Military occupations by the Soviet Union

Soviet sphere of influence in Central and Eastern Europe with border changes resulting from invasion and military operations of World War II

During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three different SSRs),[1] as well as Latvia (became Latvian SSR),[2][3] Estonia (became Estonian SSR),[2][3] Lithuania (became Lithuanian SSR),[2][3] part of eastern Finland (became Karelo-Finnish SSR)[4] and eastern Romania (became the Moldavian SSR and part of Ukrainian SSR).[5][6] Apart from the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact and post-war division of Germany, the USSR also occupied and annexed Carpathian Ruthenia from Czechoslovakia in 1945 (became part of Ukrainian SSR).

Below is a list of various forms of military occupations by the Soviet Union resulting from both the Soviet pact with Nazi Germany (ahead of World War II), and the ensuing Cold War in the aftermath of Allied victory over Germany.[7][8][9]

  1. ^ Roberts 2006, p. 43
  2. ^ a b c Wettig 2008, p. 21
  3. ^ a b c Senn, Alfred Erich, Lithuania 1940 : revolution from above, Amsterdam, New York, Rodopi, 2007 ISBN 978-90-420-2225-6
  4. ^ Kennedy-Pipe, Caroline, Stalin's Cold War, New York : Manchester University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-7190-4201-1
  5. ^ Roberts 2006, p. 55
  6. ^ Shirer 1990, p. 794
  7. ^ Warfare and Society in Europe: 1898 to the Present By Michael S. Neiberg; p 160 ISBN 0-415-32718-0
  8. ^ AP European History; p. 461 ISBN 0-87891-863-9
  9. ^ Soviet politics in perspective By Richard Sakwa; p.260 ISBN 0-415-07153-4