Soviet occupations

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Soviet occupations^[1][2][3] is a term used for military occupations by the Soviet Union since the prelude to World War II.^{[original research?]} The term is usually^[who?] used for occupations of Eastern European countries and North Korea.^{[citation needed]} On October 9, 1944, Soviet domination of South-Eastern Europe was approved by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the Percentage agreement on how to divide that region into spheres of influence. The military interventions were used to establish satellite Communist regimes in the occupied territories.

Contents 1 Variations 2 Prelude to World War II 2.1 Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina 2.2 Baltic states 3 World War II 3.1 Finnish territories 3.2 Hungary 3.3 Poland 3.4 Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran 3.5 Romania 3.6 Bulgaria 3.7 Austria 3.8 Germany 3.9 Bornholm 4 Post-WWII Europe 4.1 Hungary 4.2 Czechoslovakia 5 Korea 6 Afghanistan 7 References 8 Further reading

[edit] Variations

Some of the Communist countries created after World War II, such as Albania and Yugoslavia, were not occupied by Soviet forces, although their leaders had been approved by Joseph Stalin.^[4] Other countries were left by the Red Army after completing its military operations, or after several years of occupation, as in Iran, Romania, North Korea, or China. These countries were eventually able to gain significant political independence from the Soviet Union. However, Soviet Union military intervened in several instances, as during the Hungarian revolution of 1956, the Prague Spring, and the Soviet war in Afganistan

Some aspects of Soviet occupations have also been described as civil occupation as distinguished from military occupation.^[5]

The Soviet Union created puppet governments in some of these territories, and in others it overthrew the local governments by subversive means. In some cases, the Soviet military presence began immediately upon subjugating the territory to Soviet will; in others, the will was supported by a threat of invasion. An important example of such a threat materializing is the termination of Prague Spring in 1968.

Importantly, two countries partially occupied by Soviet Union, Germany and Austria, were occupied under an arrangement with the Four Powers. Iran was occupied in 1941 by joint Anglo-Soviet forces. United States and the United Kingdom, the allies of the USSR against Germany during the WWII de facto recognized the occupation of the Eastern European states by USSR at Yalta Conference in 1945.

[edit] Prelude to World War II

[edit] Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina

Main article: Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina

On June 28, 1940, Romania received an ultimatum from the Soviet Union demanding the evacuation of the Romanian military and administration from its region Bessarabia and from the northern part of the region Bukovina,^[6] with an implied threat of invasion in the event of non-compliance.^[6] Under pressure from Moscow and Berlin, the Romanian administration and armed forces retreated to avoid war. Adolf Hitler used Soviet occupation of Bessarabia as justification for German occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece and German attack on USSR. In his proclamation of war with USSR Hitler denounced it as a part of Anglo-Soviet policy of encirclement: "With boundless patience, the German Reich attempted after 1933 to win over the southeastern European states as trading partners. We therefore had the greatest possible interest in their domestic stability and order. Russia’s entrance into Rumania and Greece’s ties to England threatened to rapidly transform this area into a general battleground... If anyone needed final proof of the carefully hidden coalition between England and Soviet Russia, the conflict in Yugoslavia provided it. While I was making a last attempt to keep peace in the Balkans, and in agreement with the Duce invited Yugoslavia to join the Three Power Pact, England and Soviet Russia organized a coup that toppled the government that was ready for such an agreement."^[7]

[edit] Baltic states

Main articles: Soviet occupation of Baltic states, Occupations of Latvia, and Estonia in World War II

Soviet occupation of the Baltic States^[8] When World War II started in September 1939, the fate of Baltic countries had been already decided in the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939.^[9]

In Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania —, the occupations were initiated by Soviet Union pressuring all three to accept Soviet military bases, threatening to attack immediately in case of refusal. Soviet Union also attempted this tactic on Finland; however, Finland refused, leading to the Winter War, and later, the Continuation War.

