Soviet occupations
Encyclopedia
Soviet occupations is a term used for military occupation
s by the Soviet Union
from the prelude to the aftermath of World War II
. The term is typically used for occupations of Eastern Europe
an countries. The degree of control that the Soviet Union exercised over the governments of occupied countries varied widely from country to country, and changed over time.
s created after World War II, such as Albania
and Yugoslavia
, were not occupied by Soviet forces. Their leaders had been approved by Joseph Stalin
and initially maintained good relations with the Soviet Union, but later came to oppose the Soviets on matters of foreign policy and other major issues. Other countries were occupied by the Red Army
briefly, but Soviet forces left after completing their military operations or after several years. This was the case in Iran
, Romania
, North Korea
, and China
. These countries were eventually able to gain significant political independence from the Soviet Union.
A third group of countries are those where the Soviet Union maintained a military presence for the entire duration of the Cold War
, and whose internal affairs were influenced but not directly controlled by the USSR. These are five countries, located primarily in Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Hungary
, Czechoslovakia
, Poland
and the German Democratic Republic
. Western sources often refer to these countries as being Soviet "satellite states." Officially, they were independent and sovereign nation-states, and the Soviet troops on their territory were permitted to stay there only at the invitation of each country's own government. Unofficially, the Soviet government had considerable influence over the leaders of these countries, controlled their foreign policy, and could place limits on what was considered acceptable internal policy. The countries were more or less free to decide their own policies within those limits, but when they stepped out of bounds, Soviet armed forces could intervene to restore control. Such interventions happened on two occasions, during the Hungarian revolution of 1956 and the Prague Spring
.
Finally, there is a fourth group, consisting of Lithuania
, Latvia
, and Estonia
, which were directly annexed to the Soviet Union during World War II. In this case, Red Army troops were present on their territory because those countries formed part of the Soviet Union itself, and thus the Red Army was officially considered to be their own national army. Soviet authority in these states consisted of direct political control rather than informal influence. Also, it was largely represented by civilian officials, which has led to their occupation being sometimes described as a civil occupation as distinguished from a military occupation.
Importantly, two countries partially occupied by the Soviet Union - namely Germany and Austria - were jointly occupied by all the major victors of World War II in Europe (the Four Powers). Iran
was occupied in 1941 by joint Anglo-Soviet forces. The United States and the United Kingdom, the allies of the USSR against Germany during World War II de facto recognized the occupation of the Eastern European states by the USSR at Yalta Conference
in 1945.
During World War II
, the Soviet Union annexed several countries as Soviet Socialist Republics that were originally effectively ceded to it by Nazi Germany
in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
's secret protocol. These included Eastern Poland (incorporated into two different SSRs), Latvia
(became Latvian SSR
), Estonia
(became Estonian SSR), Lithuania
(became Lithuanian SSR
), part of eastern Finland (became Karelo-Finnish SSR
) and eastern Romania
(became the Moldavian SSR
).
since the union of 1918
, issued an ultimatum on 28 June 1940 demanding the evacuation of the Romanian military and administration from the territory it contested as well as from the northern part of the Romanian province of Bukovina
with an implied threat of invasion in the event of non-compliance. 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
.
Soviet occupation of the Baltic States 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.
In the Baltic states — Estonia
, Latvia
and Lithuania
—, occupations were initiated by the 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
(World War II).
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 occupations 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.
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, Estonian scientists have estimated Estonia
's economic damages directly attributable to the second Soviet occupation to hundreds of billions of US dollars (several dozens worth of Estonia's 2006 GDP of $21.28 billion). Soviet neglect for environmental protection
led to extensive ecological 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 (whose standard of living Estonia had been on par with before World War II) 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.
Although Soviet Union
has condemned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
of 1939 — the immediate forerunner to the occupation —, it is generally the policy of Russian Federation to deny that the events involved constituted occupation or were illegal under applicable (international) laws.
Soviet Union
demanded that Finland agree to move the border further away from Leningrad. It also demanded that Finland lease the Hanko Peninsula
(or similar territory at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland) to the USSR for the creation of a naval base there. However, Finland refused, and the 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
, 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 12 March 1940. 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 1941
, 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
.
