalist and writer J. Paleckis became the new head of government.

In the elections to the People's Seimas, the bloc "Union of the Working People of Lithuania" won. On July 21, 1940, the Seim proclaimed Soviet power in the country and sent a request to Moscow to accept it as part of the USSR as the Soviet Socialist Republic. On August 3, 1940, this request was granted. On January 10, 1941, an agreement was signed between the USSR and Germany on the refusal of the Third Reich from claims to the border regions of Lithuania.

results

The vast majority of the local population supported joining the Soviet Union. After the annexation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the Soviet Union, Moscow began the sovietization of the Baltic region. Lands and enterprises were nationalized, a radical reorganization of the economy was carried out, repressions began against the clergy, intelligentsia, former politicians, officers, police officers, and wealthy peasants. There were mass deportations.

All this led to the growth of discontent of the local population. An armed opposition was born, which finally took shape during the Great Patriotic War, when many anti-Soviet formations collaborated with the invaders and participated in war crimes.

The entry of the Baltic republics into the Soviet Union was not officially recognized by many countries and international organizations, however, in accordance with the agreements reached with the United States and Great Britain at conferences, the borders of the USSR for June 1941 were recognized. In addition, subsequently the inviolability of the post-war borders was confirmed on.

All treaties and declarations of 1940 were canceled by the Baltic republics in 1989-1991, which was recognized by the State Council of the USSR on September 6, 1991.

The Baltic states in the period between the two world wars became the object of the struggle of the great European powers (England, France and Germany) for influence in the region. In the first decade after the defeat of Germany in the First World War, there was a strong Anglo-French influence in the Baltic states, which later, from the beginning of the 1930s, began to interfere with the growing influence of neighboring Germany. He, in turn, tried to resist the Soviet leadership, taking into account the strategic importance of the region. By the end of the 1930s. Germany and the USSR became in fact the main rivals in the struggle for influence in the Baltics.

Failure "Eastern Pact" was due to the difference in interests of the contracting parties. Thus, the Anglo-French missions received detailed secret instructions from their general staffs, which determined the goals and nature of the negotiations - the note of the French general staff said, in particular, that, along with a number of political benefits that England and France would receive in connection with the accession of the USSR, this would allow him to be drawn into the conflict: "it is not in our interests that he remains out of the conflict, keeping his forces intact" . The Soviet Union, which considered at least two Baltic republics - Estonia and Latvia - as a sphere of its national interests, defended this position at the negotiations, but did not meet with understanding from the partners. As for the governments of the Baltic states themselves, they preferred guarantees from Germany, with which they were connected by a system of economic agreements and non-aggression pacts. According to Churchill, “An obstacle to the conclusion of such an agreement (with the USSR) was the horror that these same border states experienced before Soviet help in the form of Soviet armies that could pass through their territories to protect them from the Germans and, along the way, include them in the Soviet-Communist system. After all, they were the most violent opponents of this system. Poland, Romania, Finland and the three Baltic states did not know what they feared more - German aggression or Russian salvation. .

Simultaneously with negotiations with Great Britain and France, the Soviet Union in the summer of 1939 stepped up steps towards rapprochement with Germany. The result of this policy was the signing on August 23, 1939 of a non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR. According to the secret additional protocols to the treaty, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and the east of Poland were included in the Soviet sphere of interests, Lithuania and the west of Poland - in the sphere of German interests); By the time the treaty was signed, the Klaipeda (Memel) region of Lithuania had already been occupied by Germany (March 1939).

1939. The beginning of the war in Europe

Mutual Assistance Pacts and Treaty of Friendship and Boundary

Independent Baltic states on the map of the Small Soviet Encyclopedia. April 1940

As a result of the actual division of Polish territory between Germany and the USSR, the Soviet borders moved far to the west, and the USSR began to border on the third Baltic state - Lithuania. Initially, Germany intended to turn Lithuania into its protectorate, but on September 25, during the Soviet-German contacts on the settlement of the Polish problem, the USSR proposed to start negotiations on Germany's renunciation of claims to Lithuania in exchange for the territories of the Warsaw and Lublin provinces. On this day, the German ambassador to the USSR, Count Schulenburg, sent a telegram to the German Foreign Ministry, in which he said that he had been summoned to the Kremlin, where Stalin pointed to this proposal as a subject for future negotiations and added that if Germany agreed, "the Soviet Union immediately will take up the solution of the problem of the Baltic states in accordance with the protocol of August 23.

