The Baltics have been part of the sphere of influence of Russia since ancient times. The Baltic Sea itself in ancient times was called the Venedian (Varangian). And the Wends - the Wends - the Vandals and the Varangians are the western Slavic-Russian tribes, representatives of the western passionate core of the super-ethnic group of the Rus.
During the collapse of the empire of Rurikovich (Old Russian state), incl. During the period of feudal fragmentation, the Baltics entered the sphere of influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia. The official language of Lithuania was Russian. The overwhelming majority of the population of the Grand Duchy were Russians. However, gradually the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia fell under the rule of Poland. The Russian-Lithuanian elite (gentry) began to adopt the Polish language, culture, and move from paganism and Orthodoxy to Catholicism. The bulk of the West Russian population began to be subjected not only to economic, but also to religious and national oppression.
The Baltic also underwent the expansion of Swedish, Danish and German feudal lords. This is how Livonia was created - the state of the German knights. Baltic tribes (ancestors of Latvians and Estonians) at that time were in the position of slaves, they were not considered people. All power and rights belonged to the Livonian (Ostsee) Germans. During the Livonian War, the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible tried to return part of the Baltic states to the Russian sphere of influence, but the war was lost for a number of reasons. After that, Livonia was divided between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden.
During the Northern War of 1700 - 1721. and the Section of the Commonwealth Peter the Great and Catherine the Great returned the Baltic states to Russian control. The local Baltic nobility (mainly Eastsee Germans) and the townspeople retained all their previous rights and privileges. Moreover, the Baltic German nobles became one of the main parts of the Russian imperial aristocracy. Numerous military, diplomats and dignitaries of the empire were of German origin. At the same time, the local Baltic nobility retained a privileged position and local power.
By 1917, the Baltic lands were divided into Estland (center of Revel - now Tallinn), Livonia (Riga), Courland (Mitava - now Jelgava) and Vilna province (Vilno - modern Vilnius). The population was mixed: Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Russians, Germans, Jews, etc. Religiously, Lutherans (Protestants), Catholics and Orthodox Christians predominated. The population of the Baltic States did not experience any harassment on religious or ethnic grounds in the Russian Empire. Moreover, the region had old privileges and liberties that the Russian population in central Russia did not have. In particular, serfdom in the Livonian and Estland provinces was abolished during the reign of Alexander the Great. The local industry was actively developing, the Baltic States enjoyed the advantages of Russia's trade "gates" to Europe. Riga shared with Kiev the third most important place (after St. Petersburg and Moscow) in the empire.
After the revolutionary catastrophe of 1917, the Baltic States were separated from Russia - the states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were created. They did not become full-fledged states, but were the so-called. limitrophes - border areas where the strategic interests of the USSR and Western countries collided. Great Western powers - England, France and Germany, tried to use the Baltic states against Russia. In the Third Reich, they were going to make the Baltics their province.
It should be noted that the life of the bulk of the Baltic population did not improve after the collapse of the Russian Empire. Independence did not bring prosperity. In the modern Baltic republics, a myth has been created that the 1920s - 1940s. - This is the "era of prosperity", when the economy, culture, democracy developed rapidly. And the Soviet Union with its “occupation brought only grief and destruction. In fact, independence has caused severe damage to the population of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: losses during the Civil War, due to emigration, the flight of Eastsee Germans to Germany, economic problems. The economy, on the other hand, has seriously degraded: the former industrial potential has been lost, and agriculture has come to the fore. The Baltic states were deprived of sources of raw materials and the domestic market of Russia; they had to reorient themselves to the markets of Western Europe. However, the weak Baltic industry could not compete with the developed industry of the Western countries, therefore, in the 1920s-1930s, it turned out to be of no use to anyone and was dying. Mainly the export of the agricultural sector remained. At the same time, the economy was captured by foreign capital. In fact, the Baltic countries have become colonies of the developed countries of Europe.
In fact, after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, history repeated itself - the collapse and "privatization" of the economy, the extinction and flight of the population to the rich countries of the West, the seizure of the local market and the remaining economy by Western capital, the semi-colonial status and the military foothold of NATO (West) against Russia.
