Baltic States under the Soviet Control - Cold War DOCUMENTARY 

and Russians wonder why nobody in Baltics like them...

As someone from Estonia and as having studied history, I vouch for the video. :D Well made, all the main points are being discussed in a businesslike and non-emotional way. Thank You! Keep up the good work!

I'm from Lithuania. I travelled through and trhough all three countries with my parents, before and after Soviet Union.

How about doing an episode of Estonians watching Finnish television? They had access to western tv shows and ads, and Soviet Government couldn’t stamp it out.

amazing episode!

as a lithuanian, i appreciate you for making this video

As a dutch citizen I am very proud and happy that the Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian people are now members of NATO and the EU so their freedom will be guaranteed. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱💕

Hey great video please do one on iran crisis of 1946 as it was one of the earliest major cold war moment

Another incredible installment!

Nicely done video. Can't wait to see part 3 of this really interesting series.

Great episode

what does baltics people think about others soviet republics ( other than Russia ) during soviet era such central asia and caucasus

I feel russification would be more precise.

greetings, what was the relationship West German companies had with the DDR including Heckler and Koch? What happened to the big ww2 H&K's stockpile that lied in East Germany??

My problem with MagellanTV is that it doesn't seem to offer anything RU-vid doesn't, and consequently if you want ad free history you can just get YT premium and then get all the extra features that app has. Do creators get some of RU-vid Premium money? Listening to your show for 2 or 3 hours a day while driving was a big component in my decision to get Premium.

Algorithm

Thanks for a great episode about the Baltic States!

As a Latvian thanks for this

I’m Boricua n Lithuanian right. my grandfather was deported to Siberia in late 1940 as a lil kid. Came back to then Lithuanian ssr. Overcame hardships and became a multi millionaire. Determination and love for our culture, language and our history is strong. Especially of the older generation. And hate for communism flows even harder after war in Ukraine.

We had a Russian professor from Lithuania. He went off to fight against the Russians, fleeing to the West after the war. He did not get to see his family again until the collapse of the Soviet Union.

To answer the question why Lithuania didn't suffered demographically as Latvia and Estonia did from forced Russian immigration is because of Antanas Sniečkus Lithuanian SSR leader. He opposed it and was very successful in convincing that to Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev. He was offered to connect Konigsberg/Karaliaučius/Kaliningrad region, but fearing for Lithuanian demographics by the many Russians who emigrated to that region straight after the WW2, he declined it. He was obviously a nationalist too, you mentioned Stalin's purge of Estonian and Latvian SSR leadership in early 1950s, but didn't mentioned Lithuania which didn't suffered that. Antanas Sniečkus and other important Lithuanian communist politicians didn't suffered it and were able to surivive it and thrive. Also my family members were among those deported. They were thrown in the cramped cattle wagon and driven for days ( almost died because of that torturous journey ) to Kazakhstan which at that time was occupied by Soviets. Old pensioner mother of my great uncles died soon after because of starvation, extreme cold and slave labour. My two great uncles died because they belonged to Lithuanian Partisan/Forrest Brothers, one was shot dead at his family home, just after the war in summer of 1945 and other was executed in autumn of 1952 because of him being partisan and spying and stealing Soviet Military base documents which then Partisan leadership passed that gathered information to Western Intelligences like recently formed CIA. And because of it those uncles are mentioned in Lithuanian book about partisans.

Still waiting on the Singing revolution and the massacres (never forget under whose orders and will Alfa group/special division could operate) also some little facts. Cultural: in Soviet Russian speaking cinema if they needed an actor for German character, they would ALWAYS be played by a Baltic, because for most of the Central authorities we remained little fascists (even if we never were to begin with and interwar governments despite being authoritarian cracked down on it) and most local films were able to avoid censorship by very creative means. I mean Lithuanian ,,Skrydis per Atlantą” (A Fly over Atlantic) was to be buried due to the themes in there, but were able to avoid it by heavily focusing on antagonists being either Mega business men or fascists (primarily Germans). Economics: can be summarized by my Grandma: During Khrushchev: there was a big deficit but there were always in some quantities meat, dairy products, bread and sweets and Siberian Russians already considered us the west by their local standards. During Brezhnev: at least there was threads and needles. After the start of Afghan war: everything was gone.

Communism obviously had to go. It`s an evil ideology but it`s kind of sad that these people never became Orthodox Cyrillic writing Russians. The Baltics have always been one of the 9 gaps from which armies have invaded Russia and securing these places would have come a long way.

Bruh

I was born in Canada in 1960 but my parents were from Estonia. I've heard this story since I was a very small boy. IMO your analysys is spot on. Well done!

Not only ethnic Russians were relocated to Baltics. Ukrainians, Belarussians, Poles, Jews and many others from the neighboring republics.

As a latvian, thanks for making this video!

I am Icelandic and proud to have 4,1% Baltic ancestry

This goes to show that almost every state from the Eastern Bloc apart from Belarus left to join NATO as much as possible out of their own volition and choice.

