In a pattern that whs to become only too familiar. the Soviet armies marched into these nations in 1940. conquered them. and established puppet governments that� were responsible not to the wishes of the people but rather to the dictates of the Kremlin. Despite this takeover and subsequent incorporation into the U.S.S.R.. the desire of the Baltic people for their liberty was not destroyed. Not even Stalins policy of mass deportation and liquidation could destroy these aspirations. Today. 27 years later. vigorous campaigns of Russification and Sovietization have still not been successful in their efforts to break the attachment of the Estonians. Latvians. and Lithuanians to their proud heritage of religion. culture. and tradition nor to their sense of a national origin and historic aspirations.
Keywords matched
deportation