What-Where-How is Lithuania?

A look at a tiny country which was once huge and respected

Geography

Culture

History

Politics

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Lithuania – a (very) brief
Historical Timeline

What little information has remained, it has been well documented and treasured

Archaeological remains of Lithuanian past are rare to say the least: ravaged by countless wars and swings of ownership from invading countries and in the name of Christianity, much of the history of Lithuania has burned away into obscurity.

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Time BC

From around 2000BC, Lithuanian ancestors settled along the Baltic coast and moved upstream and inland creating very separate and sparse communities.

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for the next 3,ooo years, scant knowledge exists around the movement and establishment of the countryside. There were no real borders to speak of but a similar language kept the communities in touch.

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from warlords to finaly a kingdom

Jump to the foundation of a country

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1200s AD – 1300s

  • (1236 AD) Duke Mindaugas united local chieftains, defeated the Livonian knights at the battle of Siaule; unification helped Lithuania fend off German crusaders; the state of Lithuanian established pagan
  • (1253) Christianity embraced for political reasons, Duke Mindaugas crowned Lithuania’s one and only king: much intrigue follows with sons and relatives vying for the crown. Finally Algirdas and Gediminas begin a diarchy to rule over a vast area
  • (1323) Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, founded by Grand Duke Gediminas
  • (1386) Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila and Polish Queen wed, created a monarchial union; Jogaila elected King of Poland; Lithuania last pagan state converted to Christianity
  • (1387) Jogaila issued a proclamation for all Lithuanians to accept Catholicism; Vilnius first self-governed Lithuanian city
  • (1392-1430) Lithuania-Poland stretched to the Black Sea; Lithuanians and allies crushed the Teutonic Knights, ended the Teutonic Knight’s military power in the region

1400s – 1800s

  • (1400’s) Jews, Tartars, nationalities from all around began to settle in Lithuania, truly becoming a multi-cultural climate
  • (1569) Lithuania entered a formal commonwealth with Poland
  • (1657) Plague struck Vilnius, half the residents died
  • (1795) 3rd division of the Lithuanian Polish state Lithuania was annexed to Russia
  • (1811-13) Napoleon Bonaparte marches into Vilnius and claims it the Easternmost frontier of Europe and now under French command. He has amassed over 400,000 troops and begins a useless crusade to capture Moscow. He returns after a bitter cold and hostile encounter with awaiting troops oicking off a hungry and freezing army of dis-interested combatants. Less than 10,000 manage to arrive at the gates of Vilnius, and virtually half of them perish from huger, cold and disease. Lithuania returns to Russian rule.
  • (1860-1885) Lithuanian uprisings against Russian rule occurred
  • (1869) St.Petersburg-Vilnius-Warsaw railway completed, first gas factory built, cast iron foundry opened, tobacco plant opened, first brewery established

1900s

  • (1915) German troops occupied Lithuania during World War I
  • (1918) Lithuania declared independence
  • (1920) Under Treaty of Moscow, Soviet Union recognized Lithuania’s independence; Poles occupied Vilnius; Kaunas became Lithuania’s provisional capital
  • (1926) Antanas Smetona, nationalist party leader, seized power in military coup after left wing won elections
  • (1939) USSR occupied Lithuania; mass deportations to Siberia began; Moscow handed Vilnius back to Lithuania; Soviet Union compelled Lithuania to accept Soviet military bases
  • (1940) Soviet army invaded Lithuania; Smetona fled; Lithuania incorporated into USSR
  • (1941) Nazis occupied Lithuania; most of Lithuania’s Jews killed
  • (1944) Red Army returned; over 500,000 Lithuanians were deported, forced into exile, jailed or shot
  • (1987) First open protests against Soviets occurred
  • (1989) Lithuanian communists voted to break with the Soviet party
  • (1990) Lithuania declared independence; USSR imposed embargo, halted fuel supplies, caused severe economic difficulties; Lithuania agreed to suspend independence
  • (1991) Soviet crackdown killed 13 civilians in Vilnius; failed coup in Moscow, Lithuania won independence; Lithuania joined OSCE and UN
  • (1992) New constitution introduced presidency; coalition government formed
  • (1993) Brazauskas elected president; Lithuania joined Council of Europe; the litas, new national currency introduced; Soviet troops complete withdrawal
  • (1994) Lithuania joined NATO partnership for peace program; treaty of friendship signed with Poland
  • (1995) Two largest commercial banks collapsed in Lithuania; political scandal ensued
  • (1996) Prime Minister Slezevicius removed
  • (1997) President Brazauskas visited Russia; border treaty signed
  • (1998) Valdas Adamkus, US citizen who spent nearly 50 years in exile, elected president
  • (1999) Conservative Prime Minister Rolandas Paksas resigned; Andrius Kubilius became prime minister

2000s

  • (2000) Paksas reappointed prime minister, as a member of the Liberal Union
  • (2001) Following the collapse of the coalition, Brazauskas became prime minister
  • (2002) Lithuania formally invited to join NATO and the European Union
  • (2003) Rolandas Paksas elected president; impeachment proceedings began against President Paksas after parliament concluded alleged links between Paksas and Russian organized crime constituted threat to national security
  • (2004) Lithuania joined NATO; parliament impeached and dismissed Rolandas Paksas; Lithuania joined the European Union; Valdas Adamkus re-elected president; Algirdas Brazaukas carried on as prime minister; Lithuania became first EU member state to ratify new constitution; due to EU entry requirements, number one reactor at Ignalina nuclear power station shut down
  • (2005) Russian fighter jet crashed in Lithuania territory, raised diplomatic tension with Moscow; investigation found technical and human error to blame, situation defused
  • (2008) Parliament ratified EU Lisbon Treaty; parliament banned display of Soviet and Nazi symbols; Andrius Kubilius, homeland union leader, appointed prime minister at the head of a center-right coalition government
  • (2009) Dalia Grybauskaite, EU budget commissioner, won presidential election; in accordance with EU entry requirements, the second reactor at the Ignalina nuclear power station shut down