In the elections of July 14, 1940, pro-communist organizations won the victory in the Baltic States, which subsequently carried out the accession of these countries to the USSR. In Estonia, the turnout was 84.1% and the Union of Working People received 92.8% of the vote, in Lithuania the turnout was 95.51%, and 99.19% of voters supported the Union of Working People, in Latvia the turnout was 94.8%, and The bloc of working people won with 97.8% of the vote.

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These days marks the 70th anniversary of the accession of the Baltic States to the Soviet Union

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, the site 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.

April 15, 1795 Catherine II signed the Manifesto on the annexation of Lithuania and Courland to Russia

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Zhamoi - this was the official name of the state that existed from the 13th century to 1795. Now on its territory are Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine.

According to the most common version, the Lithuanian state was founded around 1240 by Prince Mindovg, who united the Lithuanian tribes and began to progressively annex the fragmented Russian principalities. This policy was continued by the descendants of Mindovg, especially the Grand Dukes Gediminas (1316 - 1341), Olgerd (1345 - 1377) and Vitovt (1392 - 1430). Under them, Lithuania annexed the lands of White, Black and Red Russia, and also conquered the mother of Russian cities, Kyiv, from the Tatars.

The official language of the Grand Duchy was Russian (this is how it was called in the documents, Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalists call it, respectively, "Old Ukrainian" and "Old Belarusian"). Since 1385, several unions have been concluded between Lithuania and Poland. The Lithuanian gentry began to adopt the Polish language, the Polish Coat of Arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania culture, to move from Orthodoxy to Catholicism. The local population was subjected to harassment on religious grounds.

Several centuries earlier than in Muscovite Russia, serfdom was introduced in Lithuania (following the example of the possessions of the Livonian Order): Orthodox Russian peasants became the personal property of the Polonized gentry, who converted to Catholicism. Religious uprisings flared in Lithuania, and the remaining Orthodox gentry appealed to Russia. In 1558, the Livonian War began.

During the Livonian War, suffering tangible defeats from the Russian troops, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569 went to the signing of the Union of Lublin: Ukraine completely departed from the Principality of Poland, and the lands of Lithuania and Belarus that remained in the Principality of the Principality were with Poland part of the confederate Commonwealth, submitting to foreign policy of Poland.

The results of the Livonian War of 1558-1583 consolidated the position of the Baltic States for a century and a half before the start of the Northern War of 1700-1721.

The accession of the Baltic States to Russia during the Northern War coincided with the implementation of the Petrine reforms. Then Livonia and Estonia became part of the Russian Empire. Peter I himself tried in a non-military way to establish relations with the local German nobility, the descendants of the German knights. Estonia and Vidzem were the first to be annexed - following the results of the war in 1721. And only 54 years later, following the results of the third section of the Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Duchy of Courland and Semigalle became part of the Russian Empire. This happened after Catherine II signed the manifesto of April 15, 1795.

After joining Russia, the Baltic nobility without any restrictions received the rights and privileges of the Russian nobility. Moreover, the Baltic Germans (mainly the descendants of German knights from the Livonia and Courland provinces) were, if not more influential, then at least no less influential than the Russians, nationality in the Empire: Catherine II's numerous dignitaries of the Empire were of Baltic origin. Catherine II carried out a number of administrative reforms regarding the administration of provinces, the rights of cities, where the independence of governors increased, but the actual power, in the realities of the time, was in the hands of the local, Baltic nobility.

By 1917, the Baltic lands were divided into Estland (center in Reval - now Tallinn), Livonia (center - Riga), Courland (center in Mitava - now Yelgava) and Vilna province (center in Vilna - now Vilnius). The provinces were characterized by a large mixture of population: by the beginning of the 20th century, about four million people lived in the provinces, about half of them were Lutherans, about a quarter were Catholics, and about 16% were Orthodox. The provinces were inhabited by Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Germans, Russians, Poles, in the Vilna province there was a relatively high proportion of the Jewish population. In the Russian Empire, the population of the Baltic provinces has never been subjected to any kind of discrimination. On the contrary, in the Estland and Livland provinces, serfdom was abolished, for example, much earlier than in the rest of Russia, already in 1819. Subject to the knowledge of the Russian language for the local population, there were no restrictions on admission to the civil service. The imperial government actively developed the local industry.

