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Military occupations by the Soviet Union
Military occupations by the Soviet Union
Military occupations by the Soviet Union
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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 allocated to it 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 Soviets also occupied and annexed Carpathian Ruthenia from Czechoslovakia in 1945 (became part of Ukrainian SSR). These occupations lasted until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990 and 1991.

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]

Poland (1939–1956)

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Main articles: Soviet invasion of Poland, Territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), and Northern Group of Forces
See also: Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee and Galician Soviet Socialist Republic

Poland was the first country to be occupied by the Soviet Union during World War II. The secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact stipulated Poland to be split between Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.[10] In 1939, the total area of Polish territories occupied by the Soviet Union (including the area given to Lithuania and annexed in 1940 during the formation of Lithuanian SSR), was 201,015 square kilometres, with a population of 13.299 million, of which 5.274 million were ethnic Poles and 1.109 million were Jews.[11]

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After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union kept most of the territories it occupied in 1939, while territories with an area of 21,275 square kilometers with 1.5 million inhabitants were returned to communist-controlled Poland, notably the areas near Białystok and Przemyśl.[12] In 1944–1947, over a million Poles were resettled from the annexed territories into Poland (mostly into the Regained Territories).[13]

Soviet troops (the Northern Group of Forces) were stationed in Poland from 1945 until 1993. It was only in 1956 that official agreements between the communist regime in Poland established by the Soviets themselves and the Soviet Union recognized the presence of those troops; hence some Polish scholars accept the usage of the term 'occupation' for the period spanning 1945–1956.[14] The Polish government-in-exile existed until 1990.

Baltic states (1940–1991)

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Main article: Occupation of the Baltic states

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had been independent nations since 1918, when all three countries were occupied by the Red Army in June 1940 and formally annexed into the USSR in August 1940.[15] Given a free hand by Nazi Germany via the German–Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its secret additional protocol of August 1939,[16] the Soviet Union pressured the three countries to accept its military bases in September 1939. In the case of refusal, the USSR effected an air and naval blockade and threatened to attack immediately with hundreds of thousands of troops massed upon the border. The Soviet military forces overtook the political systems of these countries in June 1940 and installed puppet regimes after rigged elections in July 1940.[17]

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The sovietisation was interrupted by the German occupation in 1941–1944. The Baltic Offensive re-established the Soviet control in 1944–1945, and resumed sovietisation, mostly completed by 1950. The forced collectivisation of agriculture began in 1947, and was completed after the mass deportation in March 1949. Private farms were confiscated, and farmers were made to join the collective farms. An armed resistance movement of 'forest brothers' was active until the mid-1950s. Hundreds of thousands participated or supported the movement; tens of thousands were killed. The Soviet authorities fighting the forest brothers also suffered hundreds of deaths. Some innocent civilians were killed on both sides. In addition, a number of underground nationalist schoolchildren groups were active. Most of their members were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The punitive actions decreased rapidly after Joseph Stalin's death in 1953; from 1956 to 1958, a large part of the deportees and political prisoners were allowed to return.[17]

During the occupation, the Soviet authorities killed, politically arrested, unlawfully drafted, and deported hundreds of thousands of people. Numerous other kind of crimes against humanity were committed all through the occupation period.[17] Furthermore, trying to enforce the ideals of Communism, the authorities deliberately dismantled the existing social and economic structures, and imposed new "ideologically pure" hierarchies. This severely retarded the Baltic economies. For example, Estonian scientists have estimated economic damages directly attributable to the post-World War II occupation to hundreds of billions of US dollars (several dozens worth of Estonia's 2006 GDP of $21.28 billion[18]).

After all, the attempt to integrate the Estonian society into the Soviet system failed. Although the armed resistance was defeated, the population remained anti-Soviet. This helped the Estonians to organise a new resistance movement in the late 1980s, regain their independence in 1991, and then rapidly develop a modern society.[17]

Notwithstanding the annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940, it is therefore correct to speak of the occupation of the Baltic states, referring in particular to the absence of Soviet legal title. The prolonged occupation was an unorthodox one. Until 1991, the status of the three countries resembled the classical occupation in important ways: external control by an internationally unsanctioned force and a conflict of interest between the foreign power and the inhabitants. However, in other aspects the situation was very different from a classical occupation. Both the fact of the incorporation of the Baltic states to the USSR as Soviet republics without qualification, and the long duration of the Soviet rule challenge the applicability of all rules on occupation from the practical point of view. Despite the fact of annexation, the presence of the USSR in the Baltic states remained an occupation sui generis.[19]

Although the Soviet Union condemned the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact[20][21]—the immediate forerunner to the occupation—it is currently the policy of the USSR's legal successor Russian Federation to deny that the events constituted occupation or were illegal under applicable (international) laws.[22]

Finnish territories (1940)

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Molotov signing a deal between the Soviet Union and the short-lived puppet state Finnish Democratic Republic, which existed on occupied territories during the Winter War.
Main articles: Finnish Democratic Republic and Winter War
See also: Karelian question

After the Baltic states agreed to Soviet demands in September and October 1939, the Soviets turned their attention to Finland. The Soviet Union demanded territories on the Karelian Isthmus, the islands of the Gulf of Finland, a military base near the Finnish capital, and the destruction of all defensive fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus.[23] Finland refused these demands. On 30 November 1939 the Soviet Union thus invaded the country, initiating the Winter War with the goal of annexing Finland.[24][25][26][27][28][29] The USSR set up the Finnish Democratic Republic, a short-lived Soviet puppet regime in the occupied town of Terijoki. The Soviets also occupied the Petsamo municipality in the Barents Sea coast during the war.

The Winter War ended on 13 March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland retained its independence but ceded parts of Karelia, Salla, the Rybachy Peninsula in the Barents Sea, and four islands in the Gulf of Finland The land accounted for 9% of the country's territory, included the important city of Viipuri, and much of Finland's industry. About 422,000 Karelians — 12% of Finland's population — chose to evacuate beyond the new border and lose their homes rather than become Soviet subjects. The military troops and the remaining civilians were hastily evacuated.

When the hostilities resumed in 1941, Finnish forces retook the lost areas and then advanced further up to the Svir River and Lake Onega before the end of the year. In the Soviet offensive of 1944 against the Finns the Red Army advance was halted by the Finns before reaching the 1940 border or, in the sole case where it did happen, the Red Army was promptly thrown back in the Battle of Ilomantsi. In the negotiations that followed, the Finns ceded the Petsamo municipality to the Soviet Union in the Moscow Armistice. The Soviet forces took the municipality from the Germans during the Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive.[citation needed]

Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (1940)

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Main article: Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina

The Soviet Union, which did not recognize the sovereignty of Romania over Bessarabia since the union of 1918, issued an ultimatum on 28 June 1940 demanding the evacuation of the Romanian military and administration from the territory it contested as well as from the northern part of the Romanian province of Bukovina.[30] Under pressure from Moscow and Berlin, the Romanian administration and armed forces retreated to avoid war. Adolf Hitler used Soviet occupation of Bessarabia as justification for German occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece and German attack on USSR.

After the Soviet Union entered the war on the Allied side

[edit]
Map of the Eastern Bloc
Further information: History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953) and Eastern Bloc

On 22 June 1941, the Operation Barbarossa commenced, which gave a start of the Eastern front. German-led European Axis countries and Finland invaded the USSR, thereby terminating the German-Soviet non-aggression treaty. During the hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Axis, which led to the total military defeat of the latter, the USSR fully or partially occupied the territory of Germany and its satellites, as well as the territories of some German-occupied states and Austria. Some of them became Soviet Satellite states, namely, the People's Republic of Poland, the People's Republic of Hungary,[31] the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic,[32] the Romanian People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the People's Republic of Albania;[33] later, East Germany was formed based on the Soviet zone of German occupation.[34]

Iran (1941–1946)

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Main articles: Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran and Iran crisis of 1946

On 25 August 1941 British and Commonwealth forces and the Soviet Union jointly invaded Iran. The purpose of the invasion (codenamed Operation Countenance) was to secure Iranian oil fields and ensure supply lines (see Persian Corridor) for the Soviets fighting against European Axis countries on the Eastern Front. The Soviet Union would go on to set up the Azerbaijan People's Government in Iranian Azerbaijan while just occupying the rest of north Iran.

Hungary (1944–1991)

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Key Information

See also: Hungary–Soviet Union relations

In July 1941, the Kingdom of Hungary, a member of the Tripartite Pact, took part in Operation Barbarossa, in alliance with Nazi Germany. Hungarian forces fought shoulder to shoulder with the Wehrmacht and advanced through the Ukrainian SSR deep into Russia, all the way to Stalingrad. However, by the end of 1942 the Soviet Red Army began pushing back the Wehrmacht through a series of offensives that preceded the Red Army's encroachment upon Hungarian territory in 1943–44. In September 1944 Soviet forces crossed into Hungary, launching the Budapest Offensive. As the Hungarian army ignored the armistice with the USSR signed by the government of Miklós Horthy on 15 October 1944, the Soviets fought their way further westward against the Hungarian troops and their German allies capturing the capital on 13 February 1945. Operations continued until early April 1945, when the last German forces and their remaining loyal Hungarian troops were routed out of the country.

Stalin's regime made sure that a loyal post-war government dominated by Communists was installed[35] in the country before transferring authority from the occupational force to the Hungarian authorities. The presence of Soviet troops in Hungary was regulated by the 1949 mutual assistance treaty concluded between the Soviet and Hungarian governments.
The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the Communist government of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies. The Soviet Politburo announced or pretended a willingness to negotiate the withdrawal of Soviet forces in Hungary. On 1 November 1956, Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy declared Hungary's withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact.

On 4 November 1956, a large joint military force of the Warsaw Pact led by the Khrushchev regime entered Budapest to crush the resistance, killing thousands of civilians in the process. About 200,000 Hungarians fled across the border to Austria, the only border of Hungary to the Western world.[36]

On 19 June 1991, half a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the last Soviet soldier left Hungary.[37]

Romania (1944–1958)

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Map of Romania after World War II indicating lost territories.
Main article: Soviet occupation of Romania

The Soviet's second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive led to defeat of Romania, subsequent royal coup d'état, and the switch of Romania from the Axis to the Allies. Soviet troops were stationed in Romania from 1944 to 1958.[38] On 12 September 1944, with the Red Army already controlling much of Romania's territory, an Armistice Agreement between Romania and the USSR was signed, under which Romania retroceded the territory it administered earlier in the war, and subjected itself to an 'allied commission' consisting of the Stalin Regime, the United States, and the United Kingdom. On the ground, it was the Soviet military command, and not the Western allies, that de facto exercised dominant authority. The presence and free movement of Soviet troops was explicitly stipulated in the agreement.[39]

The terms of the Armistice Agreement ceased on 15 September 1947 as the conditions of the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947 entered into force. The new treaty stipulated the withdrawal of all Allied forces from Romania - with the important exemption that such withdrawal was "subject to the right of the Soviet Union to keep on Romanian territory such armed forces as it may need for the maintenance of the lines of communication of the Soviet Army with the Soviet zone of occupation in Austria."

