Lithuania's past is rich and marked by
complexity. In the multitude of events, and their uniqueness and effect on
neighboring nations, Lithuania can be compared to any large state.
Perhaps, this is the reason why Lithuanians
hold their history in great esteem. A Lithuanian engaged in an explanation
of the present will often digress into historical comparisons and
analogies. The legends, wars, battles and political events are intertwined
with songs, have found their way into literary works, and have provided
the inspiration for movies, plays and art works. Of course, these popular
and artistic representations are sometimes hardly different from
mythology. But who is to deny that mythology is a part of life?
From ancient times
to World War I
The Baltic tribes established themselves on what is presently known as
Lithuanian territory during the 7th-2nd centuries BC. Many centuries
passed, however, before the name of Lithuania appeared in records for
the first time, in AD 1009, in the Annals of Quedlinburg.
During the period 1236-63, Duke
Mindaugas (Mindowe) united the Lithuanian ethnic lands and established
the state of Lithuania, which was able to offer resistance against the
eastward expansion of the Teutonic Knights. In 1253, Mindaugas
embraced Christianity for political reasons, and accepted the crown
from the Pope of Rome. Thus, he became the first and only king in
Lithuanian history.
Grand Duke Gediminas (Gedimin), who
ruled the country from 1316 to 1341, started the long-term expansion
of Lithuania into the lands of the eastern Slavs. He founded the
modern capital city of Vilnius and started the Gediminaiciai dynasty,
whose representatives became members of many European monarchies.
A Gediminaitis, Jogaila (Jagiello), in
becoming the King of Poland in 1386, started the 400-year common
history of Lithuania and Poland, which was marked by several
agreements and unions. As a result of this union, Christianity finally
came to Lithuania.
Grand Duke Vytautas (Witold), who ruled
from 1392 to 1430, brought the greatest military and political
prosperity to the country. During his reign, the push eastward by the
German Order was broken. In 1410 Vytautas, along with his cousin
Jogaila Jagiello, won the Battle of Grόnwald (Tannenberg), against
the might of the Order. He also annexed many Belorussian, Russian and
Ukrainian territories to Lithuania and extended the state border all
the way to the shores of the Black Sea.
Internal discord began to weaken the
state during the 16th century. More resilient ties with Poland became
unavoidable, and in 1569, Lithuania signed the Union of Lublin with
Poland, further strengthening ties between the two nations. The
agreement created a Commonwealth Republic of two nations, which shared
one king (also holding the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania) and a
joint legislature, the Seimas. Nevertheless, Lithuania's state
sovereignty was preserved: the treasury, the currency, the laws and
the army remained independent. Regrettably, in historical sources,
this impressive Republic is most frequently alluded to by the single
name of Poland. The institution of an elected king in this Republic
was the first in Europe. In 1573 Henry Valois of Bourbon became the
first such king.
A cultural leap forward occurred in the
16th century, resulting from the supremacy of self rule by the boyars,
land reform, consolidation of cities and the arrival on the scene of
an enlightened society. During that century, in 1529, 1566 and 1588,
three Statutes of Lithuania were written. These are documents of an
unusual legal nature, containing elements of state law. (The last
Statute still applied within the territory of the former Grand Duchy
of Lithuania as late as the 19th century, long after the disappearance
of the state from the political map.)
From 1654 to 1667, Lithuania became
enmeshed in wars with Russia, whose might had been increasing. A
misfortune occurred in 1655, as for the first time in history Vilnius
was occupied by a foreign army, that of the Russian Czar. While
searching for a solution to extricate itself from a difficult
international situation and disagreements with Poland, Lithuania
formed an agreement with Sweden, the short-lived Treaty of Kedainiai,
also in 1655. In spite of this, the state continued to diminish in
strength.
During the second half of the 18th
century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost nearly all its sovereign
rights. Following its successful wars with Sweden, Russia, together
with Austria and Prussia engaged in the partition of the Republic of
Lithuania-Poland, in three instances, in 1772, 1793 and 1795.
Following the third partition, the major part of the former Grand
Duchy of Lithuania was handed over to Russia. The name of Lithuania
had disappeared from the political map of Europe for 123 years.
