Russian Bear
4th August 2025, 12:12
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8c/48/15/8c481541d75ff1acf16f23db485d3657.jpg
Blue Swedes, green Russians
Tsar Peter Alekseevich offered the Swedes peace more than once, both before and after Poltava, but each time he was met with the stubborn unwillingness of King Charles XII to sit down at the negotiating table. Sweden suffered defeat both on land and at sea, losing Ingria, Estonia and Livonia.
On August 30, 1721, in the small Finnish town of Nystad, a treaty was signed that changed the fate of Russia forever. After many years of bloody war with Sweden, the country finally got what Ivan the Terrible had dreamed of - access to the Baltic Sea. But few people think that behind this triumph were not only military victories, but also tough diplomacy, huge amounts of money and even... legal tricks. Why did Sweden agree to give up the Baltics? How did Peter I manage to secure these lands "forever"? And why, 300 years later, do some countries still consider this an "occupation"?
https://avatars.dzeninfra.ru/get-zen_doc/271828/pub_6841a1a1d608a90df453d5bf_6841a327806188666b0b7747/scale_1200
The Great Northern War, which lasted 21 years, began as a gamble by young Peter, but turned into a struggle for the status of a great power. Sweden was then a formidable empire, controlling almost the entire Baltic. Its king, Charles XII, was considered one of the best commanders in Europe - until he ran into the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat of the Swedes in 1709 was a turning point, but the war did not end there. The Swedes clung to every fortress, and their fleet dominated the sea for a long time. Only in 1721, when Sweden's economy was exhausted and Russian troops landed on its territory, did Stockholm agree to negotiate.
The terms of the Nystad Peace were extremely favorable for Russia: Livonia, Estonia, Ingria and part of Karelia passed under Peter's rule. But most importantly, the treaty clearly stated in black and white that these lands were going to Russia "forever." At the same time, the local population - Germans, Estonians, Latvians - did not even ask. The Swedish king simply "gave" them to the Russian tsar, as a thing. For this, Peter paid Sweden 2 million thalers - a huge amount of money at that time. In fact, it was a deal between two empires, where the fate of entire nations was decided without their participation.
But why did Sweden give up the Baltics so easily? Firstly, these lands were the result of wars - in the 17th century, the Swedes took them from Poland and Denmark. Secondly, the local German nobility, who ruled the region, had long been burdened by Stockholm and hoped for greater self-government under Peter's rule. Finally, the Swedes understood that if they did not come to an agreement now, the Russians would take these territories by force. So the Treaty of Nystad became for them more of a forced capitulation with the preservation of face.
For Peter I, this treaty became the greatest triumph. Just a month after its signing, the Senate proclaimed him emperor, and Russia an empire. Now it could speak on equal terms with England, France, and Austria. The Baltic ports opened the way for trade with Europe, and the new lands provided access to advanced technologies and specialists. But there was a downside: the annexed territories never considered themselves “Russian.” The German barons looked down on St. Petersburg, the Estonian and Latvian peasants dreamed of freedom, and after such a defeat, the Swedes decided not to fight at all anymore...
https://a.d-cd.net/30AAAgAMFOA-1920.jpg
Changes in borders according to the Treaty of Nystad, territories that went to Russia
Today, three centuries later, the Treaty of Nystad is perceived differently. In Russia, it is remembered as a great victory, in the Baltics - as the beginning of an "occupation". But the most interesting thing is that legally this treaty has not been cancelled. When Latvia and Estonia declared independence in 1918, they referred to the right to self-determination, and not to the violation of the terms of the Treaty of Nystad. The Bolsheviks, who recognized their independence in 1920, did not consider themselves the heirs of Tsarist Russia at all.
Russia was proclaimed an empire in 1721 and Peter the Great became emperor. Why am I repeating myself? The Baltics have not liked us since the first days of Soviet power. Even, probably, since the period of joining the Russian Empire, when there was no concept of Latvia, Estonia, there was a city of Revel, today it is Tallinn, there was a city of Yuryev, today Tartu...
