June coup

In December 1938, a law was adopted in Estonia on a policy of non-intervention and neutrality ^[3] .

On June 7, 1939, in Berlin, Estonian Foreign Minister K. Selter and Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Ribbentrop signed a non-aggression treaty between Germany and Estonia in Berlin.

On August 23, 1939, in Moscow , the Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union was signed, the secret additional protocol for which delimited the areas of mutual interests of the USSR and Germany in Eastern Europe. At the same time, Estonia was referred to the sphere of interests of the USSR ^[4] .

In September 1939, the USSR government negotiated with the Estonian government. From the talks of the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs V. M. Molotov with Estonian Foreign Minister K. Selter on September 24-25, 1939:

Do not force the Soviet Union to use force in order to achieve your goals. Considering our proposals, do not pin hopes on England and Germany. England is not able to do anything on the Baltic Sea, and Germany is tied with war in the West. Now all hopes for external help would be illusions. So you can be sure that the Soviet Union will somehow ensure its security. If you hadn’t agreed with our proposal, the Soviet Union would have taken measures for its security in a different way, at will and without the consent of Estonia.

- Molotov ^[5]

On September 28, 1939, in Moscow, the Mutual Assistance Pact between the USSR and the Republic of Estonia was signed, under which the USSR received several military and naval bases on Estonian territory ^[6] .

On September 29, 1939, Estonian President Konstantin Päts said in a radio address to the people that the base agreement was primarily concluded in the interests of maintaining Estonia’s neutrality and that Estonia is still firm as before ^[7] .

After the conclusion of the contract, Prime Minister Kaarel Eenpalu left his post, and on October 12, 1939, a new government headed by Professor Jüri Uluots began to work. At the invitation of the Soviet government, on December 7, 1939, the Supreme Commander of the Estonian Armed Forces, General Johan Laidoner , visited Moscow . Lyderon told about the trip in his speech on the radio:

I can testify that my friendly visit to Moscow once again gave me firm proof that we acted wisely when we concluded an agreement on mutual assistance with the Soviet Union. In this way, we have saved ourselves from a military clash with the Soviet Union and, more importantly, we have a more guaranteed opportunity to avoid the raging storm of war in Europe right now and that in the future we can live peacefully with our large eastern neighbor. ^[eight]

On June 4–7, 1940, the troops of the Byelorussian Special, Kalinin and Baltic military districts were alarmed and began, under the guise of an exercise, concentrated on the borders of the Baltic states, while the Soviet garrisons in the Baltic States were put on alert. Part of the 11th Rifle Division concentrated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Peipsi. To the south of Pskov Lake, the troops of the 8th Army (headquartered in Pskov) were deployed as part of the 1st, 19th infantry corps and the Special Infantry Corps from the KalVO troops. To strengthen the forces of these districts, the transfer of units of the 1st motorized rifle , 17th , 84th infantry divisions and the 39th , 55th light tank brigades from the Moscow, 128th motorized rifle divisions from the Arkhangelsk and the 55th rifle division from the Oryol military districts. At the borders of Lithuania, the troops completed concentration and deployment in the base areas by June 15, and at the borders of Latvia and Estonia by June 16 ^[5] .

On June 9, 1940, the USSR People's Commissar for Defense S. Tymoshenko sent the commander of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, V. Tributs, a completely secret directive No. 02622. Estonia (like the rest of the Baltic countries) from the sea. It was also ordered to block the air traffic and conduct landing operations in Tallinn and Paldiski. Naval and air blockades were established on June 14 ^[5] .

June 9, 1940 in Leningrad was put into print "A brief Russian-Estonian military phrasebook" ^[9] . The topic of the phrasebook was reduced to the vocabulary of a survey of a prisoner, defector, or local resident by the commander of the Red Army ^[10] .

On June 16, 1940, in the Statement of the Soviet Government to the Estonian Government, the Estonian side was accused of not implementing the Mutual Assistance Pact and was asked to urgently form a government in Estonia that would be able and ready to ensure the implementation of the Mutual Assistance Pact, and also to a free pass to the territory of Estonia of Soviet military units to ensure the possibility of the implementation of the Mutual Assistance Pact ^[11] .

The Estonian leadership was forced to agree, and on June 17 additional troops began to arrive ^{[5] [12]} .