In the aftermath of the agreement the Soviet presence fell from 130,000 troops (the peak in 1947) to approximately 30,000. In March 1953, Stalin died. On 25 February 1956, Khrushchev delivered his report to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Khrushchev thaw began and the Soviet troops were fully withdrawn by August 1958.[citation needed]

Comparing the Soviet occupation of Romania to that of Bulgaria, David Stone noted in 2006: "Unlike Bulgaria, Romania had few cultural and historical ties with Russia, and had actually waged war on the Soviet Union. As a result, Soviet occupation weighted heavier on the Romanian people, and the troops themselves were less disciplined."[40]

Bulgaria (1944–1947)

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On 5 September 1944, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and on 8 September invaded the country, without encountering resistance. By the next day Soviets occupied the northeastern part of Bulgaria along with the key port city of Varna. On 8 September 1944 Bulgaria declared war against Nazi Germany. Garrison detachments with Zveno officers at the head overthrew the government on the eve of 9 September, after taking strategic keypoints in Sofia and arresting the ministers. A new government of the Fatherland Front was appointed on 9 September with Kimon Georgiev as prime minister. Soviet troops were withdrawn in 1947.[41]

Czechoslovakia (1944–1945)

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Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia
Soviet military occupation
1944–1945
Coat of arms of Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia
Coat of arms

CapitalPrague
 • TypeMilitary administration
Historical eraSecond World War
• Established
16 May 1944
• Disestablished
1 December 1945
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Third Czechoslovak Republic
Main article: Soviet annexation of Transcarpathia

In the fall of 1944 when the north and eastern parts of Carpathian Ruthenia were captured by the Red Army, the Czechoslovak government delegation led by minister František Němec arrived in Khust to establish the provisional Czechoslovak administration, according to the treaties between the Soviet and Czechoslovak governments from the same year. However, after a few weeks, the Red Army and the NKVD started to obstruct the delegation's work and the "National committee of Transcarpatho-Ukraine" was set up in Mukachevo under the protection of the Red Army. On 26 November this committee, led by Ivan Turyanytsia (a Rusyn who deserted from the Czechoslovak army) proclaimed the will of Ukrainian people to separate from Czechoslovakia and join the Soviet Ukraine. After two months of conflicts and negotiations the Czechoslovak government delegation departed from Khust on 1 February 1945, leaving the Carpathian Ukraine under Soviet control. After World War II, on 29 June 1945, a treaty was signed between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, ceding Carpatho-Ukraine officially to the Soviet Union.

Following the capture of Prague by the Red Army in May 1945 the Soviets withdrew in December 1945 as part of an agreement that all Soviet and US troops leave the country.

Northern Norway (1944–1946) and Bornholm, Denmark (1945–1946)

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In 1944–1946, Soviet troops occupied northern Norway and the Danish island of Bornholm, strategically situated at the Baltic sea entrance. Stalin's intent was to attempt to gain bases at these locations late in the war.[42] The Soviet deputy ambassador suggested seizing Bornholm in March 1945 and on 4 May the Baltic Fleet was ordered to seize the island.[42]

Bornholm was heavily bombarded by Soviet forces in May 1945. Gerhard von Kamptz, the German superior officer in charge failed to provide a written capitulation as demanded by the Soviet commanders, several Soviet aircraft relentlessly bombed and destroyed more than 800 civilian houses in Rønne and Nexø and seriously damaged roughly 3000 more during 7–8 May 1945. On 9 May, Soviet troops landed on the island and after a short fight the German garrison did surrender.[43] Soviet forces left the island on 5 April 1946.

Further information: Bornholm § German and Soviet occupation

Eastern Germany (1945–1949)

[edit]
Main articles: Soviet occupation zone and History of East Germany

Soviet occupation zone of Germany was the area of eastern Germany occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945 on. In 1949 it became The German Democratic Republic known in English as East Germany.

In 1955 the Republic was declared by the Soviet Union to be fully sovereign; however, Soviet troops remained, based on the four-power Potsdam agreement. As NATO troops remained in West Berlin and West Germany, the GDR and Berlin in particular became focal points of Cold War tensions.

A separation barrier between West and East Germany, the Berlin Wall known in the Soviet Union and in East Germany as the "Anti-Fascist Protective Rampart,"[44] was built in 1961.

The Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany signed in Moscow, mandated the withdrawal of all Soviet forces from Germany by the end of 1994. Conclusion of the final settlement cleared the way for unification of East and West Germany. Formal political union occurred on 3 October 1990.

One result of the occupation was children fathered by Russian soldiers either through romantic relationships, relationships of convenience or rape. These children experienced societal discrimination for decades, but after the troops' withdrawal and the development of perestroika, some of these "Lost Red Army Children" made public attempts to discover more about their Russian fathers.[45]

Austria (1945–1955)

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Main article: Allied-occupied Austria
Occupation zones in Austria

The Soviet occupation of Austria lasted from 1945 to 1955.[46] At the end of the war, Austria and Vienna were divided into 4 zones of occupation, following the terms of the Potsdam Conference. The Soviet Union expropriated over 450 businesses, formerly German-owned, and established Administration for Soviet Property in Austria, or USIA. This accounted for less than 10% of the Austrian workforce at the peak in 1951, and less than 5% of the Austrian GDP at that time.

On 15 May 1955, the Austrian State Treaty was signed, officially establishing Austrian independence and sovereignty. The treaty was enacted on 27 July, and the last Allied troops left the country on 25 October.

Manchuria (1945–1946)

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Main article: Soviet occupation of Manchuria

The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, or the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation (Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, lit. Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastupatelnaya Operaciya) as the Soviet named it, began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo and was the largest campaign of the 1945 Soviet–Japanese War which resumed hostilities between Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan after more than 4 years of peace. Soviets gains on the continent were Manchukuo, Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia) and northern Korean Peninsula. The rapid defeat of Japan's Kwantung Army was a very significant factor in the Japanese surrender and the end of World War II, as Japan realized the Russians were willing and able to take the cost of invasion of its Home Islands, after their rapid conquest of Manchuria and southern Sakhalin.[47][48][49][50][51]

Korea (1945–1948)

[edit]
See also: Soviet Civil Administration

In August 1945, the Soviet Army established the Soviet Civil Administration to administer the country until a domestic regime could be established. Provisional committees were set up across the country putting Communists into key positions. In February 1946 a provisional government called the North Korean Provisional People's Committee was formed under Kim Il Sung. Soviet forces departed in 1948, and a few years later, in an attempt to unite Korea under Communist rule, the Korean War broke out.

Kuril Islands (1945)

[edit]

After Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration on 14 August 1945, and announced the termination of the war on 15 August 1945, the Soviet Union started the Invasion of the Kuril Islands, which took place between 18 August and 3 September, expelling the Japanese inhabitants two years later.[52]

Cold War

[edit]

Hungarian Revolution of 1956

[edit]
Soviet occupation of Hungary
Soviet military occupation
1956–1957
Coat of arms of Soviet occupation of Hungary
Coat of arms

CapitalBudapest
Government
 • TypeMilitary administration
Puppet government
Soviet military commander 
• 1956–1957
Ivan Konev
Prime Minister 
• 1956–1957
János Kádár
Historical eraHungarian Revolution of 1956
Cold War
4 November 1956
27 May 1957
• Last Soviet troops leave
19 June 1991
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Hungary
Hungary
Main article: Hungarian Revolution of 1956

The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the Communist government of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies. After announcing their willingness to negotiate the withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Soviet Politburo changed its mind and moved to crush the revolution. On 4 November 1956, a large joint military force of the Warsaw Pact, led by Moscow, entered Budapest to crush the armed resistance.

The Soviet intervention, codenamed "Operation Whirlwind", was launched by Marshal Ivan Konev.[53] The five Soviet divisions stationed in Hungary before 23 October were augmented to a total strength of 17 divisions.[54] The 8th Mechanized Army under command of Lieutenant General Hamazasp Babadzhanian and the 38th Army under command of Lieutenant General Hadzhi-Umar Mamsurov from the nearby Carpathian Military District were deployed to Hungary for the operation.

At 3:00 a.m. on 4 November, Soviet tanks penetrated Budapest along the Pest side of the Danube in two thrusts—one from the south, and one from the north—thus splitting the city in half. Armored units crossed into Buda, and at 4:25 a.m. fired the first shots at the army barracks on Budaõrsi road. Soon after, Soviet artillery and tank fire was heard in all districts of Budapest. Operation Whirlwind combined air strikes, artillery, and the coordinated tank-infantry action of 17 divisions. By 8:00 am organised defence of the city evaporated after the radio station was seized, and many defenders fell back to fortified positions. Hungarian civilians bore the brunt of the fighting, and it was often impossible for Soviet troops to differentiate military from civilian targets.[53] For this reason, Soviet tanks often crept along main roads firing indiscriminately into buildings. Hungarian resistance was strongest in the industrial areas of Budapest, which were heavily targeted by Soviet artillery and air strikes.[53] The last pocket of resistance called for ceasefire on 10 November. Over 2,500 Hungarians and 722 Soviet troops had been killed and thousands more were wounded.[55][56]

Czechoslovakia (1968–1989)

[edit]
Main articles: Prague Spring and Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia

In 1948, the Czech Communist Party won a large portion of the vote in Czechoslovak politics, leading to a communist period without immediate Soviet military presence. The 1950s were characterized as a repressive period in the country's history, but by the 1960s, the local socialist leadership had taken a course toward economic, social and political reforms. However, a number of significant Czech communists, together with the Czech security agency, conspired against limited introduction of market systems, personal freedoms, and renewal of civic associations (see Socialism with a human face) by leveraging Russian support towards strengthening Communist Party's positions.[57]

Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, reacted to these reforms by announcing the Brezhnev Doctrine, and on 21 August 1968, about 750,000 Warsaw Pact troops, mostly from the Soviet Union, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary, with tanks and machine guns occupied Czechoslovakia, deported thousands of people and rapidly derailed all reforms. Most large cities were individually invaded and overtaken; however, the invasion's primary attention focused on Prague, particularly the state organs, Czech television and radio.

