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Soviet occupation refers to military occupations undertaken by Soviet Union.

In some territories occupied by the Soviet Union puppet governments were set up; in others, regime change was achieved through externally subversive means. In some cases, the Soviet military presence began immediately upon subjugating the territory to Soviet will; in others, the will was supported by a threat of invasion. See, for example, Prague Spring.

Soviet occupations

The Soviet Union also known as Evil empire was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The period of the Soviet Union dominated by Josef Stalin constructed a brutal totalitarian regime responsible for millions of deaths. During his time as dictator of the USSR, Stalin made frequent use of NKVD, Gulags, and nearly unlimited power to reshape Soviet society. World War II, known as "The Great Patriotic War" in the Soviet Union, devastated much of the USSR with about one out of every three World War II deaths being a citizen of the Soviet Union. After World War II, the Soviet Union's armies occupied Eastern Europe, where Communist governments came to power into the Soviet bloc

Afganistan

The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan 1979-1989 . The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan began as midnight approached on December 24, 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 February 15, 1989, the last Soviet troops departed on schedule from Afghanistan

Austria

The Soviet occupation of Austria, 1945-1955. At the end of the war, Austria and Vienna was 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 May 15, 1955, the Austrian State Treaty was signed, officially establishing Austrian independence and sovereignty. The treaty was enacted on July 27 and the last Allied troops left the country on 25 October.

Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina

On June 28 1940, Romania received an ultimatum from the Soviet Union demanding the evacuation of the Romanian military and administration from its region Bessarabia and from the northern part of the region 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. These events were results of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939.

Bornholm

Soviet occupation of 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 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 May 9 Soviet troop landed the island and after a short fight the German garrison did surrender. Soviet forces left the island on April 5, 1946.

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 Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania —, the occupations were initiated by Soviet Union pressuring all three to accept Soviet military bases, threating 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.

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 occcupations 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, Soviet Union killed, drafted (unlawfully under international law) into Red Army and deported hundreds of thousands of people. Furthermore, trying to enforce the ideals of Communism, 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, scientists have estimated Estonia's economic damages directly attributable to the second Soviet occupation to hundreds of billions of US dollars. Soviet neglect for environment protection led to extensive ecologic 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 went free of Soviet yoke, such as Finland 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.

Czechoslovakia

Soviet Occupation of Czechoslovakia 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.

Brezhnev, a communist hardliner, reacted to these reforms by announcing the Brezhnev Doctrine, and in 21 August 1968, about 750,000 Warsaw Pact troops, mostly from 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 refugees and banned them from returning to their homeland.

At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Jakov 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. Soviet Union being a permanent member of the Security Council — with veto right —, it 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, near 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".

Finland

The Finnish Democratic Republic (Finnish: Suomen Kansanvaltainen Tasavalta) was a short-lived Soviet puppet regime in those minor parts of Finland that were occupied by the Soviet Union during the Winter War. In the Moscow Peace Treaty of March 12, Finland was forced to cede the Finnish part of Karelia. The land included the city of Viipuri (the country's second largest), much of Finland's industrialized territory, and significant parts still held by Finland's army: nearly 10% of pre-war Finland. Some 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.

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 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 October 3, 1990.

Hungary

Soviet occupation of Hungary. Hungary was occupied by Soviet forces in 1944–1990. 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 a withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Soviet Politburo changed its mind and moved to crush the revolution. On November 4, a large Soviet force invaded Budapest, killing thousands of civilians. The Soviet intervention code named "Operation Whirlwind", was launched by Marshall Ivan Konev. The Hungarian Army put up sporadic and uncoordinated resistance. Although some very senior officers were openly pro-Soviet, the rank and file soldiers were overwhelmingly loyal to the revolution and either fought against the invasion or deserted. The United Nations reported that there were no recorded incidents of Hungarian Army units fighting on the side of the Soviets.

Between November 10 and December 19, workers' councils negotiated directly with the occupying Soviets. While they achieved some prisoner releases, they did not achieve a Soviet withdrawal. Thousands of Hungarians were arrested, imprisoned and deported to the Soviet Union, many without evidence. Approximately 200,000 Hungarians fled Hungary.

In August 1989, Hungary's reformist government removed its border restrictions with Austria, the first breach in the so-called "Iron Curtain".

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 Union 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 betweem Polish and Soviet governments recognized the presence of those troops; hence many Polish scholars accept the usage of term 'occupation' for period 1945-1956.

Romania

During their Eastern Front offensive of 1944, the Soviet troops occupied Romania. The northwestern part of Moldavia was occupied through fighting from May to August, while Romania was still an ally of Nazi Germany. The rest was occupied after Romania had changed sides as a result of the royal coup launched by Michael I of Romania on 23 August 1944. On that date, the King announced that Romania had unilaterally ceased all military actions against Allied powers' forces, accepted the Allied armistice offer, and entered the war against the Axis Powers. However, Soviet Union refused to recognise this announcement, claiming that no formal peace treaty existed, and ended occupying most of Romanian territory prior to the signature of the Moscow Armistice of 12 September 1944.