The situation in the Baltic states themselves was alarming and contradictory. Against the background of rumors about the upcoming Soviet-German partition of the Baltic States, which were refuted by diplomats from both sides, part of the ruling circles of the Baltic states were ready to continue rapprochement with Germany, many were anti-German and counted on the help of the USSR in maintaining the balance of power in the region and national independence, while the underground left-wing forces were ready to support joining the USSR.

Meanwhile, on the Soviet border with Estonia and Latvia, a Soviet military group was being created, which included the forces of the 8th Army (Kingisepp direction, Leningrad Military District), 7th Army (Pskov direction, Kalinin Military District) and 3rd Army (Belarusian Front).

In conditions when Latvia and Finland refused to support Estonia, England and France (which were at war with Germany) were not able to provide it, and Germany recommended accepting the Soviet proposal, the Estonian government entered into negotiations in Moscow, as a result of which on September 28 A Mutual Assistance Pact was concluded, providing for the creation of Soviet military bases in Estonia and the deployment of a Soviet contingent of up to 25 thousand people on them. On the same day, the Soviet-German Treaty "On Friendship and Border" was signed, which fixed the partition of Poland. According to the secret protocol to it, the conditions for the division of spheres of influence were revised: Lithuania went into the sphere of influence of the USSR in exchange for Polish lands east of the Vistula, which went to Germany. Stalin, at the end of negotiations with the Estonian delegation, told Selter: “The Estonian government acted wisely and for the benefit of the Estonian people by concluding an agreement with the Soviet Union. With you it could turn out, as with Poland. Poland was a great power. Where is Poland now?

On October 5, the USSR suggested that Finland also consider the possibility of concluding a mutual assistance pact with the USSR. Negotiations began on October 11, however, Finland rejected the proposals of the USSR both on the pact and on the lease and exchange of territories, which led to the Mainil incident, which became the reason for the denunciation of the non-aggression pact with Finland by the USSR and the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940.

Almost immediately after the signing of mutual assistance treaties, negotiations began on the basing of Soviet troops on the territory of the Baltic states.

The fact that the Russian armies had to stand on this line was absolutely necessary for the security of Russia against the Nazi threat. Be that as it may, this line exists, and the Eastern Front has been created, which Nazi Germany will not dare to attack. When Mr. Ribbentrop was summoned to Moscow last week, he had to learn and accept the fact that the implementation of the Nazi plans in relation to the Baltic countries and Ukraine must be finally stopped.

original text(English)

That the Russian armies should stand on this line was clearly necessary for the safety of Russia against the Nazi menace. At any rate, the line is there, and an Eastern front has been created which Nazi Germany does not dare assail. When Herr von Ribbentrop was summoned to Moscow last week it was to learn the fact, and to accept the fact that the Nazi designs upon the Baltic States and upon the Ukraine must come to a dead stop.

The Soviet leadership also stated that the Baltic countries did not comply with the signed agreements and were pursuing an anti-Soviet policy. For example, the political union between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Baltic Entente) was characterized as having an anti-Soviet orientation and violating mutual assistance treaties with the USSR.

A limited contingent of the Red Army (for example, in Latvia its number was 20,000) was introduced with the permission of the presidents of the Baltic countries, and agreements were concluded. So, on November 5, 1939, the Riga newspaper Gazeta dlya Vsego in the article “Soviet troops went to their bases” published a message:

On the basis of a friendly agreement concluded between Latvia and the USSR on mutual assistance, the first echelons of Soviet troops proceeded on October 29, 1939 through the border station Zilupe. To meet the Soviet troops, a guard of honor with a military band was lined up ....

A little later, in the same newspaper on November 26, 1939, in the article “Freedom and Independence”, dedicated to the celebrations of November 18, the President of Latvia published a speech by President Karlis Ulmanis, in which he stated:

... The recently concluded mutual assistance agreement with the Soviet Union strengthens the security of our and its borders ...