Riga shared with Kyiv the right to be the third most important administrative, cultural and industrial center of the Empire after St. Petersburg and Moscow. With great respect, the tsarist government treated local customs and legal orders.

But the Russian-Baltic history, rich in traditions of good neighborliness, turned out to be powerless in the face of modern problems in relations between countries. In 1917 - 1920 the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) gained independence from Russia.

But already in 1940, after the conclusion of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, the inclusion of the Baltic states into the USSR followed.

In 1990, the Baltic states proclaimed the restoration of state sovereignty, and after the collapse of the USSR, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania received both de facto and legal independence.

A glorious story that Russia received? Fascist marches?

In chapter

In big politics, there is always a plan "A" and a plan "B". It often happens that there are both "B" and "D". In this article, we will tell you how in 1939 Plan B was drawn up and implemented for the entry of the Baltic republics into the USSR. But plan "A" worked, which gave the desired result. And they forgot about plan B.

1939 Anxious. Prewar. On August 23, 1939, a Soviet-German non-aggression pact with a secret appendix was signed. It shows on the map the zones of influence of Germany and the USSR. The Soviet zone included Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. For the USSR, it was necessary to decide on its decisions regarding these countries. As usual, there were several plans. The main one meant that, through political pressure, Soviet military bases would be placed in the Baltic countries - the troops of the Leningrad Military District and the Baltic Fleet, and then local leftist forces would achieve elections to local parliaments, which would announce the entry of the Baltic republics into the USSR. But in case of an unforeseen event, a plan "B" was also developed. It is more intricate and complex.

"Pioneer"

The Baltic Sea is rich in all sorts of accidents and disasters. Before the beginning of autumn 1939, we can mention cases of accidents and deaths in the Gulf of Finland of Soviet ships: the hydrographic vessel "Azimut" on 08/28/1938 in the Luga Bay, the submarine "M-90" on 10/15/1938 near Oranienbaum, the cargo ship "Chelyuskinets" on 03/27/1939 at Tallinn. In principle, the situation at sea during this period could be considered calm. But since the middle of summer, a new, alarming factor has appeared - reports by the captains of the Sovtorgflot ships (the name of the organization operating civilian ships of the USSR in the pre-war period) about mines allegedly floating in the Gulf of Finland. At the same time, sometimes there were reports that the mines were of the "English" type. Even military sailors, when they find it at sea, do not undertake to report about a sample of a mine, but here the report comes from civilian sailors! In the 1920s and early 1930s, the appearance of mines in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland was repeatedly reported. But then the mines of the Russian, German or English type of the times of the First World War and the Civil War were detected in a timely manner and immediately destroyed, but for some reason these could not be found. The palm in fictitious reports was held by the captain of the ship "Pioneer" Vladimir Mikhailovich Beklemishev.

July 23, 1939 the following happened: at 22.21. patrol ship "Typhoon", standing on patrol on the line of the Shepelevsky lighthouse, received a message from the captain of the m/v "Pioneer", located in the Gulf of Finland, by a semaphore and a clapper: - "Two warships of the battleship type were seen in the area of ​​​​the Northern village of Gogland Island." (Hereinafter, extracts from the “Operational Logbook of the Operational Duty Headquarters of the KBF” [RGA Navy. F-R-92. Op-1. D-1005,1006]). At 22.30, the Typhoon commander requests the Pioneer: - "Report the time and course of the battleships you noticed of unknown ownership." At 22.42. the captain of the Pioneer repeats the previous text, and the connection is interrupted. The commander of the "Typhoon" passed this information to the headquarters of the fleet and at his own peril and risk (after all, there was no command for this) organizes a search for unknown battleships near Finnish territorial waters and, of course, does not find anything. Why this performance was played, we will understand a little later.