The Baltics now are a great place to live and visit. The capitals of all three are distinct and worthy of a visit . If you like the Nordic countries,. You will find a very similar venue, but a lot more affordable and less touristy. 🇱🇹❤️🇪🇪❤️🇱🇻

Don´t mind me, I´m just here to negativate the commies commentaries.

Estonia is now one of the most wired countries on Earth and NATO's cyber security headquarters is located there.

Lots of Latvians and Lithuanians ended up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Where did the Estonians go in America?

At the end were shots of Tallinn, Estonia I believe. I was there in 1998. I was working in Vantaa, Finland and one weekend I took a ferry across to spend the day in Estonia. I had never seen anything like it before or since. I did have a wonderful meal on the square (shown in the video) with good conversation with some English-speaking Finns who were over the same day. All round it was very interesting and I'd love to see how it looks today.

Can you discuss more the role of the secretaries of the Communist parties? At the republic level were the first secretaries the equivalent of Governors? Would that make a second secretaries the equivalent of vice Governors? How where they appointed? I find it interesting that Brezhnev was first secretary of two separate republics( Moldova and Kazakhstan) even though he was Ukrainian.

Russians never change

Surely one of the best videos on this topic! About party membership during occupation - it was often requirement for having some, even mid-rage leading position. For example being principal of a school and not a party member was very rare.

Thank you for the video! From one who's Grandmother and her family were sent into the Siberia from Latvia.

Lithuania forever!!! 💛💛💛💛💛 💚💚💚💚💚 ❤❤❤❤❤

Caucasus 🇦🇲🇬🇪🇦🇿 post world war two my sugestion of next episode

There is no such thing as russophobia, because phobia implies an excessive or irrational fear. Feeling uneasy about any dealings with Russia definitely isn't excessive or irrational to anyone who has studied Russian activities in and around their neighboring countries in the past 100 years.

More videos on the baltics would be nice.

Good video. How these 3 tiny countries survived decades of brutal occupation is a story that needs to be told.

I know it is outside of this channels purview, but it would be wildly interesting to have a fair and balanced analysis of economic wellbeing of the Baltic countries after their inclusion into the EU.

Now i understand why 🇱🇻🇱🇹🇪🇪 joined NATO in the first place.

This is a very important topic, at least in my opinion. Thank you for making this video.

One thing to point out, technically party secretaries were ethnic Balts, in many cases they had already been living in USSR for 2-3 generations, by then, they were ethnic Balts only in name. (In Latvian SSR's case, Arvīds Pelše for example)

I look forward to these every week, thank you.

This is reason the Germans were greeted as liberators .....

Could you do Moldova next?

This is great. I'm sure in time you'll explore the other Soviet Republics. I certainly look forward to hearing about Georgia and its own autonomous regions, including Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Ajara.

Looks like Pedro Pascal in the image thumbnail on the right haha

At 6:09 it is said Balts fled, among other countries, towards Finland. In September 1944 Finland had signed an armistice with the Soviets and Finland was no more a safe place to stay for Estonians and other Baltic refugees. Therefore those who came to Finland had to escape to Sweden.

As an Australian, this brings the memory of the newly elected labour government in 1973, shamefully giving the Soviet Union diplomatic recognition of the forced incorporation of the Baltic states into the soviet union ,this rightly caused great outrage and was overturned in following years,one of our greatest diplomatic blunders,thankfully Australia now provides military aid to Ukraine in their just struggle

Plz make a video on post ww2 india or pak or china🙏

watch documentary on YT called the soviet story, its a Latvian filmmaker

Why is Pedro Pascal in your thumbnail?

Hugh Huitt on his Radio show some weeks ago had trouble naming the 3 republics.

Why is it a Viking or Thor in the picture 🖼? Varför är det en Viking eller Tor i bilden?

United States and Republic of China (Taiwan) never recognised occupation of Baltic states by USSR.

Jerman Soviet agreement

Helene Carrere d' Encausse, 1979 book, Decline of an Empire predicted collapse of USSR.

when she was in Tallin for work, my Ukrainian grandma told me that the locals refused to speak Russian and were very hostile to Russians, especially those who weren't from the republics, usually once they discovered she was a Ukrainian Jew they became much more friendlier and suddenly remember how to communicate in Russian.

Will you ever cover the metallica concert in Moscow 1991

🙂

Hey David, hope all is well. I have two recommendations of RU-vid channels you can follow: 1) TimeGhost History & another channel Called World War Two, these RU-vid channels are created by Indy Neidell & Spartacus Olsson which not only talk the interwar period, but also World War two as a whole. I highly recommend you check them out. And 2) another RU-vid channel I would recommend is History Matters, it's a RU-vid channel with simple explanations and cute animation style along with a sense of humor which according to him, "a history-focused channel which aims to help students studying for A levels, GCSEs and AP World/Euro History by providing short introductions to multiple topics. The episodes released are designed to act as both intros and as revision material for students or people who are simply interested in World History. Videos will also focus on the lesser-known parts of history too and dive deep into questions that many people ask but aren't often answered." Believe me, you would never be disappointed, and I highly recommend you check him out.

