Lithuania History: Difference between revisions

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Lithuania

History

History[edit | edit source]

For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, the Kingdom of Lithuania, was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy.

With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.

Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, as World War I neared its end, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania.

On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania.
[1]

Timeline[edit | edit source]

1569 - The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was created
1655 - Vilnius was taken by the Russian army when they looted the city, 8000-10000 citizens were killed
1655–1661 During the Northern Wars the Lithuanian territory and economy were devastated by the Swedish army. Almost all territory of Grand Duchy of Lithuania was occupied by Swedish and Russian armies
1700–1721 - The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The war, a plague, and a famine caused the deaths of approximately 40% of the country's population
1772, 1792, and 1795 Eventually, the Commonwealth was partitioned by the Russian Empire, Prussia, and Habsburg Austria. The largest area of Lithuanian territory became part of the Russian Empire
1867 - 1868 Large numbers of Lithuanians went to the United States after a famine
1915 - As a result of the Great Retreat during World War I, Germany occupied the entire territory of Lithuania and Courland
1918 - 1940 The council adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania in 1918 which proclaimed the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania governed by democratic principles
1940 - The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in July and accepted into the Soviet Union in August. Lithuania was rapidly sovietizied and 12,000 people, including many prominent figures, were arrested and imprisoned
1941 - Over 120,000 Lithuanian Jews, or 91–95% of Lithuania's pre-war Jewish community, had been killed. Nearly 100,000 Jews, Poles, Russians and Lithuanians were murdered at Paneriai
1944 - 1953 After the retreat of the German armed forces, the Soviets reestablished their control of Lithuania and the massive deportations to Siberia were resumed
1944 - 1952 Guerrilla warfare of the Lithuanian population, took place and it sought to restore an independent state of Lithuania, to consolidate democracy by destroying communism in the country. 20,000 people were killed during this time period
1990 - The Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence. Lithuania became the first Soviet occupied state to announce restitution of independence
1993 - The last units of the Soviet Army left the territory of Lithuania

References[edit | edit source]

Websites[edit | edit source]

The Lithuanian Word. History. 1862-1904
Lithuania Profile – Important Facts, People and History
Lithanus Lithuania 1863-1893
Encycopaedia Britannica Lithuania History
Every Culture Culture of Lithuania

