Baltic states under Soviet rule (1944–1991)
The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – were re-occupied in 1944–1945 by the Soviet Union (USSR) following the German occupation. The Baltic states regained independence in 1990–1991.
Victims of the Soviet NKVD in Tartu, Estonia (1941)
Soviet prison doors on display in the Museum of Occupations in Tallinn.
Antanas Sniečkus, the leader of the Communist Party of Lithuania from 1940 to 1974
Estonian Song Festival in Tallinn in 1980
Sovietization of the Baltic states
The Sovietization of the Baltic states is the sovietization of all spheres of life in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania when they were under control of the Soviet Union. The first period deals with the occupation from June 1940 to July 1941, followed by the German occupation during World War II. The second period of occupation covers 1944 when the Soviet forces pushed the Germans out, until the end of the Soviet occupation in 1991 when the three countries restored full independence.
Plaque on the building of Government of Estonia, Toompea, commemorating government members killed by communist terror
Soviet propaganda demonstration in Riga, 1940. Posters in Russian say: "We demand the full accession to the USSR!"
Memorial to deported Latvian children who died in exile, 1941–1949
Latvian National Theatre decorated with Soviet symbols (hammer and sickle, red star, red flags and a double portrait of Lenin and Stalin) after the Soviet occupation in 1940. The text on top reads "Long live the USSR!"
