Soviet Invasion Of Lithuania
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The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states covers the period from the
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
mutual assistance pacts in 1939, to their invasion and annexation in 1940, to the mass deportations of 1941. In September and October 1939 the Soviet government compelled the much smaller Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance pacts which gave the Soviets the right to establish military bases there. Following invasion by the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...
in the summer of 1940, Soviet authorities compelled the Baltic governments to resign. The presidents of
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
and
Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
were imprisoned and later died in Siberia. Under Soviet supervision, new puppet communist governments and
fellow travelers A fellow traveller (also fellow traveler) is a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member. In the early history of the Sov ...
arranged rigged elections with falsified results. Shortly thereafter, the newly elected "people's assemblies" passed resolutions requesting admission into the Soviet Union. In June 1941 the new Soviet governments carried out mass deportations of "enemies of the people". Consequently, at first many Balts greeted the
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
as liberators when they occupied the area a week later. Gerner & Hedlund (1993). p. 59.


Background

After the
Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...
on 17 September 1939, in accordance with the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Ge ...
the Soviet forces were given freedom over Latvia,
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
and Estonia, an important aspect of the agreement to the Soviet government as they were afraid of Germany using the three states as a corridor to get close to Leningrad. The Soviets pressured Finland and the Baltic states to conclude mutual assistance treaties. The Soviets questioned the neutrality of Estonia following the escape of a Polish submarine from
Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
on 18 September. Six days later, on 24 September 1939, 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. Hiden & Salmon (1994). p. 110.The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith, Page 24, The Estonians had no choice but to allow the establishment of Soviet naval, air and army bases on two Estonian islands and at the port of
Paldiski Paldiski is a seaside Populated places in Estonia, town in northwestern Estonia, located on the Pakri Peninsula and adjacent Pakri Islands, Pakri islands in the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. It is the administrative centre of the Lääne- ...
. The corresponding
agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus (disambiguation), a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of ...
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, and station 25,000 Soviet soldiers in Estonia, 30,000 in Latvia and 20,000 in Lithuania from October 1939. The Soviets then turned their attention to
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
. The Soviets demanded that Finland cede or lease parts of its territory, as well as the destruction of Finnish defenses along the Karelian Isthmus. After the Finns rejected these demands, the Soviets responded with military force. The USSR launched the
Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...
on 30 November 1939, with the goal of annexing Finland. Simultaneously, a
puppet regime A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but '' de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sover ...
, called the
Finnish Democratic Republic The Finnish Democratic Republic ( or ''Suomen kansantasavalta'', , Russian: ''Финляндская Демократическая Республика''), also known as the Terijoki Government (), was a short-lived puppet government of the Sov ...
, was created by the Soviets to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. The initial period of the war proved disastrous for the Soviet military, taking severe losses while making little headway. On 29 January 1940, the Soviets put an end to their Finnish Democratic Republic puppet government and recognized the government in Helsinki as the legal government of Finland, informing it that they were willing to negotiate peace. The Soviets reorganized their forces and launched a new offensive along the Karelian Isthmus in February 1940. As fighting in Viipuri raged and the hope of foreign intervention faded, the Finns accepted peace terms on 12 March 1940 with the signing of the
Moscow Peace Treaty The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War, upon which Finland ceded border areas to the Soviet Union. The ...
. Fighting ended the following day. The Finns had retained their independence, but ceded 9% of Finnish territory to the Soviet Union. While the Baltic states were officially neutral in the Winter War, with the Soviets praising their relations with the USSR as exemplary, Soviet bombers had used bases in Estonia for bombing Finland. Mälksoo (2003). p. 83.