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 9 May, Soviet troops landed on the island and after a short fight the German garrison did surrender. Soviet forces left the island on 5 April 1946.
by British and Commonwealth forces
and the Soviet Union
, codenamed Operation Countenance, from 25 August to 17 September 1941. The purpose of the invasion was to secure Iranian oil fields and ensure supply lines (see Persian Corridor
) for the Soviets fighting against Nazi Germany
on the Eastern Front
.
At the end of World War II, the Soviets occupied several other states that were converted into Soviet Satellite
states, such as the People's Republic of Poland
, the People's Republic of Hungary
, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
, the People's Republic of Romania, the People's Republic of Albania, and later East Germany from the Soviet zone of German occupation.
, took part in Operation Barbarossa
, in alliance with Nazi Germany
. Hungarian forces fought shoulder to shoulder with the Wehrmacht
and advanced through the Ukrainian SSR
deep into Russia, all the way to Stalingrad
. However, by the end of 1942 the Soviet Red Army began pushing back the Wehrmacht through a series of offensives that preceded the Red Army's encroachment upon Hungarian territory in 1943-44. 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 15 October 1944, the Soviets fought their way further westward against the Hungarian troops and their Nazi allies capturing the capital
on 13 February 1945. Operations continued until 4 April 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 4 November 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.
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. 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.
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
. In the years 1944-1947, over a million Poles were resettled from the annexed territories into Poland (mostly into the Regained Territories).
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. Other scholars date the Soviet occupation till 1989. The Polish Government in Exile
existed until 1990.
Already in March 1939, under the "heavy pressure of circumstances" the Kingdom of Romania
signed a trade treaty with the Third Reich which according to Time magazine was eventually expected to reduce if not wipe out all commerce between Romania and other states. "In no instance of modern times has one State made such humiliating, far-reaching economic concessions to another as Rumania's King Carol II made in Bucharest last week to Dr. Helmuth Wohlthat, Führer Hitler's traveling salesman." To counter the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which started with an ultimatum on June 26, 1940, Romania
sought alliances other than the traditional French-British security assurances, i.e. with the Germany, which eventually proved illusory.
On July 1, 1940, Romania renounced the Anglo-French guarantee that dated from April 13, 1939, and three days later Prime Minister of Romania became the pro-German Ion Gigurtu
, who on July 11 took Romania out of the League of Nations, and on July 13 announced her desire to join the Axis camp. From July 5, 1940, Romania allied itself with Nazi Germany, only to be invaded in 1940-1941 by its "ally" as part of Hitler's strategy to create one huge eastern front against the Soviet Union.
In June 1941, a large part of Romanian army took part in the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. After quick initial successes by the Axis forces, Romania recaptured the provinces of Bessarabia
and northern Bukovina
(which had been occupied by the Soviets a year earlier), and occupied parts of Southern
Ukraine
, between the Dniester
and Southern Buh rivers. Furthermore, the Romanian dictatorship of Ion Antonescu
continued to fight side by side with the forces of Nazi Germany elsewhere on the Eastern Front
. By 1942 and 1943 the tide of the war was turning as the Red Army
regained territory it had lost in 1941. In 1944, the Soviets reached their pre-invasion western border and advanced westward to defeat Germany and its allies. It was in the context of these events that Soviet forces fought the Battle of Romania
(August 1944) and continued to advance westward, reaching the capital Bucharest
on 31 August. On August 23, 1944, Romania's King Michael I
launched the coup d'état
overthrowing Antonescu's pro-Nazi government of and switching Romania to the Allies
(see King Michael Coup).
"Soviet occupation of Romania" refers to the period between 1944 and 1958, when Soviet troops were stationed in this country. On 12 September 1944, with the Red Army
already controlling much of Romania's territory, an Armistice Agreement between Romania and the USSR was signed, under which Romania retroceded the territory it administered earlier in the war, and subjected itself to an allied commission consisting of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom. On the ground, it was the Soviet military command, and not the Western allies, that de facto exercised dominant authority. The presence and free movement of Soviet troops was explicitly stipulated in the agreement.
The terms of the Armistice Agreement ceased on 15 September 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 (the 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."
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.
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," 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 3 October 1990.
One result of the occupation was children fathered by Russian soldiers 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.
The Soviet occupation of Austria, 1945-1955. 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 15 May 1955, the Austrian State Treaty
was signed, officially establishing Austrian independence and sovereignty. The treaty was enacted on 27 July, and the last Allied troops left the country on 25 October.