The Czechoslovak government held an emergency session, and loudly expressed its disagreement with the occupation. Many citizens joined in protests, and by September 1968 at least 72 people had died and hundreds more injured in the conflicts. In the brief time after the occupation, which had put an end to any hope that Prague Spring had created, about 100,000 people fled Czechoslovakia. Over the whole time of the occupation, more than 700,000 people, including significant part of Czechoslovak intelligentsia left. Communists responded by revoking Czechoslovakian citizenship of many of these refugees and banned them from returning to their homeland.

At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Yakov Malik, Soviet ambassador to the United Nations issued a proclamation, claiming that the military intervention was a response to a request by the government of Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union being a permanent member of the Security Council—with the right to veto—was able to circumvent any United Nations' resolutions to end the occupation.

Prague Spring's end became clear by December 1968, when a new presidium of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia accepted the so-called Instructions from The Critical Development in the Country and Society after the XIII Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Under a guise of "normalisation", all aspects of neo-Stalinism were returned to everyday political and economic life.

In 1987, the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged that his liberalizing policies of glasnost and perestroika owed a great deal to Dubček's socialism with a human face. When asked what the difference was between the Prague Spring and his own reforms, Gorbachev replied, "Nineteen years".

Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia ended in 1989 by the Velvet Revolution, 2 years before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The last occupation troops left the country on 27 June 1991.[58]

During a visit to Prague in 2007, Vladimir Putin said that he felt the moral responsibility for the 1968 events and that Russia condemned them.[59]

Afghanistan (1979–1989)

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Main article: Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet invasion in December 1979.

Scholarly and historical accounts maintain that Afghanistan had been under the Soviet influence since as early as 1919, when Afghanistan began receiving aid to counter the Anglosphere of the British Empire. Major Soviet technical assistance, military aid, and economic relations grew in the 1950s followed by the Communist Revolution in the 1970s. With the threat to the Afghan communist government, the government invited the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan which began as midnight approached on 24 December 1979. The USSR organized a massive military airlift into Kabul, involving an estimated 280 transport aircraft and 3 divisions of almost 8,500 men each. Within two days, the Soviet Union had seized control of Afghanistan, first securing Kabul by deploying a special Soviet assault unit against Darulaman Palace, where elements of the Afghan army loyal to Hafizullah Amin put up a fierce, but brief resistance. With Amin's death at the palace, Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction of the PDPA was installed by the Soviets as Afghanistan's new head of government.[60]

The peak of the fighting came in 1985–86. The Soviet forces launched their largest and most effective assaults on the mujahedin supply lines adjacent to Pakistan. Major campaigns had also forced the mujahedin into the defensive near Herat and Kandahar. On 15 February 1989, the last Soviet troops departed on schedule from Afghanistan.

See also

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Notes

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References

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Further reading

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Military occupations by the Soviet Union

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Military occupations by the Soviet Union encompassed the Red Army's seizure and administration of foreign territories across Europe and Asia from 1939 to 1989, driven by strategic imperatives, ideological expansion, and the consolidation of communist control following alliances and conflicts. These operations began with the 1939 invasion of eastern Poland under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and extended to annexations in the Baltic states, eastern Romania, and Finnish border regions, as well as post-World War II garrisons in occupied zones of Germany, Austria, and satellite states like Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. In the immediate aftermath of defeating Nazi forces, Soviet occupations transformed into a , installing loyal communist regimes through rigged elections, purges of opposition, and mass repressions that subordinated national institutions to Moscow's directives, effectively creating the until the late 1980s. Interventions during the , such as the 1956 invasion of to crush anti-Soviet uprisings and the 1968 to halt liberalization efforts, underscored the USSR's commitment to doctrinal uniformity over sovereignty, often at the cost of thousands of lives and entrenched resistance. The final major occupation occurred with the 1979 invasion of , where Soviet forces intervened to sustain a faltering Marxist against Islamist insurgents, deploying over 100,000 troops in a decade-long quagmire that drained resources, inflicted heavy casualties—estimated at 15,000 Soviet deaths and over a million Afghan fatalities—and contributed to the USSR's eventual dissolution by exposing military overextension and domestic discontent. Collectively, these occupations expanded Soviet territory and influence to unprecedented levels, incorporating annexed regions into the Union and enforcing satellite dependencies, but they also sowed seeds of resentment that fueled independence movements and the bloc's collapse in 1989–1991.

Motivations, Methods, and Patterns

Ideological and Geostrategic Drivers

The Soviet Union's occupations were fundamentally shaped by Marxist-Leninist ideology, which framed as an irreconcilable struggle between socialism and capitalism, with the latter portrayed as perpetually expansionist and hostile to proletarian states. This worldview, codified under , justified interventions as defensive measures to safeguard the "first " while advancing global revolution, often through support for local communist insurgencies or the installation of vanguard parties to establish "people's democracies." The doctrine of "," adopted in the late , tempered earlier Bolshevik by prioritizing Soviet security, yet it still mandated ideological expansion to counter perceived capitalist encirclement, as evidenced by the USSR's covert funding of communist parties in interwar and . Geostrategically, occupations aimed to erect buffer zones that insulated the USSR from invasion threats, a priority intensified by the 1941 German Blitzkrieg that penetrated deep into Soviet territory, resulting in approximately 27 million military and civilian deaths by 1945. Stalin explicitly sought to dominate Eastern Europe as a cordon sanitaire against revived German revanchism or Western intervention, securing concessions at the 1945 Yalta and Potsdam conferences for Soviet oversight of liberated territories while exceeding these by suppressing non-communist governments through rigged elections and purges. This approach extended prewar patterns, such as the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact's territorial annexations, which provided strategic depth against Nazi aggression by incorporating Polish, Baltic, and Romanian lands. While ideological imperatives provided rhetorical legitimacy—portraying occupations as liberation from or —declassified Soviet archives reveal security calculus often trumped doctrinal purity, with withholding aid to foreign communists (e.g., in , 1944–1949) to avoid broader conflicts that could jeopardize core defenses. Revisionist historians argue this pragmatic dominance of over ideology, yet the fusion enabled systematic demographic and administrative transformations in occupied zones to align them with Moscow's interests, ensuring long-term loyalty amid mutual suspicion of .

Common Military Tactics and Administrative Imposition

Soviet occupations typically began with coordinated military actions leveraging numerical superiority and surprise, often following secret pacts or ultimatums that pressured target governments to permit troop entry under pretexts of mutual assistance or protection of ethnic minorities. In the invasion of eastern Poland on September 17, 1939, the deployed approximately 465,000 troops and 485 tanks against disorganized Polish remnants, advancing rapidly to seize key territories with limited combat due to the prior German offensive in the west. Similarly, in the during June 1940, naval and air blockades preceded demands for basing rights and regime changes, allowing Soviet forces to occupy without significant armed resistance as local armies capitulated under threat of escalation. Administrative control was imposed through the rapid establishment of military administrations under command, transitioning to puppet regimes staffed by local communist collaborators vetted by Soviet advisors. The played a central role in "pacification," conducting targeted purges via mass arrests, prison liquidations, and deportations to dismantle pre-existing power structures. For example, in following the 1939 occupation, forces executed thousands of prisoners in to prevent potential uprisings amid the German advance, with incidents such as the claiming around 1,200 victims. In the , this culminated in the June 14, 1941, deportations, affecting over 40,000 individuals across (approximately 10,000), (over 15,000), and , primarily elites and perceived nationalists shipped to remote labor camps. Long-term governance involved coerced "elections" or plebiscites to formalize Soviet dominance—such as the July 1940 votes in the Baltics yielding near-unanimous results under intimidation—followed by economic restructuring through nationalization, collectivization, and central planning aligned with Moscow's directives. Secret police organs, rebranded locally but operationally subservient to Soviet models, maintained surveillance and enforced orthodoxy, while garrisons deterred revolt, as seen in where Soviet troops remained post-1945 to back communist consolidation until 1991. These mechanisms prioritized ideological conformity over local , resulting in demographic shifts via engineered migrations and sustained repression.

Patterns of Resistance, Deportations, and Demographic Engineering

Soviet occupations frequently encountered armed and passive resistance from local populations, particularly in regions with strong national identities or recent experiences of independence, manifesting as , underground networks, and . In the , partisan groups known as Forest Brothers engaged in sustained insurgency against Soviet forces from 1944 onward, with estimates of up to 50,000 active fighters in by the mid-1940s, targeting personnel and collaborators until the late . Similar patterns emerged in , where the (UPA) conducted operations against Soviet reoccupation from 1944 to the early , combining anti-communist ideology with nationalist aims and inflicting significant casualties on units. Resistance often drew on pre-existing military experience, rural terrain for concealment, and local support networks, but was systematically eroded through mass arrests, informant infiltration, and scorched-earth tactics by Soviet security forces. Deportations served as a core mechanism to preempt and dismantle resistance by removing perceived threats en masse, targeting elites, intellectuals, former officials, and ethnic groups deemed disloyal, with operations coordinated by the under orders prioritizing speed and totality. Between 1939 and 1941 in Soviet-occupied eastern , four major waves displaced over 1.2 million individuals, including families of Polish settlers, military personnel, and refugees, primarily to and , with mortality rates exceeding 10% due to harsh transport and labor conditions. In the , the June 1941 deportation targeted around 40,000 people—roughly 1% of the population in alone—focusing on state employees and their relatives, followed by in 1949 which exiled approximately 90,000 more to special settlements, effectively decapitating potential opposition leadership. These actions followed a standardized template: nighttime roundups, minimal , and relocation to remote camps or kolkhozes, where deportees faced forced labor and cultural suppression, contributing to demographic losses of 5-10% in affected regions. Demographic engineering complemented deportations by repopulating vacated areas with Soviet loyalists, primarily ethnic Russians or proletarian migrants, to dilute indigenous majorities and foster administrative control through policies that promoted and culture in , media, and . Post-deportation in the Baltics, Soviet authorities resettled tens of thousands of workers from and into urban and industrial centers, increasing the Russian share of the from negligible pre-1940 levels to 25-30% by the , alongside incentives for intermarriage and suppression of local languages. In eastern Poland's annexed territories, similar influxes of Ukrainian and Belarusian colonists, reclassified as Soviet citizens, altered ethnic balances to legitimize territorial claims, while broader USSR-wide transfers—such as the 1941 deportation of (over 400,000)—exemplified preventive ethnic homogenization to mitigate or collaboration risks. These policies, rooted in Stalinist nationality theory viewing certain groups as inherently , resulted in long-term shifts favoring Slavic majorities aligned with , though they often provoked further resentment rather than assimilation.

