page_title: Harju County
section_title: Summer War
hierarchical_section_title: Harju County / History / Occupation era / Summer War
caption_attribution_description: English: Battles on the outskirts of the city Русский: 2=Бои на подступах к городу
context_page_description: Harju County, is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the southeast, Rapla County to the south, and Lääne County to the southwest. The capital and largest city of Estonia, Tallinn, is situated in Harju County. Harju County is the largest county in Estonia in terms of population, as almost half of the Estonia's population lives in Harju County.
context_section_description: Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 and Finland declared the Continuation War with the Soviet Union on 25 June 1941. As the Soviet Union retreated, its destruction battalions carried out the scorched-earth tactics. The Erna long-range reconnaissance group was sent from Finland to Northern Estonia on 10 July 1941 to perform reconnaissance of the retreating Red Army, but it eventually engaged the destruction battalions near Kautla forest (Battle of Kautla) on 31 July to 1 August 1941, allowing 2,000 civilians to flee.
  German forces started its Tallinn Offensive on 19 August 1941, capturing Rapla on 21 August 1941. They reached Tallinn outskirts in Pirita on 24 August 1941 and Harku and Lasnamäe on 26 August 1941. Ordinary citizens were ordered to build defenses around Tallinn. Soviet forces started evacuating by sea on 24 August 1941. Of the 195 ships, that left Tallinn and Paldiski, 55 were sunk by mines near Juminda Peninsula, killing around 15,000 evacuees. Evacuating Soviet forces destroyed much of the infrastructure and industry around Tallinn. German forces captured Paldiski and Tallinn on 28 August 1941, shooting down the Soviet Flag on Tallinn Pikk Hermann Tower. Estonians replaced it with the Flag of Estonia, but it was replaced with the Flag of Germany the next day. German forces were greeted as liberators in Tallinn. It was also the first time since 1219 that Tallinn had been captured following a military engagement.
caption: Battles for Tallinn in August 1941
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