It was the Soviet Union itself that presented the League of Nations on February 6, 1933 the criteria for defining an “aggressor” state as one who is the first to enact one of the following: declare war against another country; deploy troops on foreign territory with or without declaring war; enforce a sea blockade against foreign ports or shores; attack with land, sea or air power foreign planes or ships. In the case of Estonia the Soviet Union fulfilled all of the above criteria.
Added to the definition was the stipulation that aggression cannot be justified by any political or economic situation, labour unrest, revolution, counter-revolution, civil war and the like. Nor can aggression be warranted by perceived injustice against a country’s alien population, by involvements in diplomatic or economic relations, border incidents, etc.
Mock elections of the new “parliaments” were conducted from July 14 – 15 in which non-communist candidates were disqualified, harassed and beaten. Exercise of secret ballot was denied. Even by the less rigid standards of the time, the process was an undisguised farce, a mockery of the democratic process.
From June 21 to August 25, 1940, the national institutions, police force, army, financial and economic system of Estonia were eliminated, civil associations dissolved, and education reorganized on the Soviet model.
The Moscow-selected members of the parliament on July 21, 1940 declared Estonia to be a soviet socialist republic and applied for acceptance in the USSR. Accordingly, the Soviet Union annexed Estonia on August 6th.
The evidence is overwhelming and conclusive: Estonia was forcibly occupied and illegally annexed. The elections in July 1940 were not free and voluntary and the resolution of the puppet parliament petitioning for recognition as a Soviet Republic was a thinly veiled deception.
In staging similar events in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with practically the same time line the Soviet Union violated the following treaties and agreements: Treaty of peace between Russia and Estonia, signed at Tartu, February 2, 1920, in which “…Russia unreservedly recognizes the independence and autonomy of the State of Estonia, and renounces voluntarily and forever all rights of sovereignty held by Russia over the Estonian people…”; Protocol to the Briand- Protocol Declaring Adherence to the Kellogg Pact, signed on August 27, 1928; Treaty of Non-Aggression and Peaceful Settlement of Disputes between Estonia and the USSR, signed at Moscow, May 4, 1932; in which both parties “…guarantee the inviolability of frontiers existing between them…and undertake to not to participate in any political agreements manifestly directed against the other Party in the sense of aggression…”; Convention on the Definition of Aggression, signed at London, July 3, 1933; General Treaty for Renunciation of Wars as an Instrument of National Policy, signed at Paris, August 27, 1928; Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, signed at The Hague, October 18, 1907 (the USSR became a member of the convention later); Mutual Assistance Pact between the USSR and Estonia, signed September 28, 1939, in which it was stipulated that the Pact “shall in no way infringe upon the sovereign rights of the Contracting parties, particularly their economic system and political structure.”; The Covenant of the League of Nations, which came into force on January 10, 1920, Estonia acceded on September 22, 1921 and the USSR acceded on September 18, 1934.
There can be no doubt that the occupation and annexation of Estonia (also of Lithuania and Latvia) by the USSR constituted an act of aggression and a flagrant violation of numerous treaties and conventions, and generally accepted and recognized principles of international law.
***
The Estonian Central Council’s September 8th “Mind and Memory” commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the annexation of Estonia will be the first of several in which personal experiences of the occupation are to be presented. We invite those who may bear personal witness to those years to contact the Council at 416 465 2219 or the Consulate at 416 461 0764.
Occupation or voluntary accession? (Part 4) (31)
Archived Articles | 05 Aug 2005 | Estonian Central Council in CanadaEWR
Viimased kommentaarid
Kommentaarid on kirjutatud EWR lugejate poolt. Nende sisu ei pruugi ühtida EWR toimetuse seisukohtadega.
If you enjoy this type of entertainment, go to the circus. Performers in the freak-show, there, are paid to humiliate themselves before a crowd and it's done in a private venue, away from the general public that's easily embarrassed.
Seldom do I have a belly laugh but the 29 posts are very entertaining and Maxim keep it up. I have investigated Estonian history and it is becoming politically correct. Some of the answers can be found in overseas archives where the letters of the Estonians to relatives provide interesting insights into some of the scandals mentioned. You will delight in my forthcoming book. my father's eyewitness account of the 1920s, thirties and forties.
Looks like big brother is making another attempt here to get his way-history lessons are obviously of little value to some. Stalin brought about a sense of "openness" to his society-out the window went the intelligentsia and all other threatening forms of life; the same happened in China with the Cultural revolution. And these days we are nudging harder and harder in the West to get people to reveal their identity when expressing their thoughts. The frog in the extreme water temperature syndrome, you could call it. Peep should know better-he lived in a one-candidate regime where someone looked over your shoulder in the ballot box; yet he wants a return of these good old days. These politically correct people argue that others should have nothing to hide, if they speak the truth-let them reveal themselves to those who really must know who they are. Try convincing someone who made it through a civil revolution (like Russia's or China's) as to whether that really is the case. If we didn't have the framework (made up of the politically correct police force!) for conspiring to rid free thinkers amongst us, then the picture today would be vastly different and considerably less threatening. Peep even manages to convey a sinister tone in his comment whether he admits to it or not. However, libel being what it is today, the first people to go underground in any so-called effort at "openness" are the free thinkers. What do you have left? The idiots who shout at others for saying something in the first place, when really the former wanted the Metropolis to be filled with their own egotistically-minded pollution. Eesti Elu-look out! Your days of freedom could be numbered, if the likes of Peep get their way.
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