In such a situation, only the bourgeoisie - rural and urban - received benefits in the "golden" 20-30s. The bulk of the population plunged into hopeless poverty. It is clear that the economy has predetermined the political sphere as well. The economic crisis has led to the fall of the democratic government, which has shown its complete inefficiency and illusory nature. The impetus was the second stage of the crisis of capitalism - the Great Depression. In the Baltic republics (Latvia and Estonia), almost simultaneously - in 1934, coups d'état took place. In Lithuania even earlier - in 1926. Authoritarian regimes were established in the Baltic republics: a state of emergency (martial law) was introduced, the constitutions were suspended, all political parties, meetings and demonstrations were banned, censorship was introduced, political opponents were repressed, etc.
If earlier Moscow turned a blind eye to the existence of the "independent" Baltic republics, by the end of the 1930s the military-strategic situation had changed dramatically. Firstly, a new world war was brewing and the "free" Baltic states became a military bridgehead directed against the USSR. Secondly, the USSR carried out industrialization, created a powerful military-industrial potential, modern armed forces. Red Moscow was now ready to re-establish a "one and indivisible" Russia within the dead Russian Empire. Stalin began to pursue a great-power, Russian imperial policy.
In August 1939, the USSR and Germany signed a non-aggression pact. The Third Reich liquidated Poland in September 1939. And the Soviet Union regained the West Russian lands. The annexation of Western Belarus put forward the state border directly to the Baltic countries. Thereafter, Moscow took a series of diplomatic and military measures to annex the Baltic states. In September - October 1939, the USSR signed agreements on mutual assistance with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Moscow got the opportunity to deploy military bases and troops in the Baltic states. In June 1940, under pressure from Moscow, a change of government took place in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Pro-Soviet governments came to power, and pro-Soviet parties won the elections to the Seimas. In July, Soviet power was proclaimed in the Baltic republics, and the Soviet socialist republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were formed. Moscow received requests for admission to the USSR. In August 1940, these requests were granted. Russia and the Baltics were reunited again.
The bulk of the population of the Baltic republics supported joining the USSR (in fact, returning to Russia). The Baltic states, despite certain difficulties (Sovietization, nationalization, repression and deportation of a part of the population that supported the old world and opposed the Soviet project), only benefited from joining Great Russia (USSR). This is clearly shown by the facts - demography, development of the economy, infrastructure, culture, territorial acquisitions (in particular, Lithuania), the general growth of the well-being of the people, etc. The myth of the "occupation" of the Baltic by the Soviet Union is not confirmed by the facts about the development of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania during the Soviet period. How do occupiers, colonialists like the Nazis act? The answer is obvious - mass terror, genocide of the people, predatory exploitation of natural resources, labor resources, robbery of cultural and material values, occupation, alien administration, suppressing the development of the people, etc. The Soviet authorities in the Baltic region behaved like zealous masters at home: developed the economy, built roads, ports, cities, schools, hospitals, houses of culture, strengthened the defense on the northwestern borders. They turned the Baltic states into a "showcase of the USSR", that is, the population of the Baltic republics, on average, lived better than Russians in European Russia, Siberia and the Far East.
The "excesses" were associated with the transition period from the old, capitalist world to the new, Soviet one. The old world did not want to give up, resisted the Soviet development project. It is clear that the internal enemies, the “fifth column,” wishing to return to the previous order, were not spared. It is worth remembering that all this took place in the conditions of the already ongoing World War II. At the same time, the Soviet authorities in the Baltics (as well as in Ukraine) were relatively humane. Many "enemies of the people" survived or received minimal punishment.
Unlike Western Ukraine, before the invasion of the Nazis in June 1941, the Baltic nationalist underground did not put up serious armed resistance to the Soviet regime. This was due to the fact that the local "fifth column" strictly followed the instructions of Berlin and planned its performance at the beginning of the war of the Third Reich against the USSR. Before the start of the war, the Baltic nationalists carried out espionage in favor of Germany, without trying to organize an uprising in the second half of 1940 - early 1941. In addition, the Soviet security forces launched a series of warning strikes, disabling activists who might have started the uprising. It can also be noted that the annexation of the Baltic to the USSR was so rapid that local nationalists simply did not have time to organize and create a united anti-Soviet front.