Ultimatums of the summer of 1940 and the removal of the Baltic governments

The entry of the Baltic states into the USSR

The new governments lifted bans on communist parties and demonstrations and called early parliamentary elections. In the elections held on July 14 in all three states, the pro-communist Blocks (Unions) of the working people won - the only electoral lists admitted to the elections. According to official data, in Estonia the turnout was 84.1%, while 92.8% of the votes were cast for the Union of the Working People, in Lithuania the turnout was 95.51%, of which 99.19% voted for the Union of the Working People, in Latvia The turnout was 94.8%, with 97.8% of the votes cast for the Bloc of the Working People. The elections in Latvia, according to V. Mangulis, were rigged.

The newly elected parliaments already on July 21-22 proclaimed the creation of the Estonian SSR, the Latvian SSR and the Lithuanian SSR and adopted the Declaration on joining the USSR. On August 3-6, 1940, in accordance with the decisions of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, these republics were admitted to the Soviet Union. From the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian armies, the Lithuanian (29th rifle), Latvian (24th rifle) and Estonian (22nd rifle) territorial corps were formed, which became part of the PribOVO.

The entry of the Baltic states into the USSR was not recognized by the United States, the Vatican and a number of other countries. Recognized it de jure Sweden , Spain , Netherlands , Australia , India , Iran , New Zealand , Finland , de facto- Great Britain and a number of other countries. In exile (in the USA, Great Britain, etc.), some diplomatic missions of the pre-war Baltic states continued to operate; after the Second World War, the Estonian government in exile was created.

Consequences

The accession of the Baltic States with the USSR delayed the appearance of the Baltic states planned by Hitler allied to the Third Reich

After the entry of the Baltic states into the USSR, the socialist transformations of the economy already completed in the rest of the country and repressions against the intelligentsia, the clergy, former politicians, officers, and wealthy peasants moved here. In 1941, “due to the presence in the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian SSR of a significant number of former members of various counter-revolutionary nationalist parties, former policemen, gendarmes, landowners, manufacturers, high officials of the former state apparatus of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and other persons leading subversive anti-Soviet work and used by foreign intelligence services for espionage purposes”, deportations of the population were carried out. . A significant part of the repressed were Russians living in the Baltics, mostly white émigrés.

In the Baltic republics, just before the start of the war, an operation was completed to evict an “unreliable and counter-revolutionary element” - a little more than 10 thousand people were expelled from Estonia, about 17.5 thousand from Latvia from Lithuania - according to various estimates, from 15.4 to 16.5 thousands of people. This operation was completed by June 21, 1941.

In the summer of 1941, after the German attack on the USSR, in Lithuania and Latvia, in the first days of the German offensive, there were actions of the "fifth column", which resulted in the proclamation of short-lived "loyal to Great Germany" states, in Estonia, where Soviet troops defended longer this process almost immediately was replaced by inclusion in the Reich Commissariat Ostland, like the other two.

Contemporary politics

Differences in the assessment of the events of 1940 and the subsequent history of the Baltic countries within the USSR are a source of unrelenting tension in relations between Russia and the Baltics. In Latvia and Estonia, many issues regarding the legal status of Russian-speaking residents - migrants of the 1940-1991 era have not yet been resolved. and their descendants (see Non-citizens (Latvia) and Non-citizens (Estonia)), since only citizens of the pre-war Republics of Latvia and Estonia and their descendants were recognized as citizens of these states (in Estonia, citizens of the Estonian SSR also supported the independence of the Republic of Estonia in a referendum on March 3, 1991) , the rest were struck in civil rights, which created a situation unique for modern Europe for the existence of discrimination regimes on its territory. .

The European Union bodies and commissions repeatedly addressed Latvia and Estonia with official recommendations, in which they pointed out the inadmissibility of continuing the legal practice of segregating non-citizens.

Of particular public resonance in Russia were the facts of initiation of criminal cases by the law enforcement agencies of the Baltic states against former employees of the Soviet state security agencies living here, accused of participating in repressions and crimes against the local population during World War II. The unlawfulness of these accusations was confirmed in the international Strasbourg Court.

