Eastern Front · Soviet Union vs Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Soviet Occupation of the Baltic States
15 June 1940 – 6 August 1940
Following ultimatums, Soviet troops occupied Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in June 1940. Rigged elections produced assemblies that petitioned for admission to the USSR, which was granted in early August.
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Day by day
— Lithuania
Moscow demands a new government and free passage for an unlimited garrison, and gives Lithuania until 10:00 to answer. Fifteen divisions cross that morning; President Smetona leaves for Germany the same day. Soviet troops have been stationed in all three states under the mutual assistance pacts of October 1939, and the Baltic Fleet has been blockading the coast since the 14th.
— Latvia and Estonia
Near-identical ultimatums go to Riga and Tallinn on the 16th, both expiring within hours. Soviet columns cross into Latvia and Estonia on the 17th and are in both capitals the same day; neither army is ordered to resist. Zhdanov arrives in Tallinn and Vyshinsky in Riga to supervise what follows.
— The assemblies
Elections on 14 and 15 July are held on single lists of approved candidates, with turnout returned at over 90 per cent. The three assemblies meet on 21 July, declare Soviet republics and petition to join the USSR on the same day and in almost the same words. Deportations of officers, officials and landowners begin at once.
— Annexation
The Supreme Soviet admits Lithuania on 3 August, Latvia on the 5th and Estonia on the 6th. Six million people become Soviet citizens without a shot fired; the United States and most of the west never recognise it. In the year that follows some 30,000 are deported east, most of them in the week before Barbarossa.
