Lithuania: History

A moment from the 1988 Singing Revolution. Photo by Klaudijus Driskius

In 1386, Lithuania and Poland were drawn together by a common enemy ึ the Teutonic Knights ึ and formed a union under the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila, who was crowned king of Poland. They remained separate states until 1569, when the formed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Together with much of Poland, Lithuania fell under Czarist Russian rule in the late 18^th century.

The late 19^th century saw the rise of a national revival movement. It focused on the history of the Lithuanian state and Lithuanian language and culture, and began formulating demands for cultural and political rights. World War I gave the Lithuanians an opportunity to regain their independence, which they held from 1918 until 1940.

On the National Day of Mourning (June 1) in 1989, at Naujoji Vilnia train station, people remember the mass deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia on June 14th, 1941. Photo by Vytautas Daraskevicius

In August 1940, Lithuania was illegally annexed by the Soviet Union. In 1941 Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union and occupied Lithuania. The Soviet army returned in 1944 as the Germans retreated. Soviet rule was very harsh in Lithuania; tens of thousands of Lithuanians were deported to Siberia and other remote parts of the Soviet Union.

The ideal of an independent Lithuania never died. In the late 1980าณ Lithuanians organized and independence movemen called Sajudis (Movement). In 1988, people gathered in large, peaceful rallies to sing their national songs and give voice to their frustrations. These rallies were the only way Lithuanians could express their nationalism and cultural pride during the Sovient occupation. The rallies came to be known as the Singing Revolution. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, independent Lithuania has once again taken its rightful place in the international community.

Lithuania is a parliamentary democracy. Valdas Adamkus, a Lithuania who spent most of his life in the United States, was inaugurated as President in February, 1998.