1939

• August 23, 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
  Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
  The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
  
   signed. A secret protocol of the pact places Estonia, Latvia, and Finland in Soviet sphere of interest. Poland was split up between Soviet and Nazi interests.
• September 1, 1939 Nazi Germany invades Poland
  Invasion of Poland (1939)
  The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
  
  . This events signifies start of World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
   in Europe.
• September 14, 1939 Polish submarine Orzeł enters Tallinn harbour, crew interned.
• September 17, 1939 Soviet Union invades Poland
  Soviet invasion of Poland (1939)
  The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September 1939, during the early stages of World War II. Sixteen days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west, the Soviet Union did so from the east...
  
  , still working together with Nazi Germany within the MRP framework.
• September 18, 1939 the Polish submarine Orzeł escapes from Tallinn, sets course to England.
• September 22, 1939 Soviet Army captures Polish town of Wilno (now Vilnius).
• September 24, 1939 Soviet Union demands establishment of Russian military bases in Estonia, using the Orzeł incident as the pretext and threatening invasion in case of noncompliance.
• September 28, 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop pact amended pursuant to German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty; most of Lithuania now falls into the Soviet sphere of influence.
• September 28, 1939 Estonia submits to Soviet ultimatum, accepts military bases.
• October 2, 1939 Soviet Union demands establishment of Russian military bases in Latvia, threatening invasion in case of noncompliance.
• October 5, 1939 Latvia submits to Soviet ultimatum, accepts military bases.
• October 5, 1939 Soviet Union begins negotiating with Finland for bases and territory exchanges.
• October 10, 1939 Lithuania accepts Soviet bases. Soviet Union transfers Vilnius, previously Wilno of Poland, to Lithuania.
• October 18, 1939 First Red Army units enter Estonia.
• November 13, 1939 Finland rejects Soviet ultimatum.
• November 30, 1939 Soviet Union invades Finland. Winter War
  Winter War
  The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
  
   starts.
• December 1, 1939 Terijoki Government, Soviet puppet government of Finland created in the Terijoki county captured from Finland.
• December 14, 1939 League of Nations
  League of Nations
  The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
  
   expels Soviet Union for its illegal war against Finland.

1940

• January 29, 1940 Soviet Union "forgets" Terijoki government.
• March 13, 1940 Winter War
  Winter War
  The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
  
   ends with Moscow Peace Treaty.
• April 9, 1940 Germany invades Denmark and Norway.
• June 10, 1940 Germany occupies Norway.
• June 14, 1940 Germany captures Paris.
• June 14, 1940 Soviet Union begins air and naval blockade of Estonia.
• June 14, 1940 Soviet air force shoots down Finnish civilian plane "Kaleva
  Kaleva (airplane)
  Kaleva, registered OH-ALL, was a civilian Junkers Ju 52 passenger and transport plane, belonging to the Finnish carrier Aero O/Y. The aircraft was shot down by two Soviet Ilyushin DB-3 bombers during peacetime between the Soviet Union and Finland on June 14, 1940, while en route from Tallinn to...
  
  " flying from Tallinn
  Tallinn
  Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
  
   to Helsinki
  Helsinki
  Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
  
  .
• June 14, 1940 Soviet Union gives ultimatum to Lithuania
  1940 Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania
  The Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to Lithuania before midnight of June 14, 1940. The Soviets, using a formal pretext, demanded to allow an unspecified number of Soviet soldiers to enter the Lithuanian territory and to form a new pro-Soviet government...
  
   to form a new government and allow free access for Red Army. The president of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona
  Antanas Smetona
  Antanas Smetona was one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World War I and World War II. He served as the first President of Lithuania from April 4, 1919 to June 19, 1920. He again served as the last President of the country from December 19, 1926 to June 15, 1940, before...
  
