Main articles: Estonia in World War II and Occupation of the Baltic states
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union left Estonia in the Soviet sphere of interest. The Soviet Union threatened Estonia with war if Estonia did not agree with the mutual assistance pact, which required allowing the Soviet Union to build military bases into Estonia. The Estonian government convinced that winning a war against the Soviet Union was impossible, agreed on 28 September 1939. The Soviets conducted a coup d'état with the start of the full Soviet occupation of Estonia by the Red Army in June 1940, and a sham election was held under Soviet control. The new government took office and the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on 2 July 1940. The puppet state was formally accepted into the Soviet Union on 6 August.[citation needed] The legality of the annexation was not recognized by most Western countries and the Baltic states continued to exist as formally independent nations until 1991.
Estonia was occupied by Germany in 1941 after war broke out between Germany and the Soviet Union. With the return of the Soviet Armed Forces, 70,000 Estoniansjoined or were conscripted by the German side to fight the Soviets. The National Committee failed to restore the national government in September 1944 due to the Soviet reoccupation. At the end of the war, the subsequent Forest Brothers armed insurrection against the Soviet authorities started, which lasted in the Baltic states until the mid-1950s. Estonia remained a de facto part of the USSR until 1991.
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union left Estonia in the Soviet sphere of interest. The Soviet Union threatened Estonia with war if Estonia did not agree with the mutual assistance pact, which required allowing the Soviet Union to build military bases into Estonia. The Estonian government convinced that winning a war against the Soviet Union was impossible, agreed on 28 September 1939. The Soviets conducted a coup d'état with the start of the full Soviet occupation of Estonia by the Red Army in June 1940, and a sham election was held under Soviet control. The new government took office and the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on 2 July 1940. The puppet state was formally accepted into the Soviet Union on 6 August.[citation needed] The legality of the annexation was not recognized by most Western countries and the Baltic states continued to exist as formally independent nations until 1991.
Estonia was occupied by Germany in 1941 after war broke out between Germany and the Soviet Union. With the return of the Soviet Armed Forces, 70,000 Estoniansjoined or were conscripted by the German side to fight the Soviets. The National Committee failed to restore the national government in September 1944 due to the Soviet reoccupation. At the end of the war, the subsequent Forest Brothers armed insurrection against the Soviet authorities started, which lasted in the Baltic states until the mid-1950s. Estonia remained a de facto part of the USSR until 1991.