History of Lithuania
Background: The first record of the Litua occurs in 1008/9 in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg (for February 14, 1009?).
In 1236, small Baltic tribal groups were united under the rule of Mindaugas or Mindowe. In 1250 Mindaugas signed an agreement with the Teutonic Order and in 1251 was baptized in their presence by the bishop of Kulm (Culmer Land.) On July 6, 1253, Mindaugas was crowned as King of Lithuania. However, Mindaugas was later murdered by his nephew, subsequently resulting in great unrest and a relapse into heathenism.
In 1316, Gediminas, with the aid of colonists from Germany, began the restoration of the land. Many cities were founded with German law system (Magdeburg rights). The largest of these cities was Vilnius, which later became the capital city. The brothers Vytenis and Gediminas united the components into one Lithuania.
Gediminas extended Lithuania to the east by defeating the Tatars, who had taken over Russia. The gains achieved in these battles brought Lithuania to the Black Sea. They also brought Gediminas into conflict with the Teutonic Order.
When Gediminas was slain, his son Algirdas or Olgerd suppressed the monasteries. Algirdas's son Jogaila (Jagiello) again made overtures to the Teutonic Order and concluded a secret treaty with them. His uncle Kestutis took him prisoner and a civil war ensued. Kestutis was eventually captured, imprisoned and put to death. However, Kestutis's son Vytautas escaped.
Lithuania attempted to remain separate, but the nation was gradually taken over by Poland. Jadwiga, queen of Poland was strongly urged by the Poles to marry Jogaila or Jagiello, who had become grand duke of Lithuania in 1377. For the good of Christianity, Jadwiga consented and married Jagiello three days after he was baptized. On February 2nd, 1386, Wladislaw Jagiello was elected King of Poland by the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament (Sejm). Lithuania and Poland now shared the same rulers, although Lithuania remained a separate country and continued to be ruled by grand dukes. (Often the grand duke of Lithuania was also the king of Poland, etc.)
With the 1569 Lublin Union of the two countries, strong Polonization of Lithuanian institutions began. All levels of the nobility and gentry were dominated by the Polish upper classes and the Polish church.
Despite this integration, for nearly two centuries Lithuania continued to exist as the Lithuanian Province in the Kingdom of Poland, retaining separate laws as well as an army and a Treasury. This changed only with the three partitions of Poland, (1772, 1793 and 1795), which saw Lithuania divided between Russia and Prussia. Subsequent to the partitions, Lithuania ceased to exist as a distinct entity for more than a century.
Following the third partition, the Russian Empire controlled the majority of Lithuania. This included Vilnius, which with 25,000 inhabitants was now one of the largest cities in the Empire. In the early years of the 19th century, there were signs that Lithuania might be allowed some separate recognition by the Empire. These hopes were soon to be dashed, particularly subsequent to 1812, when Lithuanians eagerly welcomed Napoleon's invading French army as liberators.
After the French army's speedy withdrawal, Tsar Nicholas I began an intensive program of Russification. The south-western part of Lithuania included in Prussia in 1795 and in the short-lived Grand Duchy of Warsaw in 1807 became a part of the Russian-controlled kingdom of Poland in 1815, while the rest continued to be administered as a Russian province. The Lithuanians and Poles revolted twice, in 1831 and 1863, failing in both attempts. In 1864, the Lithuanian language and alphabet were banned.
Despite Russian attempts to integrate Lithuania, by the end of the 19th century Lithuania had developed a growing nationalist movement. During the Russia-wide revolutionary upsurge of 1905 a congress (Seimas) of Lithuanian representatives (December) demanded provincial autonomy. During World War I Lithuania's occupation by Germany (1915) and the subsequent collapse of the Russian inperial government led to the proclamation of an independent kingdom (February 1918) under German control, and full independence as a republic upon Germany's surrender (November 1918).
The independence of both Lithuania and Poland produced a prolonged border dispute involving Vilnius (in Polish, Wilno), which Lithuania claimed as its historic capital but which Polish irregular forces occupied in October 1920. Lithuania refused to accept Poland's annexation of the Vilnius district (March 1922), maintaining a formal state of war until December 1927 and suspending relations with Poland until a Polish ultimatum (March 1938) forced their resumption.
A further dispute erupted over the port of Klaipeda (in German, Memel), since 1635 a possession of Prussia, but in 1920 created a separate territory under French occupation. Lithuania's seizure of the territory in January 1923 led to its incorporation as an autonomous district of Lithuania (May 1924), but in March 1939 a German ultimatum forced the territory's surrender.
Following a succession of conservative governments, Lithuania's first elected government of the left (June 1926) was overthrown in a military coup in December 1926. Antanas Smetona became president with dictatorial powers, with Augustinas Voldemaras of the far-right "Iron Wolf" movement as prime minister. After Voldemaras's fall in September 1929, Smetona continued to direct Lithuania's political affairs until 1940.
World War II
In August 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a secret agreement (the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact), assigning spheres of influence in the Baltic area. Lithuania was initially assigned to the German sphere of influence, but when Lithuania refused to ally with Germany in the attack on Poland, it was transferred to the Soviets in another secret pact later that year. Shortly thereafter, the city of Vilnius was returned to Lithuania, and the Soviets established a military presence within the country.
In 1940, Lithuania proclaimed itself another republic of the Soviet and joined the USSR. This event was met with great expectation and joy among the Lithuanians, who deemed Russian rule preferable to Polish occupation. Lithuanians hopeful expectations quickly evaporated as they adjusted to life under Stalin. In June of 1941, the USSR deported approximately 35,000 Lithuanians to Siberia and other parts of Russia. A great deal of the public's frustration and anger became directed against the Jewish population, who preferred Russian occupation to Nazi rule. This resentment soon led to an increasing number of anti-semitic acts.
On June 22nd, 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union. Shortly thereafter, the German army took control of Lithuania. For a period of time, Lithuania was allowed limited self-governance. This was a bloody time for Lithuania; local tensions, no longer held back by the Red Army, exploded and led to the wholesale slaughter of many Jews and individuals seens as Russian collaborators. The Germans soon dissolved the local government, and began a rigorous program of deportation and extermination, mainly of Jewish citizens. Approximately 200,000 Jews were murdered, most of them shot or buried alive in mass-graves throughout the countryside, as wholesale death camps such as Auschwitz were not yet in operation.
Although many Lithuanians had welcomed the German invasion as liberation from Soviet oppression, it was soon clear that the Germans viewed the natives as second-class citizens. The importation of thousands of German farmers to work natives' lands, along with the dismissal of the Lithuanian government, soon produced a vigorous resistance movement. Partisans moved through the woods and countrside, attacking German positions and supply lines.
In summer of 1944, the Red Army reached eastern Lithuania, occupying Vilnius. By January 1945, the Russians captured Klaipeda on the Baltic coast. The USSR subsequently reclaimed Lithuania as a Soviet republic, with the agreement of the United States and Britain (see Yalta and Potsdam Agreements.)
Post World War II
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Post Soviet Era
On March 11, 1990, Lithuania became the first of the Soviet republics to declare its independence, but this proclamation was not generally recognized until September of 1991 (following the abortive coup in Moscow). The last Russian troops withdrew in 1993. Lithuania subsequently has restructured its economy for eventual integration into Western European institutions.
- See also : Lithuania