The opinion of historians and political scientists

Some foreign historians and political scientists, as well as some modern Russian researchers, characterize this process as the occupation and annexation of independent states by the Soviet Union, carried out gradually, as a result of a series of military-diplomatic and economic steps and against the backdrop of the Second World War unfolding in Europe. In this regard, the term is sometimes used in journalism Soviet occupation of the Baltics reflecting this point of view. Modern politicians also talk about incorporations, as about a softer version of the attachment. According to the former head of the Latvian Foreign Ministry, Janis Jurkans, “It is the word incorporation» . Baltic historians emphasize the facts of violation of democratic norms during the extraordinary parliamentary elections held at the same time in all three states in the conditions of a significant Soviet military presence, as well as the fact that in the elections held on July 14 and 15, 1940, only one list of candidates put forward by the Bloc of the Working People, and all other alternative lists were rejected. Baltic sources believe that the election results were rigged and did not reflect the will of the people. For example, in the text posted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, information is provided that “ In Moscow, the Soviet news agency TASS gave information about the mentioned election results already twelve hours before the start of the counting of votes in Latvia» . He also cites the opinion of Dietrich André Loeber - one of the former servicemen of the Abwehr sabotage and reconnaissance unit "Brandenburg 800" in 1941-1945 - that the annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was fundamentally illegal: since it is based on intervention and occupation. . From this it is concluded that the decisions of the Baltic parliaments to join the USSR were predetermined in advance.

Soviet, as well as some modern Russian historians, insist on the voluntary nature of the entry of the Baltic states into the USSR, arguing that it was finalized in the summer of 1940 on the basis of decisions of the highest legislative bodies of these countries, which received the widest support of voters in the elections for the entire existence of independent the Baltic states. Some researchers, without calling the events voluntary, do not agree with their qualification as occupations. The Russian Foreign Ministry considers the accession of the Baltic states to the USSR as consistent with the norms of international law of that time.

Otto Latsis, a well-known scientist and publicist, stated in an interview with Radio Liberty - Free Europe in May 2005:

took place incorporation Latvia, but not the occupation"

see also

Notes

1. Semiryaga M.I. - Secrets of Stalin's diplomacy. 1939-1941. - Chapter VI: Troubled Summer, M.: Higher School, 1992. - 303 p. - Circulation 50,000 copies.
2. Guryanov A. E. The scale of the deportation of the population deep into the USSR in May-June 1941, memo.ru
3. Michael Keating, John McGarry Minority nationalism and the changing international order. - Oxford University Press, 2001. - P. 343. - 366 p. - ISBN 0199242143
4. Jeff Chinn, Robert John Kaiser Russians as the new minority: ethnicity and nationalism in the Soviet successor states. - Westview Press, 1996. - P. 93. - 308 p. - ISBN 0813322480
5. Great Historical Encyclopedia: For schoolchildren and students, page 602: "Molotov"
6. Treaty between Germany and the USSR
7. http://www.historycommission.ee/temp/pdf/conclusions_en_1940-1941.pdf 1940-1941, Conclusions // Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity]
8. http://www.am.gov.lv/en/latvia/history/occupation-aspects/
9. http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/policy/4641/4661/4671/?print=on
10. • "Resolution regarding the Baltic States adopted by the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe" September 29, 1960
    • Resolution 1455 (2005) "Honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation" June 22, 2005
11. (English) European Parliament (January 13, 1983). "Resolution on the situation in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania". Official Journal of the European Communities C 42/78.
12. (English) European Parliament resolution on the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe on 8 May 1945
13. (English) European Parliament resolution of 24 May 2007 on Estonia
14. Russian Foreign Ministry: The West recognized the Baltic states as part of the USSR
15. Archive of foreign policy of the USSR. The Case of the Anglo-French-Soviet Negotiations, 1939 (vol. III), l. 32 - 33. quoted in:
16. Archive of foreign policy of the USSR. The Case of the Anglo-French-Soviet Negotiations, 1939 (vol. III), l. 240. cited in: Military Literature: Studies: Zhilin P. A. How Nazi Germany prepared an attack on the Soviet Union
17. Winston Churchill. Memoirs
18. Meltyukhov Mikhail Ivanovich Stalin's missed chance. The Soviet Union and the struggle for Europe: 1939-1941
19. Telegram No. 442 dated September 25 by Schulenburg at the German Foreign Ministry // Subject to disclosure: USSR - Germany. 1939-1941: Documents and materials. Comp. Y. Felshtinsky. M.: Mosk. worker, 1991.
20. Mutual Assistance Pact between the USSR and the Republic of Estonia // Plenipotentiaries inform ... - M., International relations, 1990 - pp. 62-64
21. Mutual Assistance Pact between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Republic of Latvia // Plenipotentiaries inform ... - M., International relations, 1990 - pp. 84-87
22. Agreement on the transfer of the city of Vilna and the Vilna region to the Republic of Lithuania and on mutual assistance between the Soviet Union and Lithuania // Plenipotentiaries inform ... - M., International relations, 1990 - pp. 92-98