To understand the process and the people involved in it, let's talk about the captain of the ship "Pioneer" Beklemishev Vladimir Mikhailovich. This is the son of the first Russian submariner Mikhail Nikolaevich Beklemishev, born in 1858. born, one of the designers of the first Russian submarine "Dolphin" (1903) and its first commander. Having connected his service with submarines, he retired in 1910. with the rank of Major General in the Navy. Then he taught minecraft at the St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute, worked as a technical consultant at St. Petersburg factories. Left out of work after the October Revolution of 1917, he entered the Main Directorate of Shipbuilding, but was fired. Since 1924, he became the commander of the Mikula experimental ship, regularly commanding it between repeated arrests, and retired in 1931. In 1933, as the highest rank of the tsarist fleet (general), he was deprived of his pension. The old sailor died of a heart attack in 1936. (E.A. Kovalev "Knights of the Deep", 2005, p. 14, 363). His son Vladimir followed in his father's footsteps and became a sailor, only in the merchant fleet. Probably his cooperation with the Soviet special services. In the 1930s, merchant seamen were among the few who freely and regularly visited foreign countries, and Soviet intelligence often used the services of merchant seamen.

"Adventures" "Pioneer" did not end there. On September 28, 1939, at about 2 am, when the ship entered the Narva Bay, its captain imitated the landing of the Pioneer on the rocks near Vigrund Island and gave a pre-prepared radiogram "about the attack of the ship by an unknown submarine." The imitation of the attack served as the last trump card in the negotiations between the USSR and Estonia “On measures to ensure the security of Soviet waters from sabotage by foreign submarines hiding in the Baltic waters” (Pravda newspaper, September 30, 1939, No. 133). The submarine mentioned here is not accidental. The fact is that after the German attack on Poland, the Polish submarine ORP “Orzeł” (“Eagle”) broke into Tallinn and was interned. On September 18, 1939, the crew of the boat tied up the Estonian sentries and "Orzeł" at full speed headed for the exit from the harbor and escaped from Tallinn. Since two Estonian guards were held hostage on the boat, Estonian and German newspapers accused the Polish crew of killing both. However, the Poles landed sentries near Sweden, gave them food, water and money to return to their homeland, after which they left for England. The story then received a wide response and became a clear reason for the scenario of a "torpedo attack" on the Pioneer. The fact that the attack on the ship was not real and the Pioneer was not damaged can be judged by further events. The powerful rescue tug Signal, which was waiting in advance for the SOS signal, immediately went to the Pioneer, and the rescuer, the Trefolev diving base ship, left the harbor on September 29, 1939 at 03.43 on assignment and stood on the Great Kronstadt roadstead. Allegedly removed from the stones, the ship was brought to the Neva Bay. At 10.27 am on September 30, 1939, “Signal” and “Pioneer” anchored in the East Kronstadt roadstead. But for some, this was not enough. As early as 06.15, the towed "Pioneer" again "discovers" (!) A floating mine in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe Shepelevsky lighthouse, which is reported to the patrol minesweeper T 202 "Buy". An order was given to the Operative Duty Officer of the Water Area Protection (OVR) to warn all ships about a floating mine in the Shepelevsky lighthouse area. At 09.50, the operational duty officer of the OVR reports to the Headquarters of the Fleet that the “sea hunter” boat sent to search for the mine has returned, no mine has been found. On October 2, 1939, at 20.18, the Pioneer transport began to be towed from the Eastern Road to Oranienbaum. If the Pioneer really hastily jumped onto one of the stone banks near the rocky island of Vigrund, it should have been damaged, at least one or two sheets of the skin of the underwater part of the hull. There was only one large hold on the ship, and it would immediately fill with water, resulting in serious damage to the ship. Only good weather, a band-aid, and pumping out water by the rescue ship could save him. Since nothing of the kind happened, it is clear that the ship did not sit on the rocks. Since the ship was not even brought in for inspection at any of the Kronstadt or Leningrad docks, we can conclude that it was on the stones only in the TASS Message. In the future, according to the scenario, the Pioneer ship was not required, and for some time it worked safely in the Baltic, and in 1940 the Pioneer was handed over to the crew that arrived from Baku and sent (out of sight) along the Volga to the Caspian Sea. After the war, the ship was in operation by the Caspian Shipping Company until July 1966.