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 refugee
s and banned them from returning to their homeland.
At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council
, Yakov 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.
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.
called the North Korean Provisional People's Committee was formed under Kim Il-sung
. Soviet forces departed in 1948, and a few years later, in an attempt to unite Korea under Communist rule, the Korean War
broke out.
The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan 1979-1989. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan began as midnight approached on 24 December 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 15 February 1989, the last Soviet troops departed on schedule from Afghanistan.
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:...
s by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
from the prelude to the aftermath of 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...
. The term is typically used for occupations of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an countries. The degree of control that the Soviet Union exercised over the governments of occupied countries varied widely from country to country, and changed over time.
Variations
Some Communist stateCommunist state
A communist state is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state...
s created after World War II, such as Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, were not occupied by Soviet forces. Their leaders had been approved by Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
and initially maintained good relations with the Soviet Union, but later came to oppose the Soviets on matters of foreign policy and other major issues. Other countries were occupied by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
briefly, but Soviet forces left after completing their military operations or after several years. This was the case in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. These countries were eventually able to gain significant political independence from the Soviet Union.
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, and whose internal affairs were influenced but not directly controlled by the USSR. These are five countries, located primarily in Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, Hungary
People's Republic of Hungary
The People's Republic of Hungary or Hungarian People's Republic was the official state name of Hungary from 1949 to 1989 during its Communist period under the guidance of the Soviet Union. The state remained in existence until 1989 when opposition forces consolidated in forcing the regime to...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
and the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
. Western sources often refer to these countries as being Soviet "satellite states." Officially, they were independent and sovereign nation-states, and the Soviet troops on their territory were permitted to stay there only at the invitation of each country's own government. Unofficially, the Soviet government had considerable influence over the leaders of these countries, controlled their foreign policy, and could place limits on what was considered acceptable internal policy. The countries were more or less free to decide their own policies within those limits, but when they stepped out of bounds, Soviet armed forces could intervene to restore control. Such interventions happened on two occasions, during the Hungarian revolution of 1956 and the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
.
Finally, there is a fourth group, consisting of Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, which were directly annexed to the Soviet Union during World War II. In this case, Red Army troops were present on their territory because those countries formed part of the Soviet Union itself, and thus the Red Army was officially considered to be their own national army. Soviet authority in these states consisted of direct political control rather than informal influence. Also, it was largely represented by civilian officials, which has led to their occupation being sometimes described as a civil occupation as distinguished from a military occupation.
Importantly, two countries partially occupied by the Soviet Union - namely Germany and Austria - were jointly occupied by all the major victors of World War II in Europe (the Four Powers). Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
was occupied in 1941 by joint Anglo-Soviet forces. The United States and the United Kingdom, the allies of the USSR against Germany during World War II de facto recognized the occupation of the Eastern European states by the USSR at Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference, sometimes called the Crimea Conference and codenamed the Argonaut Conference, held February 4–11, 1945, was the wartime meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, represented by President Franklin D...
in 1945.
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...
, the Soviet Union annexed several countries as Soviet Socialist Republics that were originally effectively ceded to it by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
's secret protocol. These included Eastern Poland (incorporated into two different SSRs), Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
(became Latvian SSR
Latvian SSR
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...
), Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
(became Estonian SSR), Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
(became Lithuanian SSR
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
), part of eastern Finland (became Karelo-Finnish SSR
Karelo-Finnish SSR
The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was a short-lived republic that was a part of the former Soviet Union. The republic existed from 1940 until it was merged back into the Russian SFSR in 1956 ....
) and eastern Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
(became the Moldavian SSR
Moldavian SSR
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic , commonly abbreviated to Moldavian SSR or MSSR, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union...
).
Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
The Soviet Union, which did not recognize the sovereignty of Romania over BessarabiaBessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
since the union of 1918
Union of Bessarabia with Romania
On , the Sfatul Ţării, or National Council, of Bessarabia proclaimed union with the Kingdom of Romania.-Governorate of Bessarabia:The 1812 Treaty of Bucharest between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empires provided for Russian annexation of the eastern half of the territory of the Principality...
, issued an ultimatum on 28 June 1940 demanding the evacuation of the Romanian military and administration from the territory it contested as well as from the northern part of the Romanian province of Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
with an implied threat of invasion in the event of non-compliance. Under pressure from Moscow and Berlin, the Romanian administration and armed forces retreated to avoid war. Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
used Soviet occupation of Bessarabia as justification for German occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece and German attack on USSR
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
.
