Ensimmäinen Liettuan perustuslakia säätävä kokous pidettiin toukokuussa 1920. Kesäkuussa hyväksyttiin kolmas väliaikainen perustuslaki ja heinäkuussa solmittiin Liettuan-Neuvosto-Venäjän rauha. Sopimuksessa Neuvosto-Venäjä tunnusti Liettuan itsenäisyyden ja sen Puolaan liittyneet Vilnaa koskeneet vaatimukset.
Sopimus lisäsi vihamielisyyksiä Liettuan ja Puolan välillä. Suurempien taisteluiden välttämiseksi allekirjoitettiin lokakuussa Suwałkin sopimus, jossa päätettiin muun muassa tulitauosta.
Kuitenkin jo ennen sopimuksen voimaan astumista, puolalainen kenraali Lucjan Żeligowski aloitti kapinan, hyökkäsi Liettuaan ja valloitti Vilnan.
Valloittamalleen alueelle hän perusti lyhytikäisen Keski-Liettuan tasavallan.
Kansainliitto yritti välittää rauhaa riidan osapuolille muun muassa esittelemällä suunnitelmia puolalais-liettualaisesta liitosta. Liettua kuitenkin katkaisi diplomaattiset suhteensa Puolaan ja kieltäytyi tunnustamasta Vilnan menetystä.
Riita vaikutti vahvasti Liettuan ulkopolitiikkaan sotien välisellä ajalla. Perustuslakia säätävä kokous, joka päättyi lokakuussa 1920 Puolan uhkausten vuoksi, kokoontui uudelleen ja aloitti useita uuden valtion tarvitsemia uudistuksia, joita olivat muun muassa: muiden maiden itsenäisyystunnustusten vastaanottaminen, jäsenyys Kansainliitossa, maareformia koskenut laki ja oman valuutan käyttöönotto.
Lopullinen perustuslaki vahvistettiin elokuussa 1922. Perustuslain myötä Liettuasta tuli demokraattinen valtio, jossa parlamentti eli Seimas valittiin kolmen vuoden välein kansanäänestyksellä. Presidentti valittiin parlamentin äänestyksellä. Ensimmäinen Seimas äänestettiin lokakuussa 1922. Se kuitenkin kaatui, kun hallituksen muodostaminen epäonnistui.
Vuonna 1923 Liettua valloitti Memelin mandaattihallintoalueeseen kuuluneen Memelin eli nykyisen Klaipėdan alueen. Alue liitettiin osaksi Liettuaa vuonna 1924.
Klaipėda oli kaikin tavoin Liettualle tärkeä: sen avulla maa sai rannikon Itämerelle ja se oli tärkeä teollinen keskus. Memelin valtaus oli viimeinen Liettuan aseellinen konflikti ennen toista maailmansotaa. Uusi Seimas äänestettiin toukokuussa 1923.
Siitä tuli ainoa sotien välinen parlamentti, joka pysyi pystyssä koko vaalikautensa.
Uusi parlamentti jatkoi maareformia ja aloitti muun muassa ulkomaisten velkojen takaisinmaksun. Lisäksi koulujärjestelmään tehtiin uudistuksia. Samana vuonna tehtiin myös väestönlaskenta: Liettuassa asui 2 028 971 asukasta.
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Saksan yhdistyessä Preussin johdolla, Memelistä tuli Saksan keisarikunnan koillisin kaupunki. Rautatieaseman kaupunki sai 1875. Ensimmäisen maailmansodan jälkeen, vuonna 1919, Memel asetettiin ympärysvaltojen alaisuuteen.
Sopimus lisäsi vihamielisyyksiä Liettuan ja Puolan välillä. Suurempien taisteluiden välttämiseksi allekirjoitettiin lokakuussa Suwałkin sopimus, jossa päätettiin muun muassa tulitauosta.
Kuitenkin jo ennen sopimuksen voimaan astumista, puolalainen kenraali Lucjan Żeligowski aloitti kapinan, hyökkäsi Liettuaan ja valloitti Vilnan.
Valloittamalleen alueelle hän perusti lyhytikäisen Keski-Liettuan tasavallan.
Kansainliitto yritti välittää rauhaa riidan osapuolille muun muassa esittelemällä suunnitelmia puolalais-liettualaisesta liitosta. Liettua kuitenkin katkaisi diplomaattiset suhteensa Puolaan ja kieltäytyi tunnustamasta Vilnan menetystä.
Riita vaikutti vahvasti Liettuan ulkopolitiikkaan sotien välisellä ajalla. Perustuslakia säätävä kokous, joka päättyi lokakuussa 1920 Puolan uhkausten vuoksi, kokoontui uudelleen ja aloitti useita uuden valtion tarvitsemia uudistuksia, joita olivat muun muassa: muiden maiden itsenäisyystunnustusten vastaanottaminen, jäsenyys Kansainliitossa, maareformia koskenut laki ja oman valuutan käyttöönotto.
Lopullinen perustuslaki vahvistettiin elokuussa 1922. Perustuslain myötä Liettuasta tuli demokraattinen valtio, jossa parlamentti eli Seimas valittiin kolmen vuoden välein kansanäänestyksellä. Presidentti valittiin parlamentin äänestyksellä. Ensimmäinen Seimas äänestettiin lokakuussa 1922. Se kuitenkin kaatui, kun hallituksen muodostaminen epäonnistui.