"Metalist"

The Pravda newspaper, No. 132 of September 28, 1939, published a TASS message: “On September 27, at about 6 pm, an unknown submarine in the Narva Bay area torpedoed and sank the Soviet steamship Metalist, with a displacement of up to 4000 tons. From the crew of the ship in the amount of 24 people, 19 people were picked up by patrol Soviet ships, the remaining 5 people were not found. "Metalist" was not a merchant ship. He was the so-called "coal miner" - an auxiliary ship of the Baltic Fleet, a military transport, carried the flag of auxiliary ships of the Navy. "Metalist" was mainly assigned to the two Baltic battleships "Marat" and "October Revolution" and, before the transfer of both battleships to liquid fuel, supplied them with coal during campaigns and maneuvers. Although he had other tasks as well. For example, in June 1935, Metallist provided coal for the transition of the Krasny Gorn floating workshop from the Baltic Fleet to the Northern Fleet. By the end of the 30s, Metalist, built in 1903 in England, was outdated and of no particular value. They decided to donate. In September 1939, the Metallist stood in the Leningrad commercial port, waiting for coal to support the operations of the Baltic Fleet. It must be remembered that this was a period when, for foreign policy reasons, the fleet was put on high alert. On September 23, the ship just put under loading received an order from the Fleet Headquarters duty officer: “Send the Metalist transport from Leningrad.” Then a few days passed in confusion. The ship was driven in anticipation of something from Oranienbaum to Kronstadt and back.

To describe further events, we need to make a small digression. There are two layers in this description: the first is the actual events recorded in the documents, the second is the memoirs of a former Finnish intelligence officer who published his memoirs after the war in Switzerland. Let's try to combine two layers. Finnish intelligence officer Jukka L. Mäkkela, fleeing from the Soviet special services, was forced after Finland's withdrawal from the war in 1944. go abroad. There he published his memoirs „Im Rücken des Feindes-der finnische Nachrichtendienst in Krieg”, They were published in German in Switzerland (published by Verlag Huber & Co. Frauenfeld). In them, among other things, J. L. Mäkkela recalled the captain of the 2nd rank Arseniev, captured by the Finns in the fall of 1941 in the Bjorkesund area, allegedly in the past - the commander of the Svir training ship. (Not to be confused with Grigory Nikolaevich Arsenyev, acting commander of the Island Naval Base on Lavensaari Island, who died on May 18, 1945). The prisoner testified that in the autumn of 1939 he was called to a meeting, where he and another officer were given the task of simulating the sinking in the Narva Bay by an unknown submarine of the Metalist transport. The "Unknown" was assigned the submarine Shch-303 "Yorsh", which was being prepared for repairs, in which the crew was understaffed. The team of the transport "Metalist" will be "rescued" by patrol ships that have entered the bay. The rest of the clarifications will be announced before the release. Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? Now consider what happened in Narva Bay. According to established practice in the Baltic Fleet, "Metallist" played the role of "enemy" and denoted battleships and aircraft carriers. So it was at that time. Under the terms of the exercises, Metalist anchored at a given point. This place was in the Narva Bay, within sight of the Estonian coast. This was an important factor. At 16.00 Moscow time, three patrol ships of the "bad weather" division appeared - "Whirlwind", "Snow" and "Cloud". One of them approached the transport, a command sounded from its navigation bridge: - “Let off steam on the Metalist. The crew is ready to leave the ship." Throwing everything, people ran to launch the boats. At 16.28, the guard came up to the board and removed the team. The “rescued”, except for Arsenyev, who was called to the bridge, were placed in the cockpit with portholes battened down on the armor. An orderly stood at the entrance, forbidding to go out and have contacts with the Red Navy. They expected a loud explosion, but it did not follow.