Baltic states
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...
started in September 1939, the fate of Baltic countries
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
had been already decided in the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
and its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939.
In the Baltic states — Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
—, occupations were initiated by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
pressuring all three to accept Soviet military bases, threatening to attack immediately in case of refusal. Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
also attempted this tactic on Finland; however, Finland refused, leading to the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
, and later, the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
(World War II).
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
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
to explicitly not recognise the legality of the occupations 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
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...
.
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
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, were in 1941–1944 occupied by Germany and administered through the Reichskommissariat Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland
Reichskommissariat Ostland, literally "Reich Commissariat Eastland", was the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany in the Baltic states and much of Belarus during World War II. It was also known as Reichskommissariat Baltenland initially...
. Significant differences between the styles of administration of Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
— 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.
During the occupation, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
killed, drafted (unlawfully under international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
) into the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and deported hundreds of thousands of people. Furthermore, trying to enforce the ideals of Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, 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, Estonian scientists have estimated Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
's economic damages directly attributable to the second Soviet occupation to hundreds of billions of US dollars (several dozens worth of Estonia's 2006 GDP of $21.28 billion). Soviet neglect for environmental protection
Environmental protection
Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
led to extensive ecological 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 (whose standard of living Estonia had been on par with before World War II) 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.
Although Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
has condemned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
of 1939 — the immediate forerunner to the occupation —, it is generally the policy of Russian Federation to deny that the events involved constituted occupation or were illegal under applicable (international) laws.
Finnish territories
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
demanded that Finland agree to move the border further away from Leningrad. It also demanded that Finland lease the Hanko Peninsula
Hanko Peninsula
The Hanko Peninsula , also spelled Hango, is the southernmost point of mainland Finland. The soil is a sandy moraine, the last tip of the Salpausselkä ridge, and vegetation consists mainly of pine and low shrubs...
(or similar territory at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland) to the USSR for the creation of a naval base there. However, Finland refused, and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
invaded Finland, initiating the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
. In the territories occupied by the Soviet Union in the Finnish Karelia
Finnish Karelia
Karelia is a historical province of Finland. It refers to the Western Karelia that during the second millennium has been under western dominance, religiously and politically. Western, i.e. Finnish Karelia is separate from Eastern, i.e...
, they set up the Finnish Democratic Republic
Finnish Democratic Republic
The Finnish Democratic Republic was a short-lived government dependent on and recognised only by the Soviet Union. It nominally operated in those parts of Finnish Karelia that were occupied by the Soviet Union during the Winter War....
, a short-lived Soviet puppet regime. The Soviets also occupied Petsamo
Pechengsky District
Pechengsky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the five in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It is located to the northwest of the Kola Peninsula on the coast of the Barents Sea and borders with Finland in the south and southwest and with Norway in the west, northwest, and north...
in the North during the war. Later, Finland was forced to cede the Finnish part of Karelia in the Moscow Peace Treaty
Moscow Peace Treaty (1940)
The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed by Finland and the Soviet Union on 12 March 1940, and the ratifications were exchanged on 21 March. It marked the end of the 105-day Winter War. The treaty ceded parts of Finland to the Soviet Union. However, it preserved Finland's independence, ending the Soviet...
of 12 March 1940. 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
Salla
Salla is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
area, the Kalastajansaarento peninsula in the Barents Sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
and four islands in 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...
. The ceded areas were integrated within the Karelian ASSR
Karelian ASSR
The Karelian ASSR was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, with the capital in Petrozavodsk.The Karelian ASSR was formed as a part of the Russian SFSR by the Resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of June 27, 1923 and by the Decree of...
to form the Karelo-Finnish SSR
Karelo-Finnish SSR
The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was a short-lived republic that was a part of the former Soviet Union. The republic existed from 1940 until it was merged back into the Russian SFSR in 1956 ....
.
When the hostilities resumed in 1941
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter 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
Moscow Armistice
The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on September 19, 1944, ending the Continuation War...
.
