Second World War Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania were divided into German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (German copy) on 8 July 1941 in
Tartu, Estonia The
Nazi-Soviet Pact which was signed on 23 August 1939, a week before the outbreak of World War II,
secretly assigned Estonia to the Soviet "
sphere of influence". On 24 September 1939, warships of the Soviet Navy blocked the major ports of Estonia, a
neutral country, and Soviet bombers began patrolling over and around its capital city
Tallinn. Moscow demanded that Estonia allow the USSR to establish Soviet military bases on its territory and station 25,000 troops in these bases "for the duration of the European war". The government of Estonia yielded to the ultimatum, signing the corresponding mutual assistance agreement on 28 September 1939.
Soviet occupation of Estonia On 12 June 1940, the order for total military
blockade of Estonia was given to the
Soviet Baltic fleet. On 14 June, the Soviet military blockade of Estonia went into effect while the world's attention was focused on the fall of Paris to
Nazi Germany. Two Soviet bombers
shot down a Finnish passenger aircraft "
Kaleva" flying from Tallinn to
Helsinki carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn,
Riga and Helsinki. On 16 June, Soviet
NKVD troops raided border posts in
Estonia (along with
Lithuania and
Latvia). Soviet leader
Joseph Stalin claimed that the 1939 mutual assistance treaties had been violated, and gave six-hour ultimatums for new governments to be formed in each country, including lists of persons for cabinet posts provided by the Kremlin. On 16–17 June 1940, the
Red Army emerged from its military bases in Estonia and, aided by an additional 90,000 Soviet troops, took over the country,
occupying the entire territory of the Republic of Estonia. Most of the
Estonian Defence Forces and the
Estonian Defence League surrendered according to the orders, and were disarmed by the Red Army. Only the Estonian Independent Signal Battalion stationed at Raua Street in Tallinn began armed resistance. As the Soviet troops brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, the battle at Raua Street lasted for several hours until sundown. There was one dead, several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Independent Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed. By 18 June 1940, large-scale military operations for the occupation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were complete. In the following days, the Soviet troops organised and supported Stalinist "demonstrations" in Tallinn and other larger cities. Thereafter, state administrations were liquidated and replaced by Soviet cadres, followed by mass repression. On 21 June 1940, the
Soviet military occupation of the Republic of Estonia was complete. That day, the President
Konstantin Päts (deported to
Ufa,
Russian SFSR on 30 July 1940 and arrested a few weeks later) was pressured into affirming the
Andrei Zhdanov-appointed
puppet government of
Johannes Vares, following the arrival of demonstrators accompanied by Red Army troops with armoured vehicles to the
residence of the Estonian president. The
flag of Estonia was replaced with a
Red flag on Tallinn's
Pikk Hermann tower. On 14–15 July 1940,
rigged extraordinary
parliamentary elections were held by the occupation authorities, in which voters were presented with a single list of
pro-Stalinist candidates. To maximise voter turnout to legitimise the new system, the voters' documents were stamped in voting facilities for future identification of voting, along with a threat running in the main Communist newspaper,
Rahva Hääl, that "It would be extremely unwise to shirk elections. ... Only people's enemies stay at home on election day." Each ballot carried only the Soviet-assigned candidate's name, with the only way to register opposition being to strike out that name on the ballot.
Time magazine reported that, following the elections, tribunals were set up to judge and punish "traitors to the people", which included opponents of
Sovietization and those who did not vote for incorporation in the Soviet Union. This election is considered illegal, since the amended electoral law—along with hundreds of other laws passed by the Vares government—had not been approved by the upper house of parliament, as required by the Estonian constitution. The upper house had been dissolved soon after the Soviet occupation and was never reconvened. Once the elections were concluded, authorities which had previously denied any intention of setting up a Soviet regime began openly speaking of Sovietisation and incorporation into the Soviet Union. The newly "elected" "
People's Parliament" met on 21 July 1940. Its sole piece of business was a petition to join the Soviet Union, which passed unanimously. The Estonian SSR was formally
annexed into the Soviet Union on 6 August 1940, becoming nominally the 16th constituent part (or
"union republic") of the USSR. After another "union republic", the
Karelo-Finnish SSR was demoted to an
"ASSR", or to an "autonomous union republic" in 1956, until 1991 the Soviet authorities referred to the Estonian SSR as the 15th (i.e., "the last on the list") constituent "republic". On 23 July 1940, the new Stalinist regime
nationalised all land, banks and major industrial enterprises in Estonia. Farmers were allotted small plots of land during the land reforms. Most small businesses were nationalised soon afterwards. The Soviet central government launched the
colonisation of the occupied country by promoting a large-scale population movement into Estonia, as immigrants from Russia and other parts of the former USSR settled in Estonia. According to some Western scholars, relations between the Soviet Union and Estonian SSR were those of
internal colonialism. • the earlier economic structures constructed mostly in 1920–1940 were purposefully destroyed; • new production structures were constructed only to satisfy interests of the colonial power, assigning priorities according to an
all-union production chain network; • local environmental resources were extensively over used; • the employment and migration policies were tailored towards assimilating the native population; • former economic ties of Estonia were cut off and Estonian economy was isolated from non-Soviet markets. All banks and accounts were essentially nationalised; a lot of industrial machinery was disassembled and relocated to other Soviet territories. Before retreating in 1941, the Red Army, following the
scorched earth policies, burnt most industrial constructions, destroying power plants, vehicles and cattle. Millions of dollars' worth of goods were allegedly moved from Estonia to Russia during the evacuation of 1941. There was excess mortality among common people, too, that has been attributed to
malnutrition.
