The Soviet Invasion V

V The Soviet Invasion “Article 2. Accordingly, the aggressor in an international conflict shall, subject to the agreements in force between the parties to the dispute, be considered to be that State which is the first to commit any of the following actions:.... (2) Invasion by its armed forces, with or without a declaration of war, of the territory of another State.... Article 3. No political, military, economic or other considerations may serve as an excuse or justification for the aggression referred to in Article 2.” —From the Convention for the Definition of Aggression between Lithuania and the USSR, signed in London, July 5, 1933 “We are sure that disappearances of Soviet soldiers were brought about by persons under the protection of the Lithuanian authorities. These persons give them drink, involve them in criminal activities, and after that, prepare the way for their desertion or destroy them.” —From the Soviet note to the Lithuanian government, May 25, 1940 “The Soviet Union considers it necessary and urgent: … 3. That free entry into the territory of Lithuania be immediately assured for units of the army of the Soviet Union which will be stationed in the most important centers of Lithuania and which will be sufficiently numerous to assure the assure the enforcement of the Treaty of Mutual Assistance between the Soviet Union and Lithuania.... The Soviet Government will wait for the answer of the Lithuanian Government until 10 a.m. of June 15.” —Soviet ultimatum of June 14 Just before midnight on June 14, 1940, Viacheslav Molotov delivered an ultimatum to the Lithuanian foreign minister, Juozas Urbšys, who was then in Moscow for talks. Charging that the Lithuanian government was conspiring against the USSR, the Soviet government posed three demands: 1. that the Minister of the Interior, Kazys Skučas, and the Director of the Saugumas, Augustinas Povilaitis, be arrested and tried as “guilty of acts of provocation committed against” Soviet troops in Lithuania; 2. that the Lithuanians form a government that would “assure the proper fulfillment of the Treaty of Mutual Assistance between the Soviet Union and Lithuania”; and 3. that Lithuania afford free entry for Red Army units “which will be stationed in the most important centers of Lithuania.”150 If the Lithuanian government did not agree by 10 a.m. on June 15, “this will be considered a refusal to satisfy the demands of the Soviet Union.” In any case, Soviet troops would enter Lithuania regardless of how the Lithuanians would respond. After an intense debate, the Lithuanian government agreed to the 86 Alfred Erich Senn Soviet demands, and at three p.m. when the Red Army crossed the frontier, the Smetona regime in Lithuania disintegrated. Seven weeks later Lithuania was a constituent republic in the USSR, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In an English-language publication in 1982, Antanas Barkauskas, a participant in the Soviet administration in 1940 and later chairman of the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet, summarized the fundamental Soviet interpretation of 1940. His account is more simplistic that a professional historian would produce in his or her own name, but we can presume that a historian prepared it for him: The restoration of Lithuania of its old capital Vilnius and the obligation of the USSR in guaranteeing protection to Lithuania from Nazi aggression provided the progressive forces with a new impetus in the struggle for their vital interests. The [Lithuanian] state authorities, on the other hand, adhered to their clandestine policy directed against the Soviet Union. The intelligence agencies collected secret information about the Red Army regiments stationed on the territory of Lithuania and were initiators of various provocative actions. The military coalition of the Baltic states was gaining strength. Though Nazi Germany waged aggressive war on many countries, Lithuania concluded with it a new trade agreement…. To all evidence the President and his associates were linking their activities with the policy of Nazi Germany. ... The people realized that Lithuania was on the threshold of a new era, and the absolute majority of the population were anticipating changes in the country’s life. The ruling clique was going through a deep crisis. President Antanas Smetona made one more move in his adventurist policy. He suggested the government provoked [sic]a military conflict with the Red Army... ... Quite a number of problems required a prompt solution but the old state institutions could not control the existing situation any longer. On June 17, 1940, the People’s Government was formed.151 In this account the invasion by the Red Army and the political change in Lithuania constituted separate narratives. In addition, the reader might take note of the use of the passive voice—“the People’s Government was formed”; the repeated use of the passive voice in such Soviet accounts avoided the problem of identifying the forces making and enforcing decisions. Soviet spokespersons always insisted that the Lithuanians had deliberately provoked Moscow, that Lithuanian officials had systematically conspired to undermine the two country’s mutual assistance pact..

Load more