Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia gained independence after the division of the Russian Empire in 1918-1920. Opinions on the inclusion of the Baltic states in the USSR differ. Some call the events of 1940 a violent takeover, others - actions within the boundaries of international law.

background

To understand the issue, you need to study the European situation of the 30s. When Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, the Baltics fell under the influence of the Nazis. The USSR, which has a common border with Estonia and Latvia, rightly feared a Nazi invasion through these countries.

The Soviet Union proposed to European governments that they conclude a general security treaty immediately after the Nazis came to power. The Soviet diplomats were not heard; the agreement did not take place.

The diplomats made their next attempt to conclude a collective agreement in 1939. Throughout the first half of the year, negotiations were held with the governments of European states. The agreement again did not take place due to a mismatch of interests. The French and British, who already had a peace treaty with the Nazis, were not interested in preserving the USSR, they were not going to interfere with the advance of the Nazis to the east. The Baltic countries, which had economic ties with Germany, preferred Hitler's guarantees.

The government of the USSR was forced to make contact with the Nazis. On August 23, 1939, a non-aggression pact, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was signed in Moscow between Germany and the USSR.

On September 17, the Soviet government took a retaliatory step and sent troops into Polish territory. The head of the USSR Foreign Ministry, V. Molotov, explained the introduction of troops by the need to protect the Ukrainian and Belarusian population of Eastern Poland (aka Western Ukraine and Western Belarus).

The previous Soviet-German partition of Poland moved the borders of the Union to the West, the third Baltic country, Lithuania, became a neighbor of the USSR. The government of the Union began negotiations on the exchange of part of the Polish lands for Lithuania, which Germany saw as its protectorate (dependent state).

Unsubstantiated guesses about the impending division of the Baltic States between the USSR and Germany divided the governments of the Baltic countries into two camps. Supporters of socialism pinned their hopes on the preservation of independence on the USSR, the ruling bourgeoisie advocated rapprochement with Germany.

Signing contracts

This place could become Hitler's springboard for the invasion of the Soviet Union. An important task, for the implementation of which a whole range of measures was taken, was the inclusion of the Baltic countries into the USSR.

The Soviet-Estonian Mutual Assistance Pact was signed on September 28, 1939. It provided for the right of the USSR to have a fleet and airfields on the Estonian islands, as well as the introduction of Soviet troops into the territory of Estonia. In return, the USSR assumed an obligation to provide assistance to the country in the event of a military invasion. On October 5, the signing of the Soviet-Latvian Treaty took place on the same terms. On October 10, an agreement was signed with Lithuania, which received Vilnius, recaptured by Poland in 1920, and received by the Soviet Union following the partition of Poland with Germany.

It should be noted that the Baltic population warmly welcomed the Soviet army, pinning hopes on it for protection from the Nazis. The army was greeted by local troops with an orchestra and residents with flowers lined the streets.

Britain's most widely read newspaper, The Times, wrote about the lack of pressure from Soviet Russia and the unanimous decision of the Baltic population. The article noted that such an option is a better alternative than inclusion in Nazi Europe.

The head of the British government, Winston Churchill, called the occupation of Poland and the Baltic states by Soviet troops the need to protect the USSR from the Nazis.

Soviet troops occupied the territory of the Baltic states with the approval of the presidents and parliaments of the Baltic states during October, November and December 1939.

Change of governments

By the middle of 1940, it became clear that anti-Soviet sentiments prevailed in the government circles of the Baltic States, and negotiations were underway with Germany.

In early June, the troops of the three nearest military districts, under the command of the people's commissar of defense, were gathered at the borders of states. Secular diplomats issued ultimatums to governments. Accusing them of violating the provisions of the treaties, the USSR insisted on the introduction of a larger contingent of troops and the formation of new governments. Deeming resistance futile, the parliaments accepted the terms, and between 15 and 17 June additional troops entered the Baltic. The only head of the Baltic countries, the President of Lithuania, called on his government to resist.

The entry of the Baltic countries into the USSR

In Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, communist parties were allowed, and an amnesty was declared for political prisoners. In the extraordinary government elections, the majority of the population voted for the Communists. In the West, the 1940 elections are called not free, violating constitutional rights. The results are considered falsified. The formed governments decided to become part of the USSR and proclaimed the creation of three union republics. The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union approved the entry of the Baltic states into the USSR. However, now the Balts are sure that they were literally captured.

Baltics within the USSR

When the Baltic States became part of the USSR, economic restructuring followed. Private property was confiscated in favor of the state. The next stage was repressions and mass deportations, which were motivated by the presence of a large number of unreliable population. Politicians, the military, priests, the bourgeoisie, and the prosperous peasantry suffered.

The harassment contributed to the emergence of armed resistance, which finally took shape during the occupation of the Baltic states by Germany. Anti-Soviet formations collaborated with the Nazis, participated in the destruction of civilians.

Most of the countries' economic assets held abroad were frozen when the Baltics became part of the USSR. Part of the money for gold, bought by the State Bank of the USSR before joining, was returned by the British government to the Soviet Union only in 1968. The rest of the money Britain agreed to return in 1993, after Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gained independence.