That is, they have been portraying us as occupiers for almost all of them, especially during the Soviet period, but they have been unhappy since joining the Russian Empire. Listen, we didn’t take you, the Swedish king ceded us lands inhabited by different peoples. But there is an international treaty, and we also paid, paid 2 million thalers, a huge sum at that time.
For what? For one word, so that the treaty would state that these lands are part of the Russian Empire forever, FOREVER. Who had the right to represent independence to the Balts? That is, to tear away from us a part of the western lands, although they could not be torn away, because they were part of Russia, no Iceland, Lapland, I don’t know, Flanders, none of that existed, these were provinces of the Russian Empire.
From an imperial province to a Soviet republic: how the Baltics lived under Russian rule
When Russian officials first came to govern the new Baltic lands after the Treaty of Nystad, they encountered an unexpected problem. The local German barons, who had ruled these territories for centuries, greeted them with cold politeness, and the Estonian and Latvian peasants did not understand at all why they should now submit to some Russians. Thus began a three-hundred-year history of difficult relations between Russia and the Baltics - a history where there was both mutual benefit and bitter grievances.
https://rus-data.ru/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Петр-Первый-1536x863.jpg
Peter I
The first hundred years of Russian rule passed relatively calmly. Peter I and his heirs wisely decided not to break the established system: the German aristocracy retained its privileges, the Lutheran Church - its rights, and the cities - their ancient liberties. Riga, Reval (now Tallinn) and Dorpat (Tartu) continued to live by their own laws, only now paying taxes to St. Petersburg. This was advantageous for Russia - the Baltic ports became the main gateway to Europe, through which goods and new ideas passed. But it was this autonomy that would later play a cruel joke: when a wave of national revival swept across Europe in the 19th century, local Estonians and Latvians, who had been "second-class citizens" under the Germans for centuries, would begin to dream of independence - and from St. Petersburg too.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b0/85/79/b08579c7e2134c9ee5fc103555b4ed84.jpg
Alexander III
Everything changed under Alexander III. His policy of Russification hit the Baltics harder than anywhere else. German inscriptions on signs were banned, attempts were made to convert Lutherans to Orthodoxy, and Russian was introduced at the University of Dorpat (now Tartu). The locals perceived this as cultural genocide. It is curious that it was then that the word "occupation" was first heard - it was used by the Baltic Germans, outraged by the loss of privileges. They could not even imagine that half a century later their descendants would remember the Russian tsars with nostalgia...
The 1917 revolution gave the Baltics a chance for freedom. In 1918, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared independence — and, importantly, Soviet Russia was the first to recognize it. Twenty years of independence turned the former provinces into real European states: with parliaments, their own currency and even (in the case of Lithuania) a president. Tallinn became a "little Paris", Riga — the largest port in Eastern Europe, and Kaunas — the center of Lithuanian culture. But in 1939, everything collapsed. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact put an end to Baltic independence, although historians still argue: was joining the USSR "voluntary" or a military occupation. (To understand this point and why it was necessary to do it, there simply could not be any other way, read this article: https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?129506-Soviet-Storm.-World-War-2-in-the-East&p=1663928&viewfull=1#post1663928 )
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/USSR_COA_1936.png/960px-USSR_COA_1936.png
The Soviet Union was the last country to sign a non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact).
The pact was signed on August 23, 1939. Earlier, similar pacts with Germany were signed by Poland (1934), Great Britain (1938), France (1938), Lithuania (1939), Latvia (1939), Estonia (1939), and later Turkey (1941) Russia's position on this issue. President of Russia, V.V. Putin's response: https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?130152-----How-the-Baltics-became-Russian-Treaty-of-Nystad-1721&p=1679633&viewfull=1#post1679633
Let's take Poland for example. The USSR knew that Germany could attack and it was necessary to move the Soviet borders as far away from Moscow as possible and create a bridgehead for military action and spheres of influence. Although Moscow hoped to the last that Germany would not do this, it decided to do the minimum for its own security.
