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This article is about the occupation of Latvia by the USSR in 1940, its subsequent occupation by Nazi Germany 1941-1944, and its reoccupation by the USSR in 1944 through to the end of World War II. Latvia views that the occupation continued until its renewed independence and that the current Latvian state is a continuation of the first. Russia maintains Latvia joined the Soviet Union voluntarily and legally (statement by the Russian Duma, to "remind deputies of the Latvian Saeima that Latvia's being a part of the Soviet Union was grounded by fact and by law," November 19, 1999.)

1918-1939: Historical background

Latvia declared its independence from the Soviet Russia on November 18, 1918. After a prolonged War of Independence, Latvia and Soviet Russia (the predecessor of the Soviet Union) signed a Peace Treaty on August 11, 1920. In its Article 2 Soviet Russia "unreservedly recognises the independence and sovereignty of the Latvian State and voluntarily and forever renounces all sovereign rights (...) to the Latvian people and territory." The independence of Latvia was recognised de jure by the Allied Supreme Council (France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Belgium) on January 26, 1921. Other states followed the suit. On September 22, 1921 Latvia was admitted to membership in the League of Nations and remained a member until the formal dissolution of the League in 1946. On February 5, 1932, a Non-Aggression Treaty with the Soviet Union was signed, based on the August 11, 1920 treaty whose basic agreements inalterably and for all time form the firm basis of the relationship of the two states. On September 1, 1939, the day World War II began, Latvia declared its neutrality.

1939-1940: The road to loss of independence

Stalin and Hitler trade on Baltics

The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed August 23, 1939 cleared the path for Germany and the Soviet Union to pursue their territorial interests in Eastern Europe. Secret protocols of this pact (its existence was only admitted towards the end of the Soviet Union) split up the territory separating Germany and the Soviet Union between the two powers. According to these protocols, the Soviet Union had a right to Finland, Estonia and Latvia, Germany had a right to Poland and Lithuania.

Nazi Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Stalin ordered the Red Army on September 17, to cross the Soviet-Polish frontier under the pretense of liberating the Belorussians and Ukranians from Poland. Stalin suggested a "trade" to Hitler to solve the "Baltic problem." On September 28, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a border agreement, including a second secret protocol, handing Lithuania to Stalin in exchange for two Polish provinces. All three Baltic states were now in Stalin's hands.

Baltics accept "mutual assistance" under threat of invasion

The Soviets were now free to push their agenda forward, having for some years already declared that any developments in the Baltics which were not to their liking would be viewed as a threat to Soviet security. It was during talks in Moscow, on October 2, 1939, that Stalin told Vilhelms Munters, the Latvian foreign minister: "I tell you frankly, a division of spheres of interest has already taken place. As far as Germany is concerned we could occupy you." The Baltics took this threat seriously.

Estonia signed their "mutual assistance pact" with the Soviet Union on September 28, 1939; Latvia following on October 5, 1939; and Lithuania shortly thereafter, on October 10, 1939. In Latvia's case, the agreement called for Latvia to:

• lend bases to the Soviet Union at Liepāja, Ventspils, and Pitrags until 1949;
• build special airfields for Soviet requirements; and
• grant the stationing of Soviet military garrisons totalling 30,000 troops.

At face value, this pact did not impinge upon Latvian sovreignty. Section 5 of the Pact reads as follows: "The carrying into effect of the present pact must in no way affect the sovereign rights of the contracting parties, in particular their political structure, their economic and social system, and their military measures. The areas set aside for the bases and airfields remain the territory of the Latvian Republic."

With Baltic sovietization imminent, Hitler issued the "call home" to ethnic Germans. Latvia entered into agreement with Nazi Germany on the repatriation of citizens of German nationality on October 30, 1939. Publicly, on October 31, 1939, the Soviet Supreme Council called fears of Baltic sovietization "all nonsense." Privately, this stationing of Soviet troops in Latvia under the terms of the mutual assistance pact marked the beginning of the fruition of long-standing Soviet desires to gain control of the Baltics.

(As early as December 3, 1922, the head of the Soviet War Information Department suggested that the Soviet Union encourage Poland to occupy Lithuania; at the same time, two Soviet army corps would invade Estonia. With Lenin's concerns about potential negative impact on image and trade, the plan did not carry. Stalin, however, was in favor, and after Lenin's death he ordered the Estonian Communist party to organize a putsch in Tallin on December 1, 1924, which, should it succeed, would lead to the proclamation of the Estonian Soviet Republic.)