In June 1940, events began that were previously called “the voluntary entry of the peoples of the Baltic states into the USSR”, and since the late 1980s they have been increasingly referred to as the “Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries”. During the years of Gorbachev's "perestroika", a new historical scheme began to take root. According to it, the Soviet Union occupied and forcibly annexed three independent democratic Baltic republics.

Meanwhile, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia by the summer of 1940 were by no means democratic. And for a long time. As for their independence, it has been rather elusive since its announcement in 1918.

1. The myth of democracy in the interwar Baltics

At first, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were parliamentary republics. But not for long. Internal processes, in the first place - the growth of the influence of the left forces, which sought to "do as in Soviet Russia," led to a reciprocal consolidation of the right. However, even this short period of parliamentary democracy was marked by the repressive policy of the top. So, after an unsuccessful uprising organized by the communists in Estonia in 1924, more than 400 people were executed there. For small Estonia - a significant figure.

On December 17, 1926, in Lithuania, the parties of nationalists and Christian Democrats, relying on groups of officers loyal to them, carried out a coup d'état. The putschists were inspired by the example of neighboring Poland, where the founder of the state, Josef Pilsudski, established his sole power a little earlier in the year. The Lithuanian Seimas was dissolved. Antanas Smetona, the leader of the nationalists, who was the first president of Lithuania, became the head of state. In 1928, he was officially proclaimed the "leader of the nation", unlimited powers were concentrated in his hands. In 1936, all parties in Lithuania, except for the Nationalist Party, were banned.

In Latvia and Estonia, right-authoritarian regimes were established somewhat later. On March 12, 1934, the state elder - the head of the executive branch of Estonia - Konstantin Päts (the first prime minister of independent Estonia) canceled the re-elections of the parliament. In Estonia, the coup was caused not so much by the actions of the left as by the far right. Päts banned the pro-Nazi organization of veterans ("vaps"), which he considered a threat to his power, and carried out mass arrests of its members. At the same time, he began to implement many elements of the "vaps" program in his politics. Having received approval from the parliament for his actions, Päts dissolved it in October of the same year.

The Estonian Parliament has not met for four years. All this time, the republic was ruled by a junta consisting of Päts, commander-in-chief J. Laidoner and head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs K. Eerenpalu. All political parties were banned in March 1935, except for the pro-government Union of the Fatherland. The constitutional assembly, which was not elected by alternative, adopted a new Estonian constitution in 1937, which gave extensive powers to the president. In accordance with it, a one-party parliament and President Päts were elected in 1938.

One of the “innovations” of “democratic” Estonia was “laggard camps”, as the unemployed were called. For them, a 12-hour working day was established, the guilty were beaten with rods.

On May 15, 1934, Latvian Prime Minister Karlis Ulmanis staged a coup d'état, abolished the constitution and dissolved the Seimas. President Kviesis was given the opportunity to serve until the end of his term (in 1936) - he actually did not decide anything. Ulmanis, who was the first prime minister of independent Latvia, was proclaimed "the leader and father of the nation." More than 2,000 oppositionists were arrested (however, almost all of them were soon released - Ulmanis' regime turned out to be "soft" compared to its neighbors). All political parties were banned.

Some differences can be established in the right-wing authoritarian regimes of the Baltic states. So, if Smetona and Päts largely relied on a single permitted party, then Ulmanis relied on a formally non-partisan state apparatus plus a developed civil militia (aissargs). But they had more in common, to the point that all three dictators were people who were at the head of these republics at the very dawn of their existence.

Elections to the Estonian parliament in 1938 can serve as a striking characteristic of the "democratic" nature of the bourgeois Baltic states. They were attended by candidates from a single party - the "Union of the Fatherland". At the same time, local election commissions were instructed by the Minister of the Interior: “People who are known to be able to vote against the National Assembly should not be allowed to vote ... They must be immediately handed over to the police.” This ensured a "unanimous" vote for the candidates of a single party. But despite this, in 50 constituencies out of 80 they decided not to hold elections at all, but simply to announce the election of the only candidates to parliament.