Pre-German Invasion Expansions (1939–1941)

Eastern Poland (1939–1941)

![Eastern Bloc border changes 1938-1948 showing Polish partition][float-right] The Soviet occupation of eastern Poland, known as the , began with the invasion on 17 September 1939, two weeks after Nazi Germany's attack on 1 September, as stipulated by the secret protocol of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed on 23 August 1939, which partitioned into spheres of influence along approximate ethnic lines favoring the USSR in the east. Soviet propaganda justified the incursion as protection for Ukrainian and Belarusian populations from the collapsing Polish state, but the operation involved over 600,000 troops organized into three army fronts, rapidly overrunning Polish defenses depleted by the western front. Military engagements were sporadic, resulting in approximately 3,000-7,000 Polish soldiers killed or missing and up to 250,000 captured, while Soviet numbered around 1,500 dead and several thousand wounded. By early October 1939, Soviet forces controlled about 200,000 square kilometers of territory inhabited by roughly 13 million people, including significant Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Jewish populations. The immediately initiated security operations, arresting Polish officials, military personnel, and intelligentsia, with tens of thousands detained in the first months to dismantle potential resistance. Administrative followed, including rigged local "elections" on 22 October 1939, which purportedly endorsed incorporation into the Ukrainian and Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republics, enabling formal annexation by late 1939 and imposition of communist governance, nationalization of industry, and forced collectivization of agriculture. These measures targeted Polish landowners and elites as class enemies, suppressing Polish , press, and cultural institutions while promoting ethnic divisions to legitimize rule. Repressions escalated with mass deportations conducted in four waves between February 1940 and June 1941, primarily by rail to Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the Arctic, affecting Polish settlers (osadnicy), civil servants, foresters, refugees, and families of the arrested, with estimates of 1-1.5 million individuals displaced, of whom up to 30% perished from starvation, disease, and exposure in labor camps. The deportations combined ideological class-based purges with ethnic targeting of Poles, as evidenced by operational lists prioritizing Polish ethnicity and social status. A pivotal atrocity was the Katyn massacre in April-May 1940, where NKVD executioners shot about 22,000 Polish prisoners of war, officers, police, and intellectuals at multiple sites, including Katyn Forest near Smolensk, on direct orders from Soviet leadership to eliminate Poland's military and intellectual core. As commenced on 22 June 1941, retreating Soviet forces conducted prison massacres in and , killing 10,000-40,000 political prisoners held by the to prevent their liberation by advancing Germans, leaving mass graves uncovered amid the chaos. The occupation thus facilitated demographic engineering through and execution, reducing Polish presence while integrating territories into the Soviet system, though German overrunning shifted control until Soviet re-entry in 1944. These actions, documented in declassified Soviet archives post-1990, reflect systematic elimination of perceived threats rather than mere wartime expediency.

Baltic States (1940–1941)

The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—occurred from June 1940 to June 1941, following the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed on August 23, 1939, which assigned these territories to the Soviet sphere of influence. An amendment to the pact on September 28, 1939, shifted Lithuania fully into the Soviet zone. In the preceding months, the Soviet Union had compelled the Baltic governments to sign mutual assistance pacts in October 1939, allowing the stationing of Red Army garrisons totaling over 25,000 troops in Estonia and similar numbers in Latvia and Lithuania, under the guise of protection against German aggression. Tensions escalated in mid-June 1940, as Soviet forces amassed along the borders amid fabricated accusations of anti-Soviet conspiracies. On , the Soviet issued an ultimatum to demanding the admission of an unlimited number of troops and the formation of a pro-Soviet , citing alleged violations of the mutual assistance pact. Similar ultimatums followed for on June 16 and on June 16, with demands answered under duress by midnight. units, numbering in the tens of thousands and vastly outmatching the combined Baltic forces of approximately 62,000, entered on June 15, on June 17, and on June 17, initiating the full without significant resistance due to the disparity in military strength. Puppet administrations were swiftly installed, with incumbent leaders like Lithuania's President fleeing and replaced by Soviet-aligned figures. Sovietization proceeded rapidly through rigged parliamentary elections held on July 14–15, 1940, where opposition parties were banned, and only communist-front lists appeared on ballots; official turnout was reported at over 99%, though independent verification indicated widespread and . The resulting "people's assemblies" declared the states Soviet socialist republics and petitioned for incorporation into the USSR: on July 21, on July 23, and on July 23, with formal approval by the Soviet on August 3 for , August 5 for , and August 6 for . The rejected this annexation in the Welles Declaration of July 23, 1940, condemning the "devious processes" employed and affirming non-recognition of Soviet sovereignty over the , a policy maintained by the U.S. government thereafter. Under occupation, the Soviets implemented policies of , collectivization of agriculture, and suppression of national institutions, arresting thousands of political, , and intellectual elites. By early 1941, approximately 10,000 political prisoners had been detained across the Baltics. This culminated in mass deportations on June 13–14, 1941, targeting perceived enemies: around 10,000 from (including over 7,000 women, children, and elderly), 15,500 from , and 17,500 from , with victims transported to remote Siberian labor camps under harsh conditions, resulting in high mortality rates. These actions, part of broader demographic engineering to consolidate control, were interrupted by the German invasion on June 22, 1941, which prompted the hasty withdrawal of Soviet forces and administration.

Finnish Territories (1939–1940)

The Soviet Union initiated hostilities against Finland on November 30, 1939, with a large-scale invasion aimed at acquiring border territories to bolster defenses around Leningrad and facilitating the installation of a pro-Soviet regime. To provide a pretext for the operation, Soviet authorities proclaimed the Finnish Democratic Republic on December 1, 1939, in the village of Terijoki within Finnish territory recently seized by Red Army units; this puppet entity, led by Finnish communist exile Otto Wille Kuusinen, was promptly recognized by the USSR, which concluded a mutual assistance treaty with it on December 2. The regime exercised no meaningful control beyond propaganda efforts and failed to garner significant domestic support among Finns. Finnish forces mounted a determined defense, inflicting disproportionate casualties on the invading Soviet armies amid severe winter conditions, compelling the USSR to negotiate despite initial territorial gains. The conflict concluded with the Moscow Peace Treaty signed on March 12, 1940, under which Finland relinquished approximately 11 percent of its prewar land area—totaling around 35,000 square kilometers—including the strategically vital Karelian Isthmus with the major city of Viipuri (Vyborg), eastern Ladoga Karelia, the Rybachy Peninsula, portions of Salla, and various Gulf of Finland islands; additionally, Finland leased the Hanko Peninsula to the Soviets for 30 years to host a naval base. These territories housed roughly 420,000 residents before the war, representing key industrial and agricultural assets. Prior to the formal handover of the ceded regions in April 1940, Finnish authorities coordinated a systematic evacuation of nearly all civilians, displacing approximately 422,000 individuals—about 12 percent of the nation's total population—to unoccupied areas, thereby averting subjugation under Soviet rule. Soviet troops then occupied the vacated lands, imposing military administration initially, followed by incorporation into broader Soviet structures; on March 31, 1940, the USSR established the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, merging the annexed Finnish territories with the pre-existing Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to administer the region under communist governance. The Terijoki puppet government dissolved following the treaty's ratification, having served primarily as a diplomatic facade for Soviet expansionism. With the Finnish populace preemptively removed, the occupation encountered no organized resistance in the transferred zones during this period, though the USSR proceeded to resettle the areas with Soviet citizens.

Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (1940)

On June 26, 1940, the Soviet government issued an to demanding the immediate withdrawal of Romanian troops and administrative personnel from and Northern Bukovina within four days, citing historical claims and the need to "restore" Soviet sovereignty over these territories previously lost in 1918. , isolated after the fall of and lacking guarantees from or , accepted the demands on June 27, prompting the to cross the Prut River into and advance into Northern Bukovina on June 28 without encountering organized resistance, as Romanian forces had orders to withdraw peacefully. The occupation proceeded rapidly, with Soviet troops occupying key cities such as in and Cernăuți in Northern by early July 1940, leading to the complete evacuation of Romanian authorities by 3. Soviet military units, numbering in the hundreds of thousands from the Southern Front commanded by General , secured the regions with minimal violence, though isolated incidents of clashes and arrests of local officials occurred during the takeover. The annexation was formalized through rigged elections held on July 28, 1940, where Soviet-organized "people's assemblies" in both territories petitioned for incorporation into the USSR, resulting in (minus southern parts ceded to ) forming the on August 2, while Northern and the were attached to the Ukrainian SSR. Soviet administration swiftly imposed communist governance, including nationalization of industry, land collectivization, and suppression of Romanian-language institutions, with the arresting thousands of perceived "counter-revolutionaries" such as politicians, clergy, and intellectuals in the initial months. These measures targeted an estimated population of over 3 million in and 500,000 in Northern , predominantly Romanian-speaking but including significant Ukrainian, Jewish, Russian, and Gagauz minorities, leading to early demographic shifts through forced migrations and executions. Resistance was limited to sporadic protests and desertions, quickly quashed by Soviet , setting the stage for broader deportations in 1941.

Wartime and Immediate Postwar Occupations (1941–1946)

Iran (1941–1946)

The Soviet Union and the United Kingdom jointly invaded Iran, a neutral country, on August 25, 1941, under Operation Countenance, with Soviet forces entering from the north via Armenia and the Caspian Sea while British troops advanced from the south and west. The primary objectives included securing the Persian Corridor as a vital supply route for Lend-Lease aid to the USSR, countering perceived German influence among Iranian technicians in the oil industry, and ensuring control over Abadan oil fields to fuel Allied war efforts. Iranian armed forces, numbering around 127,000 but poorly equipped and led, mounted minimal resistance; Soviet troops captured Tabriz and other northern cities within days, while the overall occupation concluded by September 17, 1941, after Reza Shah Pahlavi's capitulation and abdication on September 16 in favor of his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Soviet occupation forces, initially around 30,000 troops expanding to over 120,000 by 1943, administered northern , including the and provinces, establishing military governance that facilitated resource extraction, such as foodstuffs and , to support the Red Army's logistics amid the German invasion of the USSR. The 1942 Tripartite Treaty between , the , and the USSR pledged respect for Iran's and withdrawal of all foreign troops within six months of the war's end, but Soviet authorities suppressed local dissent, arrested suspected nationalists, and promoted pro-communist elements through cultural and activities. As Allied victory approached in 1945, Soviet commanders delayed evacuation, citing unresolved economic concessions like exploration rights, while covertly backing separatist movements: the was declared on December 12, 1945, under , implementing land reforms and suppressing monarchist opposition with Soviet arms and advisors; similarly, the emerged in Kurdish areas as a Soviet-aligned entity. The resulting marked an early confrontation, with Iran appealing to the in January 1946 against Soviet non-withdrawal and interference, prompting U.S. diplomatic pressure including threats of oil embargoes and to . , facing unified Western opposition and internal Red Army assessments of untenable logistics, ordered troop pullout on March 24, 1946, with evacuation completed by May 10; Iranian forces then reintegrated the north, dissolving the and regimes by December 1946 amid executions of leaders like Pishevari's associates. The episode underscored Soviet expansionist aims in resource-rich border regions but highlighted limits imposed by emerging U.S. containment policy, as Soviet archives later revealed directives prioritizing influence over direct due to overextended postwar commitments.