Unfortunately, the reality was such that small countries were a bargaining chip between the USSR and Germany in these political intrigues. Otherwise, these countries would have been occupied by Germany. Which was then done by military means.
The year 1940 became a real tragedy for the Balts. In a few months, the entire system of power changed, mass arrests took place, and in July, the "people's seimas" voted to join the USSR.
Reference: The name "People's Seimas" was used in different Baltic countries in 1940 - Lithuania and Latvia.
In Lithuania, the People's Seimas was the parliament of the Republic of Lithuania from July 21, 1940 to August 5, and of the Lithuanian SSR from August 5 to 25, 1940.
Features:
The first and last elections to the People's Seimas were held from July 14 to 15, 1940.
The new parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on the proclamation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and petitioned for admission to the Soviet Union as a republic.
On August 3, 1940, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR granted Lithuania's request to join the USSR as an equal union republic.
On August 25 of the same year, the Extraordinary Session of the People's Seimas adopted the Constitution of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
In Latvia, the People's Saeima was the parliament of the Republic of Latvia from July 21 to 22, 1940, and of the Latvian SSR from July 22 to August 25, 1940.
Features:
The first and last elections to the People's Saeima were held on July 14–15, 1940. Only one list participated in the elections - the "Working People's Bloc", which represented 100 candidates for deputies.
On July 22, 1940, the People's Saeima adopted the Declaration of State Authority in Latvia, proclaiming it the Soviet Socialist Republic.
On August 25, the People's Saeima was transformed into the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR (first convocation).
https://avatars.mds.yandex.net/i?id=9e80b1fafe4338b1acf167946c5de33b_l-5254698-images-thumbs&n=13
A year later, when mass deportations began. On the night of June 14, 1941, tens of thousands of people - whole families - were loaded into freight cars and sent to Siberia. The war brought new trials. Three years of Nazi occupation and its liberation by Soviet troops, the return of the Red Army in 1944 and the war with the "forest brothers (Those who fought on the side of the Nazis and advocated for the national independence of their country)" that lasted until the 1950s. The Soviet government tried to "integrate" the Baltics with industry: they built factories, resettled workers from Russia, created military bases. Riga became the center of Soviet electronics, Ventspils - the main oil port of the USSR. But a quiet war of memory was going on in parallel: families whispered stories about deportations, national flags were secretly kept, and candles were lit in cemeteries on memorial days. This is despite the fact that in the post-war years, the bloody repressive machine stopped and was in the past, people began to live peacefully and happily. The Balts lived simply in luxury, better than Russia itself, because everything was done so that the Balts did not need anything and lived well and there were no strikes. The comrades simply got fat from the many varieties of sausages and other specific food. In general, almost all socialist republics lived better than Russia itself, because it took care that all our socialist brothers were happy and did not need anything. In Russia itself, although there was enough of all this, there was not such a variety of clothes and food as in other republics. In food there was pull (something could only be obtained through pull), fashionable clothes were hard to get, foreign goods were valued, even equipment. For example, there were huge queues for the same sausage - it was in short supply, although in the Baltics and other socialist republics there was everything. (The reason for this was the collapse of the artificial and sabotage Stalinist economic system in the post-war years, which was destroyed by Comrade Khrushchev. In fact, everyone would have had enough of the scarce products).
By the 1980s, the Baltics, formally a "showcase of socialism," had become a powder keg of the USSR. Local communists were the first to dare challenge Moscow. In 1987, the first anti-Soviet demonstration took place in Riga, in 1989, two million people formed the "Baltic Way" - a human chain 600 km long from Tallinn to Vilnius. And in 1990, Lithuania was the first to announce its withdrawal from the Union, provoking bloody events at the Vilnius TV tower.
Today, 30 years after the collapse of the USSR, these events are seen differently. For Russia, 1940 was the “reunification of ancestral lands”, for the Balts it was the beginning of the occupation.
