Stalin’s Ambition
In mid 1940 the war in the East was not going well for Stalin. Despite being exteriorly confidence he had realised that unless something changed the Soviet Union could hope for nothing but defeat. Already millions had died in the frozen wastes of Siberia, the deserts of Central Asia, the Mongol Steppe and the Himalayan Mountains. The early advances of the Russian war machine had all been reversed and although the valiant Red Army had been able to largely halt the Asian advance their lines were starting to buckle, they could not hold the pressure of Asia for much longer.
In the West Stalin saw potential. With Europe in the chaos of the war between the Axis and Allies no one would protest if he gained more land for the Soviet Union. Indeed the Germans had actively supported his conquest of Eastern Poland the year before and since then the two nations had been trading supplies and resources to help in each other’s wars. Only a small force would be required to exercise the Soviet claims on the weak Baltic states and the boost in both morale and resources might just be enough to tip the balance of power back in Stalin’s favour in the East.
It was for these reasons that the Soviet Union declared war on Lithuania on June 4th and on the Latvian-Estonian alliance three days later.
Stalin had left a, primarily infantry, force of roughly twice the size of the combined Baltic armies. He had assumed that this would easily crush the small states and secure a quick victory. He was wrong. Not only were the Russian armies crushed on the Latvian and Lithuanian border but the Balts advanced to take the Soviet cities of Grodno, Vilnius, Opochka and even Pskov. In fact the situation was so dire that Estonian flyers managed to bomb Leningrad on no less than three occasions. This was the situation as of June 29th.
Then two Soviet armoured divisions arrived from the Finnish border.
The knife through butter analogy is an overused one but rarely is it so appropriate as when it is used to describe the Soviet tank offensive in early July in Latvia. The single tanks division did what the infantry had failed to do in an entire month and defeated the Latvians at their border. 10 days later the tanks had taken Riga and the Latvian government surrendered. In the south the story was slightly different with the Russians having to win hard fought victories at Grodno, Vilnius and Kaunas. However with their new tanks the Lithuanians could do little to resist.
3 days after Latvia Lithuania decided to throw in the towel and submit to the bear. Meanwhile, led by the tanks from Riga, the Red Army broke the Estonian lines at Partu and advanced towards the capital in Tallin.
Over the course of the next 3 days the Estonians fought hard for their capital, however eventually the irresistible Russian force overcame them and following the fall of their capital Estonia too surrendered. Stalin had his victory.
The question of why the British failed to offer anything more than moral support is a bitter one amongst many Balts to this day but the answer is simple: they were utterly unable to. The war with the Axis was already stretching Britain to its limit; war with Russia could have finally broken the Empire. Meanwhile all of the Empire’s resources were focussed on defeating Hitler; it would have been folly to send vital supplies to the doomed Balts when the Spanish still had hope.
In mid 1940 the war in the East was not going well for Stalin. Despite being exteriorly confidence he had realised that unless something changed the Soviet Union could hope for nothing but defeat. Already millions had died in the frozen wastes of Siberia, the deserts of Central Asia, the Mongol Steppe and the Himalayan Mountains. The early advances of the Russian war machine had all been reversed and although the valiant Red Army had been able to largely halt the Asian advance their lines were starting to buckle, they could not hold the pressure of Asia for much longer.
In the West Stalin saw potential. With Europe in the chaos of the war between the Axis and Allies no one would protest if he gained more land for the Soviet Union. Indeed the Germans had actively supported his conquest of Eastern Poland the year before and since then the two nations had been trading supplies and resources to help in each other’s wars. Only a small force would be required to exercise the Soviet claims on the weak Baltic states and the boost in both morale and resources might just be enough to tip the balance of power back in Stalin’s favour in the East.
It was for these reasons that the Soviet Union declared war on Lithuania on June 4th and on the Latvian-Estonian alliance three days later.
Stalin had left a, primarily infantry, force of roughly twice the size of the combined Baltic armies. He had assumed that this would easily crush the small states and secure a quick victory. He was wrong. Not only were the Russian armies crushed on the Latvian and Lithuanian border but the Balts advanced to take the Soviet cities of Grodno, Vilnius, Opochka and even Pskov. In fact the situation was so dire that Estonian flyers managed to bomb Leningrad on no less than three occasions. This was the situation as of June 29th.
Then two Soviet armoured divisions arrived from the Finnish border.
The knife through butter analogy is an overused one but rarely is it so appropriate as when it is used to describe the Soviet tank offensive in early July in Latvia. The single tanks division did what the infantry had failed to do in an entire month and defeated the Latvians at their border. 10 days later the tanks had taken Riga and the Latvian government surrendered. In the south the story was slightly different with the Russians having to win hard fought victories at Grodno, Vilnius and Kaunas. However with their new tanks the Lithuanians could do little to resist.
3 days after Latvia Lithuania decided to throw in the towel and submit to the bear. Meanwhile, led by the tanks from Riga, the Red Army broke the Estonian lines at Partu and advanced towards the capital in Tallin.
Over the course of the next 3 days the Estonians fought hard for their capital, however eventually the irresistible Russian force overcame them and following the fall of their capital Estonia too surrendered. Stalin had his victory.
The question of why the British failed to offer anything more than moral support is a bitter one amongst many Balts to this day but the answer is simple: they were utterly unable to. The war with the Axis was already stretching Britain to its limit; war with Russia could have finally broken the Empire. Meanwhile all of the Empire’s resources were focussed on defeating Hitler; it would have been folly to send vital supplies to the doomed Balts when the Spanish still had hope.
