Combat in South Estonia, 1944
Encyclopedia
The Tartu Offensive Operation , also known as the Battle of Tartu and the Battle of Emajõgi was a campaign fought over southeastern Estonia in 1944. It took place on the Eastern Front
during World War II
between the Soviet
3rd Baltic Front
and parts of the German Army Group North
.
The Soviet tactical aim was to defeat the 18th Army and to capture the city of Tartu
. The strategic goal was a quick occupation
of Estonia. The Soviet command planned to reach the coast of the Gulf of Riga
and trap the Army Detachment "Narwa". The German side involved Estonian conscripts
, which fought to defend their country against the looming Soviet annexation. The 3rd Baltic Front captured Tartu. The conquest caused the destruction of the Estonian National Museum
and 40 million rubles
worth of damage to the University of Tartu
. Kampfgruppe
"Wagner
" stabilised the front at the Emajõgi
River. The XXVIII Army Corps supported by Omakaitse
militia stalled the front at the Väike Emajõgi
and Gauja
Rivers, preventing the 3rd Baltic Front from cutting off the "Narwa".
had pushed the Army Group North
to the west of Lake Peipus
resulting in a series of operations around Narva
. The German Command considered it important to maintain control over the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland
, which eased the situation in Finland
and kept the Soviet Baltic Fleet in its eastern bay. From a military economy viewpoint, the preservation of the oil shale
reserves and oil shale industry
in Ida-Viru was also important. In the south, Soviet forces advanced towards the Baltic seacoast at the end of their Operation Bagration of June-August 1944 against the German Army Group Centre
.
. On 10 August, the Soviet 67th Army broke through the defence of the XXVIII Army Corps and captured the town of Võru
on 13 August. The XXVIII Army Corps were forced to the banks of the Väike Emajõgi
and Gauja Rivers in the west where they were supported by an Omakaitse battalion of Viljandi County
. While the defence prevented the 3rd Baltic Front from cutting off the retreat of the Army Detachment "Narwa" from Estonia, there was open ground towards the city of Tartu
, the capital of Southeast Estonia. Army Group North created a Kampfgruppe
(an ad-hoc combat formation), led by SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Wagner and manned by the Army Detachment, for the defence of the new line. The Soviet tank units forced a wedge between the Kampfgruppe and the XXVIIIth Army Corps; Wagner had insufficient troops ahead of Tartu. On 16 August, Lieutenant General Alexey Grechkin's group launched an amphibious assault over Lake Peipus behind the German left (east) flank, beating the defence of the Omakaitse and forming a bridgehead in Mehikoorma village. In fierce battles, a regiment of Estonian border guards stopped their advance.
On 23 August, the 3rd Baltic Front launched an artillery barrage at the positions of the 2nd Battalion, 45 Waffen SS Grenadier Regiment (1st Estonian) covering the German right flank in the village of Nõo
southeast of Tartu. The Soviet 282nd Rifle Division, the 16th Single Tank Brigade, and two self-propelled artillery regiments bypassed the defence on the west side and captured the Kärevere Bridge across the Emajõgi River west of Tartu. Being one of only four bridges across the 100 kilometres long marshy floodplains of the Emajõgi River, it was of high strategic importance. The bridge was not destroyed due to an error on the part of the German sappers. Sturmbannführer
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle
improvised a defence line of the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien
, avoiding a Soviet breakthrough to Tartu. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
A heavy German tank assault had been planned to attack behind the western flank of the Soviet lines in Elva
on 24 August. On the night before the attack, the designated commander of the operation Brigadeführer
Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz
had a serious car accident. The Soviet tank units repulsed the German attack on the following day. Four Soviet rifle divisions launched an attack at Tartu with the support of armour and artillery. After fierce street battles, the Soviet forces conquered the city and established a bridgehead on the north bank of the Emajõgi on 25 August. Due to Kampfgruppe Wagner's inability to hold back the Soviet offensive, the headquarters of the Army Group North turned over command of the Emajõgi front to the II Army Corps, commanded by Infantry General Wilhelm Hasse. At the end of August, the III.Battalion, 1st Estonian Regiment was formed from the 1st Battalion of the Finnish Infantry Regiment 200
recently returned to Estonia. As their largest operation, supported by Estonian Police Battalions No. 37, 38 and Mauritz Freiherr von Strachwitz's tank squadron, they destroyed the bridgehead of two Soviet divisions and recaptured Kärevere Bridge by 30 August. The operation shifted the entire front back to the southern bank of the Emajõgi and encouraged the II Army Corps to launch an operation attempting to recapture Tartu. The attack of 4–6 September reached the northern outskirts of the city but was repulsed by units of the Soviet 86th, 128th, 291st and 321st Rifle Divisions. Relative calm settled on the front for the subsequent thirteen days.