Soon after creation of these bases, Soviet military forces left them and overtook political systems of these countries. However, all three Baltic states undertook specific steps to retain the republics' legal standing, leading to USA and other Western democracies to explicitly not recognise the legality of the occcupations under Stimson's doctrine and related principles. This allowed eventual restoration of Republic of Estonia, Republic of Latvia, and Republic of Lithuania under the doctrine of continuation of these republics as they had existed before World War II.

Another aspect of these occupations was that they were cut in half by Germany's successful military actions in the Eastern front. All three Baltic states, having been occupied by Soviet Union, were in 1941–1944 occupied by Germany and administered through the Reichskommissariat Ostland. Significant differences between the styles of administration of Soviet Union and Nazi Germany — one-time allies — eventually led significant numbers of natives of all three countries to align themselves with Germany for the sole objective of stalling, and possibly preventing, another Soviet occupation.

See also: Erna long-range recce group

See also: 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)

See also: 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Latvian)

See also: 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)

During the occupation, the Soviet Union killed, drafted (unlawfully under international law) into the Red Army and deported hundreds of thousands of people. Furthermore, trying to enforce the ideals of Communism, the Soviet Union deliberately dismantled the existing social and economic structures, and imposed new, "ideologically pure" hierarchies. This severely retarded economies of all three Baltic states. For example, scientists have estimated Estonia's economic damages directly attributable to the second Soviet occupation to hundreds of billions of US dollars. Soviet neglect for environment protection led to extensive ecologic damage as well; for Estonia, the damage is estimated to about 4 billions of US dollars. In addition to direct damages, retardation of the economic systems led to severe wealth gap between the Baltic states and their neighbouring European states that stayed free of the Soviet yoke, such as Finland and Sweden.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the Baltic States' struggle for independence came to a conclusion, the sovereignties of the countries were restored in 1991. The last Soviet troops withdrew from the Baltic States in August 1994.^[10]

Although Soviet Union has condemned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 — the immediate forerunner to the occupation —, as of 2007 it is generally the policy of Russian Federation to deny that the events involved constituted occupation or were illegal under applicable (international) laws.^[11]

[edit] World War II

Further information: History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953)

[edit] Finnish territories

Main articles: Finnish Democratic Republic and Winter War

See also: Karelian question in Finnish politics

Soviet Union gave Finland an ultimatum similar to that given to the Baltic states. However, Finland refused, and Soviet Union invaded Finland, initiating the Winter War. In the territories occupied by the Soviet Union in the Finnish Karelia, they set up the Finnish Democratic Republic (Finnish: Suomen kansanvaltainen tasavalta), a short-lived Soviet puppet regime. The Soviets also occupied Petsamo in the North during the war. Later, Finland was forced to cede the Finnish part of Karelia in the Moscow Peace Treaty of March 12. The land included the city of Viipuri (the country's second largest city), much of Finland's industrialized territory, and significant parts still held by Finland's army: nearly 10% of pre-war Finland. About 422,000 Karelians — 12% of Finland's population — lost their homes. Military troops and remaining civilians were hastily evacuated. Finland also had to cede a part of the Salla area, the Kalastajansaarento peninsula in the Barents Sea and four islands in the Gulf of Finland. The ceded areas were integrated within the Karelian ASSR to form the Karelo-Finnish SSR.

When the hostilities resumed in the Continuation War, the Soviet Union occupied Petsamo once again in 1944, but elsewhere their advance was halted before they could enter Finnish territory. This time, whole Petsamo was ceded to the Soviet Union by Finland in the Moscow Armistice.

[edit] Hungary

Main article: Soviet occupation of Hungary‎

In July 1941, Hungary, a member of the Tripartite Pact, took part in Operation Barbarossa, in alliance with Nazi Germany. Hungarian forces fought shoulder to shoulder with the Wermacht and advanced through Soviet Ukraine deep into Russia, all the way to Stalingrad. However, at the end of 1942 the military initiative was recaptured by the Soviets, and in 1943-44 the Red Army liberated the Soviet territory. In September 1944 Soviet forces crossed into Hungary, launching the Budapest Offensive. As the Hungarian army ignored the armistice with the USSR signed by the government of Miklós Horthy on October 15, 1944, the Soviets fought their way further westward against the Hungarian troops and their Nazi allies capturing the capital on February 13, 1945. Operations continued until April 4, 1945, when the last Nazi forces and the remaining Hungarian troops loyal to the Germans were routed out of the country.