Bornholm
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
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
in May 1945. Gerhard von Kamptz
Gerhard von Kamptz
Gerhard von Kamptz was a Kapitän zur See with the Kriegsmarine during World War II and recipient of the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
, 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
Rønne
Rønne is the largest town on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It has a population of 13,904 . Once a municipality in its own right, it is now the administrative centre of the Bornholm municipality....
and Nexø
Nexø
Nexø is a town on the eastern coast of the Baltic island of Bornholm, Denmark. With a population of 3,762 , it is the second largest town, as well as the largest fishing port on the island. Fishing is the mainstay of the town economy. Nexø is also the site of a distillery and a mustard factory...
and seriously damaged roughly 3000 more during 7 – 8 May 1945. On 9 May, Soviet troops landed on the island and after a short fight the German garrison did surrender. Soviet forces left the island on 5 April 1946.
Anglo-Soviet occupation of Iran
The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran was the invasion of IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
by British and Commonwealth forces
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, codenamed Operation Countenance, from 25 August to 17 September 1941. The purpose of the invasion was to secure Iranian oil fields and ensure supply lines (see Persian Corridor
Persian Corridor
The Persian Corridor is the name for a supply route through Iran into Soviet Azerbaijan by which British aid and American Lend-Lease supplies were transferred to the Soviet Union during World War II.-Background:...
) for the Soviets fighting against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
on the Eastern Front
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...
.
End of World War II
At the end of World War II, the Soviets occupied several other states that were converted into Soviet Satellite
Satellite state
A satellite state is a political term that refers to a country that is formally independent, but under heavy political and economic influence or control by another country...
states, such as the People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
, the People's Republic of Hungary
People's Republic of Hungary
The People's Republic of Hungary or Hungarian People's Republic was the official state name of Hungary from 1949 to 1989 during its Communist period under the guidance of the Soviet Union. The state remained in existence until 1989 when opposition forces consolidated in forcing the regime to...
, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 until end of 1989 , a Soviet satellite state of the Eastern Bloc....
, the People's Republic of Romania, the People's Republic of Albania, and later East Germany from the Soviet zone of German occupation.
Hungary
In July 1941, the Kingdom of Hungary, a member of the Tripartite PactTripartite Pact
The Tripartite Pact, also the Three-Power Pact, Axis Pact, Three-way Pact or Tripartite Treaty was a pact signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940, which established the Axis Powers of World War II...
, took part in Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
, in alliance with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Hungarian forces fought shoulder to shoulder with the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and advanced through the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
deep into Russia, all the way to Stalingrad
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 and 2 February 1943...
. However, by the end of 1942 the Soviet Red Army began pushing back the Wehrmacht through a series of offensives that preceded the Red Army's encroachment upon Hungarian territory in 1943-44. In September 1944 Soviet forces crossed into Hungary, launching the Budapest Offensive
Budapest Offensive
The Budapest Offensive was the general attack by Soviet forces against Germany and their allies from the territory of Hungary. The offensive lasted from 29 October 1944 until the fall of Budapest on 13 February 1945.-Prelude:...
. As the Hungarian army ignored the armistice with the USSR signed by the government of Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy
Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya was the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary during the interwar years and throughout most of World War II, serving from 1 March 1920 to 15 October 1944. Horthy was styled "His Serene Highness the Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary" .Admiral Horthy was an officer of the...
on 15 October 1944, the Soviets fought their way further westward against the Hungarian troops and their Nazi allies capturing the capital
Battle of Budapest
The Siege of Budapest centered on the Hungarian capital city of Budapest. It was fought towards the end of World War II in Europe, during the Soviet Budapest Offensive. The siege started when Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, was first encircled on 29 December 1944 by the Red Army...
on 13 February 1945. Operations continued until 4 April 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
Comecon
The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance , 1949–1991, was an economic organisation under hegemony of Soviet Union comprising the countries of the Eastern Bloc along with a number of communist states elsewhere in the world...
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
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
changed its mind. On 4 November 1956, a large joint military force of the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
led by Moscow, entered Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
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.
Poland
Poland was the first country to be occupied by Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
during the 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...
era.
Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
, the alliance of Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
designated Poland to be split in two in their joint invasion of Poland. 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
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
), 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.
After the end of 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...
, 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
Przemysl
Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....
. In the years 1944-1947, over a million Poles were resettled from the annexed territories into Poland (mostly into the Regained Territories).
Soviet troops (the Northern Group of Forces
Northern Group of Forces
The Northern Group of Forces was the military formation of the Soviet Army stationed in Poland from the end of Second World War in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the fall of Soviet Union...