Soviet occupation

The Soviet troops allocated for possible military actions against the Baltic states numbered 435,000 troops, around 8,000 guns and mortars, over 3,000 tanks, and over 500 armoured cars. On 3 June 1940 all Soviet military forces based in Baltic states were concentrated under the command of
Aleksandr Loktionov Aleksandr Dmitriyevich Loktionov (; ) – 28 October 1941) was a Soviet general. In 1923 he was given command of the 2nd Infantry Division in Belarus, and the next year he became a member of the Minsk City Council. In 1925 he became a member of ...
. On 9 June the directive 02622ss/ov was given to the Red Army's
Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...
by
Semyon Timoshenko Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (; ; – 31 March 1970) was a Soviet military commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union, and one of the most prominent Red Army commanders during the Second World War. Born to a Ukrainian family in Bessarabia, ...
to be ready by 12 June to a) capture the vessels of the
Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...
, Latvian and Lithuanian navies in their bases or at sea; b) capture the Estonian and Latvian commercial fleets and all other vessels; c) prepare for an invasion and landing in Tallinn and Paldiski; d) close the
Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia (, , ) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main connection between the gulf and t ...
and blockade the coasts of Estonia and Latvia in the
Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...
and Baltic Sea; e) prevent an evacuation of the Estonian and Latvian governments, military forces and assets; f) provide naval support for an invasion towards
Rakvere Rakvere is the administrative center, or county seat, of Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia, about 100 km southeast of Tallinn and 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. Rakvere boasts a distinctive architectural feature: th ...
; and g) prevent Estonian and Latvian airplanes from flying either to Finland or Sweden. On 12 June 1940, according to the director of the Russian State Archive of the Naval Department Pavel Petrov (C.Phil.) referring to the records in the archive, the Soviet
Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...
was ordered to implement a total military blockade of Estonia. On 13 June at 10:40 a.m. Soviet forces started to move to their positions and were ready by 14 June at 10 p.m. Four submarines and a number of light navy units were positioned in the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
, in the Gulfs of Riga and Finland, to isolate the Baltic states by the sea. A navy squadron including three destroyer divisions was positioned to the west of
Naissaar Naissaar (; ) is an island in Estonia. It is located in the Gulf of Finland, northwest of the capital city Tallinn, and is administratively part of Viimsi Parish. The island has an area of . It is long and wide, and lies about from the main ...
in order to support the invasion and the 1st Marine Brigade's four battalions were positioned on the transport ships ''Sibir'', ''2nd Pjatiletka'' and ''Elton'' for landings on the islands Naissaare and
Aegna Aegna is an Estonian island in the Bay of Tallinn in the Baltic Sea. Administratively it is part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia and is a sub district of the Kesklinn (City center) district. Geography Aegna island has an area ...
. The transport ship ''Dnester'' and destroyers ''Storozevoi'' and ''Silnoi'' were positioned with troops for the invasion of the capital Tallinn; the 50th battalion was positioned on ships for an invasion near Kunda. 120 Soviet vessels participated in the naval blockade, including one cruiser, seven destroyers, and seventeen submarines, along with 219 airplanes including the 8th air-brigade with 84
DB-3 The Ilyushin DB-3, where "DB" stands for ''Dalniy Bombardirovshchik'' (Russian: Дальний бомбардировщик) meaning "long-range bomber", is a Soviet bomber aircraft of World War II. It was a twin-engined, low-wing monoplane that ...
and
Tupolev SB The Tupolev ANT-40, also known by its service name Tupolev SB ( – ''Skorostnoi Bombardirovschik'' – high speed bomber) and development co-name TsAGI-40, was a high speed twin-engined three-seat monoplane bomber, first flown in 1934. The Tup ...
bombers and the 10th brigade with 62 airplanes. On 14 June 1940 the Soviets issued an ultimatum to Lithuania. The Soviet military blockade of Estonia went into effect while the world's attention was focused on the
fall of Paris The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...
to Nazi Germany. Two Soviet bombers downed the Finnish passenger airplane ''
Kaleva Kaleva or Kalevi may refer to: * CWT Kaleva Travel, a travel management company based in Finland * Kalevi (mythology), the great king of Kainuu in Finnish, Karelian and Estonian mythology * ''Kaleva'' (wasp), a wasp genus in the subfamily Pteromal ...
'' flying from Tallinn to
Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn,
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
and Helsinki. The US Foreign Service employee Henry W. Antheil Jr. was killed in the crash. On 16 June 1940 the Soviets issued an ultimatum to Estonia and to Latvia. On 18 June 1940 the German Ambassador to the Soviet Union Graf von der Schulenburg in his telegram have said that earlier
V. Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...
had "warmly" congratulated him on Germany's recent success in France and added that:
« it had become necessary to put an end to all the intrigues by which England and France had tried to sow discord and mistrust between Germany and the Soviet Union in the Baltic States. ithuanian border was evidently inadequately guarded. The Soviet Government would, therefore, if requested, assist the Lithuanian Government in guarding its borders.»


