Lithuania. and Estonia controlled a major portion of the Baltic Sea. a vital trade and shipping route the Russians felt they must have. How to gain control of these countries. each of which had a treaty of friendship and a guarantee of sovereignty with Russia. was an easy problem for the masters of the Kremlin. Quickly overpowering each weakened government. the Russians established Soviets in each country. and began a campaign of mass deportations of all antisocial elements that was halted only by the subsequent German invasion of Russia in 1941. with eventual conquest of the three Baltic States. First the Russian conquest. then the Nazi conquest--still the spirit of freedom was not killed among these brave peoples. With the confusion following the breakup of the Nazi war machine in 1945. resistance leaders in the Baltic area sought to reestablish their national independence.
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deportations