Finland invaded

With the success of this first stage, the Soviets soon confirmed the threat under which the Baltics had signed the pacts of mutual assistance. On October 5, 1939, the Finns had also been invited to Moscow to "discuss mutual problems." The Finns refused, and on November 30, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, launching the Winter War. Finland succeeded in resisting and on March 13, 1940 signed a peace treaty with the Soviet Union. Finland was, however, compelled to give up the Hanko peninsula and parts of Karelia with the city of Viborg in return for guaranteeing its security.

USSR had already determined to incorporate the Baltics

Apparent escape from Finland's fate may have led to a false sense of security for Latvia. Four months after the arrival of Soviet troops in Latvia, Vilhelms Munters, addressing an audience at the University of Latvia on February 12, 1940, stated, "We have every reason to describe the relations existing between Latvia and the Soviet Union as very satisfactory. There are people who will say that these favourable conditions are of a temporary nature only, and that sooner or later we shall have to reckon with internal-political and foreign-political pressure on the part of the Soviet Union. The foundation on which they base these prophesies is a secret of the prophets themselves. The experience of our Government certainly does not justify such forebodings."

Munters was not aware that General Ivan Serov, Deputy People's Commissar of Public Security of the Soviet Union, had already on October 11, 1939 - less than a week after the signing of the mutual assistance pact - issued and signed Order No. 001223, "regarding the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia."

With Soviet failure in Finland sealed for the moment, it was little more than a month after Munters' positive expressions that Molotov, speaking on March 25, 1940, essentially announced Soviet intentions to annex the Baltic States, stating, "...the execution of the pacts progressed satisfactorily and created conditions favorable for a further improvement of the relations between Soviet Russia and these States." Improvement being the codeword for Soviet takeover.

In March and April, 1940, immediately after Molotov's speech, the Soviet press commenced attacks on the Latvian government. Next, the NKVD orchestrated a series of strikes in Rīga and Liepāja. When those failed to develop into a general strike, the Soviets blamed that failure on the "irresponsible element which spoils the good neighborly relations."

Fearing Soviet action, on May 17, 1940, the Latvian government secretly issued emergency powers to the Latvian minister in London, Kārlis Zariņš, designating Alfreds Bilmanis, the Latvian minister in Washington, as his substitute.

USSR stages events to justify invasion

On May 28, 1940, the Lithuanian Minister in Moscow received a note from Molotov which dealt with the alleged kidnapping of two Soviet soldiers in Vilna. The Lithuanian government sought to clear up this matter by a Soviet-Lithuanian commission under the terms of the mutual assistance pact. Moscow rejected this proposal and cut off further discussion, soon showing and rapidly playing their hand:

• June 14, 1940 - While world attention is focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany a dayearlier, Molotov accuses the Baltics of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivers an ultimatum to Lithuania for the establishment of a government the Soviets approve of.
• June 15, 1940 - Soviet troops invade Lithuania and position troops to invade Latvia.
• June 15, 1940 - Soviets attack three Latvian border posts in the East of Latvia, killing three border guards and two civilians, as well as taking 10 border guards and 27 civilians as hostages to the Soviet Union.
• June 16, 1940 - Soviets deliver ultimatums to Estonia and Latvia, to be answered within 6 hours, demanding: (1) the establishment of pro-Soviet Governments which, under the protection of the Red Army, would be better capable of carrying out the Pacts of Mutual Assistance; (2) the free passage of Soviet troops into Estonia and Latvia in order to place them in the most important centers and to avoid possible provocatory acts against Soviet garrisons. Unable to resist on their own, Latvia and Estonia capitulate.
• June 17, 1940 - Soviet troops invade Latvia and occupy bridges, post/telephone, telegraph, and broadcasting offices.
• June 17, 1940 - Andrei Y. Vishinsky, Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union (and prosecutor of Stalin's show trials in 1937-1938) introduces himself to President Kārlis Ulmanis as Soviet special envoy.

