The move suggests once more the unexpected lack of adroitness in the Soviet Government's handling of the whole Finnish affair in comparison with the Russian skill shown in dealing with the three Baltic States...Pardon my lack of knowledge of this era but what are the writers referring to when they speak of "Russian skill shown in dealing with the three Baltic States"?
And is it possible that they are terming the blockade and invasion of a sovereign state an "unexpected lack of adroitness"?
In the days immediately following the partition of Poland the Soviets exerted their influence on the Baltic states which consisted of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. In doing so they acquired base rights in the countries and basically made them puppets to the Soviets. Throughout the war the Baltic states would be victims of the two larger waring states. First they were occupied by the Soviets then the Germans rolled in only to cede them back to the Soviet Union who absorbed them into their post WWII nation until the crumbling Soviet Union recognized their independence in 1991.