In 1940, Estonia was first occupied and then annexed by the Soviet Union. The process of Sovietization started immediately and was accompanied by a thorough reconstruction of the economy. This monograph looks in detail at the different stages of economic restructuring of a country to be remodeled according to the Soviet example. Exploitation, violence, and declining living standards formed part of the process under Stalinist rule. Different sectors of the economy, but also the demographic development, are analyzed. By the end of Stalinism, the outcome indicated a disaster.

Olaf Mertelsmann is a professor of Eastern European history at the University of Tartu, Estonia. He has researched Stalinism, Baltic history, and social and economic history. Among other works, he has authored Everyday Life in Stalinist Estonia and edited The Sovietization of the Baltic States, 1940–1956 and The Baltic States under Stalinist Rule.