Each republic had its own political movements and leaders. In Latvia, pro-fascist organizations began to emerge immediately after the end of the First World War. In particular, in 1919 the paramilitary movement Aizsargi ("defenders, guards") was created. In 1922 the Latvian National Club was established. The Aizsargov organization was headed by the chairman of the Latvian Peasant Union Karlis Ulmanis. He used "guards" for political struggle. On May 15, 1934, Ulmanis staged a military coup with the help of the "guards" and became the sole ruler of Latvia. During his reign, the Aizsargi organization numbered up to 40 thousand people and received police rights. The government of the "people's leader" Ulmanis sharply tightened its policy towards national minorities. Their public organizations were disbanded, most of the schools of national minorities were closed. Even Latgalians, ethnically close to Latvians, were oppressed.
On the basis of the Latvian National Club in 1927, the Fiery Cross group was created, in 1933 it was reorganized into the Association of the Latvian People “Thunder Cross” (“Perkonkrust”). In 1934 the organization numbered 5 thousand people. Radical nationalists advocated the concentration of all political and economic power in the country in the hands of the Latvians and the struggle against "foreigners" (primarily against the Jews). After Ulmanis came to power, the Thunder Cross organization formally ceased to exist.
Thus, the Latvian nationalists had a rather serious social base at the time of the annexation of Latvia to the USSR. In March 1941, the Chekists of the Latvian SSR arrested members of the "Guard of the Fatherland" group. The command center of the group consisted of three departments: the Department of Foreign Relations carried out communication with the German intelligence; The military department was engaged in the collection of intelligence data for the Third Reich and the preparation of an armed uprising; The agitation department published an anti-Soviet newspaper. The organization had departments throughout the republic, its groups were formed from officers and former Aizsargs. Ideology corresponded to German Nazism. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, 120 members of the organization were arrested.
At the same time, the Chekists liquidated another underground insurgent organization - the Military Organization for the Liberation of Latvia (Kola). Its cells were created in most cities of the republic. The organization prepared caches with weapons and equipment for the uprising; collected intelligence information about the Red Army, strategic points; prepared sabotage; drew up "black lists" for the destruction of members of the Communist Party of Latvia and high-ranking officials for their arrest and liquidation at the time of the uprising, etc.
In March 1941, the Latvian National Legion was also defeated. In the cities and districts of the republic, 15 insurgent groups were liquidated (9-10 people in each). Members of the Legion carried out espionage activities, prepared acts of sabotage at important industrial, transport and communications facilities, conducted anti-Soviet agitation. In April 1941, another underground organization, the Latvian People's Association, was opened in Riga. The organization tried to unite various anti-Soviet groups into a united front, trained personnel, and was engaged in espionage in favor of Germany. In May 1941, the anti-Soviet organization "Guardians of Latvia" was created. Its members were nationalists, opponents of the Soviet regime.
The anti-Soviet underground in Latvia was supported by German intelligence. The scale of this underground is well evidenced by the fact of the attack on June 24, 1941, when the Nazis tried to seize the building of the CC of the Latvian Communist Party in Riga. A motorized rifle regiment of the NKVD had to be thrown into his defense, which repulsed the attack. The rebels lost 120 killed and 457 captured, the rest were dispersed.
In general, the Latvian nationalists tried not to engage in direct battle with the Red Army. But they became good murderers. In July 1941, the Nazis organized a series of Jewish pogroms, and on their own initiative. From that moment on, Latvian punishers began to arrest and destroy the local Jewish population. Thousands of civilians were killed. In 1942 - 1944. Latvian Nazis, who are now called "heroes" by the Baltic propaganda, participated in anti-partisan operations on Russian territory - in the Pskov, Novgorod, Vitebsk and Leningrad regions as part of the punitive police units. Baltic and Ukrainian punishers killed many thousands of people.
In 1942, the Latvians suggested that the Germans create 100,000 civilians on a volunteer basis. army. Hitler, who did not intend to give independence to Latvia, rejected this proposal. However, in 1943, due to a lack of manpower, the German high command decided to use the Balts to form the Latvian national SS units. The Latvian SS Volunteer Legion is formed, consisting of the 15th SS grenadier (1st Latvian) and 19th (2nd Latvian) SS grenadier divisions. The Latvian SS divisions fought as part of the 18th Army of Army Group "North": the 19th Division fell into the Kurland "cauldron" and remained there until the surrender of Germany; The 15th division was transferred to Prussia in 1944 and its units took part in the last battles for Berlin. 150 thousand people served in the Latvian SS Legion: more than 40 thousand of them died, and about 50 thousand were taken prisoner.
Parade of Latvian legionnaires in honor of the founding day of the Republic of Latvia. Riga. November 18, 1943