Red Army invades

Molotov had accused the Baltic states of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivered an ultimatum to all Baltic countries for the establishment of Soviet-approved governments. Threatening invasion and accusing the three states of violating the original pacts as well as forming a conspiracy against the Soviet Union, Moscow presented ultimatums, demanding new concessions, which included the replacement of their governments and allowing an unlimited number of troops to enter the three countries.The World Book Encyclopedia The Baltic governments had decided that, given their international isolation and the overwhelming Soviet forces on their borders and already on their territories, it was futile to actively resist and better to avoid bloodshed in an unwinnable war. The occupation of the Baltic states coincided with a communist
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
in each country, supported by the Soviet troops. On 15 June the USSR invaded Lithuania. The Soviet troops attacked the Latvian border guards at MasļenkiThe Occupation of Latvia
at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia
before invading Latvia and Estonia on 16 June. According to a ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine article published at the time of the invasions, in a matter of days around 500,000 Soviet Red Army troops occupied the three Baltic states – just one week before the
Fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...
to Nazi Germany. The Soviet military forces far outnumbered the armies of each country. Most of the
Estonian Defence Forces The Estonian Defence Forces () is the unified military force of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Defence Forces consists of the Estonian Land Forces, the Estonian Navy, the Estonian Air Force, and the paramilitary Estonian Defence Leagu ...
and the
Estonian Defence League The Estonian Defence League (, 'Defence League') is a voluntary paramilitary national defence organization of the Republic of Estonia, under management of the Ministry of Defence. Its aim is to guarantee the preservation of the independence and s ...
surrendered according to the orders of the Estonian Government and were disarmed by the Red Army. Only the Estonian Independent Signal Battalion stationed in Tallinn at Raua Street showed resistance to the Red Army and "People's Self-Defence" Communist militia, fighting the invading troops on 21 June 1940. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by six
armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (British English) or armored fighting vehicle (American English) (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by vehicle armour, armour, generally combining operational mobility with Offensive (military), offensive a ...
s, the battle lasted several hours until sundown. Finally the military resistance was ended with
negotiation Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more parties to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or Collective bargaining, collective, or craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. The parties aspire to agree on m ...
s and the Independent Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed. There were two dead Estonian servicemen, Aleksei Männikus and Johannes Mandre, and several wounded on the Estonian side and about ten killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. The Soviet militia that participated in the battle was led by
Nikolai Stepulov Nikolai Stepulov (20 March 1913 – 2 January 1968) was an Estonian lightweight boxer, military officer and criminal. As a boxer he won silver medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and 1937 European Championships, and fought professional ...
.


Western reaction

Estonia was the only of the three Baltic states that established a
government in exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovereign state or semi-sovereign state, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usu ...
. It had
legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...
s in London and was the government recognized by the Western world during the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. With the reestablishment of independence by the Soviet Republics leaving the USSR in 1990–1991, the government in exile was integrated into the new governing establishment.
Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
and
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
managed to preserve exile diplomatic services that had received emergency powers to represent the countries abroad, that worked as ''de facto'' governments-in-exile.


