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The occupation of the Baltic states was a period of annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union from 1940 until its dissolution in 1991.For a period of several years during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic states after it invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.
This is a list of wars, armed conflicts and rebellions involving Lithuania throughout its history as a kingdom (1251–1263), grand duchy (1236–1251; 1263–1795, although part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during 1569–1795) and a modern republic (1918–1940; 1990 – present), including as well the uprisings of the 19th and 20th centuries to recreate Lithuanian statehood.
During World War I, Lithuania was occupied by Germany and made part of Ober Ost. On February 16, 1918, the Council of Lithuania declared independence from both Germany and Russia. Three weeks later, the Bolsheviks , encumbered with the Russian Civil War , sued for peace with the Central Powers and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk .
After World War II, on 29 June 1945, a treaty was signed between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, ceding Carpatho-Ukraine officially to the Soviet Union. Following the capture of Prague by the Red Army in May 1945 the Soviets withdrew in December 1945 as part of an agreement that all Soviet and US troops leave the country.
Soviet expansion in 1939–1940. After the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939, in accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact the Soviet forces were given freedom over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, an important aspect of the agreement to the Soviet government as they were afraid of Germany using the three states as a corridor to get close to Leningrad.
30 July 1940, The president of Estonia, Konstantin Päts, is imprisoned by NKVD and deported to Russia where he dies in the mental hospital of Kalinin on 18 January 1956. 3 August 1940 Soviet Union annexes Lithuania. 5 August 1940 Soviet Union annexes Latvia. 6 August 1940 Soviet Union annexes Estonia.
Upon recapturing Lithuania from the retreating Germans in 1944, the Red Army immediately began committing war crimes. The situation was so extreme that even Sniečkus complained to Lavrentiy Beria on 23 July that "If such robbery and violence continues in Kaunas , this will burst our last sympathy for the Red Army".
By 1920, German troops had withdrawn and the Russian Civil War was in its final phase. Consequently, the Baltic states signed peace treaties with Soviet Russia. Estonia signed the Treaty of Tartu on 2 February, Lithuania signed the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty on 12 July and Latvia signed the Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty on 15 August 1920. [3]