On 18 June 1940, Soviet Deputy People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs Andrey Vyshinsky arrived in Riga – Stalin’s emissary who began forming a puppet government imposed on Latvia. This happened one day after the Red Army entered Latvia and became one of the decisive steps in the staged legalisation of the occupation. Formally, Vyshinsky discussed the cabinet’s composition with Kārlis Ulmanis, but the candidates had already been coordinated within Soviet embassy and secret-police circles.

This day marks the shift from military occupation to political seizure of power. The government formation directed by Vyshinsky paved the way for the undemocratic elections of July 1940 and Latvia’s unlawful incorporation into the USSR on 5 August.