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The Impact of the Soviet Imposed Mutual Assistance Pacts on the Governments of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, 1939

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

David Crowe
David Crowe*
Affiliation:
Elon College
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Extract

The Soviet Union's decision to force Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to accept its mutual assistance proposals in the fall of 1939 was one of the most dramatic events in modern Baltic history. The new Soviet-Baltic relationship signalled the return of this region to Russia's sphere-of-influence and ended with the total absorption of the Baltic states into the U.S.S.R. the following year. A great deal has been written about the political-diplomatic discussions that led to the Soviet-Baltic mutual assistance pacts. Scholars, however, have paid far less attention to the impact of these new relationships on the various political institutions in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Particularly efforts of these systems to adapt to their new status vis á vis Moscow.

Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , Spring 1984 , pp. 107 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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References

Notes

1. David M. Crowe, Jr., “The Foreign Relations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, 1938-1939,” unpublished doctoral dissertation (Athens, 1974), pp. 16-23; Georg von Rauch, The Baltic States (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970), pp. 76-188 passim; Royal Institute of International Affairs, The Baltic States (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1970), pp. 28-62 passim. Google Scholar

2. Crowe, pp. 238-240, 277.Google Scholar

3. Albert N. Tarulis, Soviet Policy Toward the Baltic States, 1918-1940 (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1959), p. 152. For the complete text, see “Foreign Office Press Release,” in “Wiley to Hull,” October 2, 1939, no. 169, 760i.6111/68, Enclosure no. 1, pp. 1-2.Google Scholar

4. “Steinhardt to Hull,” October 6, 1939, 760P.6111/49, pp. 1-3; “Seeds to Halifax,” October 8, 1939, Foreign Office, 371/23689, p. 367; Bronis J. Kaslas, ed. The U.S.S.R. — German Aggression against Lithuania (New York: Robert Speller & Sons, Publishers, Inc., 1973), pp. 149-151.Google Scholar

5. Lithuanian Bulletin, Vol. VI (January-February, 1948), pp. 16-17; “Orde to Halifax,” April 27, 1939, in Great Britain, Foreign Policy, Documents on British Foreign Policy, 1919-1939, Third Series, Vol. V (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1952), pp. 349-352; “Seeds to Halifax,” June 6, 1939, Series 371, Vol. 23655, p. 233; “Seeds to Halifax,” June 14, 1939, Foreign Office 371/23655, pp. 348-349; “Leonard to Hull,” April 19, 1939, in United States, Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States: The Soviet Union, 1933-39 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office), p. 935. Hereafter referred to as FRUS.SU. In fact, many Baltic diplomats had vowed, like Charles Zarine, Latvia's Minister in London, that his country would “defend her independence and integrity … in the event of an attack from any quarter.” This defiant attitude was also expressed by other Baltic officials publicly time and again in the months before the outbreak of World War II. See, for example, the statements of President Smetona published in the New York Times on May 22, 1939. “Halifax to Orde,” April 30, 1939, Foreign Office 371/23065, p. 88; Leonas Sabaliunas, Lithuania in Crisis: Nationalism to Communism, 1939-1940 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1972), pp. 114-116.Google Scholar

6. Crowe, pp. 250-267; 269-282; “Packer to Hull,” October 18, 1939, no. 516, 760P.6111/74, p. 4; “Kennedy to Hull,” October 1, 1939, no. 1883, 761.6211/229, p. 3; “Gallienne to Halifax,” September 30, 1939, no. 119, N5070/518/38, p. 242.Google Scholar

7. Crowe, pp. 250-267; 269-282.Google Scholar

8. Tonu Parming, “From the Republic of Estonia to the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic; The Transfer of Rule and Sovereignty, 1939-1940,” private manuscript (1973), pp. 39-40; “Wiley to Hull,” October 7, 1939, 760i.6111/74, p. 1; Olavi Arens, “The Estonian Maapaev during 1917,” and V. Stanley Vardys, “The Rise of Authoritarian Rule in the Baltic States,” in V. Stanley Vardys and Romuald Misiunas, eds., The Baltic States in Peace and War, 1917-1945 (University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1978), pp. 20-21; 72-73.Google Scholar

9. “Wiley to Hull,” October 7, 1939, no. 231, 860i.00/416, p. 1; “Wiley to Hull,” October 9, 1939, no. 93, 760i.6111/56, pp. 1-2; “Leonard to Hull,” October 14, 1939, no. 179, 860i.00/419, pp. 1-4.Google Scholar