At 16.45 "Metalist" again flew around the planes "MBR-2", reporting: "There is no team. The boat was sunk at the side. There's a mess on deck." Estonian observers did not record this overflight of the aircraft, and it was not reported that from 19.05 to 19.14 "Sneg" again became moored to the "Metalist". [RGA of the Navy. F.R-172. Op-1. D-992. L-31.]. At about 20.00, a “TASS report about the sinking of Metalist” appeared. Since the Estonian observers (recall, Metalist was at anchor in the visibility of the Estonian coast) did not record the same explosion, we can assume two options:

The ship was not sunk. For some reason, there was no torpedo salvo from the submarine. Not far from this place, the construction of a new naval base "Ruchi" (Kronstadt-2) was underway. Closed area, no strangers. For some time, Metalist could be there.

In his book "On the distant approaches" (published in 1971). Lieutenant General S. I. Kabanov (from May to October 1939, who was the Head of the Logistics of the KBF, and who, if not him, should have known about the courts subordinate to the Logistics), wrote: that in 1941 the Metalist transport brought cargo for the Hanko garrison and was damaged by enemy artillery fire. In the 70s of the 20th century, S. S. Berezhnoy and employees of the NIG General Staff of the Navy connected to him worked on compiling the reference book “Ships and auxiliary vessels of the Soviet Navy 1917-1928” (Moscow, 1981). They did not find any other information about Metallist in the archives of Leningrad, Gatchina and Moscow and came to the conclusion that this transport was left on Khanko on December 2, 1941 in a submerged state.

The option that Metalist was still flooded is unlikely. The explosion was not heard by the sailors from the patrol ships, nor was it seen by the Estonian observers on the shore. The version that the ship was sunk without the help of explosives is unlikely.

"Sea Collection", No. 7, 1991, publishing the heading "From the chronicle of the military operations of the Navy in July 1941", stated: "On July 26, the Metallist TR was sunk on Khanko by artillery fire."

A fact is also a radiogram transmitted by radio at 23.30. This was a message from the commander of the Sneg TFR to the Chief of Staff of the KBF: “The place of death of the Metalist transport: latitude - 59 ° 34 ', longitude - 27 ° 21 ' [RGA. F.R-92. Op-2. D-505. L-137.]

Another small nuance. Of course, he doesn't say anything directly, but still. On the same day, when the Metallist was “blown up”, at 12.03 a staff boat of the YaMB type (high-speed sea yacht) with the People’s Commissar of the Navy and the Commander of the KBF left Kronstadt for the Gulf of Finland. [RGA VMF.F.R-92. Op-2. D-505. L-135.]. For what? To personally supervise the progress of the operation?

Conclusion

Everything that is told in this article is perceived as fiction. But there are documents from the archive. They do not reveal the political intent, they reflect the movement of ships. The logs of the operational duty officer for the fleet reflect all the events that took place in the area of ​​responsibility and the movement of ships and vessels in it. And these movements, superimposed on political processes (reflected in the officialdom of those times - the Pravda newspaper) allow us to draw conclusions. Our story has many unexpected twists and turns and many mysteries...

The accession of the Baltic states (Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia) to the USSR took place in early August 1940 after the national diets appealed to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The Baltic issue is always acute in Russian historiography, and in recent years there have been a lot of myths and conjectures around the events of 1939-1940. Therefore, it is important to understand the events of those years using facts and documents.

Brief background of the issue

For more than a century, the Baltics were part of the Russian Empire, and with the preservation of their national identity. The October Revolution led to a split in the country, and as a result, several small states appeared on the political map of Europe at once, among them Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Their legal status was secured by international agreements and two treaties with the USSR, which at the time of 1939 still had legal force:

• About the World (August 1920).
• On the peaceful solution of any issues (February 1932).

