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1939-1940 - Soviet Occupation and Annexation

Latvia declared its independence on 18 November 1918. After a prolonged War of Independence, Latvia and Soviet Russia (the predecessor of the Soviet Union) 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 recognised de jure by the Allied Supreme Council (France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Belgium) on 23 January 1921. Other states followed suit. On 22 September 1921, Latvia was admitted to membership in the League of Nations. Latvia remained a member until the formal dissolution of the League of Nations in 1946. On 5 February 1932, a Non-Aggression Treaty with the Soviet Union was signed, 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. On 1 September 1939, Latvia declared its neutrality.

Latvia fell prey to the collaborative realpolitik of Nazi Germany and Communist Soviet Union. They concluded a Non-Aggression Treaty on 23 August 1939, known as the Hitler-Stalin or, after the signatories, Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The Pact allowed Germany to invade Poland on 1 September 1939. Among the provisions in a secret protocol attached to the Treaty was the establishment of a Soviet Sphere of Influence in Eastern Europe, which included Latvia. After the fall of Poland to the invading German and, from 17 September on, Soviet forces, the German-Soviet relationship was further cemented by a Friendship and Border Treaty signed on 28 September 1939. At this time the final division of Poland was agreed on, further provisions were made concerning the division of "Spheres of Influence" in Eastern Europe and the emigration of ethnic Germans from areas claimed by the Soviet Union, including Latvia. This collaboration of the two totalitarian powers allowed the Soviet Union by application of force and under various political pretexts to invade Latvia on 17 June 1940 and annex the country on 5 August 1940. The take-over was never recognised de jure by the major Western powers. Nazi Germany not only recognised the annexation but during its occupation 1941-45 treated Latvia as occupied Soviet territory - in accord with the secret protocols of the Treaties of 1939.

Mutual Assistance Treaty of 5 October 1939 and Soviet Military Bases in Latvia. The Soviet Union did not hesitate to establish its hegemony in its "Sphere of Influence." Under threats of military intervention, the Baltic states were compelled to sign treaties of "mutual assistance," which for all intents and purposes meant that they had become military and political dependents of the USSR. The treaty with Latvia provided for the establishment of Soviet Air Force, Naval and Army bases in Western Latvia and the stationing of up to 25,000 troops, more than the peacetime strength of the Army of Latvia. The threat of force was meant seriously. When Finland was called upon to sign a similar treaty and refused, the Red Army attacked Finland. The Winter War with Finland lasted until March 1940.

A bloody Soviet provocation in Latvia came on 15 June 1940. In the early morning hours of 15 June, Soviet operatives attacked three Latvia border posts in Eastern Latvia, killing three guards, the wife and the son of one guard. They took 10 border guards and 27 civilians as hostages to the USSR.

The Soviet ultimatum of 16 June 1940, without factual basis, accused Latvia of breaching the Mutual Assistance Treaty and demanded within six hours time to admit an unlimited number of Soviet troops to Latvia and to form a new government. Knowing that Lithuania had been invaded by the Red Army a day before, that its troops were massed along the eastern border and mindful of the Soviet military bases in Western Latvia, the government acceded to the demands.

The military occupation of Latvia began 17 June 1940. The Red army started the occupation operation in the early morning of 17. June. About noon, Soviet tanks entered Riga. The military take-over took place three days after Paris fell to the troops of Nazi Germany and the world's attention was directed to the collapse of France.

One-Party "elections" of the Latvian Parliament Saeima were held 14/15 July 1941. The election was democratic in name only. Only one pre-approved list of candidates was allowed. Alternate lists prepared in a hurry were turned down. The instructions read: "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." Newspapers praised the Red Army for ensuring a safe election. The percentage voting for was 97.8%. On 21 July 1940 The undemocratically elected Saeima voted unanimously to make Latvia a Soviet state and to ask for admission to the Soviet Union. Although the Latvian Constitution prescribes a plebiscite in case of restricting sovereignty, a plebiscite never took place.

Soviet Latvia was incorporated as the 15th Republic of the Soviet Union on 5 August 1940. Unanimously, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR admitted the new Soviet Latvian Republic to the Soviet Union, and the act of annexation made possible through massive military intervention, illegal and undemocratic acts and collaborationism was complete.

The take-over was directed by Andrei Y. Vyshinsky, Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and prosecutor of Stalin's infamous show trials in 1937-38. The list of the new Cabinet of Ministers was pre-approved in Moscow and on 19 June presented to President Ulmanis for his signature. At the same time, provocateurs, who had arrived with the Soviet troops, organised mass marches and meetings, thus creating the impression of popular unrest. Even before the formal incorporation, the deportation of former government officials to the Soviet Union took place: President Karlis Ulmanis on 21 July, former Minister of Defence Janis Balodis and family on 31 July.

Unlike Nazi Germany, whose acquiescence was guaranteed by the secret protocols of 23 August 1939, most Western governments considered the occupation and annexation as illegal and continued recognising the continued existence of the Republic of Latvia de jure. As early as 23 July 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.

"The Red Army protected a popular revolution in Latvia" is a claim of Soviet historiography, disingenuous at best, cynical at worst, still current in Russia, which has not recognized the fact of occupation.. The secret protocols amended to the Hitler-Stalin Pact of 23 August 1939, which made the occupation and annexation possible, were not acknowledged by the USSR until 1989. They were not allowed to be introduced into evidence in the Nuremberg war crimes trials. The Soviet ultimatum of 16 June 1940 does not mention an uprising. The marches, meetings expressing "popular demands" were all organised and took place only after the occupation forces arrived. Furthermore, it strains credibility that in three independent states simultaneous "revolutions" took place, which were all protected by the Red Army, followed by simultaneous "elections", requests to be admitted to the Soviet Union and incorporation within a few days of each other.

The change in regimes was legitimised by the previous government and presidential decrees. It is 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 is also true that President Ulmanis, while ostensibly in power, signed decrees dismantling many of the institutions the independent state had established. But it is likewise true that he was kept virtually prisoner and acted under great duress.

The incorporation into the Soviet Union was legitimised by a parliamentary election. The elections by which the parliament was chosen were undemocratic and anti-constitutional. The illegally elected parliament in turn committed anti-constitutional acts by usurping the sovereign right of the people of Latvia to determine their own form of government.