) 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. Other scholars date the Soviet occupation till 1989. The Polish Government in Exile
Polish government in Exile
The Polish government-in-exile, formally known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile , was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Poland of September 1939, and the subsequent occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, which...
existed until 1990.
Romania
Already in March 1939, under the "heavy pressure of circumstances" the Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
signed a trade treaty with the Third Reich which according to Time magazine was eventually expected to reduce if not wipe out all commerce between Romania and other states. "In no instance of modern times has one State made such humiliating, far-reaching economic concessions to another as Rumania's King Carol II made in Bucharest last week to Dr. Helmuth Wohlthat, Führer Hitler's traveling salesman." To counter the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, which started with an ultimatum on June 26, 1940, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
sought alliances other than the traditional French-British security assurances, i.e. with the Germany, which eventually proved illusory.
On July 1, 1940, Romania renounced the Anglo-French guarantee that dated from April 13, 1939, and three days later Prime Minister of Romania became the pro-German Ion Gigurtu
Ion Gigurtu
Ion Gigurtu was a Romanian politician, Land Forces officer, engineer and industrialist who served a brief term as Prime Minister from July 4 to September 4, 1940, under the personal regime of King Carol II. A specialist in mining and veteran of both the Second Balkan War and World War I, he made a...
, who on July 11 took Romania out of the League of Nations, and on July 13 announced her desire to join the Axis camp. From July 5, 1940, Romania allied itself with Nazi Germany, only to be invaded in 1940-1941 by its "ally" as part of Hitler's strategy to create one huge eastern front against the Soviet Union.
In June 1941, a large part of Romanian army took part in the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. After quick initial successes by the Axis forces, Romania recaptured the provinces of Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
and northern Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
(which had been occupied by the Soviets a year earlier), and occupied parts of Southern
Transnistria (World War II)
Transnistria Governorate was a Romanian administered territory, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa, and occupied from 19 August 1941 to 29 January 1944...
Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, between the Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
and Southern Buh rivers. Furthermore, the Romanian dictatorship of Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
continued to fight side by side with the forces of Nazi Germany elsewhere on the Eastern Front
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...
. By 1942 and 1943 the tide of the war was turning as the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
regained territory it had lost in 1941. In 1944, the Soviets reached their pre-invasion western border and advanced westward to defeat Germany and its allies. It was in the context of these events that Soviet forces fought the Battle of Romania
Battle of Romania (1944)
The Jassy–Kishinev Operation, named after the two major cities, Iaşi and Chişinău, in the staging area, was a Soviet offensive against Axis forces, which took place in Eastern Romania from 20–29 August 1944...
(August 1944) and continued to advance westward, reaching the capital Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
on 31 August. On August 23, 1944, Romania's King Michael I
Michael I of Romania
Michael was the last King of Romania. He reigned from 20 July 1927 to 8 June 1930, and again from 6 September 1940 until 30 December 1947 when he was forced, by the Communist Party of Romania , to abdicate to the Soviet armies of occupation...
launched the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
overthrowing Antonescu's pro-Nazi government of and switching Romania to the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
(see King Michael Coup).
"Soviet occupation of Romania" refers to the period between 1944 and 1958, when Soviet troops were stationed in this country. On 12 September 1944, with the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
already controlling much of Romania's territory, an Armistice Agreement between Romania and the USSR was signed, under which Romania retroceded the territory it administered earlier in the war, and subjected itself to an allied commission consisting of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom. On the ground, it was the Soviet military command, and not the Western allies, that de facto exercised dominant authority. The presence and free movement of Soviet troops was explicitly stipulated in the agreement.
The terms of the Armistice Agreement ceased on 15 September 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 (the 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
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, 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."
Bulgaria
On 5 September 1944, the Soviet Union declared war on BulgariaBulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
and invaded the country. Within three days the Soviets occupied the northeastern part of Bulgaria along with the key port cities of Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
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
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
and arresting the ministers. A new government of the Fatherland Front
Fatherland Front
There have been at least two organisations known as the Fatherland Front:*Vietnamese Fatherland Front*Fatherland's Front *Fatherland Front...
was appointed on 9 September with Kimon Georgiev
Kimon Georgiev
Colonel General Kimon Georgiev Stoyanov was a Bulgarian general and prime minister.Born at Pazardzhik, Kimon Georgiev graduated from the Sofia military academy in 1902. He participated in the Balkan Wars as a company commander and in the First World War as a commander of a battalion. In 1916 he...
as prime minister.
