How a secret pact between two dictators erased Latvia from the map in 1940.
In short: In 1939, Latvia’s fate was sealed by a clandestine agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. By June 1940, the Red Army had occupied the country, forcing a sham government into power. This occupation triggered decades of repression, mass deportations, and a struggle for sovereignty that lasted until 1991.
The collapse of Latvian independence began with the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, signed on August 23, 1939. A secret protocol within this treaty divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, placing Latvia firmly under Soviet control. Although the Soviet Union initially forced Latvia to sign a treaty of mutual assistance in October 1939, granting the U.S.S.R. military and naval bases, the full invasion followed on June 17, 1940. By June 20, the Soviets had installed a puppet government, and subsequent elections featured only a single list of candidates, effectively ending the nation's democratic process.
The incorporation of Latvia into the Soviet Union was formalized on August 5, 1940, following a vote by a new, Soviet-organized legislature. This marked the beginning of a brutal era, often referred to as the 'year of terror.' In this initial period, approximately 35,000 Latvians, particularly the intelligentsia, were deported to prison camps in Siberia and other eastern regions of the U.S.S.R. The devastation continued throughout the postwar period, characterized by radical socioeconomic changes, the forced collectivization of agriculture, and waves of mass deportation that displaced at least 140,000 people.
The demographic and political landscape of the country was systematically altered through extreme Russification and large-scale immigration from other parts of the Soviet Union. Over four decades, the proportion of ethnic Latvians in the population fell from roughly three-fourths to just over one-half. It was not until the late 1980s, amidst the Soviet policies of glasnost and perestroika, that a national renaissance emerged. Following a failed coup in Moscow in August 1991, Latvia declared full independence, which the Soviet Union finally recognized on September 6, 1991, allowing the nation to restore its 1922 constitution.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Latvia - Soviet Occupation, Incorporation, Independence | Britannica
- Also: Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940
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