The events of those years became possible due to the non-aggression agreement between Germany and the USSR (August 23, 1939). This document had a secret agreement delimiting spheres of influence. The Soviet side got Finland, the Baltic states. These territories were needed by Moscow, since until recently they were part of a single country, but much more importantly, they made it possible to move the country's border, providing an additional line of defense and protecting Leningrad.

The accession of the Baltic states can be conditionally divided into 3 stages:

1. Signing of pacts on mutual assistance (September-October 1939).
2. Establishment of socialist governments in the Baltic countries (July 1940).
3. Appeal of national diets with a request to accept them among the union republics (August 1940).

Mutual Assistance Pacts

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and the war began. The main events took place in Poland, which is not far from the Baltic states. Concerned about a possible attack by the Third Reich, the Baltic countries were in a hurry to enlist the support of the USSR in case of a German invasion. These documents were approved in 1939:

• Estonia - 29 September.
• Latvia - 5 October.
• Lithuania - 10 October.

It should be especially noted that the Republic of Lithuania not only received guarantees of military assistance, according to which the USSR was obliged to defend its borders with its army, but also received the city of Vilna and the Vilna region. These were territories with a predominantly Lithuanian population. With this gesture, the Soviet Union demonstrated its desire to reach agreements on mutually beneficial terms. As a result, the Pacts were signed, which were called "On Mutual Assistance". Their main points are:

1. The parties guarantee mutual military, economic and other assistance, subject to an invasion on the territory of one of the countries of the "great European power".
2. The USSR guaranteed to each country the supply of weapons and equipment on preferential terms.
3. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia allowed the USSR to form military bases on the western borders.
4. Countries undertake not to sign diplomatic documents and not to enter into coalitions directed against the second country of the agreements.

The last point ultimately played a decisive role in the events of 1940, but first things first. The main thing you need to know about the Pacts is that the Baltic countries voluntarily and consciously allowed the USSR to form naval bases and airfields on their territory.

The USSR paid for the lease of territories for military bases, and the governments of the Baltic countries pledged to treat the Soviet army as an ally.

Baltic Entente

The aggravation of relations began in April-May 1940. Reason 2:

• Active work of the "Baltic Entente" (military alliance between Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) against the USSR.
• Increasing cases of kidnapping of Soviet soldiers in Lithuania.

Initially, there was a defensive alliance between Latvia and Estonia, but after November 1939, Lithuania became more active in the negotiations. The negotiations were conducted in secret, although none of the countries had the right to conduct such negotiations without notifying the USSR. Soon the "Baltic Entente" was formed. Active actions of the union began in January-February 1940, when the Headquarters of the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian armies strengthened the relationship. At the same time, the publication of the newspaper "Review Baltic" began. It is noteworthy in what languages ​​it was published: German, English and French.

Beginning in April 1940, Soviet servicemen from the Lithuanian military base periodically began to disappear. On May 25, Molotov sent a statement to the Lithuanian Ambassador Natkevichius, in which he emphasized the fact of the recent disappearance of two soldiers (Nosov and Shmavgonets) and stated that there were facts indicating the involvement of some persons enjoying the patronage of the Lithuanian government. This was followed by "replies" on May 26 and 28, in which the Lithuanian side interpreted the abduction of soldiers as "unauthorized abandonment of the unit." The most egregious incident occurred in early June. The junior commander of the Red Army, Butaev, was kidnapped in Lithuania. The Soviet side again at the diplomatic level demanded the return of the officer. Butaev was killed 2 days later. The official version of the Lithuanian side - the officer fled from the unit, the Lithuanian police tried to detain him and hand him over to the Soviet side, but Butaev committed suicide by shooting him in the head. Later, when the body of the officer was handed over to the Soviet side, it turned out that Butaev was killed by a shot in the heart, and there were no burn marks on the entrance bullet hole, which indicates a shot from a medium or long distance. Thus, the Soviet side interpreted the death of Butaev as a murder, in which the Lithuanian police were involved. Lithuania itself refused to investigate this incident, referring to the fact that it was a suicide.