On the same day (June 17), S. Timoshenko sent a secret report to Stalin about the beginning of the Sovietization of the occupied republics ^[13] .

June 19

On June 19, the Uluots government submitted a letter of resignation to President Konstantin Päts ^[14] . By accepting the resignation of the government, the president commissioned the drafting of a new government to General Lydoner.

On June 19, 1940, a member of the Politburo of the VKP (b) Central Committee A.A. Zhdanov arrived in Tallinn to participate in the drafting of the new government, who visited the President of the Republic Konstantin Päts ^[15] . He also met on June 19 and 20 with Maxim Unt , summoned to Tallinn, who was offered the post of Minister of the Interior in the new government and was ordered to organize the masses throughout Estonia with demands for a change of government. Management and instructing the participants were entrusted to the trade adviser (later the ambassador in Estonia) by the USSR Embassy in Tallinn Vladimir Bochkarev ^{[16] [17]} .

June 20

Rally on Freedom Square

At 10 am on June 21, a rally began on Freedom Square ( est. Vabaduse väljak ) in Tallinn. The protesters were holding posters with the words: “ We demand the creation of a government that would honestly fulfill the agreements concluded with the Soviet Union ” and “ We demand the workers work, bread and freedom! " ^[15] .

The number of protesters ranged from 4,000 ^[15] to 5,000. Among them were the workers of the Soviet military bases and citizens of the USSR. Also present on the square were Soviet military units ^[17] . A speech was made by the representative of trade unions Oskar Pärn and a representative of the Soviet army. At the end of the speech, the Internationale sang ^[18] .

Then the procession followed, moving from Kaarli Boulevard via Toompea along the route: Pikk Jalg street ( est. Pikk jalg ), Pikk street ( est. Pikk tänav ), Mere Boulevard ( ect. Mere puiestee ) and further to Kadriorg ^[18] .

In Kadriorg, Estonian President Konstantin Päts, supreme commander Johan Laidoner and adjutant with the rank of Colonel Herbert Grubby ^[18] came to the negotiations with the marchers on the balcony. The demonstrators demanded the resignation of the government of Lydoner-Yurimaa, the immediate release of political prisoners and the creation of conditions for the normal functioning of trade unions ^[17] .

Part of the demonstrators, accompanied by Soviet armored cars, went to the central prison ( est. Keskvangla or Patarei vangla ). At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, with the support of three Soviet officers, 27 political prisoners were released ^[17] .

By 6 o'clock, the column of demonstrators returned to Toompea, where the Estonian national flag was removed from the Long Hermann tower and the red flag was hoisted ^[18] .

In the evening at 22:15 a new government headed by Johannes Barbarus was announced on the radio ^[18] .

On the night of June 22, shots were heard in Tallinn. Members of the Estonian Defense Union volunteer militia organization began arrests, during which three armed workers died and 10 were injured ^[19] .

On July 5, 1940, President Päts signed a decree on holding extraordinary elections to the State Duma ( est. Riigivolikogu ) of Estonia and forming a new composition of the State Council ( est. Riiginõukogu ), and also ordered the government to take the necessary measures to ensure accelerated organization of elections. Based on this decision, on July 5, the Estonian government issued an order to hold elections to the State Duma on July 14 and 15, 1940 . To speed up the elections, relevant amendments to the Law on Elections ^[20] were adopted.

• Parliamentary elections in Estonia (1940)
• Nonaggression Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union
• Accession of the Baltic States to the USSR
• Accession of Estonia to the USSR

• Zubkova E. Yu. Baltic States and the Kremlin. 1940-1953. - M .: Russian Political Encyclopedia, 2008. - 351 p. - (History of Stalinism). - 2000 copies - ISBN 978-5-8243-0909-6 .

• (est.) Robert Nerman : “Eesti bussiliikluse arengut pidurdas sõda ja enamlaste hävitustöö” (not available link) Postimees, April 5, 2007
• (Estonian) “1941 juunipööre:„ Stalin tahtis, ja nii ka läks! “” (unavailable link) SL Õhtuleht, June 21, 2005
• (est.) “Punaste riigipööre 21. juunil 1940” (not available link) Virumaa Teataja, June 22, 2006 (in Estonian)
• (Rus.) Estonia and the Baltic States as part of the USSR (1940–1991) in Russian historiography