The Soviets made sure that a loyal post-war government dominated by Communists was installed in the country before transferring authority from the occupational force to the Hungarian authorities. The presence of Soviet troops in the country was regulated by the 1949 mutual assistance treaty concluded between the Soviet and Hungarian governments. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the Communist government of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies. After announcing a willingness to negotiate the withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Soviet Politburo changed its mind. On November 4, 1956, a large joint military force of the Warsaw Pact led by Moscow, entered Budapest to crush the armed resistance, killing thousands of civilians in the process.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the last Soviet soldier left the country in 1991, thus ending Soviet military presence in Hungary.

[edit] Poland

Main articles: Soviet invasion of Poland (1939), Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union, Occupation of Poland (1939-1945), and Northern Group of Forces

Poland was the first country to be occupied by Soviet Union during the World War II era.

Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, the alliance of Soviet Union and Nazi Germany designated Poland to be split in two in their joint invasion of Poland.^[12] In 1939, the total area of Polish territories occupied by the Soviet Union (including the area given to Lithuania and annexed in 1940 during the formation of Lithuanian SSR), was 201,015 square kilometres, with a population of 13.299 million, of which 5.274 million were ethnic Poles and 1.109 million were Jews.^[13]

After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union kept most of the territories it occupied in 1939, while territories with an area of 21,275 square kilometers with 1.5 million inhabitants were returned to communist-controlled Poland, notably the areas near Białystok and Przemyśl.^[14] In the years 1944-1947, over a million Poles were resettled from the annexed territories into Poland (mostly into the Regained Territories).^[15]

Soviet troops (the Northern Group of Forces) were stationed in Poland from 1945 till 1993. It was only in 1956 that official agreements between communist regime in Poland established by Soviets themselves and Soviet Union recognized the presence of those troops; hence many Polish scholars accept the usage of term 'occupation' for period 1945-1956.^[16]. Other scholars date the Soviet occupation till 1989 [1][2]. Polish Government in Exile existed till 1990

[edit] Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran

Main article: Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran

The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran was the invasion of Iran by British and Commonwealth forces and the Soviet Union, codenamed Operation Countenance, from August 251941 to September 17, 1941. The purpose of the invasion was to secure Iranian oil fields and ensure supply lines (see Persian Corridor) for the Soviets fighting against Germany on the Eastern Front.

[edit] Romania

Main article: Soviet occupation of Romania

Soviet occupation of Romania^[17] In 1941 Romania allied with Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. After quick initial successes of the Axis forces Romania annexed the areas of Bukovina, Bessarabia, as well as parts of Southern Ukraine all the way to the Southern Buh and continued to fight side by side with the forces of Nazi Germany elsewhere in the Eastern Front. By 1942 and 1943 the tide of the war has turned and the Red Army liberated the Soviet territory and advanced westward from its borders to defeat Germany and its allies. It was in the context of these events that the Soviet forces crossed into Romania (August 1944) and continued to advance westward reaching the capital Bucharest on August 31, while the Romanian King Michael I launched the coup d'état overthrowing the pro-Nazi government of Ion Antonescu and switching the Romanian side in the war.

By mid-September, 1944, when the Red Army already controlled much of the Romanian territory, the Armistice Agreement between Romania and the USSR was signed, under which Romania retroceded the territory it conquered earlier in the war, and subjected itself to the allied commission consisting of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom, while the Soviet military command de-facto exercised predominant authority. The presence and free movement of the Soviet troops was also stipulated in the agreement.^[18]

The terms Armistice Agreement ceased on September 15, 1947 as the conditions of the Paris Peace Treaty entered into force. The new treaty stipulated the withdrawal of all Allied forces from Romania with an important exemption that such withdrawal was "subject to the right of the Soviet Union to keep on Romanian territory such armed forces as it may need for the maintenance of the lines of communication of the Soviet Army with the Soviet zone of occupation in Austria."