The reaction of the USSR to the abductions and murders of its soldiers, as well as to the creation of a military bloc against the Union, did not have to wait long. The USSR sent relevant statements to the government of each country:

• Lithuania - June 14, 1940.
• Latvia - June 16, 1940.
• Estonia - June 16, 1940.

Each country received a document with accusations, first of all, of creating a military coalition against the USSR. Separately, it was emphasized that all this happened in secret and in violation of allied agreements. More detailed was the statement to the Lithuanian government, which is accused of complicity and direct involvement in the abduction and murder of conscientious soldiers and officers. Moscow's main demand is that the current administration of countries that allowed such tension in relations should resign. In their place, a new government should appear, which will work, taking into account the pacts between the Baltic countries and the USSR, as well as in the spirit of strengthening good neighborly relations. In connection with the provocations and the difficult world situation, the USSR demanded the possibility of additional introduction of troops into large cities to ensure order. In many ways, the last demand was due to the increasing frequency of reports that more and more people speaking German appeared in the Baltic countries. The Soviet leadership feared that countries might side with the Third Reich, or that Germany would be able to use these territories to advance to the East in the future.

The requirements of the USSR were strictly met. New elections were scheduled for mid-July 1940. The socialist parties won and socialist governments were formed in the Baltics. The first steps of these governments are mass nationalization.

It is important to note that the speculation on the topic of planting socialism in the Baltics by the USSR is devoid of historical facts. Yes, the USSR demanded to change the composition of the government to ensure friendly relations between countries, but after that free elections followed, recognized at the international level.

The inclusion of the Baltic States in the Union

Events developed rapidly. Already at the 7th Congress of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, representatives of the Baltic countries applied for admission to the Soviet Union. Similar statements were made:

• From Lithuania - Paleckis (chairman of the delegation of the People's Seimas) - August 3.
• From the Latvian side - Kirchenstein (head of the commission of the People's Seimas) - August 5.
• From the Estonian side - Lauristina (head of the delegation of the State Duma) - August 6

Lithuania benefited in particular from these developments. It has already been noted above that the Soviet side voluntarily transferred the city of Vilna with adjacent territories, and after being included in the Union, Lithuania additionally received the territories of Belarus, where Lithuanians mainly lived.

Thus, Lithuania became part of the USSR on August 3, 1940, Latvia on August 5, 1940, and Estonia on August 6, 1940. This is how the accession of the Baltic States to the USSR took place.

Was there an occupation

Today, the topic is often raised that the USSR occupied the territory of the Baltic states during the Second World War, demonstrating its hostility and imperial ambitions against the "small" peoples. Was there an occupation? Of course not. There are several facts about this:

1. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia voluntarily joined the USSR in 1940. The decision was made by the legitimate governments of these countries. Within a few months, all residents of these regions received Soviet citizenship. Everything that happened was in the spirit of international law.
2. The very formulation of the question of occupation is devoid of logic. After all, how could the USSR in 1941 occupy and invade the Baltic States, if the lands they allegedly invaded were already part of a single Union? The very assumption of this is absurd. Well, it’s interesting that such a formulation of the question prompts another question - if the USSR occupied the Baltic states in 1941, during the Second World War, then all 3 Baltic countries either fought for Germany or supported it?

This question should be completed by the fact that in the middle of the last century there was a big game for the fate of Europe and the World. The expansion of the USSR, including at the expense of the Baltic countries, Finland and Bessarabia, was an element of the game, but the unwillingness of the Soviet society. This is evidenced by the decision of the SND of December 24, 1989 No. 979-1, which states that the non-aggression pact with Germany was personally initiated by Stalin and did not correspond to the interests of the USSR.

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 division 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 Herr 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 their activities; after the Second World War, the Estonian government in exile was created.

Effects

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, 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 performances 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 the law enforcement agencies of the Baltic states initiating criminal cases 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 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 soldiers 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