What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WWII?

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Futurist
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What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WWII?

#1

Post by Futurist » 04 May 2016, 01:16

What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad Oblast after the end of World War II?

Indeed, any thoughts and/or data in regards to this?
Last edited by Futurist on 04 May 2016, 01:19, edited 1 time in total.

Futurist
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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#2

Post by Futurist » 04 May 2016, 01:18

Also, for the record, here is a map from 2011 which nevertheless shows a lot of the effects of this post-World War II migration of ethnic Russians into Estonia and Latvia (and, to a much lesser degree, into Lithuania as well):

Image


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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#3

Post by Ken S. » 26 Feb 2018, 08:49

Kaliningrad in part was forced migration.

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Sheldrake
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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#4

Post by Sheldrake » 26 Feb 2018, 11:01

Ken S. wrote:Kaliningrad in part was forced migration.
"Part forced migration" is an understatement as a description of the expulsion of the Germans from East Prussia and replacement with Russian settlers assigned by Stalin's USSR.

Ditto the rest of the Baltic states if wikipedsia is to be believed.

There were substantial Russian minorities in all three Baltic states before the C20th. Occupation/liberation by soviet then German and soviets again between 1940-45 brought ethnic cleansing and forced resettlement. At the end of the War, the Soviet line was that nationalist elements in all three of the Baltic states had raised SS forces to fight for Nazi Germany and further Nazi aims, and Kaliningrad was the homeland of Prussian militarism. Expulsion of undesirable elements to the Gulags and introduction of a reliable (Russian) cadres was a requisite for Soviet security.
I am not claiming to agree with the policy, but outlining my understanding of the logic.

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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#5

Post by Art » 26 Feb 2018, 12:33

German civilians for the most part fled from the East Prussia on their own during the war. The post-war deportation or resettlement, if you want, from the Kaliningrad region in 1947-48 involved only some 100 000 people.
The same for the Baltic republics: hundreds thousand fled to Sweden or Germany in 1944-45.

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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#6

Post by Sid Guttridge » 26 Feb 2018, 16:21

Hi Guys,

As there was no freedom of movement in the USSR, the settlement must have been state sponsored.

Where the various nationalities of the USSR were brought together on such state-sponsored settlement programmes (as in the Donetsk/Lughansk regions of eastern Ukraine, or in Transnistria, or Kaliningrad, etc., etc.) the common language was necessarily Russian and the children of the mixed migrants were schooled in it. This helped the gradual homogenization of the Czarist and Soviet empires as essentially Russian entities. For example, in the 1920s not only were Lughansk and Donetsk overwhelmingly Ukrainian, but some neighbouring territory in the Russian SSR were majority Ukrainian as well, but by 1990 this had changed due to stat-sponsored internal migration.

The Baltic States had small indigenous populations and the post-war migration of Russian-speakers came particularly close to overturning the Latvians' majority in their own country.

Cheers,

Sid.

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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#7

Post by mars » 26 Feb 2018, 16:41

Sid Guttridge wrote:Hi Guys,

As there was no freedom of movement in the USSR, the settlement must have been state sponsored.

Cheers,

Sid.
It was not exactly true to state that "there was no freedom of movement in the USSR", but of course any large scale immigrants must be sponsored by the government

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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#8

Post by Art » 26 Feb 2018, 17:37

Sid Guttridge wrote: As there was no freedom of movement in the USSR, the settlement must have been state sponsored.
Seems that we discussed that already:
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic ... &p=2003911
In general, there were many opportunities to relocate on own will.
For example, in the 1920s not only were Lughansk and Donetsk overwhelmingly Ukrainian, but some neighbouring territory in the Russian SSR were majority Ukrainian as well, but by 1990 this had changed due to stat-sponsored internal migration.
Not necessarily. The same people called themselves "Ukrainians" in the census of 1926 and "Russians" in the census of 1939. That's a known thing in literature on Soviet demographics.

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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#9

Post by Seppo Koivisto » 27 Feb 2018, 15:13

I have understood that new industries were created especially in the North East of Estonia and ethnic Russians were moved as workforce for the new industries. In Lithuania this industrialization was much smaller scale and thus less migration.

In 1945 Estonia had 854 000 inhabitants of which 97,3% were ethnic Estonians. 200 000 immigrants were moved in in 1945-49 and 22 000 Estonians were deported in 1949.
http://suomenhistoriaa.blogspot.de/2009 ... allan.html

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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#10

Post by Sid Guttridge » 27 Feb 2018, 16:14

Hi Mars,

Are you saying that individuals could move freely within the USSR without seeking official approval?

Given that they required state housing and a state job, how could they do this?

Cheers,

Sid.

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Re: What were the main reasons that many ethnic Russians settled in Estonia, Latvia, and Kaliningrad after the end of WW

#11

Post by Seppo Koivisto » 02 Apr 2018, 09:03

I just visited the Occupation Museum in Riga and here are few figures from their display. From 1939 to 1949 Latvia had lost one third (550 000) of its population. Which gave the excuse to bring in 800 000 people during the next 50 years, 12 000 new settlers arrived in 1946, 11 500 in 1947.

On 29 January 1949 the degree on mass deportations from the Baltic countries is passed by the USSR Council of Ministers. 42 000 people are deported from Latvia, 32 000 from Lithuania and 21 000 from Estonia. Deported were mainly farmers (kulaks) to cut support of the partisan movements. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populatio ... viet_Union

In Latvia new industries were constructed in Ogre, Daugavapils, Liepaja and Riga. Workforce for new plants are brought from other Soviet republics.

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