I'm a Soviet baby from Estonia and I appreciate this video very much. My great-grandmom was sent to Siberia. She came back tho. She fierce. :)

Sir what book is on your right? I see the words The Cold War but nothing else.

The Soviet union should never have created a buffer zone or annex the baltic republics, they should have turned eastern Europe into bunch of Finlands or Yugoslavias, the soviets could sell raw materials to these countries and buy machinery from the west and continue on its industrialization spree, the burden of financing eastern bloc was too heavy for the Soviet economy

I don’t see the next episode, what’s the title?

I have an outside idea, do a two part show on the cost of the Cold War

Really nice channel, subscribing!

When a Russian Z patriot says that the Baltic States are Russophobic, you should show them this video.

U frogot to mention the litenes massacre, what was the most bloodiest executinons Soviets did in baltics

Keith Lowe's book 'The savage continent' talks about the soviet vanquish of the 3 Baltic republics and the legacy left by the 'brothers of forest'.

What is the name of the ending theme music?

Nicely done, thanks!

❤Aciu

The fact that Baltic States preferred Nazis before "Soviets" (Russians really) tells you everything. Russia is like king Midas, except everything Russia touches, turns to misery.

Informative & fantastic introduced allot thanks

I hope that when covering the so called Singing Revolution, you won't fall in the usual 'and they song folk songs' narrative of other youtubers. It is factually incorrect. Singing revolution was more about 're-discovering being a part of the West' than anything else: Western musical styles (especially rock'n'roll) with openly nationalist, anti-Afghanistan war, anti-Soviet and even anti-Russian lyrics going mainstream.

18:35 / 18:47

Could the occupation of the Baltic States be one reason for Churchill's proposed Operation Unthinkable?

Soviet "improvement projects" and lowering people's quality of life, name a more iconic duo

annexations and deportations, so nothing has changed then . Same playbook in use today

Thank You, Thank You! Short enough, and acurate description of the topic... My father lost two brothers, one deported, other killed. The mothers family also suffered from deportations, the family farm where burned down by cimunists (the soviet people should not own the farm at home), the animals (cows, horses) nationalized for soviet Kolhoz. And in the family`s house (half of house) where brought in russian colonists to live there. All the worst part of soviet system where russification, that has brought allmost to the point of extintion the Baltic nations and their culture. Something realy similar now is going on in Ukraine, - so my symphathy to Ukrainians, they must stand their ground and their freedom.

Finally someone is talking about execution in Baltics- millions already died/ it’s important in future to understand what it caused and how to deal with it- it always happened by one single person! And now it is happening again! With Ukraine people! We are all blind with one person in Russia/ But we have massive issues in Europe with Hungary Turkey Serbia and Poland if it’s goes under control ! We will have massive Holocaust soon then everyone think

There's just something about the Russian psyche, which seems to make brutality towards their neighbors justifyable as a matter of course, that's so hard to unpack. Why is virtually every generation so ready to act this way?

For more on this subject check out Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe by Anne Applebaum

I think that your interpretation sounds like something soft based on Soviet archives. My Estonian neighbours said that their father was executed before their very eyes as soon as the Soviet army rolled in for the first time because he was a doctor. The idea was that all leaders, especially doctors, politicians and priests / pastors should be automatically eliminated as these were the usual leaders in the Baltics. You might think that they might have spared the doctors, but they did not. What do you say about this? I see no reason to think that they were lying, but you seem to be peddling a Soviet-friendly stance. Did you study at the Patrice Lumumba University?

Good job in explaining complex history of Baltic

The Baltic countries are fascinating places, but I feel I don't know very much about them either in history or the modern era. I look forward to more videos on them! In the meantime, do you have any resources you might recommend on them? Thank you! God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)

Thanks for covering the topic fully, and not limiting yourself to the previous episode!

My blessings to the people of the baltics, we have such a common history under "union of equals" and may we one day join you where you are right now, from Québec with admiration to the underrated nations of Europe.

I love all your work. Detailed. Informative. Relevant. Especially the footage shown. Thank you…..a request - often, reference is made to “people being deported/exiled to….” Siberia, Uzbekistan, and elsewhere... Perhaps you’ve addressed their plight in previous episodes but do we know what happened to those people, did they become slave labour, would they eventually be allowed to return during the time of the USSR, after independence in 1991, or never.

Err... Were the Latvian (and the Estonian) Legion even mentioned? It's an important (and a bit controversial, I'd say) part of the current Latvian identity.

This sounds like the British in Scotland Ireland and Wales

A legacy of hate.

When the Baltic states were a part of Soviet Union we had travelled a lot by car there and a lot of us . Only when the internet were spreat the mordern generation began to say that " th regions were under control" No they were a part . Yes there was another language , and a little bit another culture , less Soviet more national , But no one had told us that we had occupied someone

At the risk of appearing flagrant, would it be advantageous for the 3 nations to join as one to repel Russian aggression?