Ka cika wannan jumlar: Yarjejeniyar sirri da ke cikin Yarjejeniyar Molotov-Ribbentrop na 1939 tsakanin Jamus da Tarayyar Soviet ta sa Estonia, Latvia, da Lithuania su kasance a ƙarƙashin ikon Soviet. A ƙarshen 1939 da farkon 1940, Tarayyar Soviet ta ba da jerin umarni ga gwamnatocin Baltic wanda a ƙarshe ya haifar da haramtacciyar haɗuwa da jihohin. (A game da lokaci guda, Tarayyar Soviet tana yin irin wannan
matsa lamba a kan Finland.) Kimanin sojojin Soviet 30,000 sun shiga jihohin Baltic a watan Yuni na 1940, sannan aka kama shugabanninsu da 'yan ƙasa.