Lithuania

Disagreement between Lithuania and Germany over the city of Memel (now Klaipeda) increased after Adolf Hitler came to power in the late 1930s. after the Second World War began and Poland was divided between Germany and Russia, Lithuania signed a mutual-assistance pact with the USSR in Oct. 1939. By June 1940, a pro-Soviet government had been installed in Lithuania, and the Communist Working People's Bloc was the only party allowed in Lithuania and dissidents were eliminated. The Party pushed for the inclusion of Lithuania in the USSR. A new parliament was elected on July 14 and 15, 1940, and unanimously approved the request that Lithuania join the USSR. The Soviet government made Lithuania part of the USSR on Aug. 3, 1940. The U.S. and other Western democracies refused to recognize the legality of the incorporation.

After the Germans invaded the soviet Union on June 22, 1941, massive anti-Soviet uprisings occurred in Lithuania. The Soviet troops withdrew, unable to contend with both the local uprisings and advancing Germans. The Germans pillaged Lithuanian resources and killed more than 200,000 people.

The Red Army had driven the Germans from Lithuania by the summer of 1944 and it was reestablished as a Soviet Republic. About 350,000 Lithuanians who had resisted Soviet rule or held anti-Communist belief were deported to labor camps in Siberia. Churches were closed and priests were deported. In 1956 there was a large increase in the number of Poles and Russians who moved to Vilnius. Throughout the next few decades the political situation in Lithuania was relatively calm and the republic was loyal to the USSR.

The political liberalization in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s caused an outbreak of Lithuanian nationalism. After the country declared independence in March 1990, the USSR used economic, political, and military pressure to try and retain the republic. Soviet Communism collapsed in August 1991, and on Sept. 6, the central government granted the three Baltic states their independence. All three nations joined the United Nations later that month.

The country's first open parliamentary election had been held in Feb. 1990. The anti-Soviet, pro-independence Sajudis Coalition won a majority. However, their popularity dropped after political infighting caused a disruption of foreign trade ties and then an economic crisis. As a result, the former Communist party, now the Democratic Labor party, was a majority in the Seimas in the Feb. 1992 election.

In Nov. 1992 Slgirdas Brazanskas, the DLP leader, was elected president. Popular support for the DLP soon declined after the party was unable to improve the economy. Corruption among high officials in the DLP has also caused the party's support to decline.

In 1993 Lithuania became the first Baltic nation to be freed of Russia's military presence. The last troops left in August. In February 1994 Lithuania joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program and in December Lithuanian troops took part in NATO exercises in Poland. It was the first time a former Soviet Republic participated in joint military operations with NATO countries. In Jan. 1995 the Seimas passed a law making Lithuanian the official language. Polish and Russian speaking residents criticized the bill. In Feb. 1995 Lithuania signed a mutual friendship treaty with Belarus and also signed a free-trade agreement with Ukraine. In June 1995 Lithuania became an associate member of the European Union.