Reoccupation of Baltic States (1944–1991)

The Red Army's , launched in late July 1944 following , resulted in the reoccupation of by early August, with captured on July 13 and on July 31; Latvia's fell on September 15; and Estonia's on September 22, though German forces held the until May 1945. This reoccupation reinstated Soviet control after the 1941–1944 Nazi interlude, incorporating the states as Estonian, Latvian, and Soviet Socialist Republics under puppet governments that formalized through rigged elections and suppression of local institutions. Soviet authorities immediately imposed collectivization, of industry, and policies, including mass influxes of Russian settlers to alter demographics and dilute national identities. To crush opposition, the orchestrated waves of targeting perceived nationalists, former officials, intellectuals, and kulaks. Between 1945 and 1946, approximately 60,000 were deported from alone, followed by Operation Vesna in May 1948, which removed 39,766 individuals across the Baltics, and the largest, from March 25–28, 1949, which forcibly relocated over 90,000 civilians—primarily families—to Siberian labor camps and remote areas, with mortality rates exceeding 20% en route and in due to and disease. These actions, aimed at breaking resistance and enabling full , contributed to demographic losses of 10–25% of prewar populations through deportation, execution, and flight. Armed opposition persisted via the Forest Brothers, irregular guerrilla units numbering tens of thousands at peak strength, who waged against Soviet forces and collaborators until the mid-1950s, inflicting casualties on troops while suffering heavy losses from encirclements and betrayals, with organized groups largely eradicated by 1956 though isolated holdouts endured into the 1960s. Soviet rule entrenched economic exploitation, with Baltic resources funneled to via centralized planning that prioritized over local and consumer needs, leading to famines in the late 1940s and chronic shortages. Cultural suppression included bans on national languages in , promotion of Marxist-Leninist , and demographic engineering through selective , raising ethnic Russian populations to 30% in and by 1989. Dissent simmered underground, but overt challenges emerged in the late 1980s amid Gorbachev's and , culminating in the —a series of mass, nonviolent demonstrations involving singing traditional folk songs and human chains spanning hundreds of kilometers, such as the August 1989 linking 600,000 participants across the three states. These movements pressured local soviets to declare sovereignty: Lithuania restored independence on March 11, 1990; Latvia followed with a declaration on May 4, 1990, asserting the illegality of 1940 annexations; Estonia affirmed sovereignty on March 30, 1990, and full independence on August 20, 1991. Soviet attempts at reversal, including economic blockades and the January 1991 Vilnius bloodshed (killing 14 civilians), failed amid the USSR's weakening grip, with international recognition solidified after the August 1991 Moscow coup collapse, marking the end of 51 years of renewed occupation.

Hungary (1944–1991)

Soviet forces crossed into Hungary in September 1944 during their advance against German and Hungarian armies allied with the Axis powers. The Red Army laid siege to Budapest from December 24, 1944, to February 13, 1945, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides and the eventual capture of the capital. On December 28, 1944, Soviet troops had liberated much of the country, leading to the formation of a Provisional National Government in Debrecen, which declared war on Germany. This government, influenced by Soviet authorities, marked the beginning of political restructuring under occupation. Postwar, Soviet military administration dominated through the Allied Control Commission, effectively a Soviet instrument that sidelined Western Allied input and enforced communist policies. A was formed under Soviet pressure, with communists holding key ministries such as internal affairs and , enabling purges of non-communist elements. By , communists consolidated power via rigged elections and coercion, leading to the proclamation of the in 1949. Soviet troops, maintained at up to 65,000 personnel across 100 garrisons and 10 air bases, provided the coercive backbone for this regime, suppressing dissent and ensuring alignment with Moscow's directives. The most prominent resistance occurred during the , sparked by widespread protests against Stalinist oppression on October 23 in . Demands for reform led to the appointment of as prime minister and initial Soviet withdrawal, but responded with a full-scale on November 4, deploying tanks and that overwhelmed Hungarian defenses by November 10. The crackdown killed over 2,500 Hungarians, executed leaders like Nagy, and prompted around 200,000 refugees to flee westward. Soviet control was reimposed under János Kádár, with ongoing military presence quelling further opposition through surveillance and purges. The occupation persisted through the , with Soviet forces justified as "temporary stationing" under obligations. Negotiations for withdrawal began amid the USSR's decline, culminating in an agreement on January 9, 1990, for complete removal. The last Soviet troops departed on June 19, 1991, celebrated in as Independence Day, ending 47 years of foreign military domination that had originated with the wartime entry but extended into systematic political and economic subjugation.

Romania (1944–1958)

Soviet forces launched the Second Jassy-Kishinev Offensive on August 20, 1944, advancing into northeastern Romania and encircling German Army Group South Ukraine, which prompted King Michael's coup d'état on August 23 against Prime Minister Ion Antonescu, leading Romania to declare war on Germany and seek an armistice with the Allies. Soviet troops occupied Bucharest by August 31, establishing control over much of the country amid ongoing fighting against retreating German forces. The Armistice Agreement, signed in on September 12, 1944, required to cease hostilities against the effective August 24, pay reparations, and permit Soviet military operations on its territory against , but stipulated that Allied forces, including Soviets, would withdraw after the war's end without specifying a timeline, allowing prolonged occupation. In practice, Soviet commanders exploited ambiguities to maintain garrisons, securing strategic assets like the oil fields, which supplied much of 's petroleum production vital to Soviet logistics. Troop strength reached a peak of around 615,000 soldiers by 1946, far exceeding needs for or security, enabling direct intervention in Romanian politics to favor communist factions. The Paris Peace Treaty of February 10, 1947, formalized Romania's territorial losses—including and Northern to the —and imposed $300 million in reparations primarily to the USSR, but omitted explicit withdrawal provisions for Soviet forces, effectively legitimizing their continued presence under bilateral "friendship" agreements that masked coercive influence. This military leverage supported the marginalization of non-communist parties, rigged elections in 1946, and the establishment of a in December 1947, with Soviet troops quelling dissent and guarding against potential Western intervention. By the mid-1950s, amid Nikita Khrushchev's and Romania's alignment with structures formed in 1955, negotiations accelerated; the USSR notified on April 17, 1958, of intent to withdraw, with agreement reached May 24 for a phased exit from June 15 to August 15. The final 35,000 Soviet troops departed by July 25, 1958, marking the end of direct occupation after 14 years, though Soviet political and economic dominance persisted via alliances and debt mechanisms. This withdrawal, unprecedented among states, reflected confidence in Romania's communist regime stability rather than diminished strategic value.

Bulgaria (1944–1947)

The declared war on on September 5, 1944, following 's attempts to distance itself from its Axis alliance while still occupying parts of and . Units of the Red Army's crossed the Bulgarian border on September 8, 1944, advancing southward without encountering organized resistance, as Bulgarian forces had received orders not to oppose the Soviet advance. The following day, September 9, 1944, the communist-led Fatherland Front executed a in , overthrowing the government of Prime Minister and arresting key figures from the preceding regime, including former Regent Prince Kiril and Prime Minister . This coup, enabled by the Red Army's presence and coordination with Soviet military advisors, installed Georgi Dimitrov's interim government dominated by the , marking the onset of Soviet political control despite the nominal Bulgarian declaration of war on on September 10. An armistice was signed between the and on September 15, 1944, formalizing the end of hostilities and permitting Soviet forces to remain in the country for operational purposes against German troops withdrawing through Bulgarian territory. Soviet occupation troops, numbering around 300,000 at peak, were quartered across , imposing significant economic burdens; the maintenance costs for these forces from 1944 to 1947 exceeded 133 billion Bulgarian leva, equivalent to roughly half of 's national income during that period. Under the occupation, the Fatherland Front regime dismantled opposition through extrajudicial "People's Courts," which by 1945 had executed or imprisoned thousands of politicians, military officers, and intellectuals associated with the pre-coup governments, often on charges of . Soviet advisors embedded in Bulgarian institutions, including the security apparatus and army, ensured alignment with Moscow's directives, suppressing non-communist elements within the Fatherland Front and facilitating the merger of the Bulgarian (Social Democrats) into the by August 1948. The Paris Peace Treaty of February 10, 1947, between the Allied powers and required the withdrawal of all foreign armed forces within 90 days of the treaty's entry into force on September 15, 1947. Soviet troops completed their evacuation from Bulgarian soil by December 15, 1947, transitioning control to a fully consolidated communist under Traicho Kostov and later Vulko Chervenkov, which had already nationalized industry and in preparation for one-party rule. While Soviet sources and some Bulgarian communist narratives framed the 1944 entry as liberation from , declassified Bulgarian archives document the occupation as a period of direct that coercively installed a totalitarian regime, with Soviet forces providing the security umbrella for political purges and economic extraction. By the time of withdrawal, Bulgaria's sovereignty was effectively subsumed into the Soviet sphere, paving the way for its 1946 —conducted under armed surveillance—that abolished the and established the .

Czechoslovakia (1944–1989)

The Soviet Red Army began entering eastern Czechoslovakia on September 21, 1944, advancing from the east to support the Slovak National Uprising that had erupted on August 29, 1944, involving up to 60,000 Czechoslovak fighters against German forces. The uprising, though ultimately suppressed by German counteroffensives, facilitated Soviet gains in eastern Slovakia, with full liberation of Prague occurring during the Prague Uprising in early May 1945, as Soviet forces arrived on May 8-9. Unlike in other Eastern European nations, Soviet troops withdrew from Czechoslovakia by November 1945, leaving no permanent military presence initially. Soviet political influence persisted, culminating in the Communist of February 1948, where the (KSČ), leveraging control over security forces and mass mobilizations, pressured President to accept a communist-dominated government after non-communist ministers resigned in protest over police politicization. This established one-party rule under Soviet alignment, with joining the in 1955, though without stationed Soviet divisions until later. Military occupation resumed on August 20, 1968, when forces, led by the Soviet Union, invaded to halt reforms of the under , deploying an initial 250,000 troops across 20 divisions, including 2,000 tanks and supported by 800 aircraft, with peak strength reaching 350,000-400,000 Soviet personnel plus allies from , , , and . The invasion crushed liberalization efforts, installing the pro-Soviet Normalization period, during which five Soviet ground divisions and two air divisions became a fixture, integrating Czechoslovak forces deeper into Pact structures. Soviet military presence continued through the and , enforcing orthodoxy amid domestic repression, until the Velvet Revolution—a non-violent protest wave starting November 17, 1989, in —overthrew the KSČ regime by December 29, 1989, ending 41 years of communist dictatorship and paving the way for democratic transition, though Soviet troops lingered until 1991 withdrawal negotiations. This era's military dimensions reflected broader Soviet strategy to maintain satellite control via episodic interventions rather than continuous garrisons pre-1968, contrasting with heavier occupations elsewhere in the bloc.