In the aftermath of the agreement the Soviet presence fell from 130,000 troops (peak in 1947) to approximately 30,000. The troops were fully withdrawn by August, 1958.

Comparing the Soviet occupation of Romania to that of Bulgaria, David Stone notes: "Unlike Bulgaria, Romania had few cultural and historical ties with Russia, and had actually waged war on the Soviet Union. As a result, Soviet occupation weighted heavier on the Romanian people, and the troops themselves were less disciplined."^[19]

[edit] Bulgaria

On 5 September 1944, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and invaded the country. Within three days the Soviets occupied the northeastern part of Bulgaria along with the key port cities of Varna and Burgas. On 8 September 1944, Bulgaria changed sides in the war and joined the Soviet Union in its war against Nazi Germany. Garrison detachments with Zveno officers at the head overthrew the government on the eve of 9 September, after taking strategic keypoints in Sofia and arresting the ministers. A new government of the Fatherland Front was appointed on 9 September with Kimon Georgiev as prime minister.

[edit] Austria

Main article: Allied-administered Austria

The Soviet occupation of Austria, 1945-1955. ^[20] At the end of the war, Austria and Vienna were divided into 4 zones of occupation, following the terms of the Potsdam Conference. The country was earmarked for heavy economic exploitation. The Soviet Union expropriated over 450 businesses, formerly German-owned.

On May 15, 1955, the Austrian State Treaty was signed, officially establishing Austrian independence and sovereignty. The treaty was enacted on July 27, and the last Allied troops left the country on 25 October.

[edit] Germany

Main articles: Soviet occupation zone and History of the German Democratic Republic

Soviet occupation zone of Germany was the area of eastern Germany occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945 on. In 1949 it became The German Democratic Republic known in English as East Germany.

In 1955 the Republic was declared by the Soviet Union to be fully sovereign; however, Soviet troops remained, based on the four-power Potsdam agreement. As NATO troops remained in West Berlin and West Germany, the GDR and Berlin in particular became focal points of Cold War tensions.

A separation barrier between West and East Germany, the Berlin Wall known in the Soviet Union and in East Germany as the "Anti-Fascist Protective Rampart,"^[21] was built in 1961.

The Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany signed in Moscow, mandated the withdrawal of all Soviet forces from Germany by the end of 1994. Conclusion of the final settlement cleared the way for unification of East and West Germany. Formal political union occurred on October 3, 1990.

One result of the occupation was children fathered by Russian solders either through romantic relationships, relationships of convenience or rape. These children experience societal discrimination for decades but after the troops withdrawal and the development of perestroika, some of these "Lost Red Army Children" made public attempts to discover more about their Russian fathers.^[22]

[edit] Bornholm

Soviet occupation of Bornholm ^[23] 1944-1946 Soviet troops occupied northern Norway and the Danish island of Bornholm, strategically situated at the Baltic sea entrance. The Americans viewed these forces as intended to establish a Soviet claim for base rights.

Bornholm was heavily bombarded by Soviet forces in May 1945. Gerhard von Kamptz, the German superior officer in charge failed to provide a written capitulation as demanded by the Soviet commanders, several Soviet aircraft relentlessly bombed and destroyed more than 800 civilian houses in Rønne and Nexø and seriously damaged roughly 3000 more during 7-8 May 1945. On May 9, Soviet troops landed on the island and after a short fight the German garrison did surrender.^[24] Soviet forces left the island on April 5, 1946.

Further information: Bornholm#History

[edit] Post-WWII Europe

[edit] Hungary

Soviet forces intervened into the events of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and suppressed the movement for reform.

