Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940

1918–1939: historical background In the aftermath of the October Revolution of 1917, Latvia declared its independence on 18 November 1918. After a prolonged War of Independence against Soviet Russia (the predecessor of the Soviet Union), the two countries signed a peace treaty on 11 August 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 diplomatically recognised by the Allied Supreme Council (France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Belgium) on 26 January 1921. Other states followed the suit. On 22 September 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 5 February 1932, a non-aggression treaty with the Soviet Union was signed. The treaty was based on the 11 August 1920 treaty, whose basic agreements inalterably and for all time form the firm basis of the relationship of the two states. Relevant treaties between USSR and Latvia Before World War II, the Republic of Latvia and USSR had both signed and ratified following treaties: ;Kellogg–Briand Pact :27 August 1928 Kellogg–Briand Pact renouncing war as an instrument of national policy ;Non-aggression treaty :Latvia, USSR on 5 February 1932 ;The Convention for the Definition of Aggression :On 3 July 1933 for the first time in the history of international relations, aggression was defined in a binding treaty signed at the Soviet Embassy in London by USSR and among others, Latvia. :Article II defines forms of aggression. There shall be recognized as an aggressor that State which shall be the first to have committed one of the following actions: :Relevant chapters: :*Second: invasion by armed forces of the territory of another State even without a declaration of war. :*Fourth: a naval blockade of coasts or ports of another State. ==1939–1940: the road to loss of independence==

, Latvian MFA; Joachim von Ribbentrop, German MFA; and Karl Selter, Estonian MFA. German–Latvian non-aggression pact The German–Latvian non-aggression pact was signed in Berlin on 7 June 1939. In light of the German advance in the east, the Soviet government demanded an Anglo–French guarantee of the independence of the Baltic states, during their negotiations for an alliance with the Western Powers. The Latvian and Estonian governments, ever suspicious of Soviet intentions, decided to accept a mutual non-aggression pact with Germany. The German–Estonian and German–Latvian Non-aggression pacts were signed in Berlin on 7 June 1939 by Latvian foreign minister Vilhelms Munters and Joachim von Ribbentrop. On the next day Adolf Hitler received the Estonian and Latvian envoys, and in course of these interviews stressed maintaining and strengthening commercial links between Germany and Baltic states. Ratifications of the German-Latvian pact were exchanged in Berlin on 24 July 1939 and it became effective on the same day. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 24 August 1939. signing the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact German–Soviet non-aggression pact The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, signed 23 August 1939 contained secret protocols to split up territories between Germany and the Soviet Union. According to these protocols, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Bessarabia were within the Soviet sphere of interest, and Poland and Lithuania fell into the German sphere of interest. The Soviet Union did not officially admit the existence of these protocols until, under pressure from the Baltic SSRs, on 24 December 1989, the Congress of the USSR People's Deputies officially recognized the secret deals and condemned them as illegal and invalid from their inception. Invasion of Poland Nazi Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. France and Britain, which were obligated by treaty to protect Poland, responded with notes of protest requesting the Germans withdraw. Following French-British indecision, Britain acted alone moving forward with a two-hour ultimatum at 9:00 a.m. on 3 September, which France was then forced to follow, issuing its own ultimatum. Nevertheless, despite declarations that a state of war now existed with Germany, the inter-Allied military conferences of 4-6 September determined there was no possibility of supporting an eastern front in Poland. France subsequently requested Britain not bomb Germany, fearing military retaliation against the French populace. It was determined to do nothing, so as to not provoke a transfer of German forces to the western front. Chamberlain declared on 12 September "There is no hurry as time is on our side". The abandonment of Poland was complete. at the end of the invasion of Poland. On the tribune are Major General Heinz Guderian (centre) and Brigadier Semyon Krivoshein (right). Stalin then moved forward with his part of the Pact, ordering the Red Army on 17 September to cross the Soviet-Polish frontier under the claimed necessity to protect the Belarusians and Ukrainians in the territory of Poland, which Soviets argued "ceased to exist" in the wake of German successes. Stalin then suggested a "trade" to Hitler to solve the "Baltic problem". On 28 September 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union having partitioned Poland signed a border agreement, including a second secret protocol, handing Lithuania to Stalin in exchange for two Polish provinces. Shortly thereafter, on 3 October 1939, the German ambassador to the Soviet Union, Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg, had also suggested to Molotov that various changes in the borders of the Lithuanian territory wait until the "Soviet Union incorporates Lithuania, an idea on which, I believe, the arrangement concerning Lithuania was originally based". Subsequently, the Soviet Union further agreed to compensate Nazi Germany 7,500,000 gold dollars (or 31,500,000 Reichsmarks) for the Reich renouncing its "claims" on the Lithuanian territory it was to originally possess based on the September 28th agreement. The Soviet Union now occupied just over half of all Polish territory, and the Allied powers had demonstrated themselves incapable of military intervention on the Eastern front. There were no impediments remaining to Stalin, in concert with Hitler, achieving his aims in the Baltics. Baltic–Soviet relations in autumn 1939 On 24 September 1939, warships of the Red Navy appeared off Latvia's northern neighbour, Estonian ports, Soviet bombers began a threatening patrol over Tallinn and the nearby countryside. USSR then violated the air space of all three Baltic states, flying massive intelligence gathering operations on 25 September. Moscow demanded that Baltic countries allow the USSR to establish military bases and station troops on their soil for the duration of the European war. During talks in Moscow, on 2 October 1939, 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. The government of Estonia accepted the ultimatum signing the corresponding agreement on 28 September 1939; Latvia following on 5 October 1939; and Lithuania shortly thereafter, on 10 October 1939. In Latvia's case it was signed by Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vilhelms Munters and Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov. Ratifications were exchanged in Riga on 11 October 1939, and the treaty became effective on the same day. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on 6 November 1939. Articles of the treaty were: • Article 1 provided for military cooperation between the parties in case of an attack by a third party. • Article 2 obliged the Soviet government to assist the Latvian government in providing armaments. • Article 3 permitted the Soviet government to establish military and naval bases on Latvian territory. • Article 4 obliged the Soviet and Latvian governments not to engage in military alliances against the other party. • Article 5 stipulated that the political and economic systems and the sovereignty of both parties shall not be affected by the treaty. • Article 6 dealt with ratification, and stipulated that the treaty shall remain in force for ten years, with an option to extend it for further ten years. As Latvian National Foundation says 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 sovereignty. 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." Latvia entered into agreement with Nazi Germany on the repatriation of citizens of German nationality on 30 October 1939. Publicly, on 31 October 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. Soviet invasion of Finland Similar demands were forwarded to Finland. The Soviets demanded that Finland cede or lease parts of its territory, as well as the destruction of Finnish defenses along the Karelian Isthmus. After the Finns rejected these demands, the Soviets responded with military force. The USSR launched the Winter War on 30 November 1939, with the goal of annexing Finland. Simultaneously, a puppet regime, called the Finnish Democratic Republic, was created by the Soviets to govern Finland after Soviet conquest. Because the Soviet attack was judged as illegal, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations on 14 December. The initial period of the war proved disastrous for the Soviet military, taking severe losses while making little headway. On 29 January 1940, the Soviets put an end to their Finnish Democratic Republic puppet government and recognized the government in Helsinki as the legal government of Finland, informing it that they were willing to negotiate peace. The Soviets reorganized their forces and launched a new offensive along the Karelian Isthmus in February 1940. As fighting in Viipuri raged and the hope of foreign intervention faded, the Finns accepted peace terms on 12 March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Fighting ended the following day. The Finns had retained their independence, but ceded 9% of Finnish territory to the Soviet Union. In June 1941, hostilities between Finland and USSR resumed in the Continuation War. ==1940–1941: the first Soviet occupation==