Loss of independence

Soviet orchestration of events continued following the invasion, complete with protestors, who had arrived with the Red Army troops, organizing mass marches and meetings in order to create the impression of popular unrest:

• June 19, 1940 - Vishinski visits Ulmanis again, this time, to deliver the list, pre-approved by Moscow, of the new members of the cabinet of the Latvian government.
• June 20, 1940 - Ulmanis forced to approve pro-Soviet government which takes office. Jailed members of the formerly illegal communist party released. Public "processions of thanksgiving" organized in honor of Stalin.
• June 30, 1930 - The Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Vincas Kreve-Mickevicius, meets with Molotov. Molotov is blunt in communicating the Soviet intent to occupy the entire region: “You must take a good look at reality and understand that in the future small nations will have to disappear. Your Lithuania along with the other Baltic nations, including Finland, will have to join the glorious family of the Soviet Union. Therefore you should begin now to initiate your people into the Soviet system, which in the future shall reign everywhere, throughout all Europe; put into practice earlier in some places, as in the Baltic nations, later in others.”
• July 5, 1940 - Decree issued announcing new elections; the Latvian democratic parties organize under the National Committee and attempt to participate.
• July 9, 1940 - Vilis Lācis, the Soviet-appointed Minister of Internal Affairs, orders the National Committee shut down, its most prominent members deported. Deportations are already taking place from territory not (yet) part of the Soviet Union.
• July 14-15, 1940 - Rigged elections held in Latvia and the other Baltic states. Only one pre-approved list of candidates was allowed for elections for the Latvian parliament, the Saeima. The ballots held following instructions: "Only the list of the Latvian Working People's Bloc must be deposited in the ballot box. The ballot must be deposited without any changes." The voters activity index was 97.6%. The complete election results were published in Moscow 12 hours before the election closed. Electoral documents found later proved that the results were completely fabricated.
• July 21, 1940 - The fraudulently installed Saeima votes unanimously to petition to join the Soviet Union. (The consideration of such an action was denied throughout the election.) This petition was illegal under the Latvian Constitution, still in effect, which required a plebiscite referendum for approving such an action: two thirds of all eligible participating and a plain majority approving. Ulmanis is forced to resign.
• July 22, 1940 - Ulmanis deported to the Soviet Union. Land is nationalized (see also below).
• July 23, 1940 - the US Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles condemns the "devious processes" by which "the political independence and territorial integrity of the three small Baltic republics were to be deliberately annihilated by one of their more powerful neighbors."
• July 31, 1940, Minister of Defense Jānis Balodis and family deported to Soviet Union (order hand-written by Vilis Lācis).
• August 3, 5, and 6, 1940 - The Soviet Union grants the petitions of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, respectively, to join. Soviet Latvia was incorporated as the 15th Republic of the Soviet Union. Aside from Germany, no western nation recognizes the annexion as legitimate de jure.

1940-1941: The first Soviet occupation

Accurate numbers for the losses the Soviets inflicted on Latvia are not available. They can, however, be conservatively estimated at 290,000 dead from military action, executions, or deportation. Many more found refuge abroad. These losses all began during the first Soviet occupation. This has also been referred to, in Latvian, as "Baigais Gads" (Year of Terror). (This term was also used in anti-Soviet propaganda of the period—these two uses should not be confused or allied in purpose.)

Defining and deporting enemies of the state

On June 22, 1940, all three Baltic parliaments passed initial resolutions on the nationalization of land, followed in Latvia by a Bill of Land Reform a week later. Initially, a maximum of 30 hectares of land could be used by a family, reduced during the second Soviet occupation to 15-20 hectares. Anyone holding more land was categorized as an enemy of the state. Based on land ownership in 1935, that put over 40% of Latvian farmers and their families into that category, destined for deportation.

The purpose of deportations was to eliminate the native middle class, replaced through aggressive Russification). Given Latvia's predominantly agricultural economy following independence, this meant elimination of most of Latvia's farming class.

Serov's deportation Order No. 001223 applied to all the Baltics. The following NKVD order of November 28, 1940, was issued in Lithuania; this document was left behind when the Soviets evacuated. Similar orders were issued for Estonia and Latvia.

Later orders expanded the list, including anyone related to someone in hiding from the government or who had fled abroad—which act made them a traitor to the state.

The first Soviet mass deportations took place on June 13 and 14th, 1941, estimated at 15 600 men, women, and children, and including 20% of Latvia's last legal government. Approximately 35 000 total (1.8% of Latvia's population) were deported during the first Soviet occupation, with 131 500 deported in total across the Baltics.

