Chapter 9.2: The June Coup
Estonia was blamed for not keeping up with the mutual assistance treaty and new demands including further military bases as well as the increase of army personnel were put forward. In the meantime the Red Army got once more ready for war, bringing more than half a million of Red Army soldiers on the border of the Baltic countries. By the beginning of June, this giant horde, as well as the units within the bases, were put in full preparedness for battle.
On the 14th of June the Soviet Union issued an ultimatum to Lithuania, demanding that Red Army units be put in all major centres and a pro-Moscow government formed. The exact same ultimatum was issued to both Latvia and Estonia. As any military resistance in this situation was hopeless, the governments of the Baltic countries decided to comply. Instead of a symbolic resistance they surrendered silently.
In the early morning of the 17th of June more than 90 thousand Red Army soldiers crossed the Estonian border. All larger settlements received Soviet garrisons. The Estonian commander in chief Johan Laidoner was forced to sign the dictate of Narva, where the control of all lines of communication, railways and roads were handed to the Red Army, all public meetings and protests were banned and private individuals were forced to give up their weapons. The latter was to disarm the Defence League, the paramilitary territorial defence organisation made up by volunteers. To orchestrate further events a special representative of Stalin, Andrei Ždanov arrived at the Russian embassy in Tallinn to put together the new Estonian government.
After the workday of the 21st of June had begun, the many factory workers in Tallinn began their work. Suddenly Red Army soldiers marched into the factories and ordered them to go to Freedom Square, where they were joined by many Red Army soldiers in civil uniform. From there, guided by Soviet armoured cars, they were forced to march to Kadriorg, the residence of president Päts, where they demanded that the government of Uluots must step back.
The people marching to Kadriorg. One can clearly see the armoured cars.
Now that is not to say that there were no Estonians who would support the Soviet Union in the coming events. During this period many people would declare their “communist views” and run along with the charade. The vast majority of them however did not really believe in the ideology, but rather saw this as an opportunity to secure a future for themselves (not be persecuted) and make a career. They became known as “juunikommunistid” or June communists, referring to the fact that they conveniently became communists overnight when it suited them.
On the same day Ždanov visited Päts and gave him a list of the new government members, who stepped into office in the same evening. The people put in charge were not communists however, but rather social democrats and leftist intelligentsia. The doctor who had become famous as a poet, Johannes Vares-Barbarus became prime minister, his deputy was the professor of history Hans Kruus and the rest of the ministers were the most left wing members of the lower chamber of parliament.
Johannes Vares-Barbarus (1890-1946). Became known as a left wing poet, whilst by profession he was a gynaecologist. Ended his life with a suicide. Although we do not know why, my personal belief was that it was due to feeling guilty about what he had been complicit with.
The new government was essentially the direct puppet of the Soviet Union, they followed the demands received from Ždanov. On the first days of July the Riigikogu was disbanded and on the 5th of July new elections were declared for the 14th-15th of July, despite the time between declaring new elections and those elections taking place being 45 days in the constitution. This meant that the elections were de facto unconstitutional and de jure null and void. Not to mention that Estonia was an occupied state at the time, so even the forced departure of Jüri Uluots from office was legally null and void.
The official party in the election was the “Union of Working People” (Töötava Rahva Liit), which set up candidates in all 80 constituencies immediately after the elections were declared. The national opposition, for whom the elections were a complete surprise and who struggled to organise in the few days they were given, also put up 80 candidates. Almost all of the non-communists decided to consolidate behind one candidate in each constituency to maximise the potential for victory. However, 17 of the opposition candidates “voluntarily” cancelled their own candidature, 1 was arrested and 58 were declared “unsuitable” (cause their programme was too anti-communist) and had their candidature also cancelled. This meant that when the elections took place, 76/80 seats in parliament had only one candidate.
In many polling stations there were Red Army soldiers posted, and people were forced to go out and vote. As the election integrity was compromised, we shall never know the real results of the election. The official result however was a whopping 84% turnout and 93% support for the Union of Working People, which won all 80 seats in parliament.
The redecorated parliament hall. The pictures of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin as well as the coat of arms of the Soviet Union were displayed, together with the banner “Estonia marches in step with the Union of Socialist Republics”.
On the 18th of July 1940 the Estonian national football team played its last, 107th game as an independent country. After a 2:1 victory against Latvia, the onlookers began a protest and marched to the presidential palace, publicly declaring their support for Päts and the republic. They were dispersed by the army and arrests began on the same evening, the president of the Estonian Football Association was arrested and executed two days later.
On the 21st of July the fresh communist parliament declared that the Republic of Estonia will be renamed the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (Eesti Nõukogude Sotsialistlik Vabariik). On the same day the Estonian tricolour was banned and replaced by the red banner. The Soviet Union was also asked to let Estonia join it as a member republic.
Estonian school friends who gathered together to take a picture in the backyard of a friend, together with the Estonian flag. It was taken on the 21st of July at the same time as the parliament declared the national tricolour illegal, which was an event that was widely known beforehand. The friends would lose touch during the chaotic war years where many would perish.
On the 6th of August the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union graciously accepted the “request of the Estonian people” and Estonia was officially annexed into the Soviet Union. The same had happened a few days prior to Latvia and Lithuania. Legally speaking however Estonia never joined the Soviet Union, all of the actions that were taken by the parliament of Estonia at the time had no legal backing, as the body itself was unconstitutional. Therefore this was merely the finalisation of the framework for the occupation that began when Soviet army units took control over Estonia.
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