suffered heavy losses in the campaign, accounting for 40 million rubles of damage (equalling to the purchasing power
of 90 million U.S. dollars in 2008). The university lost fifteen buildings permanently. The damage done to the roofs, interiors, doors, windows, heating systems, study cabinets and laboratories was three times the damage to the ruined buildings. The Museum of Zoology lost all of its wet preparations. The interiors of the laboratories of chemistry, physics, pathology and dairy, and a large amount of instruments for the observatories of astronomy and geophysics were destroyed by shrapnel or looted. The campaign also cost the destruction of the main building of the Estonian National Museum
.
crossed Lake Peipus in 5–11 September and acquired command over the Emajõgi front. In the Riga Offensive Operation on 14-16 September, the 3rd Baltic Front attacked the German XXVIII Army Corps and the Omakaitse militia battalions in the front segment from the Valga railway junction to Lake Võrtsjärv. In fierce battles, the German and Estonian units held their positions.
The Soviet Tallinn Offensive of the 2nd Shock and 8th Armies commenced on the early morning of 17 September. The 2nd Shock Army forced its way through the II Army Corps divisional headquarters and artillery positions along the Emajõgi. The Army Detachment "Narwa" and the XXVIII Army Corps, the northernmost elements of Army Group North, were at risk of being encircled and destroyed. The headquarters of the Army Group North ordered the II Army Corps to abandon the defence of the Emajõgi line and to move quickly around the northern tip of Lake Võrtsjärv to Latvia.
The code name for the withdrawal of the Army Detachment "Narwa" from mainland Estonia was Operation "Aster". Beginning on 17 September 1944, a naval force under Vice-Admiral Theodor Burchardi
evacuated elements of the Army Detachment and Estonian civilians. Within six days, around 50,000 troops, 20,000 civilians and 1,000 prisoners were evacuated. The remaining elements of the Army Detachment were ordered to withdraw into Latvia by way of Pärnu
and Viljandi
. The III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps reached Pärnu by September 20, while the II Army Corps retreated south of Viljandi to form the 18th Army's rearguard. As they retreated, the Soviet 2nd Shock and 8th Armies advanced and took Tallinn on September 22.
began in 1947, and was completed after the mass deportation of Estonians in March 1949
. All private farms were confiscated, and farmers were made to join the collective farms. An armed resistance movement
of 'forest brothers
' was active until the mass deportations. A total of 30,000 participated or supported the movement; 2,000 were killed. The Soviet authorities fighting the forest brothers suffered also hundreds of deaths. Among those killed on both sides were innocent civilians. Besides the armed resistance of the forest brothers, a number of underground nationalist schoolchildren groups were active. Most of their members were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The punitive actions decreased rapidly after Stalin's death in 1953; from 1956–58, a large part of the deportees and political prisoners were allowed to return to Estonia. Political arrests and numerous other kind of crimes against humanity were committed all through the occupation period until the late 1980s. After all, the attempt to integrate Estonian society into the Soviet system failed. Although the armed resistance was defeated, the population remained anti-Soviet. This helped the Estonians to organise a new resistance movement
in the late 1980s, regain their independence in 1991, and then rapidly develop a modern society.
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
between the Soviet
Soviet Armed Forces
The Soviet Armed Forces, also called the Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Armed Forces of the Soviet Union refers to the armed forces of the Russian SFSR , and Soviet Union from their beginnings in the...
3rd Baltic Front
Front (Soviet Army)
A front was a major military organization in the Soviet Army during many wars. It was roughly equivalent to an army group in the militaries of most other countries except Germany...
and parts of the German Army Group North
Army Group North
Army Group North was a German strategic echelon formation commanding a grouping of Field Armies subordinated to the OKH during World War II. The army group coordinated the operations of attached separate army corps, reserve formations, rear services and logistics.- Formation :The Army Group North...
.
The Soviet tactical aim was to defeat the 18th Army and to capture the city of Tartu
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...
. The strategic goal was a quick occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
of Estonia. The Soviet command planned to reach the coast of the Gulf of Riga
Gulf of Riga
The Gulf of Riga, or Bay of Riga, is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. According to C.Michael Hogan, a saline stratification layer is found at a depth of approximately seventy metres....
and trap the Army Detachment "Narwa". The German side involved Estonian conscripts
Estonia in World War II
The ground for the fate of Estonia in World War II was laid by the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, particularly its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939....
