This week marks the 75th anniversary of the Welles Declaration, when the United States stood up for freedom, democracy, and the right to self-determination in the Baltic states. In the Declaration, the United States made clear that America would stand with the citizens of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the face of Soviet aggression.

Then-Secretary of State Sumner Welles stated:

The policy of this Government is universally known. The people of the United States are opposed to predatory activities no matter whether they are carried on by the use of force or by the threat of force. They are likewise opposed to any form of intervention on the part of one State, however powerful, in the domestic concerns of any other sovereign state, however weak.

The Welles Declaration told the world what America thought of the Soviet invasion of the Baltics, and it made clear to our allies that we stood with them no matter the circumstances. The United States proved this by keeping open diplomatic relations with the three Baltic states throughout both World War II and the Cold War and refusing to acknowledge the Soviet Union’s occupation.

Lithuania opened an embassy office in Washington in 1924, years before the Soviets annexed the country. After the Soviets invaded Lithuania in June 1940, diplomats from the country continued working in that DC office. In 1991, after the Soviet Union fell and Lithuania again became an independent country, the office again became the official Lithuanian Embassy.

The United States also supported Latvia during the Soviet occupation. Although the Soviets closed the U.S. embassy in the Latvian capital, Riga, America continued to work closely with Latvian diplomats in the U.S. The United States defied the Soviet Union by freezing all of the Baltic State’s monetary funds, including a great deal of Latvian gold. This was done in direct defiance of the Soviet Union and demonstrated America’s solidarity with the Baltic state.

U.S. diplomatic relations with Estonia began in 1922 and continued throughout the Soviet occupation. As the Estonian Embassy states, “The recognition of the legal continuity of the Republic of Estonia has been the cornerstone of Estonian-U.S. relations.”

Secretary of State Welles summed up the United States’ commitment to democratic principles and the independence of the Baltic states:

The United States will continue to stand by these principles…unless the doctrine in which these principles are inherent once again governs the relations between nations, the rule of reason, of justice and of law—in other words, the basis of modern civilization itself—cannot be preserved.

On its 75th anniversary, the Welles Declaration remains a powerful example of the way the United States should treats its allies, especially when they are facing difficult challenges.

Andrew Fink is currently a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. For more information on interning at Heritage, please click here.