Germany
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
Separation barrier
A separation barrier is a wall or fence constructed to limit the movement of people across a certain line or border, or to separate two populations. These structures vary in placement with regard to international borders and topography...
between West
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
and East Germany, the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
known in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and in East Germany
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
as the "Anti-Fascist Protective Rampart," was built in 1961.
The Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany
Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
The Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany, was negotiated in 1990 between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic , and the Four Powers which occupied Germany at the end of World War II in Europe: France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the...
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 3 October 1990.
One result of the occupation was children fathered by Russian soldiers 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
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
, some of these "Lost Red Army Children" made public attempts to discover more about their Russian fathers.
Austria
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
were divided into 4 zones of occupation, following the terms of the Potsdam Conference
Potsdam Conference
The Potsdam Conference was held at Cecilienhof, the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm Hohenzollern, in Potsdam, occupied Germany, from 16 July to 2 August 1945. Participants were the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
. The country was earmarked for heavy economic exploitation. The Soviet Union expropriated over 450 businesses, formerly German-owned.
On 15 May 1955, the Austrian State Treaty
Austrian State Treaty
The Austrian State Treaty or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on May 15, 1955, in Vienna at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying powers and the Austrian government...
was signed, officially establishing Austrian independence and sovereignty. The treaty was enacted on 27 July, and the last Allied troops left the country on 25 October.
Hungary
Soviet forces intervened into the events of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and suppressed the movement for reform.Czechoslovakia
Soviet Occupation of CzechoslovakiaIn 1948, the Czech Communist Party
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak: Komunistická strana Československa was a Communist and Marxist-Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992....
won a large portion of the vote in Czechoslovak
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
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
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
, reacted to these reforms by announcing the Brezhnev Doctrine
Brezhnev Doctrine
The Brezhnev Doctrine was a Soviet Union foreign policy, first and most clearly outlined by S. Kovalev in a September 26, 1968 Pravda article, entitled “Sovereignty and the International Obligations of Socialist Countries.” Leonid Brezhnev reiterated it in a speech at the Fifth Congress of the...
, and in 21 August 1968, about 750,000 Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
troops, mostly from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Poland, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, 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
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
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
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
. Communists responded by revoking Czechoslovakian citizenship of many of these refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s and banned them from returning to their homeland.
At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
, Yakov Malik, Soviet ambassador to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
issued a proclamation, claiming that the military intervention was a response to a request by the government of Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
being a permanent member of the Security Council — with veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
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
Neo-Stalinism
Neo-Stalinism is a political term referring to attempts at rehabilitating the role of Joseph Stalin in history and re-establishing the political course of Stalin, at least partially. The term is also used to designate the modern political regimes in some states, political and social life of which...
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.
In 1987, the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
acknowledged that his liberalizing policies of glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
and perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
owed a great deal to Dubček's socialism with a human face. When asked what the difference was between the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
and his own reforms, Gorbachev replied, "Nineteen years".
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
said that he feels the moral responsibility for the 1968 events and that Russia condemns them during his visit to Prague.
Korea
Soviet occupation of Korea 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 governmentProvisional government
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. The early provisional governments were created to prepare for the return of royal rule...
called the North Korean Provisional People's Committee was formed under Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death...
. Soviet forces departed in 1948, and a few years later, in an attempt to unite Korea under Communist rule, the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
broke out.
Afghanistan
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, 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
Hafizullah Amin
Hafizullah Amin was the second President of Afghanistan during the period of the communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan....
put up a fierce, but brief resistance. With Amin's death at the palace, Babrak Karmal
Babrak Karmal
Babrak Karmal was the third President of Afghanistan during the period of the communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He is the best known of the Marxist leadership....
, 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
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. Major campaigns had also forced the mujahedin into the defensive near Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
and Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
. On 15 February 1989, the last Soviet troops departed on schedule from Afghanistan.
Further reading
- Czech government: The Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia
- Mart LaarMart LaarMart Laar is an Estonian statesman, historian and a founding member of the Foundation for the Investigation of Communist Crimes. He was the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002, and is the leader of the conservative party Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica...
29 April 2007: Why Russia likes Soviet occupation monuments? - Stanislav Kulchytsky 17 July 2007: Was Ukraine under Soviet occupation?
- Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
: 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