From Neighbors to Opponents: How Russia and the Baltics Live After Divorce
When the last Soviet soldier left the Baltics in 1991. Russia did not simply grant, but gifted, the Baltics complete independence and sovereignty. Today, three decades later, Russia's relations with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia resemble a complicated divorce process, when former spouses are forced to live in the same house, but pretend to be strangers. How did it happen that three small countries became Russia's main critics on the international stage? And is there a chance for reconciliation?
The 1990s began with mutual hopes. Russia was one of the first to recognize the independence of the Baltic republics, hoping to maintain economic ties. In the first years after the collapse of the USSR, rubles could still be used in Tallinn, and Russian tourists willingly went to Riga to buy scarce goods. But very soon problems began that today seem predictable. The first sign was the issue of citizenship: Latvia and Estonia introduced strict language requirements, leaving hundreds of thousands of Russian-speaking residents without passports. Moscow perceived this as discrimination, but the West supported the new rules, and so the first crack appeared.
https://avatars.dzeninfra.ru/get-zen_doc/271828/pub_6841a1a1d608a90df453d5bf_6841a6707b01f359a8aa4688/scale_1200
March of Nazi SS legionnaires in Riga
https://mf.b37mrtl.ru/actualidad/public_images/2023.02/article/63ecfcd1e9ff71051f7d1ffc.jpg
Every year on March 16, the capital of Latvia becomes a haven for fans of those who were Nazi collaborators during the Great Patriotic War.
By the early 2000s, the Baltics had made their strategic choice, which would determine the next two decades. In 2004, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia simultaneously joined NATO and the European Union, putting an end to any talk of a "neutral status." For Russia, this became a red rag — the Kremlin perceived the expansion of the alliance as a direct threat. It was then that the Russian media first began to accuse them of "ingratitude": supposedly, the USSR built factories and roads for you, and now you and the West are against us. The Balts retorted: "This was not help, but colonial exploitation." Thus, historical memory has become a weapon in modern politics.
https://s00.yaplakal.com/pics/pics_original/5/2/6/14311625.jpg
The painting depicts Soviet soldiers in Germany near the Reichstag, rejoicing at the victory over the Nazi occupiers.
The dispute around the events of World War II became especially heated. If May 9 is a sacred holiday for Russia, then in the Baltics this date is called the beginning of the "second Soviet occupation." In 2007, the relocation of the Bronze Soldier in Tallinn caused real street battles between Russian youth and the police. And in 2022, after the start of the special operation, Latvia and Estonia completely demolished all the remaining Soviet monuments, calling it "decommunization." Moscow responded with harsh statements, but could do nothing - the geopolitical scales had long since tipped against it.
The economy became another victim of political disagreements. If in the 2000s Russia was still an important trading partner (especially in energy, where Russia still supplies electricity to the entire Baltics. Although now they are doing everything to disconnect from Russian electricity and join the European one), then after 2014, ties began to quickly break. Sanctions, counter-sanctions, mutual restrictions - by 2022, trade turnover had fallen several times. The refusal of Russian gas was especially painful: Lithuania was the first in the EU to completely refuse it back in 2014, calling it a matter of national security. Curiously, it was energy that showed how differently the two sides saw the situation. Russia believed that "cheap gas is our good will," while the Baltics responded: "This is an instrument of political blackmail."
Here's an example: Russia itself granted independence to the Balts, who did everything possible to harm it and joined Russia's enemies. And this is for everything we did for them? We gave them freedom and sovereignty! Therefore, Russia cannot be kind to everyone. Our kindness is taken for weakness. Europe understands only the language of force and total control!
Today, relations seem to have reached the point of no return. After February 24, 2022, Latvia declared Russia a "country sponsor of terrorism", Estonia dismantled the last Soviet monuments, and Lithuania completely stopped trade. Even the cultural ties that had lasted the longest were under threat: Russian schools were closed, broadcasting of Russian channels was restricted, and famous artists were put on "blacklists". It would seem that the divorce is final and irrevocable. But is it really so?