, which fought to defend their country against the looming Soviet annexation. The 3rd Baltic Front captured Tartu. The conquest caused the destruction of the Estonian National Museum
Estonian National Museum
The Estonian National Museum founded 1909 in Tartu is a museum devoted to folklorist Jakob Hurt's heritage, to Estonian ethnography and folk art...
and 40 million rubles
Soviet ruble
The Soviet ruble or rouble was the currency of the Soviet Union. One ruble is divided into 100 kopeks, ....
worth of damage to the University of Tartu
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...
. Kampfgruppe
Kampfgruppe
In military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
"Wagner
Jürgen Wagner
Jürgen Wagner was a Brigadeführer in the Waffen SS during World War II, he was the commander of the 23rd SS Volunteer Panzer Grenadier Division Nederland and was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves.-Early life:Jürgen Wagner was born on 9 September 1901 in Strasbourg, and was the son of Ernst...
" stabilised the front at the Emajõgi
Emajõgi
The Emajõgi is a river in Estonia which flows from Lake Võrtsjärv through Tartu County into Lake Peipus, crossing the city of Tartu for 10 km. It has a length of 100 km...
River. The XXVIII Army Corps supported by Omakaitse
Omakaitse
The Omakaitse was a militia organisation in Estonia. It was founded in 1917 following the Russian Revolution. On the eve of the Occupation of Estonia by the German Empire the Omakaitse units took over major towns in the country allowing the Salvation Committee of the Estonian Provincial Assembly...
militia stalled the front at the Väike Emajõgi
Väike Emajõgi
The Väike Emajõgi, is a river in southern Estonia that drains into Lake Võrtsjärv....
and Gauja
Gauja
The Gauja is one of the longest rivers in Latvia, with a length of and a catchment area of . Its source is in the hills southeast of Cēsis. It first flows east and north and forms the border with Estonia for about . South of Valga and Valka, it turns west towards Valmiera, continuing southwest...
Rivers, preventing the 3rd Baltic Front from cutting off the "Narwa".
Background
Attacks of the Leningrad FrontLeningrad Front
The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...
had pushed the Army Group North
Army Group North
Army Group North was a German strategic echelon formation commanding a grouping of Field Armies subordinated to the OKH during World War II. The army group coordinated the operations of attached separate army corps, reserve formations, rear services and logistics.- Formation :The Army Group North...
to the west of Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus, ) is the biggest transboundary lake in Europe on the border between Estonia and Russia.The lake is the fifth largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia north of St...
resulting in a series of operations around Narva
Battle of Narva (1944)
The Battle of Narva was a military campaign between the German Army Detachment "Narwa" and the Soviet Leningrad Front fought for possession of the strategically important Narva Isthmus on 2 February – 10 August 1944 during World War II....
. The German Command considered it important to maintain control over the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
, which eased the situation in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and kept the Soviet Baltic Fleet in its eastern bay. From a military economy viewpoint, the preservation of the oil shale
Oil shale
Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced...
reserves and oil shale industry
Oil shale industry
Oil shale industry is an industry of mining and processing of oil shale—a fine-grained sedimentary rock, containing significant amounts of kerogen , from which liquid hydrocarbons can be manufactured. The industry has developed in Brazil, China, Estonia and to some extent in Germany, Israel and...
in Ida-Viru was also important. In the south, Soviet forces advanced towards the Baltic seacoast at the end of their Operation Bagration of June-August 1944 against the German Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct German strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union...
.
Comparison of forces
At the beginning of the Soviet Tartu Operation, the ratio of Soviet to German strength was 4.3:1 for troops, 14.8:1 for artillery and 4.1:1 for armour. The German forces were mostly battle groups from various formations and smaller units from different branches. A significant proportion of the German side was constituted of Omakaitse militia battalions with poor weaponry and little fighting ability.Combat activities
The main thrust of the Soviet operation was first aimed at the southern Petseri CountyPetseri County
Petseri County was a county of Estonia established in 1920. Since 1944, however, most of the county had been administered as Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, first by the Russian SFSR and then, from 1991, by Russia.-History:...
. On 10 August, the Soviet 67th Army broke through the defence of the XXVIII Army Corps and captured the town of Võru
Võru
Võru is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish.-History:Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, according to the wish of the Empress Catherine II of Russia, by the order of Riga Governor general count George Browne, on the...
on 13 August. The XXVIII Army Corps were forced to the banks of the Väike Emajõgi
Väike Emajõgi
The Väike Emajõgi, is a river in southern Estonia that drains into Lake Võrtsjärv....
and Gauja Rivers in the west where they were supported by an Omakaitse battalion of Viljandi County
Viljandi County
Viljandi County , is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties. 55,657 people live in Viljandi County – constituting 4.2% of the total population in Estonia ....
