Postwar political, industrial, and agricultural policies wrought fundamental changes in the economic and social structures of the Baltic lands. Their economies were integrated into the general Soviet system of planning and development. Considerable increases in production resulted from heavy investment in large projects in Estonia and Latvia. Industrialization and urbanization in less-developed Lithuania began during the late 1950s. Living standards remained generally low by European measures but were higher than average in comparison with the U.S.S.R. as a whole.After regaining control the Soviets resumed the integration of the Baltic lands into the U.S.S.R. The political structures that had been fashioned in 1940–41 were reestablished. A considerable number of nonindigenous officials, unfamiliar with the societies of the region, were brought in to consolidate Soviet rule and to complement the heavy presence of military and coercive forces.