Thus, long before 1940, the last signs of democratic freedoms were eliminated throughout the Baltics and a totalitarian state system was established.

The Soviet Union had only to make a technical replacement of the fascist dictators, their pocket parties and political police with the mechanism of the CPSU (b) and the NKVD.

2. The myth of the independence of the Baltic States

The independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia was proclaimed in 1917-1918. in a difficult environment. Most of their territory was occupied by German troops. Kaiser Germany had its own plans for Lithuania and the Ostsee region (Latvia and Estonia). At the Lithuanian Tariba (National Council), the German administration forced an "act" on calling the Württemberg prince to the Lithuanian royal throne. In the rest of the Baltic States, the Baltic Duchy was proclaimed, headed by a member of the Mecklenburg ducal house.

In 1918-1920. The Baltic states, with the help of first Germany and then England, became the springboard for the deployment of the forces of the internal Russian civil war. Therefore, the leadership of Soviet Russia took all measures to neutralize them. After the defeat of the White Guard army of Yudenich and other similar formations in the north-west of Russia, the RSFSR hastened to recognize the independence of Latvia and Estonia and in 1920 signed interstate agreements with these republics, guaranteeing the inviolability of their borders. At that time, the RSFSR even concluded a military alliance with Lithuania against Poland. Thus, thanks to the support of Soviet Russia, the Baltic countries defended their formal independence in those years.

With actual independence, things were much worse. The agrarian and raw material component of the basis of the Baltic economy forced to look for importers of Baltic agricultural and fishery products in the West. But the West had little need for Baltic fish, and therefore the three republics were increasingly mired in the quagmire of subsistence farming. The consequence of economic backwardness was the politically dependent position of the Baltic states.

Initially, the Baltic countries were guided by England and France, but after the Nazis came to power in Germany, the ruling Baltic cliques began to move closer to the growing Germany. The culmination of everything was the mutual assistance treaties concluded by all three Baltic states with the Third Reich in the mid-1930s (“Score of the Second World War”. M .: “Veche”, 2009). According to these treaties, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were obliged, in the event of a threat to their borders, to turn to Germany for help. The latter had in this case the right to send troops to the territory of the Baltic republics. In the same way, Germany could "legitimately" occupy these countries if a "threat" to the Reich arose from their territory. Thus, the "voluntary" entry of the Baltic states into the sphere of interests and influence of Germany was formalized.

This circumstance was taken into account by the leadership of the USSR in the events of 1938-1939. A conflict between the USSR and Germany under these conditions would have entailed the immediate occupation of the Baltic states by the Wehrmacht. Therefore, during the negotiations on August 22-23, 1939 in Moscow, the issue of the Baltic was one of the most important. It was important for the Soviet Union to protect itself from this side from any surprises. The two powers agreed to draw the border of spheres of influence so that Estonia and Latvia fell into the Soviet sphere, Lithuania - into the German one.

The consequence of the agreement was the approval by the leadership of Lithuania on September 20, 1939 of a draft agreement with Germany, according to which Lithuania was "voluntarily" transferred under the protectorate of the Third Reich. However, already on September 28, the USSR and Germany agreed to change the boundaries of spheres of influence. In exchange for a strip of Poland between the Vistula and the Bug, the USSR received Lithuania.

In the autumn of 1939, the Baltic countries had an alternative - to be under the Soviet or under the German protectorate. History did not provide them with anything at that moment.

3. The myth of the occupation

The period of establishing the independence of the Baltic States - 1918-1920. - was marked in them by the civil war. Quite a significant part of the population of the Baltic States, with weapons in their hands, advocated the establishment of Soviet power. At one time (in the winter of 1918/19) the Lithuanian-Belarusian and Latvian Soviet Socialist Republics and the Estland "Labor Commune" were proclaimed. The Red Army, which included national Bolshevik Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian units, for some time occupied most of the territories of these republics, including the cities of Riga and Vilnius.