The paradox is that, despite all the rhetoric of a complete break, ties between ordinary people remain. Thousands of Russian-speaking residents of the Baltics still watch Russian television (albeit via VPN), visit relatives in Pskov or St. Petersburg, and Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are still sold in Riga bookstores. Even politicians who call Russia "the main threat" admit that it is impossible to completely erase three hundred years of common history. Perhaps this is the main lesson of relationships.
Blue Swedes, green Russians
Tsar Peter Alekseevich offered the Swedes peace more than once, both before and after Poltava, but each time he was met with the stubborn unwillingness of King Charles XII to sit down at the negotiating table. Sweden suffered defeat both on land and at sea, losing Ingria, Estonia and Livonia.
On August 30, 1721, in the small Finnish town of Nystad, a treaty was signed that changed the fate of Russia forever. After many years of bloody war with Sweden, the country finally got what Ivan the Terrible had dreamed of - access to the Baltic Sea. But few people think that behind this triumph were not only military victories, but also tough diplomacy, huge amounts of money and even... legal tricks. Why did Sweden agree to give up the Baltics? How did Peter I manage to secure these lands "forever"? And why, 300 years later, do some countries still consider this an "occupation"?
https://avatars.dzeninfra.ru/get-zen_doc/271828/pub_6841a1a1d608a90df453d5bf_6841a327806188666b0b7747/scale_1200
The Great Northern War, which lasted 21 years, began as a gamble by young Peter, but turned into a struggle for the status of a great power. Sweden was then a formidable empire, controlling almost the entire Baltic. Its king, Charles XII, was considered one of the best commanders in Europe - until he ran into the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat of the Swedes in 1709 was a turning point, but the war did not end there. The Swedes clung to every fortress, and their fleet dominated the sea for a long time. Only in 1721, when Sweden's economy was exhausted and Russian troops landed on its territory, did Stockholm agree to negotiate.
The terms of the Nystad Peace were extremely favorable for Russia: Livonia, Estonia, Ingria and part of Karelia passed under Peter's rule. But most importantly, the treaty clearly stated in black and white that these lands were going to Russia "forever." At the same time, the local population - Germans, Estonians, Latvians - did not even ask. The Swedish king simply "gave" them to the Russian tsar, as a thing. For this, Peter paid Sweden 2 million thalers - a huge amount of money at that time. In fact, it was a deal between two empires, where the fate of entire nations was decided without their participation.
But why did Sweden give up the Baltics so easily? Firstly, these lands were the result of wars - in the 17th century, the Swedes took them from Poland and Denmark. Secondly, the local German nobility, who ruled the region, had long been burdened by Stockholm and hoped for greater self-government under Peter's rule. Finally, the Swedes understood that if they did not come to an agreement now, the Russians would take these territories by force. So the Treaty of Nystad became for them more of a forced capitulation with the preservation of face.
For Peter I, this treaty became the greatest triumph. Just a month after its signing, the Senate proclaimed him emperor, and Russia an empire. Now it could speak on equal terms with England, France, and Austria. The Baltic ports opened the way for trade with Europe, and the new lands provided access to advanced technologies and specialists. But there was a downside: the annexed territories never considered themselves “Russian.” The German barons looked down on St. Petersburg, the Estonian and Latvian peasants dreamed of freedom, and after such a defeat, the Swedes decided not to fight at all anymore...
https://a.d-cd.net/30AAAgAMFOA-1920.jpg
Changes in borders according to the Treaty of Nystad, territories that went to Russia
Today, three centuries later, the Treaty of Nystad is perceived differently. In Russia, it is remembered as a great victory, in the Baltics - as the beginning of an "occupation". But the most interesting thing is that legally this treaty has not been cancelled. When Latvia and Estonia declared independence in 1918, they referred to the right to self-determination, and not to the violation of the terms of the Treaty of Nystad. The Bolsheviks, who recognized their independence in 1920, did not consider themselves the heirs of Tsarist Russia at all.
Russia was proclaimed an empire in 1721 and Peter the Great became emperor. Why am I repeating myself? The Baltics have not liked us since the first days of Soviet power. Even, probably, since the period of joining the Russian Empire, when there was no concept of Latvia, Estonia, there was a city of Revel, today it is Tallinn, there was a city of Yuryev, today Tartu...
