Baltic Republics

From Hobson's Choice

The three nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. These three countries have a combined population of just under 8 million. Prior to 1917, they were part of the Russian Empire; between 1918 and 1940, they were independent. They were absorbed by the USSR as a result of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact (Aug 1939) and remained under Soviet rule until August 1991, when the USSR broke up.