  , proposes armed resistance. Failing to secure support from government or armed forces, he decides to leave the country, so that he could not be used to legalise the occupation.
• June 15, 1940 Soviet Union occupies Lithuania. President Smetona
  Antanas Smetona
  Antanas Smetona was one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World War I and World War II. He served as the first President of Lithuania from April 4, 1919 to June 19, 1920. He again served as the last President of the country from December 19, 1926 to June 15, 1940, before...
  
   flees through Germany first to Switzerland then to USA, 1941, where he dies on January 9, 1944, in Cleveland. Prime minister Antanas Merkys
  Antanas Merkys
  Antanas Merkys |Bajorai]], near Skapiškis, Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire; died on March 5, 1955 in Vladimir Oblast, Soviet Union) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, President...
  
   yields to Soviet demands, attempts to catch Smetona. Vladimir Dekanozov
  Vladimir Dekanozov
  Vladimir Georgievich Dekanozov ) was a Soviet senior state security operative and diplomat.-Before Second World War:...
  
   lands in Kaunas to supervise annexation of Lithuania.
• June 15, 1940 at 03:00 Soviet troops storm and capture Latvian border posts Masļenkos (Maslenkis) and Smaiļi.
• June 16, 1940 Similar ultimatums were given to Estonia and Latvia.
• June 16, 1940 Prime minister of Lithuania Antanas Merkys
  Antanas Merkys
  Antanas Merkys |Bajorai]], near Skapiškis, Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire; died on March 5, 1955 in Vladimir Oblast, Soviet Union) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, President...
  
   removes Antanas Smetona
  Antanas Smetona
  Antanas Smetona was one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World War I and World War II. He served as the first President of Lithuania from April 4, 1919 to June 19, 1920. He again served as the last President of the country from December 19, 1926 to June 15, 1940, before...
  
   from the post of president and, contrary to Lithuanian constitution, assumes presidency himself.
• June 17, 1940 Estonia and Latvia submit to Soviet demands and are occupied. Prime minister of Lithuania Antanas Merkys
  Antanas Merkys
  Antanas Merkys |Bajorai]], near Skapiškis, Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire; died on March 5, 1955 in Vladimir Oblast, Soviet Union) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, President...
  
   assigns Justas Paleckis
  Justas Paleckis
  Justas Paleckis was a Lithuanian journalist and politician. He was acting president of Lithuania after the Soviet invasion while Lithuania was still ostensibly independent, in office from June 17 – August 3, 1940....
  
   as new prime minister, resigns and is arrested.
• June 18, 1940 Sweden and Germany sign treaty allowing transit of German soldiers from Norway using Swedish territory.
• June 19, 1940 A demonstration is staged in Vilnius in support of Soviet Army.
• June 20, 1940 New Latvian government of Moscow-approved ministers is formed.
• June 21, 1940 New Estonian government containing only left-wing activists is formed. Soviet Union arrange a number of Red Army backed support demonstrations in several cities.
• June 22, 1940 France surrenders to Nazi Germany
  Nazi Germany
  Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
  
  .
• July 8, 1940 Sweden and Germany sign treaty allowing transit of German war material between Norway and ports in Southern Sweden.
• July 11, 1940, Baltic Military District
  Baltic Military District
  The Baltic Military District was a military district of the Soviet armed forces, formed briefly before the German invasion, and then reformed after World War II and disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991....
  
   is created by Soviet Union at Riga, on the territories of theoretically still independent states
• July 14, 1940 – July 15, 1940 Mock elections in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where non-communist candidates were disqualified, harassed and beaten. Results of Latvian "elections" published in advance in London by accident.
• July 17, 1940 The acting president of Lithuania, Antanas Merkys
  Antanas Merkys
  Antanas Merkys |Bajorai]], near Skapiškis, Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire; died on March 5, 1955 in Vladimir Oblast, Soviet Union) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, President...
  