A greater blow was dealt in the 19th century, though the beginning
was deceptively calm. In 1803, the university was accorded the name of
Imperial University and Vilnius itself continued to preserve the marks
of its past majesty: it was the third largest city (after Moscow and St
Petersburg) in the Russian Empire. However, a change of direction was
imminent: it came in 1812, with Napoleon's campaign against Russia. The
French were enthusiastically received in Lithuania as liberators, and
were supported and even honoured in high social circles. The hasty
withdrawal of the French which soon followed, was the prelude to
disaster.
Following Napoleon's campaign, Czar Nicholas I initiated a new
policy: the authorities of the occupation began to russify the country
with increased speed, and to transform it into a provincial
hinterland. Along with the Poles, the Lithuanians revolted against the
occupiers on two occasions, in 1831 and 1863, but the revolts brought
painful defeats. The consequences were sad indeed: Vilnius University
and other institutions of higher education were closed, the influence
of the Catholic Church was curbed, all Catholic monasteries were
closed and the Russian Orthodox Religion was declared the state
religion. Lithuanians were not permitted to purchase land, erect
crosses and new churches. The centuries-old ties between Lithuania and
Central and Western Europe were torn up by the roots. The first
deportations of Lithuanian boyars and peasants to the depths of
Siberia were begun.
From 1864, the Lithuanian language itself and its Latin alphabet
were banned and the so-called graZdanka, Lithuanian with the Russian
alphabet, was introduced. The cultural life of the country went into a
state of paralysis.
Lithuania began to recover only towards the end of the 19th
century, the period known as the "spring of nations." A struggle for
national culture and reinstitution of writing spread over the greater
part of the country. A unique movement, the "book-bearers" (knygnesiai)
came about through self-education and a concern for survival.
Lithuanian books in the Latin alphabet were printed in Lithuania
Minor, Prussia, under German jurisdiction, and illegally transported
across the border into Lithuania Major. The book-bearer movement
fostered "home-school" movement and the emergence of self-taught
teachers. In the course of several decades, the degree of literacy and
national awareness was greatly increased throughout the entire
country. In 1883, Dr. Jonas Basanavicius organised the publication of
the first Lithuanian periodical, Ausra ("The Dawn"), which was also
disseminated illegally. The authority of educated people grew rapidly.
An increasing number of students who had graduated from universities
in Russia, Poland or the West, joined the national rebirth movement.
In 1904, Lithuanian representatives managed to win by legal means
the lifting of the ban on Lithuanian publications and educational
institutions.
At the start of the 20th century, the national movement became so
strong that in 1905 the Grand Assembly of Vilnius (Didysis Vilniaus
Seimas), which had formulated the demands of Lithuania's autonomy, was
able to assemble. Lithuanian representatives were also elected to the
newly-formed Russian Parliament, the Duma, where they defended their
rights with ever-increasing boldness.
At the start of World War I, Lithuania was soon occupied by
Germany. With the end of the war in sight, Lithuanian representatives
from all parts of the country, seizing a favourable political moment,
assembled in Vilnius in September 1917, and held a conference. The
elected 20-member Council of Lithuania proclaimed the restitution of
the independent state of Lithuania on the 16th of February, 1918, even
though the German Army and authorities were still in control of the
entire country.
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Between two world
wars
On the 23rd of March, 1918, the German Kaiser announced his
recognition of the independence of Lithuania. However, until Germany
capitulated in November that same year, Lithuania's international
status remained undefined. On the 12th of December, 1918, Sweden was
the first state to accord Lithuania de facto recognition.
Russia and the major countries of the
world recognised Lithuania's independence during 1920-22.
Lithuania was admitted to the League of
Nations in 1921.
The wars of defence of independence
against the Bolsheviks, Poles and the remnants of the German and the
Czarist armies continued until 1923. In the course of these wars,
Lithuania lost its capital, Vilnius, which was occupied by Poland in
1920. Kaunas became the provisional capital and continued in that
capacity for 20 years.
Those years were not only a difficult
time, but a period of hope as well. The Seimas, which had implemented
the greatest reforms, functioned during 1920-22: it introduced the
national currency (litas), passed laws that were favourable to the
national economy and financial system, and organised radical land
reform.
