In June 1940, as Nazi troops marched into Paris, the Soviet Red Army marched into Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; seven weeks later, the USSR Supreme Soviet ratified the Soviet takeover of these states. For half a century, Soviet historians insisted that the three republics had voluntarily requested incorporation into the Soviet Union. Now it has become possible to examine the events of that tumultuous time more carefully. Alfred Erich Senn, the author of books on the formation of the Lithuanian state in 1918-1920 and on the reestablishment of that independence in 1988-1991, has produced a fascinating account of the Soviet takeover, juxtaposing a picture of the disintegration and collapse of the old regime with the Soviets' imposition of a new order. Discussing the historiography and the living memory of the events, he uses the image of a "shell game" that focused attention on the work of a supposedly "non-communist" government while in the hothouse conditions of military occupation Moscow undermined the state's independent institutions and introduced a revolution from above.

"Georg von Rauch (1904 - 1991) was a Baltic German historian specializing in Russia and the Baltic states. Rauch was born in Pskov, the son of Kornelius von Rauch, who was serving in the Russian army; in 1911 the family moved to Sangaste in southern Estonia, then part of the Russian Empire. Rauch graduated from the University of Tartu with a degree in history in 1927, leaving for Germany in 1939. He joined the staff of the University of Marburg, where he taught Russian history, in 1946, becoming a professor in 1953. In 1958 he accepted an offer from the University of Kiel, where he became head of the Institute on East European History. His pioneering history of the Soviet Union was translated into other languages and became a standard textbook. His son was the anarchist Georg von Rauch, killed by the police in 1971."--Wikipedia.

At the close of this century, the identity of Lithuania as its own nation stands well-established, after many years of war and foreign domination. This book illustrates the way in which Lithuanian national consciousness grew from a shared feeling of unstructured instincts to a firm sense of nationhood in the course of this century. The authors reveal how this tiny country was caught at the intersection of Europe’s great powers, and how it was compelled to follow a foreign policy of survival. An enlightening work from Lithuania’s own ambassadors to the States, Lithuania in European Politics explains why the restoration of a Lithuanian state in 1990 cannot be understood without comprehending those critical years between the two World Wars.

The history of eugenics in the Baltic States is largely unknown. The book compares for the first time the eugenic projects of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the related disciplines of racial anthropology and psychiatry, and situates them within the wider European context. Strong ethno-nationalism defined the nation as a biological group, which was fostered by authoritarian regimes established in Lithuania in 1926, and in Estonia and Latvia in 1934. The eugenics projects were designed to establish a nation in biological terms. Their aims were to render the nation ethnically, genetically and racially homogeneous. The main agenda was a non-democratic state that defined its population in biological terms. Eugenic policies were to regenerate the nation and to reconstruct it as a “pure” and “original” race, Such schemes for national regeneration contained strong elements of secular religion.

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 56. Chapters: Occupation of the Baltic states, 1940 Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania, The Holocaust in Lithuania, Occupation of Lithuania by Nazi Germany, Reichskommissariat Ostland, June Uprising in Lithuania, Polish-Lithuanian relations during World War II, Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force, Battle of Raseiniai, Vilna Ghetto, Lithuanian Security Police, Resistance in Lithuania during World War II, Rainiai massacre, People's Seimas, Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania, Lithuanian Activist Front, iauliai Offensive, Kovno Ghetto, Jay M. Ipson, Local Self-Defence in Lithuania during the Nazi occupation, Nachman Dushanski, Koniuchy massacre, Kaunas Offensive, Kaunas pogrom, Baltic Operation, Tautinio Darbo Apsaugos Batalionas, Fareynikte Partizaner Organizatsye, Provisional Government of Lithuania, Serov Instructions, Marcinkonys Ghetto, Petras Raslanas, June deportation. Excerpt: The occupation of the Baltic states refers to the military occupation of the three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union under the auspices of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on 14 June 1940 followed by their forcible illegal incorporation into the USSR as constituent republics. On 22 June 1941 Nazi Germany attacked the USSR and within weeks occupied a significant part of it including the Baltic republics. In July 1941 the Baltic territory was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ostland of the Third Reich. As a result of the Baltic Offensive of 1944, Soviet Union recaptured most of the Baltic states and trapped remaining German forces in Courland pocket until their formal surrender in May 1945. The Soviet "annexation occupation" (Annexionsbesetzung or occupation sui generis) of the Baltic states lasted until August 1991 when the Baltic states regained independence. The Governments of the Baltic states, the...

Geschiedenis van Estland, Letland en Litauen

Describes and analyzes how the Baltic nations survived 50 years of social disruption, language discrimination and Russian colonialism, and the effect of the Baltic states' stubborn invincibility on the Soviet Union. The history of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are integrated and compared.