That is, they have been portraying us as occupiers for almost all of them, especially during the Soviet period, but they have been unhappy since joining the Russian Empire. Listen, we didn’t take you, the Swedish king ceded us lands inhabited by different peoples. But there is an international treaty, and we also paid, paid 2 million thalers, a huge sum at that time.
For what? For one word, so that the treaty would state that these lands are part of the Russian Empire forever, FOREVER. Who had the right to represent independence to the Balts? That is, to tear away from us a part of the western lands, although they could not be torn away, because they were part of Russia, no Iceland, Lapland, I don’t know, Flanders, none of that existed, these were provinces of the Russian Empire.
From an imperial province to a Soviet republic: how the Baltics lived under Russian rule
When Russian officials first came to govern the new Baltic lands after the Treaty of Nystad, they encountered an unexpected problem. The local German barons, who had ruled these territories for centuries, greeted them with cold politeness, and the Estonian and Latvian peasants did not understand at all why they should now submit to some Russians. Thus began a three-hundred-year history of difficult relations between Russia and the Baltics - a history where there was both mutual benefit and bitter grievances.
https://rus-data.ru/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Петр-Первый-1536x863.jpg
Peter I
The first hundred years of Russian rule passed relatively calmly. Peter I and his heirs wisely decided not to break the established system: the German aristocracy retained its privileges, the Lutheran Church - its rights, and the cities - their ancient liberties. Riga, Reval (now Tallinn) and Dorpat (Tartu) continued to live by their own laws, only now paying taxes to St. Petersburg. This was advantageous for Russia - the Baltic ports became the main gateway to Europe, through which goods and new ideas passed. But it was this autonomy that would later play a cruel joke: when a wave of national revival swept across Europe in the 19th century, local Estonians and Latvians, who had been "second-class citizens" under the Germans for centuries, would begin to dream of independence - and from St. Petersburg too.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b0/85/79/b08579c7e2134c9ee5fc103555b4ed84.jpg
Alexander III
Everything changed under Alexander III. His policy of Russification hit the Baltics harder than anywhere else. German inscriptions on signs were banned, attempts were made to convert Lutherans to Orthodoxy, and Russian was introduced at the University of Dorpat (now Tartu). The locals perceived this as cultural genocide. It is curious that it was then that the word "occupation" was first heard - it was used by the Baltic Germans, outraged by the loss of privileges. They could not even imagine that half a century later their descendants would remember the Russian tsars with nostalgia...
The 1917 revolution gave the Baltics a chance for freedom. In 1918, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared independence — and, importantly, Soviet Russia was the first to recognize it. Twenty years of independence turned the former provinces into real European states: with parliaments, their own currency and even (in the case of Lithuania) a president. Tallinn became a "little Paris", Riga — the largest port in Eastern Europe, and Kaunas — the center of Lithuanian culture. But in 1939, everything collapsed. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact put an end to Baltic independence, although historians still argue: was joining the USSR "voluntary" or a military occupation. (To understand this point and why it was necessary to do it, there simply could not be any other way, read this article: https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?129506-Soviet-Storm.-World-War-2-in-the-East&p=1663928&viewfull=1#post1663928 )
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/USSR_COA_1936.png/960px-USSR_COA_1936.png
The Soviet Union was the last country to sign a non-aggression pact between Germany and the USSR (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact).
The pact was signed on August 23, 1939. Earlier, similar pacts with Germany were signed by Poland (1934), Great Britain (1938), France (1938), Lithuania (1939), Latvia (1939), Estonia (1939), and later Turkey (1941) Russia's position on this issue. President of Russia, V.V. Putin's response: https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?130152-----How-the-Baltics-became-Russian-Treaty-of-Nystad-1721&p=1679633&viewfull=1#post1679633
Let's take Poland for example. The USSR knew that Germany could attack and it was necessary to move the Soviet borders as far away from Moscow as possible and create a bridgehead for military action and spheres of influence. Although Moscow hoped to the last that Germany would not do this, it decided to do the minimum for its own security.