Sovietization of the Baltic states

Political repressions followed with
mass deportations Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...
of around 130,000 citizens carried out by the Soviets. The
Serov Instructions The so-called Serov Instructions (full title: On the Procedure for Carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) was an undated top secret document, signed by General Ivan Serov, Deputy People's Commis ...
, "''On the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia''", contained detailed procedures and protocols to observe in the deportation of Baltic nationals. The Soviets began a constitutional metamorphosis of the Baltic states by first forming transitional "People's Governments". Led by Stalin's close associates, and local communist supporters as well as officials brought in from the Soviet Union, they forced the presidents and governments of all three countries to resign, replacing them with the provisional People's Governments. On 14–15 July, following illegal amendments to the electoral laws of the respective states, rigged parliamentary elections for the "
People's Parliament The People's Parliaments or People's Assemblies (; ) were puppet legislatures put together after the show elections in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to legitimize the occupation by the Soviet Union in July 1940. In all three countries, the ...
s" were conducted by local Communists loyal to the Soviet Union. The laws were worded in such a way that the Communists and their allies were the only ones allowed to run. The election results were completely fabricated: the Soviet press service released them early, with the results having already appeared in print in a
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
newspaper a full 24 hours before the polls closed. The "People's Parliaments" met on 21 July, each with only one piece of business—a request to join the Soviet Union. These requests carried unanimously. In early August, the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the S ...
accepted all three requests. The official Soviet narrative was that all three Baltic states simultaneously carried out socialist revolutions and voluntarily requested to join the Soviet Union. The new Soviet-installed governments in the Baltic states began to align their policies with Soviet practices at the time. According to the prevailing doctrine in the process, the old "bourgeois" societies were destroyed so that new socialist societies, run by loyal Soviet citizens, could be constructed in their place. File:1940. Liepāja. We ask for full accession to the USSR.jpg, Soviet propaganda demonstration in
Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...
, 1940. Posters in Russian say: ''We demand the full accession to the USSR!'' File:PlaqueMemorizingEstonianGovernment.jpg, Plaque on the building of
Government of Estonia The Government of the Republic of Estonia (''Estonian language, Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus'') is the cabinet (government), cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution of Estonia, Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Cons ...
,
Toompea Toompea (from , "Cathedral Hill") is a hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The hill has an area of and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas. Toompea is part of the medieval Tallinn Old Town, a ...
, commemorating government members killed by communist terror File:Propaganda News Item on Soviet Takeover of Lithuania - Memorial Museum Adjacent to Ninth Fort - Nazi Genocide Site - Kaunas - Lithuania (27306653623) (2).jpg,
Soviet propaganda Propaganda in the Soviet Union was the practice of state-directed communication aimed at promoting class conflict, proletarian internationalism, the goals of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the party itself. The main Soviet cen ...
newspaper in Lithuanian language. Black text in the right square says: ''The Stalinist Constitution's sun already shines to the Lithuanian land and so our hearts rejoice by singing in honor of the great Stalin.'' File:1941 Soviet occupational internal-passport issued in Latvia, shortly before the German invasion.jpg, 1941 Soviet internal-passport issued in occupied Latvia, shortly before the German invasion. The holder was an elderly Jewish man being evacuated at the end to Kuybyshev.


See also

* *
Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed i ...
*
Soviet re-occupation of the Baltic states (1944) The Soviet Union (USSR) occupied most of the territory of the Baltic states in its 1944 Baltic Offensive during World War II. Dear (2001). p. 85. The Red Army regained control over the three Baltic capitals and encircled retreating Wehrmacht a ...


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Occupation and annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union (1940) Occupation of the Baltic states Military history of Estonia Military history of Latvia Military history of Lithuania Military history of the Soviet Union during World War II Baltic states (1940) 1939 in Estonia 1939 in Latvia 1939 in Lithuania 1939 in the Soviet Union 1940 in Estonia 1940 in Latvia 1940 in Lithuania 1940 in the Soviet Union 1941 in Estonia 1941 in Latvia 1941 in Lithuania 1941 in the Soviet Union Annexation Germany–Soviet Union relations (1918–1941)