A secret protocol of a 1939 nonaggression pact between the two powers marked the first phase of the obliteration of the independent Baltic States. By mid1949. they were incorporated against their will into the Soviet Union. Then in June 1941. to consolidate their hold and to minimize dissent. the Soviets instigated a series of mass deportations from the Baltic States to Siberia and several other sites in the U.S.S.R. In deporting large numbers of the Baltic people. Lithuanian. Latvian. and Estonian ethnic and cultural integrity was dealt a cruel blow by the Soviets. The situation was exacerbated by a forced infusion of Russians. The twopronged policy of deportation and colonization was devised specifically to eradicate Baltic nationalism. languages. and cultures and thereby produce an acquiescent territory. The Soviet campaign to extinguish all vestiges of freedom and selfdetermination continues to this day. While the Soviets have geopolitical dominance over the Baltic nations. they have not harnassed the Baltic peoples spirit.
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deportations deporting deportation