  , is imprisoned and deported to Saratov
  Saratov
  -Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
  
  , Soviet Union. He dies March 5, 1955.
• July 21, 1940 – July 23, 1940 New Soviet-backed Estonian assembly transforms Estonia according to Soviet style, disregarding existing constitutional framework for government restructuring.
• July 21, 1940 New Latvian Saeima
  Saeima
  Saeima is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are scheduled to be held once every four years,...
  
   accepts wide nationalisation and Sovietization decrees.
• July 22, 1940 The president of Latvia, Kārlis Ulmanis
  Karlis Ulmanis
  Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis was a prominent Latvian politician in pre-World War II Latvia during the Latvian period of independence from 1918 to 1940.- Education and early career :Ulmanis studied agriculture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich and...
  
  , is arrested and deported to Russia, never returning. He died in a prison in Krasnovodsk on September 20, 1942.
• July 23, 1940 Heads of Baltic diplomatic missions in London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
   and Washington, D. C. protest against Soviet occupation and annexation of their countries.
• July 23, 1940 Sumner Welles
  Sumner Welles
  Benjamin Sumner Welles was an American government official and diplomat in the Foreign Service. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State from 1937 to 1943, during FDR's presidency.-Early life:Benjamin Sumner Welles was born in...
  
  ' (US Under-Secretary of State) Declaration. United States applies the precedent of earlier Stimson Declaration to Baltic states, pursuing a policy of non-recognition of annexation of the Baltic States de jure
  De jure
  De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
  
  . Most other Western countries maintain similar position until restoration of Baltic states' sovereignty in 1991.
• July 30, 1940 The president of Estonia, Konstantin Päts
  Konstantin Päts
  Konstantin Päts VR I/1 and III/1 was the most influential politician of interwar Estonia. He was one of the first Estonians to become active in politics and started an almost 40-year political rivalry with Jaan Tõnisson, first through journalism with his newspaper Teataja, later through politics...
  
  , is imprisoned by NKVD and deported to Russia where he dies in the mental hospital
  Psikhushka
  In the Soviet Union, systematic political abuse of psychiatry took place. Soviet psychiatric hospitals were used by the authorities as prisons in order to isolate hundreds or thousands of political prisoners from the rest of society, discredit their ideas, and break them physically and mentally...
  
   of Kalinin
  Tver
  Tver is a city and the administrative center of Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: 403,726 ; 408,903 ;...
  
   on January 18, 1956.
• August 3, 1940 Soviet Union annexes Lithuania.
• August 5, 1940 Soviet Union annexes Latvia.
• August 6, 1940 Soviet Union annexes Estonia.
• September 6, 1940 Soviet Union acquires troop and material transfer rights from Finland between Hanko and Soviet border.
• September 22, 1940 Germany acquires troop and material transfer rights from Finland between northern Norway and ports of Gulf of Bothnia
  Gulf of Bothnia
  The Gulf of Bothnia is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It is situated between Finland's west coast and Sweden's east coast. In the south of the gulf lie the Åland Islands, between the Sea of Åland and the Archipelago Sea.-Name:...
  
  .
• November 12, 1940 Germany refuses Soviet Union demands for right to handle Finland as they will in negotiations in Berlin.
• December 16, 1940 The Russian SFSR penal code is applied to retroactively in Estonia, applying to acts committed before 21 June 1940.

1941

• January 10, 1941 Soviet Union and Germany make an agreement for late resettlement of Baltic Germans from Latvia and Estonia.
• June 14, 1941 First mass deportations from Estonia (10 000), Latvia (15 000) and Lithuania (18 000) to sparsely populated areas of Siberia.
• June 15, 1941 The Governor of New York
  New York
  New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
  
  , Herbert Lehman, declares 15 June to be Baltic States Day.
• June 22, 1941 Germany enacts Operation Barbarossa
  Operation Barbarossa
  Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
  
  , invades Soviet Union. In Soviet historiography
  Soviet historiography
  Soviet historiography is the methodology of history studies by historians in the Soviet Union . In the USSR, the study of history was marked by alternating periods of freedom allowed and restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , and also by the struggle of historians to...
  