. While the defence prevented the 3rd Baltic Front from cutting off the retreat of the Army Detachment "Narwa" from Estonia, there was open ground towards the city of Tartu
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...
, the capital of Southeast Estonia. Army Group North created a Kampfgruppe
Kampfgruppe
In military history and military slang, the German term Kampfgruppe can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the German Wehrmacht and its allies during World War II and, to a lesser extent, in World War I...
(an ad-hoc combat formation), led by SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Wagner and manned by the Army Detachment, for the defence of the new line. The Soviet tank units forced a wedge between the Kampfgruppe and the XXVIIIth Army Corps; Wagner had insufficient troops ahead of Tartu. On 16 August, Lieutenant General Alexey Grechkin's group launched an amphibious assault over Lake Peipus behind the German left (east) flank, beating the defence of the Omakaitse and forming a bridgehead in Mehikoorma village. In fierce battles, a regiment of Estonian border guards stopped their advance.
On 23 August, the 3rd Baltic Front launched an artillery barrage at the positions of the 2nd Battalion, 45 Waffen SS Grenadier Regiment (1st Estonian) covering the German right flank in the village of Nõo
Nõo Parish
-Settlements:Small boroughs:Nõo - TõravereVillages:Aiamaa - Altmäe - Etsaste - Enno - Illi - Järiste - Kääni - Keeri - Ketneri - Kolga - Laguja - Luke - Meeri - Nõgiaru - Sassi - Tamsa - Unipiha - Uuta - Vissi - Voika-External links:...
southeast of Tartu. The Soviet 282nd Rifle Division, the 16th Single Tank Brigade, and two self-propelled artillery regiments bypassed the defence on the west side and captured the Kärevere Bridge across the Emajõgi River west of Tartu. Being one of only four bridges across the 100 kilometres long marshy floodplains of the Emajõgi River, it was of high strategic importance. The bridge was not destroyed due to an error on the part of the German sappers. Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle
Léon Degrelle
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle was a Walloon Belgian politician, who founded Rexism and later joined the Waffen SS which were front-line troops in the fight against the Soviet Union...
improvised a defence line of the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien
5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien
The 28th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Wallonien was formed from the 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien which was a Belgian Waffen SS volunteer brigade comprising volunteers of Walloon background...
, avoiding a Soviet breakthrough to Tartu. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
A heavy German tank assault had been planned to attack behind the western flank of the Soviet lines in Elva
Elva, Estonia
Elva is a town and a municipality in Tartu County, Estonia. It has a population of 5,762 and an area of 9.92k m².Elva has two larger lakes. Lake Verevi has a sandy and well-developed beach area that is very popular in the summer and is host to many outdoor events. Lake Arbi has wet reed grown shores...
on 24 August. On the night before the attack, the designated commander of the operation Brigadeführer
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz
Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche und Camminetz
Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz was a German Army officer. Strachwitz saw action in World War I, but rose to fame for his command of armored forces in World War II.-Early life:...
had a serious car accident. The Soviet tank units repulsed the German attack on the following day. Four Soviet rifle divisions launched an attack at Tartu with the support of armour and artillery. After fierce street battles, the Soviet forces conquered the city and established a bridgehead on the north bank of the Emajõgi on 25 August. Due to Kampfgruppe Wagner's inability to hold back the Soviet offensive, the headquarters of the Army Group North turned over command of the Emajõgi front to the II Army Corps, commanded by Infantry General Wilhelm Hasse. At the end of August, the III.Battalion, 1st Estonian Regiment was formed from the 1st Battalion of the Finnish Infantry Regiment 200
Finnish Infantry Regiment 200
Infantry Regiment 200 or Soomepoisid was a unit in the Finnish army during World War II made up mostly of Estonian volunteers, who preferred to fight against the Soviet Union in the ranks of the Finnish army instead of the armed forces of Germany....
recently returned to Estonia. As their largest operation, supported by Estonian Police Battalions No. 37, 38 and Mauritz Freiherr von Strachwitz's tank squadron, they destroyed the bridgehead of two Soviet divisions and recaptured Kärevere Bridge by 30 August. The operation shifted the entire front back to the southern bank of the Emajõgi and encouraged the II Army Corps to launch an operation attempting to recapture Tartu. The attack of 4–6 September reached the northern outskirts of the city but was repulsed by units of the Soviet 86th, 128th, 291st and 321st Rifle Divisions. Relative calm settled on the front for the subsequent thirteen days.
