Estonia in World War II - Soviet Occupation

Soviet Occupation

See also: Occupation of the Baltic states

In the summer of 1940 the occupation of Estonia was carried through as a regular military operation. 160,000 men, supported by 600 tanks were concentrated for the invasion into Estonia. 5 divisions of the Soviet Air Force with 1150 aircraft blockaded the whole Baltic air space against Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The Soviet Baltic Fleet blockaded the operation from the sea. The Soviet NKVD was ordered to be ready for the reception of 58,000 prisoners of war.

On June 3, 1940, all Soviet military forces based in Baltic states were concentrated under the command of Aleksandr Loktionov.

On June 9, the directive 02622ss/ov was given to the Red Army's Leningrad Military District by Semyon Timoshenko to be ready by the June 12 to (a) Capture the vessels of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian Navy in their bases and/or at sea; (b) Capture the Estonian and Latvian commercial fleet and all other vessels; (c) Prepare for an invasion and landing in Tallinn and Paldiski; (d) Close the Gulf of Riga and blockade the coasts of Estonia and Latvia in Gulf of Finland and Baltic Sea; (e) Prevent an evacuation of the Estonian and Latvian governments, military forces and assets; (f) Provide naval support for an invasion towards Rakvere; (g) Prevent the Estonian and Latvian airplanes flying either to Finland or Sweden.

On June 12, 1940, the order for a total military blockade on Estonia to the Soviet Baltic Fleet was given: according to the director of the Russian State Archive of the Naval Department Pavel Petrov (C.Phil.) referring to the records in the archive.

On June 13 at 10.40 am the Soviet forces started to move to their positions and were ready by June 14 at 10 pm. a) 4 submarines and a number of light navy units were positioned in the Baltic Sea, to the gulfs of Riga and Finland to isolate the Baltic states by the sea. b) A navy squadron including three destroyer divisions were positioned to the west of Naissaar in order to support the invasion. c) The 1st marine brigade's four battalions on transportation ships "Sibir", "2nd Pjatiletka" and "Elton" were positioned for landing and invasion of Naissaare and Aegna; d) Transportation ship "Dnester" and destroyers Storozevoi and Silnoi were positioned with troops for the invasion of the capital Tallinn; e) the 50th battalion was positioned on ships for an invasion near Kunda. In the naval blockade participated in total 120 Soviet vessels including 1 cruiser, 7 destroyers, and 17 submarines; 219 airplanes including the 8th air-brigade with 84 bombers: DB-3 and Tupolev SB and 10th brigade with 62 airplanes.

On June 14 while the world’s attention was focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany a day earlier, the Soviet military blockade on Estonia went into effect. Two Soviet bombers downed Finnish passenger airplane "Kaleva" flying from Tallinn to Helsinki carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki and over 120 kilograms of diplomatic mail by two French embassy couriers. The US Foreign Service employee Henry W. Antheil, Jr., the French couriers and other passengers were killed in the crash.

On June 16, 1940, the Soviet Union invaded Estonia. The Red Army exited from their military bases in Estonia, some 90,000 additional Soviet troops entered the country. Vyacheslav Molotov had accused the Baltic states of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivered an ultimatum to Estonia for the establishment of a government the Soviets approve of. The Estonian government decided according to the Kellogg-Briand Pact not to use war as an instrument of national policy. Given the overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the country, not to resist, to avoid bloodshed and open war.

On June 17, the day France surrendered to Germany, Estonia accepted the ultimatum and the statehood of Estonia de facto ceased to exist. The military occupation of the Republic of Estonia was complete by the June 21, 1940 and rendered "official" by a communist coup d'état supported by the Soviet troops.

Most of the Estonian Defence Forces and the Estonian Defence League surrendered according to the orders of the Estonian Government believing that resistance was useless and were disarmed by the Red Army. Only the Estonian Independent Signal Battalion stationed in Tallinn at Raua Street showed resistance to Red Army and Communist Militia called "People's Self-Defence" (Estonian: Rahva Omakaitse) on 21 June 1940. As the Red Army brought in additional reinforcements supported by six armoured fighting vehicles, the battle lasted several hours until sundown. Finally the military resistance was ended with negotiations and the Independent Signal Battalion surrendered and was disarmed. There was 2 dead Estonian servicemen, Aleksei Männikus and Johannes Mandre, and several wounded on the Estonian side and about 10 killed and more wounded on the Soviet side. On the same day, June 21, 1940 the Flag of Estonia was replaced with a Red flag on Pikk Hermann tower, the symbol of the government in force in Estonia.

14–15 July rigged and likely fabricated elections were held in which only Soviet-supported candidates were permitted to run. Those who failed to have their passports stamped for voting for a communist candidate risked getting shot in the back of the head. Tribunals were set up to punish "traitors to the people." those who had fallen short of the "political duty" of voting Estonia into the USSR. The "parliament" so elected proclaimed Estonia a socialist republic on July 21, 1940 and unanimously requested Estonia to be "accepted" into the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union annexed Estonia on August 6 and renamed the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. The 1940 occupation and annexation of Estonia into the Soviet Union was considered illegal and never officially recognized by Great Britain, the United States and other Western democracies. The annexation abrogated numerous prior treaties entered into by the Soviet Union and its predecessor, Bolshevist Russia.