Baltic states under Soviet rule (1944–1991)
The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – were re-occupied in 1944–1945 by the Soviet Union (USSR) following the German occupation.
In the late 1980s, while Mikhail Gorbachev was in charge of the Soviet Union, the Baltic states took many steps toward autonomy, and eventually towards independence.
[4] Large numbers of the inhabitants of the Baltic countries fled westwards before the Red Army arrived in 1944.
[4] The Soviets made large capital investments for energy resources and the manufacture of industrial and agricultural products.
[8] Baltic urban areas were damaged during wartime and it took ten years to make up for losses in housing.
[9] Estonia and Latvia received large-scale migration of industrial workers from other parts of the Soviet Union that changed the demographics dramatically.
The absence of Russian immigration was only a part of the explanation, as Lithuania gained the Vilnius area, fewer Lithuanians fled west and the state lost its Jewish minority.
[citation needed] For example, the important post of second secretary of local Communist party was almost always ethnic Russian or a member of another Slavic nationality.
The Soviets were sensitive about the Baltic area not only because concerns about its loyalty, but also because of several military installations located there due to its proximity to several Scandinavian non-Eastern Bloc states, including surveillance centres and a submarine base.
[citation needed] The Soviet Union signed the Helsinki Accords and the following year, a monitoring group was founded in Lithuania which produced dissident publications during the 1970s and 1980s.
[15] The Soviet Union maintained ethnic diversity, but on the other hand it made efforts to impose uniformity.
A new wave of Russification targeting the education system began in the late 1970s, attempting to create a Soviet national identity.
The reforms failed to take into account that the USSR was held together by military force which repressed all forms of nationalism.
The freedoms of Glasnost released long-held feelings of nationalism in the Baltic republics, in a development known as the Singing Revolution.
Small successful protests encouraged key individuals and by the end of 1988 the reform wing had gained a decisive position in the Baltic republics.
There was still only one legal communist party, but the availability of multi-candidate choice encouraged the popular fronts and other groups to spread their electoral message.
[24] The biggest demonstration was the Baltic Way in August 1989, where people protested on the fiftieth anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact by a human chain linking hands across the three republics.
[24] In February 1990, the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet elections led to the independence Sąjūdis-backed nationalists achieving a two-thirds majority.
The Soviets had a bigger challenge elsewhere, in the form of the Russian Federal Republic proclaiming sovereignty in June.
[33] After the failed negotiations the Soviets made a dramatic attempt to break the deadlock and sent troops to Lithuania and Latvia in January 1991.
[36] The Russian Federation ended its military presence in Estonia after it relinquished control of the nuclear facilities in Paldiski on 26 September 1995 and in Latvia after Skrunda-1 suspended operations on 31 August 1998 and subsequently dismantled.