The lands of the major estates were
reduced somewhat and peasant farms began to recover. The country
prospered rapidly along with the rest of Europe.
In 1923, Lithuania recovered its
historic Baltic seaport, Klaipeda, thus gaining a gateway to the world.
However, the first eight years of
independence failed to consolidate the democratic system of
administration by the Seimas and the division of government. In
December 1926 the army leadership, Nationalist Party and Christian
Democratic staged a revolt, resulting in a loss of democracy.
Government by the Seimas and its elected president was replaced by
unlimited presidential rule. The political dictatorship of the
Nationalist Party and the authoritarian rule of President Antanas
Smetona lasted until the end of independent statehood.
The threads of independence had already
begun to break by March 1939, when fascist Germany annexed Klaipeda
and the surrounding region.
The twenty-two years of inter-war
Lithuanian independence constitute the first golden age in Lithuanian
culture. During that period, national life regained the
characteristics of national civilisation. The state of Lithuania and
Lithuanian culture broke through into the international arena and took
part in major international events, the most impressive among them
being the International Exposition in Paris in 1937.
In addition to achievements in art and
science, basketball has provided some cause for national pride: in
1937 and 1939, the Lithuanian Men's Team became the European Champions.
In 1933, Stasys Darius and Steponas Girenas achieved world fame by
setting out on a direct flight from New York to Kaunas. They perished
in East Prussia, near the Lithuanian border.
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World War II
As a result of World War II, Lithuania suffered immense deprivations,
with gigantic losses and damage. The nation found itself on the brink
of physical annihilation.
On 23rd August, 1939, just prior to its
attack upon Poland, Germany signed a secret agreement with the Soviet
Union, on the division of the spheres of influence, the document known
as the secret Hitler-Stalin Pact (Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact). Initially,
Lithuania was relegated to the German sphere of influence; however, on
Lithuania's refusal to attack Poland as a German ally, it was
transferred to the Soviet sphere of influence, in a second secret pact
signed in Moscow on the 27th of September that same year.
On the 10th of October 1939, Vilnius
was returned to Lithuania and Soviet military bases were established
within the country.
On the 15th of June 1940 (the day when
the German Wehrmacht entered Paris), the Soviet Union occupied
Lithuania. Soon afterwards, Latvia and Estonia were also occupied.
On the 14th of June 1941, the Soviets
carried out the first mass deportation of the Lithuanian people to
Russia and Siberia, with approximately 35,000 deported within several
days.
On 22nd June 1941, Germany attacked the
Soviet Union and several days later, the Wehrmacht occupied the whole
of Lithuania.
Until the Germans had fully
consolidated their position, Lithuanian politicians and
representatives of the intelligentsia organised an independent
government for the country. However, the new occupation force's
administration did not allow the existence of a Lithuanian government.
A massive destruction of the Jews was launched, claiming 200,000 lives.
Thousands were taken to Germany.
In the summer of
1944, the Red Army crossed the Lithuanian border once again, and
occupied Vilnius, occupying Klaipeda in January 1945. Once again, the
entire country fell under Soviet power. In accordance with the Yalta
and Potsdam Agreements between the Soviet Union, the United States of
America and Great Britain, Lithuania began to be treated as a part of
the Soviet Union. Thousands of Lithuanians, who had fought as soldiers
of the armies of the anti-Hitlerite coalition, could not return to a
free homeland.
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Decades of Soviet
occupation
Prior to the return of the Soviets, tens of thousands of Lithuanian
citizens fled to the West, including a very large segment of the
intelligentsia, university lecturers and professors, writers and
artists, business people and well-to-do farmers. It appeared as if the
country were losing its best people.
Upon their return, the Soviets
undertook even stricter repressive measures than those before the war.
In the course of 10 years, approximately 130,000 of the population
were deported to Siberia and other distant areas of the Soviet Union:
the majority of them perished due to the unbearable transport and
living conditions.
A partisan war ensued, lasting 9 years
and claiming tens of thousands of lives.
It has been calculated that Lithuania
lost approximately 30% of its population during the period 1940-53.