Northern Norway and Bornholm (1944–1946)

The Soviet 19th Army, as part of the Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive launched on October 15, 1944, advanced into northern Norway's Finnmark province alongside Norwegian forces, expelling German troops by early November 1944 and completing the liberation by April 1945. This military operation displaced approximately 50,000 Norwegian civilians through scorched-earth tactics employed by retreating Germans, leaving much of Finnmark devastated, but Soviet forces established administrative control over the recaptured territories, including Kirkenes, until their unilateral withdrawal on September 25, 1945. The occupation, lasting less than a year post-liberation, involved joint Soviet-Norwegian governance to facilitate reconstruction, with Soviet commanders coordinating mine clearance and repatriation efforts amid Norwegian government concerns over potential permanent claims; however, Moscow adhered to prior Allied agreements on Norwegian sovereignty, avoiding the prolonged control seen elsewhere. In parallel, Soviet forces targeted the Danish island of , a German-held outpost controlling access, with air raids on April 7–8, 1945, that damaged civilian areas in and Nexø, killing at least 30 and injuring over 100 before ground troops landed unopposed on May 9, 1945, capturing around 1,000 German defenders who surrendered without Allied coordination, as British forces prioritized mainland . The Red Army's 11-month occupation, involving up to 4,000 troops, enforced demilitarization demands on , including bans on fortifications and foreign bases, while incidents of soldier misconduct—such as 20 documented rapes, assaults, and robberies—strained local relations, though Soviet authorities maintained order through segregated camps and repatriated German POWs by summer 1945. Negotiations, influenced by Western pressure and Denmark's refusal of full concessions, culminated in Soviet evacuation on April 5, 1946, restoring Danish control without territorial cessions, reflecting Stalin's strategic calculus to avoid broader confrontation over a peripheral asset amid emerging tensions.

Eastern Germany (1945–1994)

The occupied eastern following the Red Army's advance into the region during the final stages of , with forces from the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts capturing by May 2, 1945. Pursuant to the of , this territory—comprising about one-third of , including , , , , and parts of east of the Oder-Neisse line—was designated the Soviet Occupation Zone (SBZ), administered by the (SMAD) under Marshal until 1946 and subsequent commanders. The SMAD oversaw , land reforms redistributing estates to peasants, of key industries, and extraction of reparations estimated at $14 billion in assets and equipment dismantled for shipment to the USSR, which prioritized Soviet reconstruction over local economic recovery. In June 1948, amid escalating tensions over Western plans for currency reform and a federal in their zones, Soviet authorities all rail, road, and canal access to —located deep within the SBZ—for 11 months, aiming to force the Western Allies out of the city and consolidate control. The , lifted on May 12, 1949, after the Berlin Airlift supplied over 2.3 million tons of goods to the Western sectors, underscored Soviet willingness to use military leverage to prevent integration of Berlin with . On October 7, 1949, the People's Congress in the SBZ proclaimed the German Democratic Republic (GDR), a Soviet-aligned with a modeled on the USSR's, though SMAD retained veto power over policy until formally transferring authority on October 10. Soviet troops, reorganized as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (renamed Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, or GSFG, in 1954), persisted in the GDR not as occupiers but as a "fraternal" force under bilateral agreements, justifying their presence as mutual defense against perceived threats. Widespread unrest erupted on June 16, 1953, when construction workers struck against a 10% increase amid food shortages and forced collectivization; protests demanding free elections and Soviet troop withdrawal spread to over 700 cities and towns, involving up to 1 million participants. GDR leader appealed to for aid, prompting Soviet tanks and motorized rifle divisions—numbering around 20,000 troops—to deploy and fire on crowds, resulting in at least 51 deaths, hundreds injured, and over 5,000 arrests by East German and Soviet forces. The intervention, authorized by the Soviet , restored regime control but highlighted underlying popular opposition to Stalinist policies, leading to temporary concessions like quota rollbacks before renewed hardline measures. During the Cold War, the GSFG grew into the Soviet Union's largest overseas deployment, with 24 motorized rifle and tank divisions, an air army, and support units totaling approximately 380,000 personnel by 1987, equipped with thousands of tanks, artillery pieces, and tactical nuclear weapons for rapid offensive operations against . Stationed in fortified bases like Wünsdorf, the force enabled direct intervention capabilities, as demonstrated by exercises simulating strikes into . Following the GDR's collapse in 1989, on October 3, 1990, and the Two Plus Four Treaty, the dissolving USSR (succeeded by ) committed to full withdrawal; approximately 540,000 personnel and families, plus 600,000 tons of equipment, were repatriated by rail and sea between 1991 and 1994, with the final units vacating on August 31, 1994, ending 49 years of continuous Soviet/Russian military presence. The process, costing Germany over 8 billion Deutsche Marks in housing and transit aid, marked the symbolic close of Soviet dominance in without major incidents, though it strained post-Soviet logistics.

Austria (1945–1955)

Following the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, Austria was partitioned into four occupation zones controlled by the Soviet Union, United States, United Kingdom, and France, with Vienna similarly divided into four sectors plus an international zone. The Soviet zone encompassed Lower Austria, Burgenland, and the Mühlviertel region of Upper Austria north of the Danube River, covering approximately one-third of Austria's territory and including key industrial and agricultural areas. Soviet forces, initially numbering around 600,000 troops, entered Austria during the Vienna Offensive in April 1945 and established the Soviet Military Administration to govern the zone, enforcing policies aimed at denazification, reparations extraction, and political influence. Soviet administration involved severe economic exploitation, including the seizure of over 450 German-owned enterprises and the creation of the Administration for Soviet Property in (USIA), which managed more than 400 factories, transportation firms, and trading companies as de facto state entities for reparations purposes. This led to systematic resource extraction, particularly from fields in the Soviet zone, contributing to industrial decline and near-bankruptcy for many affected businesses by ; Austrian estimates placed the value of expropriated assets at billions in reparations equivalents. Soviet policies also included mass arrests, deportations of suspected collaborators, and widespread abuses against civilians, notably the of tens of thousands of Austrian women by soldiers in the immediate postwar months, patterns consistent with Soviet occupation conduct elsewhere in . Despite efforts to bolster the Austrian through and electoral manipulation in their zone, resistance from the population and oversight from Western sectors prevented full , with national elections in 1945 yielding strong anti-communist majorities. Negotiations for Austrian independence, formalized in the signed on May 15, 1955, in by representatives of the , , , and , ended the occupation after a decade of deadlock exacerbated by Soviet demands for influence. The treaty restored full sovereignty, prohibited German unification (), banned Nazi resurgence, and mandated the withdrawal of all Allied forces within four months, completed by Soviet troops on October 25, 1955, in exchange for Austria's constitutional declaration of permanent neutrality on , 1955. This withdrawal marked a rare Soviet concession during the early , influenced by geopolitical shifts including the death of Stalin in 1953 and Austrian diplomatic persistence, averting the division seen in . Unlike in states, the joint occupation and Austrian preserved democratic institutions, though the Soviet zone experienced heightened repression and economic hardship relative to Western areas.

Manchuria (1945–1946)

The Soviet Union declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945, and launched Operation August Storm the following day, invading Japanese-held Manchuria with approximately 1.5 million troops from three fronts equipped with over 5,000 tanks and 26,000 artillery pieces. This offensive, coordinated with Allied atomic bombings and Japan's impending surrender, rapidly dismantled the Kwantung Army, which numbered around 700,000 personnel but had been severely weakened by transfers to Pacific theaters, leaving it with inexperienced recruits and limited armor. By August 20, Soviet forces had secured most of Manchuria, capturing over 600,000 Japanese prisoners of war, whose subsequent treatment in Soviet labor camps resulted in high mortality rates from starvation, disease, and forced labor. The occupation, initially intended as temporary under Yalta and Potsdam agreements granting the Soviets influence in the region, extended into a period of direct military control, with Soviet commanders establishing administrative oversight to disarm Japanese forces and manage surrendered territories. During the occupation, Soviet authorities systematically dismantled Manchurian industry as reparations for Japan's undeclared border conflicts, removing machinery, , and entire factories valued at billions of dollars, which crippled the region's economy and left key facilities like steel mills and power plants inoperable. U.S. reparations envoy Pauley reported the as "appalling," noting that electrical equipment removals alone devastated production capacity more than any wartime damage. This exploitation prioritized Soviet resource extraction over reconstruction or handover to Chinese Nationalist forces, with delays in permitting Republic of troops entry until after Chinese Communists had established footholds. Soviet troops also engaged in widespread of civilian property and committed , including rapes against Japanese settlers and local women, tolerated by command structures as in other theaters, contributing to mass suicides among Japanese communities fearing reprisals. The occupation facilitated the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) expansion in by allowing CCP units to infiltrate occupied zones and seize Japanese arsenals containing hundreds of thousands of rifles, artillery pieces, and ammunition stocks, while obstructing Nationalist advances. This transfer of materiel, estimated at equipping several CCP armies, shifted the balance in the ensuing , enabling communists to control rural areas and key cities like by late 1945. Soviet policy under the August 14, 1945, Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship ostensibly pledged withdrawal within three months of Japan's surrender, but repeated delays—pushed to November 1945, then February 1946—allowed CCP consolidation before full evacuation. Soviet forces completed withdrawal by May 1946, formally handing control to the Republic of China, though by then CCP dominance in was entrenched, setting the stage for their nationwide victory in 1949. The occupation's legacy included economic devastation from , which hindered Nationalist reconstruction efforts, and geopolitical realignment favoring communist expansion, with Soviet actions prioritizing strategic denial to rivals over neutral stabilization.