This armistice was then used by Soviet Union as a legal basis for continued military presence, peaking at 615,000 troops in 1946, that lasted until August 1958.

Denial

Although Soviet Union has condemned the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 — the immediate forerunner to the occupation —, as of 2007 it is generally the policy of Russian Federation to deny that the events involved constituted occupation or were illegal under applicable (international) laws.

References

1. Soviet occupation at Google Scholar
2. Soviet occupation at Google Books
3. [http://books.google.com/books?id=qoDAAQAACAAJ&dq The Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan By John Fullerton ISBN 0413557804]
4. http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-05-24-beer-en.html
5. Soviet occupation of Austria at google books
6. Soviet Ultimata and Replies of the Romanian Government in Ioan Scurtu, Theodora Stănescu-Stanciu, Georgiana Margareta Scurtu, Istoria Românilor între anii 1918-1940 (in Romanian), University of Bucharest, 2002
7. http://aupress.maxwell.af.mil/Books/Converse/converse.pdf.
8. "Bornholm during WW2". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |acessdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
9. The Soviet occupation and incorporation at Encyclopædia Britannica
10. Baltic Military District globalsecurity.org
11. Soviet Occupation of Czechoslovakia at google books
12. [http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_761594565/Soviet_Occupation_of_Czechoslovakia.html Soviet Occupation of Czechoslovakia at Encarta
13. The Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia
15. "Man Of The Year, The Land and the People". Time Magazine. 1957-01-07. Retrieved 2006-10-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. Soviet occupation of Hungary at google scholar
17. http://books.google.com/books?q=%22Soviet+occupation+of+Hungary+%22&btnG=Search+Books Soviet occupation of Hungary at google books]
18. Hungary under Soviet occupation at hunmagyar.org
19. Peter Hargitai 29 October 2006: Budapest is a riot! at U. S. embassy of Hungary
20. Hungarian Uprising at Spartacus Educational
21. United States State Department Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs 2007: Background Note: Hungary
22. UN General Assembly Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary (1957) Template:PDF
23. UN General Assembly Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary (1957) Template:PDF
24. "Report by Soviet Deputy Interior Minister M. N. Holodkov to Interior Minister N. P. Dudorov ([[November 15]], [[1956]])" (PDF). The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, A History in Documents. George Washington University: The National Security Archive. November 4, 2002. Retrieved 2006-09-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
25. Sanford, George (2005). Katyn and the Soviet Massacre Of 1940: Truth, Justice And Memory. London; New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415338735. p. 21. Weinberg, Gerhard (1994). A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521443172., p. 963.
26. Concise statistical year-book of Poland , Polish Ministry of Information. London June 1941 P.9 & 10
27. " U.S. Bureau of the Census The Population of Poland Ed. W. Parker Mauldin, Washington- 1954 P.140
28. Template:Pl icon "Przesiedlenie ludności polskiej z Kresów Wschodnich do Polski 1944-1947. Wybór dokumentów", Wybór, opracowanie i redakcja dokumentów: Stanisław Ciesielski; Wstęp: Włodzimierz Borodziej, Stanisław Ciesielski, Jerzy Kochanowski Dokumenty zebrali: Włodzimierz Borodziej, Ingo Eser, Stanisław Jankowiak, Jerzy Kochanowski, Claudia Kraft, Witold Stankowski, Katrin Steffen; Wydawnictwo NERITON, Warszawa 2000
29. Template:Pl icon Mirosław Golon, Północna Grupa Wojsk Armii Radzieckiej w Polsce w latach 1945-1956. Okupant w roli sojusznika (Northern Group of Soviet Army Forces in Poland in the years 1945-1956. Occupant as an ally), 2004, Historicus - Portal Historyczny (Historical Portal). An online initative of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne. Last accessed on 30 May 2007.
30. Russia denies Baltic 'occupation', BBC News, Thursday, 5 May, 2005

Further reading

• Czech government: The Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia
• Mart Laar April 29 2007: Why Russia likes Soviet occupation monuments?
• Stanislav Kulchytsky July 17 2007: Was Ukraine under Soviet occupation?
• Encyclopædia Britannica: 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

v t e Soviet occupations
Europe	Austria Baltic states Estonia Latvia Lithuania Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina Bornholm Czechoslovakia Transcarpathia Finland Germany East Prussia Hungary Poland Western Ukraine Western Belorussia Sovietization Romania
Asia	Afghanistan Northern Iran Manchuria Northern half of the Korean Peninsula
Italics indicate countries occupied while the Soviet Union was a member of the Allies of World War II.

• Articles needing cleanup from September 2007
• Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from September 2007
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• Soviet occupation
• Foreign relations of the Soviet Union