Verbis Family

Lithuanian History:

Between the 7th and 2nd centuries BC, Baltic tribes established themselves on what is presently known as Lithuanian territory. Lithuania and Latvia are the only remaining Baltic tribes (Prussians, Latgalians, Sudovians, Curonians, Selonians, Samogitians, Nadruvians, Galindians and more) from this period. The name of Lithuania, however, did not appear in European records until 1009 AD, when it was mentioned in the German manuscript Annals of Quedlinburg. During the period 1236-1263, Duke Mindaugas united the various Baltic tribes and established the state of Lithuania, which was better able to resist the eastward expansion of the Teutonic Knights. In 1253, Mindaugas embraced Christianity for political reasons and accepted the crown from the Pope of Rome, becoming the first and only true king in Lithuanian history.

After the assassination of Mindaugas and the ensuing civil war, Grand Duke Gediminas took control of Lithuania. He reigned from 1316 to 1341, during which the long-term expansion of Lithuania into the lands of the eastern Slavs began. He founded the modern capital city of Vilnius and started the Gediminas dynasty, which ruled Lithuania until 1572.

During the period of Vytautas the Great (1316–1430), Lithuania was the Largest country in Europe occupying the territories of present-day Belarus, Ukraine, Poland and Russia and stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. A royal crown had been bestowed upon Vytautas in 1429 by Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor, but Polish magnates prevented his coronation by seizing the crown as it was being brought to him. In 1410, the armies of Poland and Lithuania together defeated the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunewald, the biggest battle of medieval Europe.

The 16th century witnessed a number of wars versus the growing centralized Russian state (lead by Ivan IV Vasilyevich, also known as ‘Ivan the Terrible’) over the Slavic lands ruled by Lithuania. Needing an ally in those wars, Lithuania united with Poland through The Union of Lublin in 1569. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth created one the largest and most populous countries in 16th and 17th-century Europe. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until political and military pressure from neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing 90% of Lithuania’s territory. Attempts to restore independence in the uprisings of 1794, 1830-31, and 1863 were suppressed and followed by a tightened police regime and increasing Russification, including the 1864 ban on printing Lithuanian books in traditional Latin characters.

During World War I, the German Army occupied Lithuania, and the occupation administration allowed a Lithuanian conference to convene in Vilnius in September 1917. The conference adopted a resolution demanding the restoration of an independent Lithuanian state and elected the Lithuanian Council. On February 16, 1918, the council declared Lithuania’s independence. The Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania adopted a constitution on August 1, 1922 and declared Lithuania a parliamentary republic.

On August 3, 1940, with 20, 000 Soviet soldiers deployed to Lithuania, it was forcefully proclaimed a Soviet Socialist Republic by the U.S.S.R. Totalitarian rule was established, Sovietization of the economy and culture began, and Lithuanian state employees and public figures were arrested and exiled to Russia. During the mass deportation campaign of June 14-18, 1941, about 12,600 people were deported to Siberia without investigation or trial, 3,600 people were imprisoned, and more than 1,000 were killed. By 1944, an estimated 120,000 to 300,000 Lithuanians were either killed or deported to Siberia and other remote parts of the Soviet Union.

Lithuania, led by Sàjûdis, an anti-communist and anti-Soviet independence movement, proclaimed its renewed independence on March 11, 1990 — the first Soviet republic to do so. The Lithuanian Supreme Soviet formed a new Cabinet of Ministers and adopted the Provisional Fundamental Law of the State with a number of by-laws. In response, on the night of January 13, 1991, the Red Army attacked the Vilnius TV Tower, killing 14 civilians and injuring 700. Soviet forces, however, were unsuccessful in suppressing Lithuania’s secession.

On February 4, 1991, Iceland became the first country to recognize Lithuanian independence. Sweden was the first to open an embassy in the country. The United States never recognized the Soviet claim to Lithuania and views the present Lithuanian Government as the legal continuation of the interwar republic. In July 2007, Lithuania celebrated the 85th anniversary of continuous diplomatic relations with the United States. Lithuania joined the United Nations on September 17, 1991. The last of the Red Army troops left Lithuania in August 31, 1993.