Timeline of the occupation of the Baltic states


The timeline of the occupation of the Baltic states lists key events in the military occupation of the three countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – by the Soviet Union and by Nazi Germany during World War II.

1939

1940

  • 29 January 1940, Soviet Union "forgets" Terijoki government.
  • 13 March 1940 Winter War ends with Moscow Peace Treaty.
  • 9 April 1940, Germany invades Denmark and Norway. Denmark surrenders almost immediately.
  • 10 June 1940, Germany occupies Norway.
  • 14 June 1940, Germany captures Paris.
  • 14 June 1940 Soviet Union begins military air and naval blockade of Estonia.
  • 14 June 1940, Soviet air force shoots down Finnish civilian passenger aircraft "Kaleva" flying en route from Tallinn to Helsinki.
  • 14 June 1940 Soviet Union gives ultimatum to Lithuania to form a new government and allow free access for Red Army. The president of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona, proposes armed resistance. Failing to secure support from government or armed forces, he decides to leave the country, so that he could not be used to legalise the occupation.
  • 15 June 1940 Soviet Union occupies Lithuania. President Smetona flees through Germany first to Switzerland then to USA, 1941, where he dies on 9 January 1944, in Cleveland. Prime Minister Antanas Merkys yields to Soviet demands, attempts to catch Smetona. Vladimir Dekanozov lands in Kaunas to supervise annexation of Lithuania.
  • 15 June 1940, at 03:00 Soviet troops storm and capture Latvian border posts Masļenki and Smaiļi.
  • 16 June 1940 Similar ultimatums were given to Estonia and Latvia.
  • 16 June 1940, Prime Minister of Lithuania Antanas Merkys removes Antanas Smetona from the post of president and, contrary to Lithuanian constitution, assumes presidency himself.
  • 17 June 1940 Estonia and Latvia submit to Soviet demands and are occupied. Prime Minister of Lithuania Antanas Merkys assigns Justas Paleckis as new prime minister, resigns and is arrested.
  • 18 June 1940, Sweden and Germany sign treaty allowing transit of German soldiers from Norway using Swedish territory.
  • 19 June 1940, A demonstration is staged in Vilnius in support of Soviet Army.
  • 20 June 1940, New Latvian government of Moscow-approved ministers is formed.
  • 21 June 1940, New Estonian government containing only left-wing activists is formed. Soviet Union arrange a number of Red Army backed support demonstrations in several cities.
  • 22 June 1940, France surrenders to Nazi Germany.
  • 8 July 1940, Sweden and Germany sign treaty allowing transit of German war material between Norway and ports in Southern Sweden.
  • 11 July 1940, Baltic Military District is created by Soviet Union at Riga, on the territories of theoretically still independent states
  • 14–15 July 1940, Mock elections in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where non-communist candidates were disqualified, harassed and beaten. Results of Latvian "elections" published in advance in London by accident.
  • 17 July 1940, The acting president of Lithuania, Antanas Merkys, is imprisoned and deported to Saratov, Soviet Union. He dies 5 March 1955.
  • 21–23 July 1940 New Soviet-backed Estonian assembly transforms Estonia according to Soviet style, disregarding existing constitutional framework for government restructuring.
  • 21 July 1940 New Latvian Saeima accepts wide nationalisation and Sovietisation decrees.
  • 22 July 1940, The president of Latvia, Kārlis Ulmanis, is arrested and deported to Russia, never returning. He died in a prison in Krasnovodsk on 20 September 1942.
  • 23 July 1940, Heads of Baltic diplomatic missions in London and Washington, D. C. protest against Soviet occupation and annexation of their countries.
  • 23 July 1940 Sumner Welles' Declaration. United States applies the precedent of earlier Stimson Doctrine to Baltic states, pursuing a policy of non-recognition of annexation of the Baltic States de jure. Most other Western countries maintain similar position until restoration of Baltic states' sovereignty in 1991.
  • 30 July 1940, The president of Estonia, Konstantin Päts, is imprisoned by NKVD and deported to Russia where he dies in the mental hospital of Kalinin on 18 January 1956.
  • 3 August 1940 Soviet Union annexes Lithuania.
  • 5 August 1940 Soviet Union annexes Latvia.
  • 6 August 1940 Soviet Union annexes Estonia.
  • 6 September 1940, Soviet Union acquires troop and material transfer rights from Finland between Hanko and Soviet border.
  • 22 September 1940, Germany acquires troop and material transfer rights from Finland between northern Norway and ports of Gulf of Bothnia.
  • 12 November 1940, Germany refuses Soviet Union demands for right to handle Finland as they will in negotiations in Berlin.
  • 16 December 1940, The Russian SFSR penal code is applied to retroactively in Estonia, applying to acts committed before 21 June 1940.

1941

1942