Losses
The property of the University of TartuUniversity of Tartu
The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...
suffered heavy losses in the campaign, accounting for 40 million rubles of damage (equalling to the purchasing power
Purchasing power
Purchasing power is the number of goods/services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if you had taken one dollar to a store in the 1950s, you would have been able to buy a greater number of items than you would today, indicating that you would have had a greater purchasing...
of 90 million U.S. dollars in 2008). The university lost fifteen buildings permanently. The damage done to the roofs, interiors, doors, windows, heating systems, study cabinets and laboratories was three times the damage to the ruined buildings. The Museum of Zoology lost all of its wet preparations. The interiors of the laboratories of chemistry, physics, pathology and dairy, and a large amount of instruments for the observatories of astronomy and geophysics were destroyed by shrapnel or looted. The campaign also cost the destruction of the main building of the Estonian National Museum
Estonian National Museum
The Estonian National Museum founded 1909 in Tartu is a museum devoted to folklorist Jakob Hurt's heritage, to Estonian ethnography and folk art...
.
Baltic Offensive
The 2nd Shock Army2nd Shock Army
The 2nd Shock Army was a field army of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This type of formation was created in accordance with prewar doctrine that called for Shock Armies to overcome difficult defensive dispositions in order to create a tactical penetration of sufficient breadth and...
crossed Lake Peipus in 5–11 September and acquired command over the Emajõgi front. In the Riga Offensive Operation on 14-16 September, the 3rd Baltic Front attacked the German XXVIII Army Corps and the Omakaitse militia battalions in the front segment from the Valga railway junction to Lake Võrtsjärv. In fierce battles, the German and Estonian units held their positions.
The Soviet Tallinn Offensive of the 2nd Shock and 8th Armies commenced on the early morning of 17 September. The 2nd Shock Army forced its way through the II Army Corps divisional headquarters and artillery positions along the Emajõgi. The Army Detachment "Narwa" and the XXVIII Army Corps, the northernmost elements of Army Group North, were at risk of being encircled and destroyed. The headquarters of the Army Group North ordered the II Army Corps to abandon the defence of the Emajõgi line and to move quickly around the northern tip of Lake Võrtsjärv to Latvia.
The code name for the withdrawal of the Army Detachment "Narwa" from mainland Estonia was Operation "Aster". Beginning on 17 September 1944, a naval force under Vice-Admiral Theodor Burchardi
Theodor Burchardi
Friedrich Wilhelm Theodor Burchardi was an Admiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
evacuated elements of the Army Detachment and Estonian civilians. Within six days, around 50,000 troops, 20,000 civilians and 1,000 prisoners were evacuated. The remaining elements of the Army Detachment were ordered to withdraw into Latvia by way of Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
and Viljandi
Viljandi
Viljandi is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 19,150 . It is the capital of Viljandi County. The town was first mentioned in 1283, upon being granted its town charter by Wilhelm von Endorpe....
. The III SS (Germanic) Panzer Corps reached Pärnu by September 20, while the II Army Corps retreated south of Viljandi to form the 18th Army's rearguard. As they retreated, the Soviet 2nd Shock and 8th Armies advanced and took Tallinn on September 22.
Soviet reoccupation
Soviet rule of Estonia was re-established by force, and sovietisation followed, which was mostly carried out in 1944–1950. The forced collectivisation of agricultureKolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
began in 1947, and was completed after the mass deportation of Estonians in March 1949
Operation Priboi
Operation Priboi was the code name for the Soviet mass deportation from the Baltic states on March 25–28, 1949, called March deportation by Baltic historians. Some 90,000 Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, labeled as enemies of the people, were deported to inhospitable areas of the Soviet Union...
. All private farms were confiscated, and farmers were made to join the collective farms. An armed resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
of 'forest brothers
Forest Brothers
The Forest Brothers were Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian partisans who waged a guerrilla war against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II...
' was active until the mass deportations. A total of 30,000 participated or supported the movement; 2,000 were killed. The Soviet authorities fighting the forest brothers suffered also hundreds of deaths. Among those killed on both sides were innocent civilians. Besides the armed resistance of the forest brothers, a number of underground nationalist schoolchildren groups were active. Most of their members were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The punitive actions decreased rapidly after Stalin's death in 1953; from 1956–58, a large part of the deportees and political prisoners were allowed to return to Estonia. Political arrests and numerous other kind of crimes against humanity were committed all through the occupation period until the late 1980s. After all, the attempt to integrate Estonian society into the Soviet system failed. Although the armed resistance was defeated, the population remained anti-Soviet. This helped the Estonians to organise a new resistance movement
Singing Revolution
The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1991 that led to the restoration of the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania...
in the late 1980s, regain their independence in 1991, and then rapidly develop a modern society.