Korean Peninsula (1945–1948)

Following the Soviet declaration of war on on 8 1945, elements of the 25th Army advanced into northern Korea from starting around 10 , securing by 22 and other major northern cities by late to accept the capitulation of approximately 150,000 Japanese troops north of the 38th parallel. The 38th parallel division had been proposed by the on 10-11 and accepted by the USSR as a temporary measure to facilitate Japanese and , though it solidified into a partition amid emerging tensions. Soviet occupation forces, initially numbering in the tens of thousands and peaking higher before reductions, dismantled Japanese colonial , including factories and railways, shipping equipment northward as reparations exacted from Japan's defeated empire, which hampered local reconstruction. The (SCA), headed by Colonel-General Terentii Shtykov, was instituted in late 1945 to govern the north, absorbing existing Korean People's Committees—initially broad anti-Japanese bodies—and purging nationalist and non-communist elements in favor of pro-Soviet Korean cadres, many of whom had trained in the USSR or Soviet-occupied . By February 1946, the SCA transitioned to the Provisional People's Committee for , which centralized power under communist structures, created a state security apparatus including a new police force in November 1945 to suppress dissent, and elevated Kim Il-sung—a Soviet-trained guerrilla leader returned from exile—as . This administration orchestrated land reforms redistributing Japanese-held properties to peasants, nationalized industries, and sidelined rival factions like the domestic communists and China-oriented group, consolidating a Stalinist model oriented toward . Soviet forces, reduced to approximately 45,000 by 1948 alongside a nascent of similar size, oversaw the north's isolation from UN-supervised elections in the south, leading to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's formation on 9 September 1948. The USSR completed its troop withdrawal by 25 December 1948, as announced via radio, leaving behind a fortified communist regime dependent on Soviet and economic direction, though ongoing reparations extraction limited industrial recovery. This occupation entrenched ideological division, enabling Kim Il-sung's consolidation of absolute control and setting conditions for the 1950 invasion of the south.

Kuril Islands (1945–present)

The occupied the during the final stages of as part of its military campaign against , following the declaration of war on August 8, 1945, in accordance with the Agreement's provisions for territorial concessions in exchange for Soviet entry into the Pacific theater. Soviet forces, under the Northern Pacific Fleet and the 2nd Far Eastern Front, initiated amphibious landings on August 18, 1945, starting with the northernmost of Shumshu, where intense fighting resulted in approximately 1,500 Soviet casualties against Japanese defenders equipped with and tanks. By September 5, 1945, Soviet troops had secured the entire chain of 56 islands, overcoming Japanese garrisons totaling over 80,000 personnel across the Kurils and southern with minimal overall resistance after initial engagements, as Japan's remnants surrendered following the atomic bombings and imperial capitulation. Post-invasion, Soviet authorities systematically deported the Japanese civilian population, numbering around 17,000 residents primarily from the southern islands, with repatriations continuing until 1952 amid reports of harsh conditions including forced labor and . The islands were formally incorporated into the by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on February 2, 1946, establishing administrative control from (now Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk). To consolidate demographic control, the USSR resettled tens of thousands of Soviet citizens, including , , and others, often from depopulated regions; by the , the population had shifted to predominantly Slavic, reaching approximately 20,000 by the late Soviet era, with indigenous Ainu groups further marginalized or assimilated. The occupation evolved into a protracted territorial dispute, as Japan rejected the Soviet claim to the four southernmost islands—Iturup (Etorofu), Kunashir (Kunashiri), Shikotan, and the Habomai group—asserting they were not historically part of the Kuril chain ceded under the 1855 Treaty of Shimoda or wartime accords like Potsdam, but rather Japanese territory retained after the 1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg. This contention prevented ratification of a peace treaty, with the Soviet Union refusing Japan's demands during 1956 negotiations that offered Shikotan and Habomai in exchange for renunciation of the others. Under Russian succession post-1991, military garrisons and infrastructure development, including bases on Iturup, have maintained de facto control, amid periodic diplomatic talks stalled by geopolitical tensions, including Russia's 2022 actions in Ukraine leading to Japan's tightened sanctions and suspended peace treaty efforts as of 2023.

Tannu Tuva Annexation (1944)

The , commonly known as Tannu Tuva, existed as a nominally independent state from 1921 until its incorporation into the on October 11, 1944, when it was redesignated the within the . The annexation decree, approved by both the Tuvan Little Khural (parliament) and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, took effect on November 1, 1944. Although presented as voluntary, Tuva had functioned as a satellite since its founding, with Soviet advisors embedding in its government, military, and economy from the early 1920s, effectively exerting control without formal until wartime conditions prompted consolidation. Established amid the Russian Civil War, Tuva's communist regime under leaders like Salchak Toka—a Soviet-trained Buryat—relied on Red Army support to suppress local monarchist and pan-Mongolist opposition, securing power by 1929 through purges that eliminated over 1,000 perceived enemies, including Buddhist lamas. International recognition was limited to the USSR (1924) and Mongolia (1926), with no diplomatic ties to other nations; its postage stamps and currency mimicked Soviet designs, underscoring puppet status. Soviet influence extended to military basing, with Red Army units stationed there since the 1920s, and economic integration via resource extraction, including livestock and minerals funneled to Moscow. Tuva's contributions to the Soviet effort intensified calls for union. In , shortly after Germany's invasion of the USSR, Tuva declared war on the , mobilizing approximately 8,000 troops—nearly its entire male population of fighting age—for the Eastern Front, where Tuvan cavalry units fought in battles like and Stalingrad. The state donated gold reserves totaling 82 kilograms (valued at over 60 million Soviet rubles), horses, leather, and food supplies, while imposing heavy wartime taxes that strained its 172,000-person population across 170,000 square kilometers of and . These sacrifices, under Toka's direction, aligned with three prior formal requests for annexation (), framed as mutual benefit amid fears of Japanese expansionism in and China's potential revanchism. Strategic imperatives drove the 1944 timing: sought to buffer the industrial Kuzbass region from potential threats, preempt Chinese claims akin to those on , and integrate Tuva's resources without Allied scrutiny during the and conferences, where the annexation went unmentioned. Post-annexation, Toka retained leadership until 1961, overseeing collectivization and cultural , including suppression of Tuvan script in favor of Cyrillic by 1945; resistance was minimal, given prior , though nomadic herders faced forced sedentarization and livestock . The was elevated to status in 1961, remaining under Moscow's direct administration until the USSR's dissolution.

Cold War Interventions and Prolonged Control (1947–1989)

Suppression of the Hungarian Revolution (1956)

The Hungarian Revolution commenced on October 23, 1956, when student-led protests in Budapest escalated into widespread demands for democratic reforms, the ouster of Soviet-imposed Stalinist policies under Ernő Gerő, and national independence from Moscow's control. Reformist communist Imre Nagy assumed the premiership on October 24 amid the unrest, initially with Soviet acquiescence, as revolutionary committees formed and the hated ÁVH secret police faced mob retribution. By October 28, Soviet occupation forces began a tactical withdrawal from Budapest, enabling Nagy to proclaim a multi-party system, promise free elections, and dissolve one-party rule, while armed insurgents neutralized remaining ÁVH units. On November 1, Nagy's government formally withdrew from the and appealed to the for recognition as a neutral state, prompting Soviet leaders to and authorize a full military reconquest to preserve their satellite's alignment. commenced at 4:15 a.m. on November 4, as Soviet armored columns—totaling around 60,000 troops with over 1,000 tanks—crossed into from neighboring bases and the USSR, targeting and key revolutionary strongholds. Marshal directed the assault, with five divisions (31,500 troops and 1,130 tanks/self-propelled guns) converging on the capital alone, methodically shelling insurgent positions and street barricades despite fierce, improvised Hungarian resistance using captured weapons and Molotov cocktails. Nagy broadcast a desperate appeal at 5:20 a.m., declaring the invasion but vowing continued defense, as fighting persisted until November 10 in and scattered provincial areas. The Soviet operation inflicted heavy losses, with reliable estimates placing Hungarian civilian and insurgent deaths at approximately 2,500, alongside 700 Soviet soldier fatalities from ambushes and urban combat; thousands more Hungarians were wounded, and over 200,000 fled westward as refugees before borders sealed. Post-invasion reprisals under installed leader János Kádár included systematic purges, with 13,000 arrested in the immediate aftermath, hundreds executed, and Nagy himself abducted from Yugoslav embassy asylum, subjected to a sham treason trial, and hanged on June 16, 1958, alongside associates like Defense Minister Pál Maléter. Internationally, the suppression drew sharp rebuke, with the UN adopting resolutions on and subsequent days condemning the USSR's by margins of 50+ votes, though Soviet Security Council vetoes blocked enforcement and Western powers—distracted by the —offered only rhetorical support and limited refugee aid, such as U.S. quotas for 40,000 escapees. The event underscored the limits of post-Stalinist liberalization under Khrushchev, reinforcing Soviet doctrinal insistence on bloc unity via force when ideological deviations threatened control.

Prague Spring and Normalization (1968–1989)

In January 1968, Alexander Dubček assumed leadership as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, launching the Prague Spring—a series of liberalizing reforms intended to foster "socialism with a human face" through measures such as ending press censorship, enhancing freedom of speech, and decentralizing economic planning. These changes, while retaining communist ideology, threatened Soviet dominance in the Eastern Bloc by eroding centralized control and inspiring similar sentiments elsewhere. Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, invoking what became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine, viewed the reforms as a deviation from Marxist-Leninist orthodoxy that necessitated intervention to preserve socialist unity. On the night of August 20–21, 1968, forces—comprising primarily Soviet troops supported by contingents from , , , and —invaded with an initial deployment of approximately 200,000 soldiers and 2,000 tanks, rapidly occupying and other major cities. Czechoslovak resistance was largely non-violent, involving protests, strikes, and passive obstruction, but the incursion led to the arrest of Dubček and key reformist figures, who were transported to for coerced negotiations. The operation faced condemnation internationally, including from , which refused participation, and , highlighting fractures within the communist sphere. Casualties included 137 Czechoslovak civilians killed and about 500 seriously wounded, while losses numbered around 20, mostly from traffic accidents during the rapid advance. Dubček's forced resignation in April 1969 paved the way for Gustáv Husák's ascension as First Secretary, marking the onset of the Normalization era, a systematic rollback of gains to realign with Soviet imperatives. Husák's regime conducted extensive purges, expelling over 300,000 members from the —including 44% of regional leaders and key central figures—and dismissing tens of thousands from jobs in government, academia, and media to eliminate reformist influences. This process reinstated strict , curtailed political expression, and prioritized ideological conformity, effectively stifling dissent through surveillance by the (StB) and economic incentives for compliance. From 1969 to 1989, Soviet military presence persisted with permanent garrisons totaling up to 100,000 troops by the early 1970s, underscoring Moscow's direct oversight and deterring further . The human toll of Normalization included widespread , with roughly 300,000 citizens fleeing to the West by the late 1980s, alongside self-immolations like that of student on January 16, 1969, as acts of protest against the suppression. ensued as resources were redirected toward and military alignment with the USSR, exacerbating public disillusionment yet maintaining regime stability until the Velvet Revolution. Sources documenting these events, often from declassified archives and exile testimonies, reveal a pattern of coerced rather than genuine consensus, contrasting official narratives of restored order.

Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989)

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan commenced on December 24, 1979, when elements of the 40th Army, initially numbering around 30,000 troops, crossed the border to bolster the embattled People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) regime against escalating internal rebellions. The Politburo, led by Leonid Brezhnev, approved the intervention after the September 1979 assassination of PDPA leader Nur Muhammad Taraki and amid concerns over Hafizullah Amin's leadership, which Moscow perceived as deviating from Soviet interests and risking collapse to Islamist or nationalist forces. Soviet special forces stormed the Tajbeg Palace in Kabul on December 27, eliminating Amin and installing Babrak Karmal as head of a restructured PDPA government, marking the onset of direct military occupation to secure political control. Soviet forces expanded to a peak of approximately 104,000 personnel by the mid-1980s, focusing occupation efforts on holding urban centers like , major highways, and airfields while relying on the Afghan Democratic Republic's army for support. This urban-centric allowed effective control over functions and supply lines but left vast rural territories dominated by guerrilla factions, who employed , ambushes, and improvised explosive devices to erode Soviet logistical capabilities. The occupation involved systematic aerial bombings, scorched-earth operations, and collective punishments against suspected insurgent villages, displacing over 5 million Afghans as refugees primarily to and . Mujahideen resistance, comprising diverse ethnic and ideological groups, received substantial external assistance, including U.S. missiles from 1986 onward, which neutralized Soviet air superiority and inflicted mounting losses. Soviet casualties accumulated to over 15,000 killed and 50,000 wounded by war's end, with economic costs exceeding 15 billion rubles by 1986, straining the USSR's resources amid broader domestic reforms under . Afghan losses were far higher, with estimates of 1-2 million civilian and combatant deaths from combat, , and induced by the conflict. Facing unsustainable attrition and international isolation, including UN condemnations and U.S.-led sanctions, Gorbachev pursued withdrawal negotiations, culminating in the Accords signed on April 14, 1988. Soviet troop pullout proceeded in phases, concluding on February 15, 1989, leaving the Najibullah government temporarily intact but exposing the occupation's failure to establish lasting Soviet-aligned control, as offensives intensified post-withdrawal. The episode contributed to internal Soviet disillusionment, accelerating glasnost-era critiques of military adventurism and factoring into the USSR's eventual dissolution.

Legacy and Historiographical Reassessments

Violations of International Law and Sovereignty

The Soviet Union's military occupations often involved actions that disregarded the sovereign equality of states and the prohibition on the use of force, as outlined in Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, which bars threats or employment of force against territorial integrity or political independence. These occupations included forcible annexations, such as the 1940 incorporation of the Baltic states following ultimatums, military threats, and coerced "elections" with pre-determined outcomes, actions that lacked legal basis under contemporaneous treaties like the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact renouncing war and were non-recognized de jure by major powers including the United States, preserving the continuity of pre-annexation governments in international law. Similarly, the 1944 annexation of Tannu Tuva proceeded without plebiscite or international oversight, subsuming the territory into the RSFSR despite its prior status as a Soviet protectorate with nominal independence. In the post-World War II context, the Soviet occupation of the , initiated in after 's surrender, exceeded the terms of the Agreement's provision for Soviet rights to the islands "south of Kamchatka," as maintains the northernmost four islands (Etorofu, Kunashiri, , and Habomai group) were not historically part of the Kurils ceded in 1875 treaties and were not explicitly addressed in the , rendering the seizure an unlawful appropriation of Japanese without compensation or mutual consent. This has perpetuated a , with designating the holdings as under "illegal occupation" in official diplomatic statements, while Soviet/Russian claims rely on unilateral interpretation of wartime accords without endorsement in the 1951 Peace Treaty, from which the USSR abstained. Cold War-era interventions exemplified direct violations through uninvited military force to enforce ideological conformity over sovereign decision-making. The 1956 suppression of the Hungarian Revolution involved over 200,000 Soviet troops entering on November 4 without Hungarian governmental request post-Imre Nagy's and withdrawal from the , contravening the UN Charter's non-intervention principle and drawing widespread condemnation, including UN resolutions labeling it aggression despite Soviet justifications of "fraternal assistance." The 1968 during the deployed 500,000 troops on August 20-21 to halt reforms under , bypassing any valid invitation from a representative authority and infringing on , as affirmed by contemporary legal analyses deeming it incompatible with both general and Soviet doctrinal exceptions for socialist solidarity. The 1979-1989 Afghan intervention, commencing with 100,000 Soviet troops crossing the border on December 24-27 at the behest of the fragile Karmal regime installed via coup, was denounced as a "callous violation" of the by U.S. President Carter and prompted UN Resolution ES-6/2 on January 14, 1980, demanding immediate withdrawal by a vote of 104-18, rejecting Soviet claims of defensive aid against insurgents as pretextual given the scale of occupation and installation of a government. These actions collectively undermined post-1945 norms against forcible , with Soviet legal rationales—often invoking class struggle over state —diverging from prevailing interpretations emphasizing consent and proportionality, as evidenced by non-recognition policies and exclusion from treaties like the 1975 Final Act's territorial integrity provisions for disputed holdings.

Human Costs: Atrocities, Deportations, and Economic Exploitation

During Soviet military occupations, deportations targeted ethnic groups deemed unreliable or obstructive to control, often resulting in high mortality from transit hardships, forced labor, and exile conditions. In the occupation starting in 1945, Soviet authorities forcibly deported approximately 17,000 Japanese inhabitants by 1949, repopulating the area with Soviet settlers while suppressing indigenous Ainu and remaining Japanese communities. The of Tannu in 1944 involved no large-scale deportations but integrated the population into Soviet structures, with purges targeting political elites rather than mass ethnic removal. Atrocities, including summary executions, mass arrests, and indiscriminate violence, accompanied interventions to crush resistance. The 1956 suppression of the Hungarian Revolution saw Soviet tanks and troops kill 2,700 Hungarians, wound over 12,000, and lead to the execution or imprisonment of thousands more in subsequent reprisals. In the 1968 invasion to end the , 137 Czechoslovak citizens died directly from military actions such as shootings and vehicle incidents during the initial assault, with broader repression claiming additional lives through arrests and suicides in the following years. The Soviet-Afghan War (1979–1989) inflicted severe civilian tolls via aerial bombings, scorched-earth tactics, and forced , displacing over 5 million Afghans as refugees and contributing to widespread and disease. Economic exploitation prioritized Soviet reconstruction over occupied territories' recovery, through , unequal trade, and reparations. In (1945–1946), Soviet forces dismantled and shipped industrial plants—originally built by —worth billions in equivalent value, treating them as reparations while disrupting local Chinese industry. Similar patterns emerged in the Korean Peninsula occupation (1945–1948), where northern resources fueled Soviet recovery, and in prolonged controls like East European satellites, where joint companies and Comecon terms funneled raw materials and manufactures to at below-market rates until the mid-1950s. These practices, justified as compensation for damages, retarded postwar development in occupied regions, exacerbating famines and dependency.

Post-1991 Recognitions and Debates on "Liberation" Narratives

In the , independence declarations in explicitly framed the Soviet presence from 1940–1941 and 1944– as illegal military occupations, rejecting Soviet claims of liberation or voluntary union. Estonia's Constitutional Assembly, convened post-independence, affirmed legal continuity with the pre-1940 republic and classified the entire Soviet era as occupation, supported by declassified documents showing forced annexations and mass deportations of over 200,000 people. and enacted similar legislation, with 's 1991 parliament declaring the 1940 "elections" fraudulent and the subsequent regime an occupying power, leading to ongoing demands for restitution from as the Soviet successor state. These positions aligned with the U.S. Welles Declaration of 1940, which non-recognized the annexations, and were reinforced by international acknowledgments, including the UN's implicit acceptance of Baltic sovereignty restoration. Eastern European nations beyond the Baltics similarly reassessed Soviet "liberations" during as preludes to subjugation. Poland's , established in 1998, documented the Red Army's 1944–1945 entry as enabling NKVD-orchestrated terror, including the deportation of 1.5 million Poles and installation of a puppet government via the rigged 1947 elections. Hungary's post-1989 parliament condemned the 1945 Soviet advance not as emancipation from but as the start of a 45-year occupation, evidenced by the suppression of multiparty systems and economic extraction via . Czechoslovakia's 1990 [Velvet Revolution](/page/Velvet_ Revolution) led to official recognition of the 1945 "liberation" as occupation, with historians citing the immediate arrest of non-communist leaders and the 1948 coup as causal extensions of military control. These views gained traction through declassified Soviet archives opened after 1991, revealing orders for political purges independent of anti-Nazi efforts. The has advanced these recognitions through post-1991 resolutions equating Soviet and while challenging liberation narratives. A 2004 resolution on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact's 60th anniversary demanded acknowledgment of its role in partitioning and the illegal Baltic annexations, urging member states to commemorate victims of both regimes equally. In 2008, another resolution called for a -wide day of remembrance for totalitarian crimes, explicitly including Soviet occupations and rejecting portrayals of advances as unqualified liberations. A 2021 informal resolution on the 80th anniversary of 1941 deportations reiterated that Soviet actions constituted occupation, not salvation, and condemned ongoing Russian historical distortions. These measures faced opposition from Russian officials, who maintain that such equivalences diminish the Soviet contribution to defeating , with over 27 million USSR deaths framed as sacrificial proof of benevolent intent. Debates intensified with Russia's persistence in the "Great Patriotic War" framework, where state narratives since 1991 portray 1944–1945 operations as pure liberations, omitting post-victory impositions like the deportation of 500,000–1 million ethnic and Balts under and similar actions. Eastern European scholars, drawing on archival evidence, counter that causal realism demands distinguishing military defeat of from the subsequent sovereignty violations, including bilateral treaties forcing alliance structures like the . In contrast, Russian historiography, influenced by Putin-era laws criminalizing "falsification" of WWII history (e.g., 2014 amendments), upholds liberation to justify influence in post-Soviet spaces, as seen in narratives equating expansion to renewed occupation threats. This clash manifests in controversies, such as Poland's removal of Soviet-era statues reframed as occupier symbols, versus Russia's 2015 "" marches glorifying the [Red Army](/page/Red Army) without contextualizing ensuing repressions.

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