06/17/1940 AD occupied
Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov accused Latvia and the other Baltic states of forming a military conspiracy against the Soviet Union, and so Moscow presented ultimatums, demanding new concessions, which included the replacement of governments with new ones, "determined" to "fulfill" the treaties of friendship "sincerely" and allowing an unlimited number of troops to enter the three countries.
The Ulmanis government decided that, in conditions of international isolation and the overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the country, it was better to avoid bloodshed and an unwinnable war. The Latvian army did not fire a shot and was quickly decimated by purges and included in the Red Army.
Ulmanis' government resigned and was replaced by a left-wing government created under instructions from the USSR embassy. Up until the election of the People's Parliament on July 14–15, 1940 there were no public statements about governmental plans to introduce a Soviet political order or to join the Soviet Union.
Soon after the occupation, the Communist Party of Latvia was legalized as the only legal party and presented the "Working People's Bloc" for the elections. It was the only permitted participant in the election, after an attempt by other politicians to include the Democratic Bloc (an alliance of all banned Latvian parties, except the Social Democratic Workers' Party) on the ballot was prevented by the government. Its office was closed, election leaflets confiscated and its leaders arrested.
The election results themselves were fabricated; the Soviet press service released them so early that they appeared in a London newspaper a full 24 hours before the polls had closed. All Soviet army personnel present in the country were allowed to vote.
The newly-elected People's Parliament convened on 21 July to declare the creation of the Latvian SSR and request admission to the Soviet Union on the same day. Such a change in the basic constitutional order of the state was illegal under the Constitution of Latvia, because such a change could only be enacted after a plebiscite with two-thirds of the electorate approving.
Lattitude: 56.9667° N
Longitude: 24.1332° E
Region: Russia and Eastern Bloc
Modern Day Latvia
Subjects Who or What occupied?
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Soviet Union (USSR) The Union of Soviet ...
Objects To Whom or What was occupied?
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Latvia (Republic of Latvia) One of the Baltic states...
Events in 1940 MORE