[edit] Czechoslovakia

Main articles: Prague Spring and Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia

Soviet Occupation of Czechoslovakia ^[25] In 1948, the Czech Communist Party won a large portion of the vote in Czechoslovak politics, leading to a communist period without immediate Soviet military presence. The 1950s were characterized as a repressive period in the country’s history, but by 1960s, the local socialist leadership had taken a course toward toward economic, social and political reforms. However, a number of significant Czech communists, together with the Czech security agency, conspired against limited introduction of market systems, personal freedoms, and renewal of civic associations (see Socialism with a human face) by leveraging Russian support towards strengthening Communist Party's positions. Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, reacted to these reforms by announcing the Brezhnev Doctrine, and in 21 August 1968, about 750,000 Warsaw Pact troops, mostly from the Soviet Union, Poland, Bulgaria, East Germany and Hungary, with tanks and machine guns occupied Czechoslovakia, deported thousands of people and rapidly derailed all reforms. Most large cities were individually invaded and overtaken; however, the invasion's primary attention focused on Prague, particularly the state organs, Czech television and radio.

The Czechoslovak government held an emergency session, and loudly expressed its disagreement with the occupation. Many citizens joined in protests, and by September 1968 at least 72 people had died and hundreds more injured in the conflicts. In the brief time after the occupation, which had put an end to any hope that Prague Spring had created, about 100,000 people fled Czechoslovakia. Over the whole time of the occupation, more than 700,000 people, including significant part of Czechoslovak intelligentsia. Communists responded by revoking Czechoslovakian citizenship of many of these refugees and banned them from returning to their homeland.

At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Jakov Malik, Soviet ambassador to the United Nations issued a proclamation, claiming that the military intervention was a response to a request by the government of Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union being a permanent member of the Security Council — with veto right —, was able to circumvent any United Nations' resolutions to end the occupation.

Prague Spring's end became clear by December 1968, when a new presidium of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia accepted the so-called Instructions from The Critical Development in the Country and Society after the XIII Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Under a guise of "normalisation", all aspects of neo-Stalinism were returned to everyday political and economic life.

Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia ended only in 1990, just before the collapse of Soviet Union. The last occupation troops left the country on 21 June 1991.^{[citation needed]}

In 1987, the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged that his liberalizing policies of glasnost and perestroika owed a great deal to Dubček's socialism with a human face. When asked what the difference was between the Prague Spring and his own reforms, Gorbachev replied, "Nineteen years".

Vladimir Putin said that he feels the moral responsibility for the 1968 events and that Russia condemns them during his visit to Prague.^[26]

[edit] Korea

Soviet occupation of Korea^[27] 1945-1948. In August 1945 the Soviet Army established the Soviet Civil Authority to administer the country until a domestic regime, could be established. Provisional committees were set up across the country putting Communists into key positions. In February 1946 a provisional government called the North Korean Provisional People's Committee was formed under Kim Il-sung. Soviet forces departed in 1948, and several years later, in an attempt to unite Korea under Communist rule, the Korean War broke out.

[edit] Afghanistan

Main article: Soviet war in Afghanistan

The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan^[28] 1979-1989. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan began as midnight approached on December 24, 1979. They organised a massive military airlift into Kabul, involving an estimated 280 transport aircraft and 3 divisions of almost 8,500 men each. Within two days, they had secured Kabul, deploying a special Soviet assault unit against Darulaman Palace, where elements of the Afghan army loyal to Hafizullah Amin put up a fierce, but brief resistance. With Amin's death at the palace, Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction of the PDPA was installed by the Soviets as Afghanistan's new head of government.

The peak of the fighting came in 1985-86. The Soviet forces launched their largest and most effective assaults on the mujahedin supply lines adjacent to Pakistan. Major campaigns had also forced the mujahedin into the defensive near Herat and Kandahar. On February 15, 1989, the last Soviet troops departed on schedule from Afghanistan.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Czech government: The Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia
• Mart Laar April 29, 2007: Why Russia likes Soviet occupation monuments?
• Stanislav Kulchytsky July 17, 2007: Was Ukraine under Soviet occupation?
• Encyclopædia Britannica: Latvia. The Soviet occupation and incorporation
• Armistice Negotiations and Soviet Occupation, a part of Romania: A Country Study. Washington: GPO for the Library of Congress, 1989, edited by Ronald D. Bachman

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