International reaction Immediately following the June 1940 Estonian occupation by the Soviet Union and incorporation as a result of a Soviet-supported Communist ''coup d'état'', Shipping was nationalized. Ships were ordered to fly the
hammer and sickle and head for a Soviet port.
August Torma, the envoy appointed by previous Estonian government, sought protection and reassurance for the 20 Estonian ships in British ports. He failed to obtain reassurance, so the majority went to the Soviet Union. The Irish experience was different. There was a fight between Peter Kolts, who hoisted the hammer and sickle and Captain Joseph Juriska who wanted to remove it. The
Garda Síochána were called. The next day, Justice Michael Lennon sentenced Kolts to a week in jail. Following this verdict and sentence, the ships in Irish ports choose to remain. The Soviet Union unsuccessfully pursued the issue of ownership through the Irish Courts and made a 'most emphatic' protest to the Irish government. There were three Estonian ships in Irish ports, plus two from Latvia and one Lithuanian. This had a significant effect on Ireland's ability to continue trading during the war, due to the small size of its own merchant navy. The United States, United Kingdom, and several other countries considered the annexation of Estonia by the USSR illegal following the
Stimson Doctrine—a stance that made the doctrine an established precedent of
international law. Although the US, the UK, the other
Allies of World War II recognised the occupation of the Baltic states by USSR at
Yalta Conference in 1945
de facto, they retained diplomatic relations with the
exiled representatives of the independent Republic of Estonia, and never formally recognised the annexation of Estonia
de jure. The
Government of Russia and its officials maintain that the 1940 Soviet annexation of Estonia was legitimate.
Soviet historiography ,
Karl Säre, and other leaders of Estonian SSR, August 1940 Pre-Perestroika Soviet sources reflecting Soviet historiography described the events in 1939 and 1940 as follows: in a former province of the
Russian Empire, the
Province of Estonia (), Soviet power was established in the end of October 1917. The
Estonian Soviet Republic was proclaimed in
Narva on 29 November 1918 but fell to counter-revolutionaries and the
White Armies in 1919. In June 1940 Soviet power was restored in Estonia as workers overthrew the fascist dictatorship in the country. According to Soviet sources, pressure from the working people of Estonia forced its government to accept the 1939 proposal for a mutual assistance treaty by the Soviet Union. On 28 September 1939 the Pact of Mutual Assistance was signed which allowed the USSR to station a limited number of Soviet Army units in Estonia. Economic difficulties, dissatisfaction with the Estonian government's policies "sabotaging fulfilment of the Pact and the Estonian government", and political orientation towards Nazi Germany lead to a revolutionary situation in June 1940. A note from the Soviet government to the Estonian Government suggested that they stuck strictly to the Pact of Mutual Assistance. To guarantee the fulfilment of the Pact, additional military units entered Estonia, welcomed by the Estonian workers who demanded the resignation of the Estonian government. On 21 June under the leadership of the
Estonian Communist Party political demonstrations by workers were held in Tallinn,
Tartu, Narva and other cities. On the same day the fascist government was overthrown, and the People's government led by Johannes Vares was formed. On 14–15 July 1940 elections for the Estonian Parliament, the State Assembly (
Riigikogu) were held. The "Working People's Union", created by an initiative of the Estonian Communist Party received with 84.1% turnout 92.8% of the votes. An anti-communist guerrilla group called the
Forest Brothers also assisted the Wehrmacht. Estonia was incorporated into the German province of
Ostland.
