Figure 1.--The Red army drive back into the Baltics began after the destruction of army Group Center. This isolated Army Group North which did have the capability of resisting the massive Soviet force arrayed against it. The pressc sption here read only, "Red Army Troops and Armor Advance on the Baltic Front: These Red Army troops are advancing on the Baltic Front toward the Baltic Sea with a speed which thretens rhe emeny with disaster."

The next Soviet offensive was aimed at the Baltics. The Baltic Republics were not part of the Soviet Union at the onset of the War. They were part oif the Russian Empire, but obtained their indeoendence after World War I by beating back Bolshevick armies. The Soviets invaded and annexed the Baltic (1940), as part of their share of Europe as a NAZI ally under the terms of the NAZI-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The Soviet NKVD committed terrible attrocities throughutvtheBaltics. Army Grouo North as part of Barbarossa rolled rapidly east through the Baltics (1941). With the Geman defeats in the East, the Soviets by 1944 were in a position to retake the Baltics. The strongest German formatiin in the east was army Group Center. The Soviet Bagration offensive shattered Army Groupo Center and separated what was left from Army Group North (July 30). Without the suppoort of Army Group Center, Army Group North had no chance of defending the Baltics from the massive Soviet forces grouping for anothger offensive. The Red Army Leningrad Front and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Baltic Fronts smashed into what was left of Army Group North (September 14). This offensive drove into Estonia and most of Latvia. The Red Army entered Tallinn (September 22). Thiswas not, however, a liberation as was the case in the West. Estonia and and other Balts were just experiencing a chnge of German for Soviet occupation. A nightmarish Soviet occupation followed. A dreadful as the Soviet occupation was, the Balts did not know that the Germans as part of Generalplan Ost were planning their eliminattion. The Soviets entered Riga wiyhout a fight (October 13). Because of Hitler's orders to stand and fight, the Soviets were able to isolate 30 divisions of Army Group North from Army Group Center. This became known as the Courland Pocket. The Soviets simply bypassed them and moved west. The 30 divisions could have been used in the defense of Berlin. The Germnsithout supplies were not a thret. They held out until the end of the war. Stalin's speech called the offensive the Liberation of Estonia and Latvia and explained that the Germans in Courland were cut off and the Finns were forced out of the War. With the NAZIU surrender (May 1945), the Germans in the Courland Pocket disappeared into the Soviet Gulag, Few ever survived to return to Germany.

Created: 7:56 AM 8/5/2016
Last updated: 7:56 AM 8/5/2016