International score

When the Baltic States became part of the USSR, a mixed reaction followed. Some acknowledged the affiliation; some, such as the United States, did not recognize.

W. Churchill wrote in 1942 that Great Britain recognizes the actual, but not legal, borders of the USSR, and assessed the events of 1940 as an act of aggression on the part of the Soviet Union and the result of an agreement with Germany.

In 1945, the heads of the allied states in the anti-Hitler coalition recognized the borders of the Soviet Union as of June 1941 during the Yalta and Potsdam conferences.

The Helsinki Conference on Security, signed by the heads of 35 states in 1975, confirmed the inviolability of Soviet borders.

Politicians' point of view

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia declared independence in 1991, the first to declare their desire to secede from the Union.

Western politicians call the inclusion of the Baltic states into the USSR an occupation lasting half a century. Or occupations followed by annexation (forced annexation).

The Russian Federation insists that at the time when the Baltic countries became part of the USSR, the procedure was in line with international law.

The question of nationality

When the Baltic States became part of the USSR, the question of citizenship arose. Lithuania immediately recognized the citizenship of all residents. Estonia and Latvia recognized the citizenship only of those who lived in the territory of the states of the pre-war period or their descendants. Russian-speaking migrants, their children and grandchildren had to go through the legal process of acquiring citizenship.

Difference of views

Considering the statement about the occupation of the Baltic states, it is necessary to recall the meaning of the word "occupation". In any dictionary, this term means the forcible occupation of the territory. In the Baltic version of the annexation of territories, there were no violent actions. Recall that the local population greeted the Soviet troops with enthusiasm, hoping for protection from Nazi Germany.

The allegation of falsified results of parliamentary elections and the subsequent annexation (forced annexation) of territories is based on official data. They show that the turnout at the polling stations was 85-95% of voters, 93-98% of voters voted for the communists. It should be borne in mind that immediately after the introduction of troops, Soviet and communist sentiments were quite widespread, but still the results were unusually high.

On the other hand, one cannot ignore the threat of the use of military force by the Soviet Union. The governments of the Baltic countries rightly decided to give up resistance to superior military force. Orders for the solemn reception of the Soviet troops were given in advance.

The formation of armed gangs that sided with the Nazis and operated until the early 1950s confirms the fact that the Baltic population was divided into two camps: anti-Soviet and communist. Accordingly, part of the people perceived the accession to the USSR as liberation from the capitalists, part - as an occupation.

An independent state of Lithuania was proclaimed under German sovereignty on February 16, 1918, and on November 11, 1918, the country gained full independence. From December 1918 to August 1919, Soviet power existed in Lithuania and units of the Red Army were stationed in the country.

During the Soviet-Polish war in July 1920, the Red Army occupied Vilnius (transferred to Lithuania in August 1920). In October 1920, Poland occupied the Vilnius region, which in March 1923, by decision of the conference of Entente ambassadors, became part of Poland.

(Military Encyclopedia. Military Publishing. Moscow. In 8 volumes, 2004)

On August 23, 1939, a non-aggression pact and secret agreements on the division of spheres of influence (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) were signed between the USSR and Germany, which were then supplemented by new agreements of August 28; according to the latter, Lithuania entered the sphere of influence of the USSR.

On October 10, 1939, the Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of Mutual Assistance was concluded. By agreement, the Vilnius Territory, occupied by the Red Army in September 1939, was transferred to Lithuania, and Soviet troops numbering 20 thousand people were stationed on its territory.

On June 14, 1940, the USSR, accusing the Lithuanian government of violating the treaty, demanded the creation of a new government. On June 15, an additional contingent of Red Army troops was introduced into the country. The People's Seimas, elections for which were held on July 14 and 15, proclaimed the establishment of Soviet power in Lithuania and appealed to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a request to accept the republic into the Soviet Union.

The independence of Lithuania was recognized by the Decree of the State Council of the USSR of September 6, 1991. Diplomatic relations with Lithuania were established on October 9, 1991.

On July 29, 1991, the Treaty on the Fundamentals of Interstate Relations between the RSFSR and the Republic of Lithuania was signed in Moscow (entered into force in May 1992). On October 24, 1997, the Treaty on the Russian-Lithuanian State Border and the Treaty on the Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf in the Baltic Sea were signed in Moscow (entered into force in August 2003). To date, 8 interstate, 29 intergovernmental and about 15 interagency treaties and agreements have been concluded and are in effect.

Political contacts in recent years have been limited. The official visit of the President of Lithuania to Moscow took place in 2001. The last meeting at the level of heads of government took place in 2004.

In February 2010, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Helsinki Baltic Sea Action Summit.

The basis of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Lithuania is the agreement on trade and economic relations of 1993 (was adapted to EU standards in 2004 in connection with the entry into force for Lithuania of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Russia and the EU).

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources.

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 called 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.

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?

