The ultimatum was followed by invasion. and by June 15. 1940. the Soviets fully occupied Lithuania. Shortly after the annexation of the Baltic States. the Soviets perpetrated one of historys great frauds and held "elections" under Red army guns followed by the incorporation of these nations as constituent republics in the Soviet Union. A year later. thousands of Baltic citizens were deported to various parts of the Soviet Union. mainly Siberia. Since June 15. 1940. these three nations have lost more than onefourth of their entire population. Supplementing the deportation. the Soviets pursued a policy of colonization of the three Baltic States with persons of Russian stock. This served as a method of changing the ethnic composition of the area and replacing the cost of labor and resulted in the creation of economically dependent industrial melting pots in the Baltic States. The Soviets have not succeeded. however. in weakening the ethnic and cultural identity of the Balts. nor have they been able to change the priority of loyalties from native to Russian.
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deported deportation