Soviet recapture The Soviet Union retook Estonia in 1944, thereafter occupying it for nearly another half century. This began when the Red Army re-occupied
Estonian Ingria, Narva and eastern
Vaivara Parish in the
Battle of Narva, Southeast Estonia in the
Tartu Offensive and the rest of the country in the
Baltic Offensive. Faced with the country being re-occupied by the Soviet Army, 80,000 people fled from Estonia by sea to Finland and Sweden in 1944. 25,000 Estonians reached Sweden and a further 42,000 Germany. During the war about 8,000 Estonian Swedes and their family members had emigrated to Sweden. After the retreat of the Germans, about 30,000 partisans remained in hiding in the Estonian forests,
waging a guerrilla war until the early 1950s. After re-occupation, the Soviet nationalization policy of 1940 was reimposed, as well as the collectivization of farms. , Tallinn, Estonia During the first post-war decade of Soviet rule, Estonia was governed by Moscow via Russian-born ethnic Estonian functionaries. Born into the families of native Estonians in Russia, the latter had obtained their education in the Soviet Union during the Stalin era. Many of them had fought in the Red Army (in the Estonian Rifle Corps), few of them had mastered the Estonian language. For the latter reason they were known under a derogatory term "
Yestonians", alluding to their Russian accent. Although the United States and the United Kingdom, the major allies of the USSR against Nazi Germany during the later stages of World War II, both implicitly acknowledged (de facto) the occupation of Estonia by USSR at the Yalta Conference in 1945, both governments, and most of the other western democracies did not recognise it de jure according to the
Sumner Welles' declaration of 23 July 1940 Some of these countries recognised Estonian diplomats who still functioned in many countries in the name of their former governments. These consuls persisted in this anomalous situation until the ultimate restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991. especially in
Ida-Viru County. For example, a policy of prioritising immigrants before returning war refugees in assigning dwelling quarters was adopted.
Destruction of graveyards and war memorials Estonian graveyards and monuments from the period of 1918–1944 were dismantled. Among others, in the
Tallinn Military Cemetery the majority of gravestones from 1918 to 1944 were destroyed by the Soviet authorities. This graveyard was then re-used by the Red Army after World War II. Other cemeteries destroyed by the authorities during the Soviet era in Estonia include
Baltic German cemeteries,
Kopli cemetery (established in 1774),
Mõigu cemetery and the oldest cemetery in Tallinn, the
Kalamaja cemetery (from the 16th century). After the re-occupation of Estonia in 1944, the dismantling of monuments from the Republic of Estonia, which had survived or had been restored during the German occupation, continued. On 15 April 1945, in
Pärnu, a monument by
Amandus Adamson, erected to 87 persons who had fallen in the
Estonian War of Independence, was demolished. The dismantling of war memorials continued for several years and occurred across all districts of the country. A comprehensive file concerning the monuments of the Estonian War of Independence, compiled by the Military Department of the EC(b)P Central Committee in April 1945, has been preserved in the Estonian State Archives. Monuments are listed by counties in this file and it specifies the amount of explosive and an evaluation concerning the transportation that were needed. An extract regarding
Võrumaa reads: "In order to carry out demolition works, 15 Party activists and 275 persons from the Destruction Battalion must be mobilised. 15 workers are needed for the execution of each demolition and 10 people are needed for protection.... In order to carry out demolition works, 225 kg of TNT, 150 metres of rope/fuse and 100 primers are needed, since there is no demolition material on the spot. 11 lorries, which are available but which lack petrol, are needed for carrying the ruins away."
Post-Stalin regime After Stalin's death, the Party membership vastly expanded its social base to include more ethnic Estonians. By the mid-1960s, the percentage of ethnic Estonian membership stabilised near 50%. One positive aspect of the post-Stalin era in Estonia was the regranting of permission in the late 1950s for citizens to make contact with foreign countries. Ties were reactivated with Finland, and in 1965, a ferry service was opened between Tallinn and Helsinki. President of Finland
Urho Kekkonen had visited Tallinn in the previous year and the ferry line is widely credited to Kekkonen. This electronic "window on the West" afforded Estonians more information on current affairs and more access to Western culture and thought than any other group in the Soviet Union. This somewhat more open media environment was important in preparing Estonians for their vanguard role in extending
perestroika during the
Gorbachev era. In the late 1970s, Estonian society grew increasingly concerned about the threat of cultural Russification to the Estonian language and national identity. In 1980, Tallinn hosted the sailing events of the
1980 Summer Olympics. By 1981, Russian was taught already in the second grade of Estonian-language primary schools and in some urban areas was also being introduced into Estonian pre-school teaching. Soviet authorities began to lure in Finnish tourists and the much needed
foreign exchange they could bring. The Soviet travel agency
Inturist contracted Finnish construction company Repo to build
Hotel Viru in central Tallinn. On 8 May 1990, the Parliament reinstated the 1938 constitution, and the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was renamed the Republic of Estonia. On 20 August 1991, the Estonian Parliament adopted a resolution confirming its independence from the Soviet Union. First to recognise Estonia as an independent country was Iceland, on 22 August 1991. On 6 September 1991, the
State Council of the USSR recognised the independence of Estonia, immediately followed by recognitions from other countries. On 23 February 1989, the flag of the Estonian SSR was lowered on Pikk Hermann, and replaced with the blue-black-white flag of Estonia on 24 February 1989. In 1992,
Heinrich Mark, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia in Exile, presented his credentials to the newly elected President of Estonia
Lennart Meri. The last Russian troops withdrew from Estonia in August 1994. Russia officially ended its military presence in Estonia after it relinquished control of the nuclear reactor facilities in
Paldiski in September 1995; Estonia joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. == Geography ==