Unfortunately, the reality was such that small countries were a bargaining chip between the USSR and Germany in these political intrigues. Otherwise, these countries would have been occupied by Germany. Which was then done by military means.
The year 1940 became a real tragedy for the Balts. In a few months, the entire system of power changed, mass arrests took place, and in July, the "people's seimas" voted to join the USSR.
Reference: The name "People's Seimas" was used in different Baltic countries in 1940 - Lithuania and Latvia.
In Lithuania, the People's Seimas was the parliament of the Republic of Lithuania from July 21, 1940 to August 5, and of the Lithuanian SSR from August 5 to 25, 1940.
Features:
The first and last elections to the People's Seimas were held from July 14 to 15, 1940.
The new parliament unanimously adopted a resolution on the proclamation of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and petitioned for admission to the Soviet Union as a republic.
On August 3, 1940, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR granted Lithuania's request to join the USSR as an equal union republic.
On August 25 of the same year, the Extraordinary Session of the People's Seimas adopted the Constitution of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
In Latvia, the People's Saeima was the parliament of the Republic of Latvia from July 21 to 22, 1940, and of the Latvian SSR from July 22 to August 25, 1940.
Features:
The first and last elections to the People's Saeima were held on July 14–15, 1940. Only one list participated in the elections - the "Working People's Bloc", which represented 100 candidates for deputies.
On July 22, 1940, the People's Saeima adopted the Declaration of State Authority in Latvia, proclaiming it the Soviet Socialist Republic.
On August 25, the People's Saeima was transformed into the Supreme Council of the Latvian SSR (first convocation).
https://avatars.mds.yandex.net/i?id=9e80b1fafe4338b1acf167946c5de33b_l-5254698-images-thumbs&n=13
A year later, when mass deportations began. On the night of June 14, 1941, tens of thousands of people - whole families - were loaded into freight cars and sent to Siberia. The war brought new trials. Three years of Nazi occupation and its liberation by Soviet troops, the return of the Red Army in 1944 and the war with the "forest brothers (Those who fought on the side of the Nazis and advocated for the national independence of their country)" that lasted until the 1950s. The Soviet government tried to "integrate" the Baltics with industry: they built factories, resettled workers from Russia, created military bases. Riga became the center of Soviet electronics, Ventspils - the main oil port of the USSR. But a quiet war of memory was going on in parallel: families whispered stories about deportations, national flags were secretly kept, and candles were lit in cemeteries on memorial days. This is despite the fact that in the post-war years, the bloody repressive machine stopped and was in the past, people began to live peacefully and happily. The Balts lived simply in luxury, better than Russia itself, because everything was done so that the Balts did not need anything and lived well and there were no strikes. The comrades simply got fat from the many varieties of sausages and other specific food. In general, almost all socialist republics lived better than Russia itself, because it took care that all our socialist brothers were happy and did not need anything. In Russia itself, although there was enough of all this, there was not such a variety of clothes and food as in other republics. In food there was pull (something could only be obtained through pull), fashionable clothes were hard to get, foreign goods were valued, even equipment. For example, there were huge queues for the same sausage - it was in short supply, although in the Baltics and other socialist republics there was everything. (The reason for this was the collapse of the artificial and sabotage Stalinist economic system in the post-war years, which was destroyed by Comrade Khrushchev. In fact, everyone would have had enough of the scarce products).
By the 1980s, the Baltics, formally a "showcase of socialism," had become a powder keg of the USSR. Local communists were the first to dare challenge Moscow. In 1987, the first anti-Soviet demonstration took place in Riga, in 1989, two million people formed the "Baltic Way" - a human chain 600 km long from Tallinn to Vilnius. And in 1990, Lithuania was the first to announce its withdrawal from the Union, provoking bloody events at the Vilnius TV tower.
Today, 30 years after the collapse of the USSR, these events are seen differently. For Russia, 1940 was the “reunification of ancestral lands”, for the Balts it was the beginning of the occupation.
