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Territorial changes of the Baltic states refers to the redrawing of borders ofLithuania,Latvia andEstonia after 1940. The three republics, formerly autonomous regions within the formerRussian Empire and before that of formerPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and as provinces of theSwedish Empire, gained independence in the aftermath ofWorld War I and theRussian Revolution of 1917. After a two-front independence war fought against bothBolshevist Russian andBaltic German nationalist forces, the countries concluded peace and border treaties with Soviet Russia in 1920. However, withWorld War II and the occupation and annexation of these republics into the Soviet Union twenty years after their independence, certain territorial changes were made in favour of theRussian SFSR. This has been the source of political tensions after they regained their independence with the dissolution of theSoviet Union. Some of the disputes remain unresolved.
The main issues are the territories which were part of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in theinterwar period, but which became incorporated into theRussian SFSR,Byelorussian SSR andPoland afterWorld War II. In addition, some territories that were not controlled by the independent Baltic republics were also annexed during the Soviet era. The most notable case isVilnius taken from Poland by theUSSR to become the capital of Lithuania.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the issue of these territories was raised by the Estonian and Latvian governments.[citation needed] Lithuania has never officially raised the question of its borders and has border treaties with all its neighbors. Only marginal political groups use the "issue of borders" in their political rhetoric.
This is a list of actual territorial changes that happened when Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were incorporated into the Soviet Union and became the Baltic Soviet Socialist Republics. All the boundaries established by these changes exist up to modern days (now they are delimiting the boundaries of independent Baltic states). The modernRussian,Belarusian orPolish official names of locations mentioned in this section are given in the first place, while, where applicable, the official interwar names (Lithuanian, Latvian or Estonian) are given in parentheses.
In January 1945, some territories ofEstonian SSR were ceded to theRussian SFSR: the Russian–Estonian boundary in the north ofLake Peipus was moved westwards by about 12 kilometers from its interwar location (which was delimited by theTreaty of Tartu); the new boundary (which exists up until these days) runs alongNarva river. The Russian-Estonian boundary that used to run in the middle ofLake Peipus did not change, while the boundary south ofLake Peipus was also moved westwards (by about 25 kilometers). Overall, about 2,210 km2 of land changed hands, includingIvangorod (Jaanilinn, then eastern suburb ofNarva), the town ofPechory (Petseri), and areas in and aroundIzborsk (Irboska),Lavry (Laura), andRotovo (Roodva), and theKolpina Island (Kulkna) in southernLake Peipus.
In January 1945, a territory in northeasternLatvian SSR of about 1,300 square kilometers was ceded toRussian SFSR. This area includes towns ofPytalovo (until 1938Jaunlatgale, since 1938 –Abrene) and four rural districts. All these areas during the interwar constituted the eastern part of theAbrene County ofLatvia, while during the Russian Empire they were part ofOstrovsky Uyezd ofPskov Governorate. According to the 1935 Latvian census, Russians were 85.8% of the population of the ceded territory, while Latvians were 12.5%.[1][2] They were added toPskov Oblast ofRussian SFSR. Russian-Latvian boundary in the southeastern Latvia did not change. Although Poland moved westwards after the war, and now resides over 320 km from the borders of Latvia, traces of its influence continue to remain in Latgale.[3]
After the annexation ofLithuania into theSoviet Union in 1940, a new eastern boundary of Lithuania (Lithuanian SSR) was delimited. The boundary which was delimited in 1920 bySoviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty had not been the eastern and southern boundary of Lithuania during most of the period because theVilnius region became part ofPoland in early 1920s. Lithuania, however, continued to claim the 1920 border as official and the Soviets continued to recognise these areas as part ofLithuania rather thanPoland as well. In 1940, when Lithuania was incorporated into the Soviet Union, a new boundary was drawn, enlarging thede facto Lithuanian territory, though not to the full extent of the republic's claim. The notable gain was the city ofVilnius, which again became Lithuania's capital. The control of theVilnius region was partitioned between the Lithuanian SSR (including towns ofŠvenčionys,Druskininkai and the village ofDieveniškės), theBelarusian SSR andNazi Germany (the latter territory was returned to Poland afterWorld War II). Main cities that were recognised by Soviets as a part of Lithuania by the 1920 treaty but were not added toLithuanian SSR includeGrodno (Gardinas),Lida (Lyda),Smarhonʹ (Smurgainys),Pastavy (Pastovys),Ashmyany (Ašmena),Braslaw (Breslauja),Suwałki (Suvalkai).
The redistribution of lands after World War II was based on the ethnicity of local populations – some of the territories that had a clear non-Baltic majority were attached to other republics; this, however, also happened to some territories which had a clearBaltic majority[citation needed] (many of them were enclaves in areas without a Baltic majority). In Latvia and Estonia, parts of territories which had not belonged to theGovernorate of Estonia, theRiga Governorate,Vitebsk Governorate or theCourland Governorate within theRussian Empire were detached, but there is no evidence that this was a reason for the transfer of territory. In Lithuania's case, the detaching did not have any historical foundation.
Under the Soviet rule the territories that were added to theRussian SFSR and theByelorussian SSR were largelyRussified, due to insufficient support for Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian languages, characterized by too few schools with curricula in these languages[citation needed]. They saw a significant migration of Russian-speaking people.[citation needed] In some of the territories that became part ofPoland, Lithuanian language schools existed and still exist.[4]
The territories were not returned to the Baltic states after they regained independence and remain parts ofRussia,Belarus andPoland. In general, the official government policy of Latvia and Estonia is not to push the issue, but the territories' return is supported by some, usually marginal, organizations inside these countries, such as theAbreniešu apvienība (Abrenian Union) in Latvia.
TheEstonia-Russia border treaty had been signed in Moscow on 18 May 2005 and ratified by Estonia, but was not ratified by Russia — official reason for this was that Estonia's internal treatyratification legislation passed by parliament mentioned the1920 Treaty of Tartu (the treaty under which these territories were originally recognised as Estonian).
On 6 September 2005, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Anne Härmaste, Chargé d'Affairesad interim of Estonia in Russia, and handed her a note containing a notice of the intention of the Russian Federation to withdraw its signature and not to become a party to the Treaty Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Estonia on the Russian-Estonian State Border and to the Treaty Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Estonia on the Delimitation of the Sea Areas in theNarva Estuary and Gulf of Finland.
The Treaty of Tartu is considered to be a historical document of no legal power by Russia, while in Estonia the situation is different, as officially Estonia considers itself the continuation state of theinterwar Estonia.
It was assumed that the Russian-Latvian border treaty would be signed in 2005. InLatvia the opposition, primarily the organizationAbreniešu apvienība consisting of people deported fromPytalovo and surroundings, lobbied for nationwide referendum on such treaty as they saw it as violating the constitution of Latvia (principle of territorial unity).[5] The government ruled out a possibility of referendum, however the negotiations for border treaty were suspended by Russia after the Latvian parliament issued a declaration stating that Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union and claiming material compensation from Russia for the period of occupation.
PresidentVladimir Putin in his speech regarding these territories said that "it goes against the spirit of modernEurope" to raise issues like this one, that "Russia as well has lost many of its external territories during the breakup of theSoviet Union, such as theCrimea".[citation needed] In an interview withKomsomolskaya Pravda in May 2005, Putin addressed the issue ofPytalovo, when he stated that Russia would not hold any negotiations with Latvia which involved territorial losses for Russia.[6][7]
Lithuania immediately after independence recognised the borders established in 1940 as the borders of Lithuania and signed border agreements withBelarus andPoland. Relations with neighbouring Russia have been strained since then but maintain diplomatic alliance with Poland and Belarus.
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