The deportations were swift and efficient and came in the middle of the night. Deportees were given an hour or less to get ready to leave. They were allowed to take with them their belongings not exceeding 100 kg in weight (money, food for a month, cooking appliances, clothing). The families would then be taken to the railway station. That was when they discovered that the men were to be separated from the women and children: "In view of the fact that a large number of deportees must be arrested and distributed in special camps and that their families must proceed to special settlements in distant regions, it is essential that the operation of removal of both the members of the deportee's family and its head shall be carried out simultaneously, without notifying them of the separation confronting them.... The convoy of the entire family to the station shall be effected in one vehicle and only at the station of departure shall the head of the family be placed separately from his family in a car specially intended for heads of families."

The trains were escorted by a NKVD officer and military convoy. Packed into barred cattle cars, with holes in the floor for sanitation, the deportees were taken to Siberia. Many died before even reaching their final destination because of harsh conditions. Many more perished their first winter.

The Soviet-Nazi war cut short this first year of Soviet occupation. The Nazi offensive, launched June 22, 1941, just over a week after the mass deportations were executed, entered Riga on July 1, 1941. This disrupted documented NKVD plans to deport several hundred thousand more from the Baltic states on June 27 and 28, 1941.

1941-1944: Nazi occupation

With memories of the mass deportations still fresh, the German troops were widely greeted at their arrival by the Latvians as liberators. The Latvian national anthemn played on the radio. Nazi Germany, however, had no plan or desire to restore autonomy to the Baltics. Jewish fears of the Nazis—which had led some to look upon the Soviet occupation as a measure of security—were to prove tragically well founded.

1944(-1945): Second Soviet occupation

Oct 10-29, 1944 - Soviet troops capture Riga.

Western Views

Unlike Nazi Germany, whose acquiescence was guaranteed by the secret protocols of August 23, 1939, most Western governments considered the occupation and annexation as illegal and continued recognising the continued existence of the Republic of Latvia de jure. On July 23, 1940, the US Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles condemned the "devious processes" by which "the political independence and territorial integrity of the three small Baltic republics were to be deliberately annihilated by one of their more powerful neighbors". The non-recognition of the annexation continued until Latvia regained its independence and full sovereignty in 1991.

Claims and Historical Reassesment

Claim: "The Red Army protected a popular revolution in Latvia." This was a claim of Soviet historiography, still current in Russia, which has not recognized the occupation.

The secret protocols amended to the Hitler-Stalin Pact of August 23, 1939, which made the occupation and annexation possible, were not acknowledged by the USSR until 1990 and were not allowed to be introduced into evidence in the Nurnberg war crimes trials. The Soviet ultimatum of June 16, 1940 does not mention an uprising. The marches and meetings expressing "popular demands" were artificially organised by demonstrators brought by the Soviet army from abroad and took place after the occupation forces had already arrived.

Claim: "The change in regimes was legitimised by the previous government and presidential decrees." It was true that acting under the threat of violence and bloodshed foreshadowed by Soviet actions in Finland and the attack on Latvian border posts the government agreed to the demands. It was also true that President Ulmanis, while ostensibly in power, signed decrees dismantling many of the institutions the independent state had established. But it was likewise true that he was kept virtually prisoner and acted under great duress and eventually was deported to Siberia.

Claim: "The incorporation into the Soviet Union was legitimised by a parliamentary election." The elections by which the new parliament was chosen did not conform to democratic standards or to the constitution of Latvia (as described in the section on the election).

References

• "Latvia: Country & People," Jānis Rutkis, editor, Latvian National Foundation, Stockholm, 1967
• "Latvian Economic Review, No. 2 (18), April 1940," Alberts Zalts, editor, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• "The Story of Latvia - A Historical Survey," by Arveds Švābe, Latvian National Foundation, Stockholm, 1949
• "These Names Accuse-Nominal List of Latvians Deported to Soviet Russia," Latvian National Foundation, Stockholm, 2nd edition, 1982

External links

• The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia
• Centropa Reports, Latvia, July 1, 1941, by Frank Gordon
• Vilis Lācis handwritten note (facsmile and translation) deporting General Jānis Balodis and family

• 1940
• History of Latvia