Support for the anti-Soviet forces by the interventionists and the inability of Soviet Russia to provide sufficient assistance to its supporters in the Baltics led to the retreat of the Red Army from the region. Red Latvians, Estonians and Lithuanians, by the will of fate, were deprived of their homeland and scattered throughout the USSR. Thus, in the 1920s and 1930s, that part of the Baltic peoples who most actively supported Soviet power found themselves in forced emigration. This circumstance could not but affect the mood in the Baltic States, deprived of the "passionate" part of their population.

Due to the fact that the course of the civil war in the Baltic States was determined not so much by internal processes as by changes in the balance of external forces, it is absolutely impossible to establish exactly who was there in 1918-1920. there were more supporters of Soviet power or supporters of bourgeois statehood.

Soviet historiography attached great importance to the growth of protest moods in the Baltic States at the end of 1939 - the first half of 1940. They were interpreted as the maturing of socialist revolutions in these republics. It was understood that the local underground communist parties were at the head of the workers' protests. In our time, many historians, especially the Baltic ones, are inclined to deny facts of this kind. It is believed that speeches against dictatorial regimes were isolated, and dissatisfaction with them did not automatically mean sympathy for the Soviet Union and the Communists.

Nevertheless, given the previous history of the Baltics, the active role of the working class of this region in the Russian revolutions of the early twentieth century, widespread dissatisfaction with dictatorial regimes, it should be recognized that the Soviet Union had a strong “fifth column” there. And it obviously consisted not only of communists and sympathizers. What was important was that the only real alternative to joining the USSR at that time, as we saw, was joining the German Reich. During the civil war, the hatred of Estonians and Latvians for their centuries-old oppressors, the German landowners, was quite clearly manifested. Lithuania, thanks to the Soviet Union, returned in the autumn of 1939 its ancient capital - Vilnius.

So sympathy for the USSR among a significant part of the Balts at that time was determined not only and not so much by left-wing political views.

On June 14, 1940, the USSR issued an ultimatum to Lithuania, demanding a change of government to one more loyal to the Soviet Union and permission to send additional contingents of Soviet troops to Lithuania, stationed there under a mutual assistance agreement concluded in the fall of 1939. Smetona insisted on resistance, but the entire cabinet opposed. Smetona was forced to flee to Germany (from where he soon moved to the United States), and the Lithuanian government accepted the Soviet conditions. On June 15, additional contingents of the Red Army entered Lithuania.

The presentation of similar ultimatums to Latvia and Estonia on June 16, 1940 met with no objections from the local dictators. Initially, Ulmanis and Päts formally remained in power and authorized measures to create new authorities in these republics. On June 17, 1940, additional Soviet troops entered Estonia and Latvia.

In all three republics, governments were formed from persons friendly to the USSR, but not communists. All this was carried out in compliance with the formal requirements of the current constitutions. Then parliamentary elections were held. Decrees on new appointments and elections were signed by the prime minister of Lithuania, the presidents of Latvia and Estonia. Thus, the change of power took place in compliance with all the procedures required by the laws of independent Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. From a formal legal point of view, all the acts that preceded the entry of these republics into the USSR are irreproachable.

The legitimacy of the accession of the Baltic States to the USSR was given by the elections to the Seimas of these republics, held on July 14, 1940. Only one list of candidates was registered for the elections - from the Union of the Working People (in Estonia - the Bloc of the Working People). This was also fully in line with the legislation of these countries during the period of independence, which did not provide for alternative elections. According to official data, the voter turnout ranged from 84 to 95%, and from 92 to 99% voted for the candidates of the single list (in different republics).

We are deprived of the opportunity to know how the political process in the Baltic countries would develop after the overthrow of the dictatorships, if it were left to itself. In that geopolitical situation it was a utopia. However, there is no reason to believe that the summer of 1940 meant for the Baltics the replacement of democracy by totalitarianism. Democracy was long gone. In the worst case scenario, for the Baltics, one authoritarianism has simply been replaced by another.

But at the same time, the threat of the destruction of the statehood of the three Baltic republics was averted. What would happen to her if the Baltic fell under the control of the German Reich was demonstrated in 1941-1944.

In the plans of the Nazis, the Baltic states were subject to partial assimilation by the Germans, partial eviction to lands cleared of Russians. There was no question of any Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian statehood.

In the conditions of the Soviet Union, the Balts retained their statehood, their official languages, developed and enriched their national culture.