[2] In 1940, in accordance with the secret protocol of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union directed the occupation and subsequent annexation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
On June 23, 1940, U.S. Secretary of State Sumner Welles declared the American non-recognition policy on the principles of the Stimson Doctrine.
Among those accused of crimes during the Baltic occupation process were the Soviet politicians Andrei Zhdanov and Andrey Vyshinsky.
[3] The significance of the Kersten Committee was primarily related to the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet incorporation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
However, the investigation at the time was seen as a way for the U.S. Congress to better study the manner in which the Soviet Union was able to direct the seizure of power in foreign countries.