Plan
Introduction
1 Background. 1930s
2 1939. The beginning of the war in Europe
3 Pacts of Mutual Assistance and Treaty of Friendship and Boundary
4 The entry of Soviet troops
5 The ultimatums of the summer of 1940 and the removal of the Baltic governments
6 The entry of the Baltic states into the USSR
7 Consequences
8 Contemporary politics
9 Opinion of historians and political scientists

Bibliography
Accession of the Baltic states to the USSR

Introduction

Accession of the Baltic states to the USSR (1940) - the process of including the independent Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and most of the territory of modern Lithuania - into the USSR, carried out as a result of the signing of the USSR and Nazi Germany in August 1939 by the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the treaty of friendship and border, whose secret protocols fixed the delimitation of the spheres of interest of these two powers in Eastern Europe.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania consider the actions of the USSR an occupation followed by an annexation. The Council of Europe in its resolutions characterized the process of the entry of the Baltic states into the USSR as occupation, forced incorporation and annexation. In 1983, the European Parliament condemned it as an occupation, and later (2007) used such concepts as "occupation" and "illegal incorporation" in this regard.

The text of the preamble to the 1991 Treaty on the Fundamentals of Interstate Relations between the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Republic of Lithuania contains the lines: " referring to the past events and actions that prevented the full and free exercise by each High Contracting Party of its state sovereignty, being confident that the elimination by the USSR of the consequences of the 1940 annexation that violate the sovereignty of Lithuania will create additional conditions of trust between the High Contracting Parties and their peoples»

The official position of the Russian Foreign Ministry is that the accession of the Baltic countries to the USSR complied with all the norms of international law as of 1940, and that the entry of these countries into the USSR received official international recognition. This position is based on the de facto recognition of the integrity of the borders of the USSR as of June 1941 at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences by the participating states, as well as on the recognition in 1975 of the inviolability of European borders by the participants of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

1. Background. 1930s

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. By the end of the 1930s, the Third Reich and the USSR became the main rivals in the struggle for influence in the Baltics.

In December 1933, the governments of France and the USSR put forward a joint proposal to conclude an agreement on collective security and mutual assistance. Finland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were invited to join this treaty. The project named "Eastern Pact", was seen as a collective guarantee in the event of aggression by Nazi Germany. But Poland and Romania refused to join the alliance, the United States did not approve of the idea of ​​a treaty, and England put forward a number of counter conditions, including the rearmament of Germany.

In the spring and summer of 1939, the USSR negotiated with England and France on the joint prevention of Italian-German aggression against European countries, and on April 17, 1939, invited England and France to undertake obligations to provide all kinds of assistance, including military, to Eastern European countries located between the Baltic and the Black Seas and bordering the Soviet Union, as well as to conclude an agreement for a period of 5-10 years on mutual assistance, including military, in the event of aggression in Europe against any of the contracting states (USSR, England and France).

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 by the accession of the USSR, this would allow him to be drawn into the conflict: “it is not in our interests for him to remain 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).

2. 1939. The beginning of the war in Europe

The situation escalated on September 1, 1939 with the outbreak of World War II. Germany launched an invasion of Poland. On September 17, the USSR sent troops into Poland, declaring the Soviet-Polish non-aggression pact of July 25, 1932, invalid. On the same day, the states that were in diplomatic relations with the USSR (including the Baltic states) were handed a Soviet note stating that "in relations with them, the USSR will pursue a policy of neutrality."

The outbreak of war between neighboring states gave rise to fears in the Baltic states of being drawn into these events and prompted them to declare their neutrality. However, during the hostilities, a number of incidents occurred in which the Baltic countries were also involved - one of them was the entry on September 15 of the Polish submarine "Ozhel" into the Tallinn port, where she was interned at the request of Germany by the Estonian authorities, who began to dismantle her weapons. However, on the night of September 18, the crew of the submarine disarmed the guards and took her out to sea, while six torpedoes remained on board. The Soviet Union claimed that Estonia violated neutrality by providing shelter and assistance to a Polish submarine.

On September 19, Vyacheslav Molotov, on behalf of the Soviet leadership, blamed Estonia for this incident, saying that the Baltic Fleet was tasked with finding the submarine, since it could threaten Soviet shipping. This led to the actual establishment of a naval blockade of the Estonian coast.

On September 24, Estonian Foreign Minister K. Selter arrived in Moscow to sign the trade agreement. After discussing economic problems, Molotov turned to the problems of mutual security and proposed " conclude a military alliance or an agreement on mutual assistance, which at the same time would provide the Soviet Union with the right to have strongholds or bases for the fleet and aviation on the territory of Estonia". Selter attempted to evade discussion by invoking neutrality, but Molotov stated that " The Soviet Union needs to expand its security system, for which it needs access to the Baltic Sea. If you do not wish to conclude a pact of mutual assistance with us, then we will have to look for other ways to guarantee our security, perhaps more abrupt, perhaps more complicated. Please do not force us to use force against Estonia».

3. Pacts of Mutual Assistance and Treaty of Friendship and Boundary

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, 1939, 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 and expect the full support of the German government in this matter.

The situation in the Baltic states themselves was alarming and contradictory. Against the background of rumors about the impending 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, while many others 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 forces were ready to support joining the USSR.