Political background Apparent escape from Finland's fate may have led to a false sense of security for Latvia. Four months before the arrival of Soviet troops in Latvia, Vilhelms Munters, addressing an audience at the University of Latvia on 12 February 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." With Soviet failure in Finland sealed for the moment, it was little more than a month after Munters' positive expressions that Molotov, speaking on 25 March 1940, essentially announced Soviet intentions to annex the Baltic States, stating, "... the execution of the pacts progressed satisfactorily and created conditions favourable for a further improvement of the relations between Soviet Russia and these States". Improvement of the relations being a euphemism 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 Riga and Liepāja. When those failed to develop into a general strike, the Soviets blamed that failure on the "irresponsible element which spoils the good neighbourly relations". Fearing Soviet action, on 17 May 1940, the Latvian government secretly issued emergency powers to the Latvian minister in London, Kārlis Reinholds Zariņš, designating Alfreds Bilmanis, the Latvian minister in Washington, as his substitute. Soviet invasion , 1940 rally in Riga, 1941 On 28 May 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: • On 12 June 1940, the order for a total military blockade on Estonia to the Soviet Baltic Fleet is given: according to the director of the Russian State Archive of the Naval Department Pavel Petrov (C. Phil.) referring to the records in the archive • 14 June 1940: while world attention is focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany a day earlier, Molotov accuses the Baltic countries of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivers an ultimatum to Lithuania for the establishment of a government the Soviets approve of. On the same day, the Soviet blockade of Estonia went into effect. According to eyewitness accounts pieced together by Estonian and Finnish investigators, two Soviet bombers downed Finnish passenger airplane Kaleva flying from Tallinn to Helsinki carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki. The US Foreign Service employee Henry W. Antheil Jr. was killed in the crash. • 15 June 1940: Soviet troops invade Lithuania and position troops to invade Latvia. • 15 June 1940: Soviet troops attack the Latvian border guards at Masļenki, • 21 July 1940: the fraudulently installed Saeima meets for the first time. It has only one piece of business—a petition to join the Soviet Union (the consideration of such an action was denied throughout the election). The petition carried unanimously. However, it 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. • 22 July 1940: Ulmanis deported to the Soviet Union, dying in captivity in 1942. ==Aftermath==

Occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany 1941–1944 welcome the arrival of Nazi troops. The Soviet-German war cut short this first year of Soviet occupation. The Nazi offensive, launched 22 June 1941, just over a week after the mass deportations were executed, entered Riga on 1 July 1941. This disrupted documented NKVD plans to deport several hundred thousand more from the Baltic states on 27-28 July 1941. With memories of the mass deportations of a week before still fresh, the German troops were widely greeted at their arrival by the Latvians as liberators. The Latvian national anthem played on the radio, and, as Chris Bellamy wrote: "the [anti-Soviet] rebellion broke out immediately after the news of Barbarossa". In February 1992, Russia agreed to start withdrawing its troops from Latvia. In August 1994 the last Russian troops withdrew from the Republic of Latvia. Russia officially ended its military presence in Latvia in August 1998 following the decommissioning of the Skrunda-1 radar station, which was the last active Russian military radar in the Baltics. The last Russian troops withdrew from the station the following year. Image:BALTICO_RIGA.jpg|Soviet troops in Riga, October 1944 File:Plakāts.Latvijas PSR ģerbonis.Himnas vārdi.jpg|Soviet propaganda poster in Latvia, 1945 ==Historical Soviet version of events==

) Up to the reassessment of Soviet history that began during the Perestroika, which led to the official condemnation of the 1939 secret protocol by the Soviet government, the Soviet position on the events of 1939–1940 is summarised as follows: the Government of the Soviet Union suggested to the Government of the Republic of Latvia that they conclude a treaty of mutual assistance between the two countries. Pressure from the Latvian working peoples forced the Latvian government to accept this offer. A Pact of Mutual Assistance was signed allowing the USSR to station a limited number of Red Army units in Latvia. Economic difficulties, dissatisfaction with the Latvian government policies "that had sabotaged fulfillment of the Pact and the Latvian government" and political orientation towards Nazi Germany led to a revolutionary situation culminating in June 1940. To guarantee fulfillment of the Pact, additional Soviet military units entered Latvia, welcomed by the Latvian workers who demanded the resignation of the bourgeoisie Latvian government and its fascist leader, Kārlis Ulmanis. That same June, under the leadership of the Latvian Communist Party, the Latvian workers held demonstrations, and on that day, the fascist government was overthrown, and a People's Government formed. Elections for the Latvian Parliament were held shortly thereafter in July 1940. The "Working People's Union", created by an initiative of the Latvian Communist Party, received the vast majority of the votes. The Parliament adopted the declaration of the restoration of Soviet power in Latvia and proclaimed the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. The parliament then declared Latvia's wish to freely and willingly join the USSR, adopting a resolution to that effect. That request was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and Latvia became a constituent republic of the USSR. ==Conflicting versions of history==

, condemning the 1940 occupation by the Soviet Union of Latvia and the two other Baltic states, and refusing to recognize their annexation as Soviet Republics The issue of the Soviet occupation and its motives and consequences remain a point of contention between the Baltic states and Russia. At the core lie different versions of the historical events during World War II and after: the Latvian (shared also by Estonia and Lithuania and widely espoused by Western historical scholarship) and the Soviet, which continues to be supported and defended by the government of Russia. According to the European Court of Human Rights, results were accidentally released to the Western press in London before the elections were even complete. As reported by Time in 1940, those who had failed to have their passports stamped for voting Latvia into the USSR were allowed to be shot in the back of the head by Soviet NKVD, the Russian Federation, the legal successor state of the USSR, does not recognize the forcible occupation of Latvia by the Soviet Union. Specifically in reference to Latvia, the Russian Duma passed a resolution to "remind the deputies of the Latvian Saeima that Latvia's being a part of the Soviet Union was grounded by fact and by law from the international juridical point of view". The government of Russia further maintains that the Soviet Union liberated Latvia from the Germans in 1944. ==Legacy==

In 2000, Soviet Occupation Day—17 June—became a remembrance day in Latvia. ==See also==

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