10. “Steinhardt to Hull,” October 2, 1939, no. 611, 760P.61/107, p. 1; “Wiley to Hull,” October 2, 1939, no. 170, 760i.6111/69, Enclosure, pp. 1-2.Google Scholar

11. Parming, p. 57, details Laidoner's immense governmental and military responsibilities. See also, “Estonian Government Press Release,” October 13, 1939, in “Wiley to Hull,” October 13, 1939, no. 178, 760i.6111/84, Enclosure, pp. 1-4.Google Scholar

12. Ibid., Enclosure, “Estonian Press Release,” October 19, 1939, pp. 1-3.Google Scholar

13. “Packer to Hull,” September 30, 1939, no. 494, 760P.6111/69, p. 1; “Wiley to Hull,” September 1, 1939, no. 95, 761.6211/163, p. 1; “Wiley to Hull,” September 1, 1939, no. 96, 740.0011 European War 1939/10, p. 1.Google Scholar

14. “Wiley to Hull,” September 12, 1939, 740.0011 European War 1939/691, pp. 4-5; “Wiley to Hull,” November 6, 1939, no. 190, 860P.00/254, pp. 1-2; “Wiley to Hull,” September 20, 1939, no. 165, 740.0011 European War 1939/439, p. 1; “Steinhardt to Hull,” September 28, 1939, no. 643, 761.62/551, p. 1.Google Scholar

15. “Wiley to Hull,” October 2, 1939, no. 219, 760P.61/108, pp. 1-2.Google Scholar

16. “Wiley to Hull,” October 11, 1939, no. 249, 860P.00/247, p. 1; “Wiley to Hull,” October 14, 1939, no. 505A, 860P.00/251, pp. 1-2; “Wiley to Hull,” October 27, 1939, no. 528, Enclosure no. 2, p. 1.Google Scholar

17. “Wiley to Hull,” November 3, 1939, no. 128, 860P.00/250, p. 1; “Wiley to Hull,” November 6, 1939, no. 190, 860P.00/254, pp. 1-5; “Wiley to Hull,” no. 576, November 28, 1939, 860P.00/256, pp. 1-2.Google Scholar

18. “Orde to Halifax,” January 10, 1940, N383/383/59, Foreign Office 371/24759, Enclosure, p. 3.Google Scholar

19. “Wiley to Hull,” October 10, 1939, no. 505, 760P.6111/72, Enclosure 4, pp. 1-4; See also “Wiley to Hull,” October 9, 1939, no. 240, 760P.6111/52, pp. 1-2.Google Scholar

20. “Packer to Hull,” October 18, 1939, no. 516, 760P.6111/74, Enclosure no. 1 (Jaunakas Zinas, no. 229, October 9, 1939), pp. 1-5.Google Scholar

21. “Wiley to Hull,” October 29, 1939, no. 530, 760P.6111/75, Enclosure no. 1, p. 104 (Jaunakas Zinas, no. 241, October 23, 1939), p. 104; “Wiley to Hull,” November 1, 1939, Memorandum of Conversation, 760P.62/76, p. 2; “Wiley to Hull,” November 30, 1939, no. 323, 760D.61/534, p. 1.Google Scholar

22. Crowe, pp. 274-282; Sabaliunas, pp. 151-157.Google Scholar

23. “Norem to Hull,” September 30, 1939, no. 578, 860C.48/542, pp. 1-4; “Norem to Hull,” September 23, 1939, no. 575, 740.0011 European War 1939/788, pp. 1-6.Google Scholar

24. Sabaliunas, pp. 153-154; “Bullitt to Hull,” October 11, 1939, no. 2430, 860M.00B/55, p. 1; “Norem to Hull,” October 11, 1939, no. 5C, FRUS.SU, p. 966.Google Scholar

25. “Norem to Hull,” October 18, 1939, no. 596, 760M.6111/49, pp. 1-3; Sabaliunas, p. 155; “Norem to Hull,” October 11, 1939, FRUS.SU, p. 966; “Norem to Hull,” October 18, 1939, no. 596, 760M.6111/49 (XX Amzius, October 14, 1939; Lietuvos Aidas, October 14 and October 15, 1939), Enclosures, 1-3.Google Scholar

26. “Norem to Hull,” October 21, 1939, FRUS:SU, p. 974; Sabaliunas, pp. 155-156; 167-169.Google Scholar