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Occupation of the Baltic states
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
incorporation
into the USSR as
constituent republics
, unrecognised internationally by most western opponents of the Soviet Union. On 22 June 1941
Nazi Germany
attacked
the USSR and within weeks occupied
the Baltic territories
. 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, the Soviet Union recaptured most of the Baltic states and trapped the remaining German forces in the
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.
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