  , start of World War II as the Great Patriotic War.
• 24/25 June , 1941 Soviet authorities massacre political prisoners in Rainiai, Lithuania.
  Rainiai massacre
  The Rainiai massacre was the mass murder of between 70 and 80 Lithuanian political prisoners by the NKVD, with help from the Red Army, in a forest near Telšiai, Lithuania, during the night of June 24–25, 1941. It was one of many similar massacres carried out by Soviet forces in Lithuania, and...
  
  
• June 25, 1941 Continuation War
  Continuation War
  The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
  
   breaks out between Finland and Soviet Union.
• June 2, 1941 General mobilisation is announced in the Soviet Union.
• July 4, 1941 Mass deportations from Estonian islands.
• July 7, 1941 German forces reach Southern Estonia.
• July 9, 1941 Soviet authorities leave Tartu after executing 199 political prisoners.
• July 10, 1941 German forces reach Tartu.
• July 17, 1941 State Commissariat Ostland
  Reichskommissariat Ostland
  Reichskommissariat Ostland, literally "Reich Commissariat Eastland", was the civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany in the Baltic states and much of Belarus during World War II. It was also known as Reichskommissariat Baltenland initially...
  
   formed in Riga, Hinrich Lohse
  Hinrich Lohse
  Hinrich Lohse was a Nazi German politician, best known for his World War II rule of the Baltic states.-Early life:...
  
   appointed State Commissar.
• July 21, 1941 Stalin seeks Churchill
  Winston Churchill
  Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
  
  's de jure recognition of the Soviet Union's new western border, Churchill does not respond.
• August 14, 1941 Roosevelt
  Franklin D. Roosevelt
  Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
  
   and Churchill
  Winston Churchill
  Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
  
   announce the Atlantic Charter
  Atlantic Charter
  The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement first issued in August 1941 that early in World War II defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by Britain and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies...
  
  .
• August 31, 1941 Mainland Baltics now fully occupied by German forces.
• September 20, 1941 Heinrich Himmler
  Heinrich Himmler
  Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
  
   visits Estonia.
• November 25, 1941 US deputy Secretary of State, Sumner Welles
  Sumner Welles
  Benjamin Sumner Welles was an American government official and diplomat in the Foreign Service. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State from 1937 to 1943, during FDR's presidency.-Early life:Benjamin Sumner Welles was born in...
  
  , re-affirms the US policy in regard to non-recognition of Baltic annexation.
• December 19, 1941 Alfred Rosenberg
  Alfred Rosenberg
  ' was an early and intellectually influential member of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart; he later held several important posts in the Nazi government...
  
  , the German State Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, enacts civil labour obligation for all residents of the occupied territories aged 18–45.
• December 1941 Within six months of German occupation, 10000 people, including 1000 Estonian Jews, are either imprisoned or executed.

1942

• January 20, 1942 Heydrich declares at the Wannsee Conference
  Wannsee Conference
  The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi German regime, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to inform administrative leaders of Departments responsible for various policies relating to Jews, that Reinhard Heydrich...
  
   that Estonia is "Judenfrei".
• February 25, 1942 German law
  Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch
  The Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch is the civil code of Germany. In development since 1881, it became effective on January 1, 1900, and was considered a massive and groundbreaking project....
  
   comes into force in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but are only applied to ethnic German
  Ethnic German
  Ethnic Germans historically also ), also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, refers to people who are of German ethnicity. Many are not born in Europe or in the modern-day state of Germany or hold German citizenship...
  
  s.
• March 16, 1942 Goebbels
  Joseph Goebbels
  Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
  
   writes in his diary that the Baltic people are naïve to believe that the Germans will allow them to re-establish national governments.
• March 30, 1942 Himmler
  Heinrich Himmler
  Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
  
   proposes plan to Germanise
  Germanisation
  Germanisation is both the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or assimilation, and the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanisation of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet...
  
   the Eastern Territories including establishing German settlements after the war.
• May 20, 1942 Molotov
  Vyacheslav Molotov
  Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
  
  visits London, Great Britain refuses to recognise the legality of the new western border of the Soviet Union.