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==History==
-Lithuanians have inhabited the eastern littoral of the Baltic Sea for more than 2,000 years. The Baltic peoples that now inhabit the region arrived the sixth and seventh centuries, pushed westward by the Slavs from their original home farther east. In the thirteenth century, the Teutonic Knights conquered the neighboring areas which later became Estonia and Latvia and forced Christianity on the inhabitants. But the Lithuanians formed a unified state to protect themselves against the Knights, successfully resisting annexation, and remained pagan until 1253, when Mindaugas became its first Christian ruler. In 1385, in response to a continued German threat in the west, Lithuania formed a political alliance with Poland. Grand Duke Jagiello became king of Poland in 1386 as Ladislaus II by his marriage with Jadwiga, daughter of Louis I of Poland and Hungary. Jagiello accepted Christianity as a condition of the union and Lithuania officially became a Christian nation in 1387, adopting Roman Catholicism. The state’s fortunes declined in the sixteenth century and, to counter an increasing threat with the rise of Muscovy, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania merged with Poland in 1569, creating a commonwealth.
+For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, the Kingdom of Lithuania, was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy.
-In the last half of the eighteenth century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth became so weakened politically, militarily, and economically that it was unable to resist three partitions of its territories by Russia, Austria, and Prussia in 1772, 1793, and 1795. Russia annexed most of what had been Lithuania. Prussia temporarily occupied a small corner in the southwest that was later incorporated into the Prussian province of East Prussia, and Russian-administered Polish province of Suwaki. In all the areas controlled by Russia, the administrative system of guberniya (province), uyezd (district), and volost/stan (township) was established. In 1801 the major portions of Lithuania were included in the Russian provinces of Vilnius and Grodno. In 1843, Kovno province was formed from the western and northern districts of Vilnius. Under Russian domination the Lithuanians strove to maintain their identity, their desire for independence being manifest by large-scale insurrections in 1812, 1831, 1863, and 1905. Oriented toward the West, they maintained their Roman Catholic faith, their language, and their cultural heritage.
+With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.
-The demise of the Russian Empire in World War I allowed Lithuania to proclaim its independence in 1918. It contended for territorial integrity against the Soviet Union, which attempted to create a Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Republic, and Polish efforts to  reincorporate Lithuania into Poland. At the end of 1920, Polish forces took Vilnius and the surrounding area and the region was annexed into Poland. Kaunas became the capital of the rest of Lithuania and twenty counties [apskritis] were set up in the newly independent nation. In 1923, the territory of Klaipda (Memel), formerly part of East Prussia along the Baltic littoral, was annexed by Lithuania to form three more counties. During this period of independence, Lithuania made great progress.
+Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, as World War I neared its end,  declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania.
-In March 1939, Nazi Germany seized the Lithuanian territory of Memel-Klaipda, a region with an ethnic German majority and part of Lithuania. Then, as a result of a non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, the Soviets were permitted to take control of the rest of Lithuania in June of 1940. Lithuania was forced to agree to the stationing of Soviet troops on its territory. In return, the Soviet Union granted the city of Vilnius back to Lithuania after taking it from Poland. Lithuania became a Soviet republic in August of 1940. The Germans occupied Lithuania in June of 1941, and remained through most of World War II. During the Nazi German occupation, Lithuania was incorporated into the Ostland Reichs-Commissariat, a German civilian administration covering the Baltic states and western Bel[orussia. Soviet forces re-occupied the country in the summer of 1944 and its status as a Soviet republic was reaffirmed. In 1949, the Russian government closed down most churches, deported many priests, and prosecuted people possessing religious images. Lithuanians continued their armed resistance until 1953. The Soviets replaced the 26 counties with a system of oblasts (regions) and raions (districts).
-In March 1990, the Lithuanian parliament declared independence from the Soviet Union. Lithuania’s independence was recognized by the Soviet Union on Sept. 6, 1991. It is now organized into 10 counties [apskritis], The counties are divided into smaller administrative units - districts [rajonas]. Lithuania later applied for admission to NATO and the EU and plans to join the EU in the next enlargement. In November of 2002 Lithuania was formally invited to join NATO.<ref name="profile">The Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Family History Record Profile: Lithuania,” Word document, private files of the FamilySearch Content Strategy Team, 2003.</ref>
+On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuania.
+<br>
+[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuania]
 ==Timeline==
+- The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was created<br>
+-  Vilnius was taken by the Russian army  when they looted the city, 8000-10000 citizens were killed<br>
+–1661 During the Northern Wars the Lithuanian territory and economy were devastated by the Swedish army. Almost all territory of Grand Duchy of Lithuania was occupied by Swedish and Russian armies<br>
+–1721 - The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The war, a plague, and a famine caused the deaths of approximately 40% of the country's population<br>
+, 1792, and 1795 Eventually, the Commonwealth was partitioned by the Russian Empire, Prussia, and Habsburg Austria. The largest area of Lithuanian territory became part of the Russian Empire<br>
+- 1868  Large numbers of Lithuanians went to the United States after a famine<br>
+- As a result of the Great Retreat during World War I, Germany occupied the entire territory of Lithuania and Courland<br>
+- 1940 The council adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania in 1918 which proclaimed the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania governed by democratic principles<br>
+- The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in July and accepted into the Soviet Union in August. Lithuania was rapidly sovietizied and 12,000 people, including many prominent figures, were arrested and imprisoned<br>
+- Over 120,000 Lithuanian Jews, or 91–95% of Lithuania's pre-war Jewish community, had been killed. Nearly 100,000 Jews, Poles, Russians and Lithuanians were murdered at Paneriai<br>
+- 1953 After the retreat of the German armed forces, the Soviets reestablished their control of Lithuania and the massive deportations to Siberia were resumed<br>
+- 1952 Guerrilla warfare of the Lithuanian population, took place
+and it sought to restore an independent state of Lithuania, to consolidate democracy by destroying communism in the country. 20,000 people were killed during this time period<br>
+- The Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence. Lithuania became the first Soviet occupied state to announce restitution of independence<br>
+- The last units of the Soviet Army left the territory of Lithuania<br>
 == References ==
 {{reflist}}