From Neighbors to Opponents: How Russia and the Baltics Live After Divorce
When the last Soviet soldier left the Baltics in 1991. Russia did not simply grant, but gifted, the Baltics complete independence and sovereignty. Today, three decades later, Russia's relations with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia resemble a complicated divorce process, when former spouses are forced to live in the same house, but pretend to be strangers. How did it happen that three small countries became Russia's main critics on the international stage? And is there a chance for reconciliation?
The 1990s began with mutual hopes. Russia was one of the first to recognize the independence of the Baltic republics, hoping to maintain economic ties. In the first years after the collapse of the USSR, rubles could still be used in Tallinn, and Russian tourists willingly went to Riga to buy scarce goods. But very soon problems began that today seem predictable. The first sign was the issue of citizenship: Latvia and Estonia introduced strict language requirements, leaving hundreds of thousands of Russian-speaking residents without passports. Moscow perceived this as discrimination, but the West supported the new rules, and so the first crack appeared.
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March of Nazi SS legionnaires in Riga
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Every year on March 16, the capital of Latvia becomes a haven for fans of those who were Nazi collaborators during the Great Patriotic War.
By the early 2000s, the Baltics had made their strategic choice, which would determine the next two decades. In 2004, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia simultaneously joined NATO and the European Union, putting an end to any talk of a "neutral status." For Russia, this became a red rag — the Kremlin perceived the expansion of the alliance as a direct threat. It was then that the Russian media first began to accuse them of "ingratitude": supposedly, the USSR built factories and roads for you, and now you and the West are against us. The Balts retorted: "This was not help, but colonial exploitation." Thus, historical memory has become a weapon in modern politics.
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The painting depicts Soviet soldiers in Germany near the Reichstag, rejoicing at the victory over the Nazi occupiers.
The dispute around the events of World War II became especially heated. If May 9 is a sacred holiday for Russia, then in the Baltics this date is called the beginning of the "second Soviet occupation." In 2007, the relocation of the Bronze Soldier in Tallinn caused real street battles between Russian youth and the police. And in 2022, after the start of the special operation, Latvia and Estonia completely demolished all the remaining Soviet monuments, calling it "decommunization." Moscow responded with harsh statements, but could do nothing - the geopolitical scales had long since tipped against it.
The economy became another victim of political disagreements. If in the 2000s Russia was still an important trading partner (especially in energy, where Russia still supplies electricity to the entire Baltics. Although now they are doing everything to disconnect from Russian electricity and join the European one), then after 2014, ties began to quickly break. Sanctions, counter-sanctions, mutual restrictions - by 2022, trade turnover had fallen several times. The refusal of Russian gas was especially painful: Lithuania was the first in the EU to completely refuse it back in 2014, calling it a matter of national security. Curiously, it was energy that showed how differently the two sides saw the situation. Russia believed that "cheap gas is our good will," while the Baltics responded: "This is an instrument of political blackmail."
Here's an example: Russia itself granted independence to the Balts, who did everything possible to harm it and joined Russia's enemies. And this is for everything we did for them? We gave them freedom and sovereignty! Therefore, Russia cannot be kind to everyone. Our kindness is taken for weakness. Europe understands only the language of force and total control!
Today, relations seem to have reached the point of no return. After February 24, 2022, Latvia declared Russia a "country sponsor of terrorism", Estonia dismantled the last Soviet monuments, and Lithuania completely stopped trade. Even the cultural ties that had lasted the longest were under threat: Russian schools were closed, broadcasting of Russian channels was restricted, and famous artists were put on "blacklists". It would seem that the divorce is final and irrevocable. But is it really so?
The paradox is that, despite all the rhetoric of a complete break, ties between ordinary people remain. Thousands of Russian-speaking residents of the Baltics still watch Russian television (albeit via VPN), visit relatives in Pskov or St. Petersburg, and Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are still sold in Riga bookstores. Even politicians who call Russia "the main threat" admit that it is impossible to completely erase three hundred years of common history. Perhaps this is the main lesson of relationships.