Tuesday, March 17, 2015

November, 1939--The Soviet Union Occupies Baltic States

In late September of 1939, the Soviet Union demanded the conclusion of a mutual assistance treaty with Estonia, giving the Soviet Red Army the right to establish military bases. The Estonians, seeing no other option, agreed. Soon after, in October, Latvia and Lithuania followed.

Later, on June 15, 1940 the Soviets invaded Lithuania and attacked the Latvian border. On the 16th, Latvia and Estonia were invaded. The Soviet government gave an ultimatum to each country, demanding the establishment of Soviet-approved governments. The governments of the Baltic states decided that resistance would be futile. The presidents of the three nations were forced to resign, and replaced with communist puppets under the newly established "People's Government." On July 14-15, the Soviets fabricated an election for the "People's Parliaments," in which only Communists were allowed to run, and the results were completely made up. On July 21, each of the People's Parliaments "requested" to join the Soviet Union. In early August the Soviet Union "accepted" the requests.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_occupation_of_the_Baltic_states_%281940%29

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