Ministry of the Maritime Fleet (Soviet Union) 1922 and was collapsed in 1991. But Minforflot has more short history. Until 25 May 1939, functions of the Ministry of Maritime Fleet USSR were carried out by the People's Commissariat of Water Transport of the USSR, which was responsible for both maritime and river fleets of the USSR. The structure of the People's Commissariat of Maritime Fleet USSR as a separate people's commissariat was confirmed by a decree of the Council of Ministers USSR on 25 May 1939. On 15 March 1946, the People's Commissariat of Maritime Fleet USSR was changed to the Ministry of Maritime Fleet USSR by
Occupation of the Baltic states of their own accord in 1940, and, with the dissolution of the USSR, these countries became newly created entities in 1991. Russia's stance is based upon the desire to avoid financial liability, the view being that acknowledging the Soviet occupation would set the stage for future compensation claims from the Baltic states. Soviet historians saw the 1940 incorporation as a voluntary entry into the USSR by the Balts. Soviet historiography inherited the Russian concept from the age of Kievan Rus carried through the Russian Empire. It promoted the interests of Russia and the USSR in the Baltic area, and it