As early as the first post-war years, a
mass immigration of Russians and other Soviet nationalities was begun,
bringing unavoidable sovietisation and russification of public life.
Once again, as in the 19th century, the Lithuanian language faced the
danger of extinction.
The Soviet decades brought about a
basic change within the country's economy and infrastructure: land was
nationalised and turned over to the collective farms, rural life was
threatened and a new movement of the population towards the cities,
with unrestrained industrialisation of the country, ensued. All this
took place without reference to Lithuania's internal needs and
opportunities. The country's economy was developed solely through the
methods of the occupying regime. Construction was implemented of giant
complexes manufacturing fuel-injecting equipment, machine tools,
chemicals, oil, mineral fertilisers and processing metal, none of
which reflected Lithuania's needs. This entire infrastructure
functioned on the basis of imported raw materials and energy resources.
It employed tens of thousands of workers who immigrated into Lithuania.
During the 1980's, one of the largest
nuclear power stations in Europe was constructed near Ignalina in
northeastern Lithuania.
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Rebirth
In the spring of 1985, perestroika, initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev,
began in the Soviet Union. On the 3rd of June, 1988, taking advantage
of the weakening of the totalitarian state, some representatives of
the intelligentsia founded Sajudis, a democratic reform movement, in
Vilnius. The summer of that year was spent under the Sajudis flag, as
the entire country was joining Sajudis support groups and holding
peaceful meetings. The symbols of the independent country of the inter-war
period were introduced publicly. The Constituent Congress of the
organisation, held on 22nd-23rd October, defined the guidelines on the
basis of which it was decided to move towards the restoration of an
independent state. In March 1989 the representatives of the Sajudis
won election to the Congress of People's Deputies, the Soviet Union's
highest legislative body, and were able to fight for Lithuanian
interests at the Kremlin in Moscow.
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At that time, Estonia was
the furthest advanced along the path of legal emancipation: already in
November 1988 it had adopted a declaration of sovereignty. Urged by
the Sajudis, the Lithuanian communist legislature also issued a
declaration, in May 1989, stating that the laws of Lithuania
superseded those of the Soviet Union. An assembly of the People's
Fronts of Latvia and Estonia and Sajudis of Lithuania took place
during the same month, in Tallinn, which projected a common strategy
and tactics for self-liberation from the Soviet occupation.
On 23rd August 1989, the
50th Anniversary of the signing of the Hitler-Stalin Pact (Ribbentrop-Molotov
Pact), approximately 2 million people from Lithuania, Latvia and
Estonia stood on the Vilnius-Tallinn road, holding hands. The
unprecedented living chain measured nearly 600 km in length. This
action for freedom became known as The Baltic Way.
During 1989, the political
situation in Lithuania started increasingly to resemble the life of an
independent country: one after the other, the public and even the
communist organisations were declaring their separation from Moscow.
Upon his arrival in Vilnius in January 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev could
no longer restrain the Lithuanian communists, who had separated from
Moscow and were demanding total state independence. In February 1990,
Sajudis representatives won election to the legislature of Lithuania,
the Supreme Council, and on the 11th of March the Act of the
Restoration of Independence was proclaimed. Vytautas Landsbergis was
elected Chairman of the Supreme Council. The difficult transition
period leading up to independence de facto and de jure commenced.
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People holding hands along the "Baltic Way," summer 1989.
Photo by A. Varanka. |
In
January 1991, the Soviet Army seized the Lithuanian Television,
radio and other vital state institutions, which at that time were
subordinate only to the laws of Lithuania. Unarmed, peaceful people
offered resistance against the army, and 14 people perished in the
effort. A referendum was held on the 9th of February, following the
tragic January events, in which an absolute majority of the
population of Lithuania came out for the restoration of an
independent state.
On the 11th of February, Iceland's Althing recognised Lithuania's
independence de jure. After the unsuccessful August putsch in
Moscow, Russia recognised the independence de jure of Lithuania on
6th September. Many other states followed suit immediately
afterwards.
On the 17th of September 1991, Lithuania became a full member of the
United Nations.
On the 31st of August 1992, the last Russian soldier left the
territory of Lithuania.
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