Vuonna 1923 Liettua valloitti Memelin mandaattihallintoalueeseen kuuluneen Memelin eli nykyisen Klaipėdan alueen. Alue liitettiin osaksi Liettuaa vuonna 1924.
Klaipėda oli kaikin tavoin Liettualle tärkeä: sen avulla maa sai rannikon Itämerelle ja se oli tärkeä teollinen keskus. Memelin valtaus oli viimeinen Liettuan aseellinen konflikti ennen toista maailmansotaa. Uusi Seimas äänestettiin toukokuussa 1923.
Siitä tuli ainoa sotien välinen parlamentti, joka pysyi pystyssä koko vaalikautensa.
Uusi parlamentti jatkoi maareformia ja aloitti muun muassa ulkomaisten velkojen takaisinmaksun. Lisäksi koulujärjestelmään tehtiin uudistuksia. Samana vuonna tehtiin myös väestönlaskenta: Liettuassa asui 2 028 971 asukasta.
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Saksan yhdistyessä Preussin johdolla, Memelistä tuli Saksan keisarikunnan koillisin kaupunki. Rautatieaseman kaupunki sai 1875. Ensimmäisen maailmansodan jälkeen, vuonna 1919, Memel asetettiin ympärysvaltojen alaisuuteen.
Versailles’n rauhan jälkeen kaupunki ympäristöineen erotettiin Saksasta, ja Memelin alue oli Kansainliiton mandaattihallintoalueena ranskalaisten hallitsemana.
Liettuan ja Saksan välit viilenivät Adolf Hitlerin johtaman kansallissosialistinen puolueen noustessa valtaan, sillä uusi natsi-Saksa ei hyväksynyt Memelin alueen menetystä Liettualle. Natsit muun muassa tukivat Liettuan vastaisia järjestöjä alueella. Vuonna 1934 Liettua laittoi syytteeseen ja tuomitsi vankeuteen lukuisia tällaiseen toimintaan osallistuneita saksalaisia. Vastauksena tähän Saksa julisti Liettuan taloussaartoon.
Liettuan ja Saksan välit viilenivät Adolf Hitlerin johtaman kansallissosialistinen puolueen noustessa valtaan, sillä uusi natsi-Saksa ei hyväksynyt Memelin alueen menetystä Liettualle. Natsit muun muassa tukivat Liettuan vastaisia järjestöjä alueella. Vuonna 1934 Liettua laittoi syytteeseen ja tuomitsi vankeuteen lukuisia tällaiseen toimintaan osallistuneita saksalaisia. Vastauksena tähän Saksa julisti Liettuan taloussaartoon.
Julistuksen jälkeen Liettua siirsi vientinsä Isoon-Britanniaan. Tämä ei kuitenkaan sopinut talonpojille, jotka lakkoilivat ja kapinoivat. Viranomaiset tukahduttivat kapinat verisesti. Smetonan arvovalta oli kokenut kolauksen ja syyskuussa 1936 hän suostui järjestämään parlamenttivaalit, jotka olivat ensimmäiset vuoden 1926 vallankaappauksen jälkeen.
Kansallista liittoa lukuun ottamatta kaikkien muiden puolueiden osallistuminen vaaleihin kiellettiin. Helmikuussa 1938 uuden perustuslain myötä Smetona sai vielä enemmän valtaa.
Saksan tehtyä Anschlussin Itävallassa, eri maiden poliittiset jännitteet kiristyivät.
Liettuan sotilaita, Puolan (invasion) sotaretki 1939
Sotilaallisesti heikko ja ilman kansainvälistä tukea Liettua joutui hyväksymään vaatimuksen. Liettuan ja Puolan suhteet tulivat päällisin puolin normaaleiksi.
Maat tekivät muun muassa rautatie-, postinvaihto- ja muita sopimuksia. Saksan Tšekkoslovakian miehityksen jälkeen Saksan ulkoministeri Joachim von Ribbentrop antoi suullisen uhkavaatimuksen Liettualle, jossa Liettuaa vaadittiin luovuttamaan Klaipėdan alue Saksalle.
Puolan vaatimuksen tavoin Liettualla ei ollut muuta mahdollisuutta kuin myöntyä vaatimukseen. Liettuaan syntyi poliittinen sekasorto, jolloin Smetona joutui muodostamaan uuden hallituksen.
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Elokuussa 1939 Saksan ja Neuvostoliiton laatimassa Molotov–Ribbentrop-sopimuksen salaisessa etupiirijaossa Liettua kuului aluksi Saksan etupiiriin, mutta 28. syyskuuta 1939 tehdyssä lisäsopimuksessa se vaihdettiin Neuvostoliiton etupiiriin.
Muiden Baltian maiden ja Suomen tavoin Neuvostoliitto alkoi vaatia Liettualta lupaa rakentaa maan alueelle sotilastukikohtia. Puolan offensiivin jälkeen Puolan jaossa Neuvostoliitto luovutti Liettualle Vilnan alueen sillä ehdolla, että maa hyväksyi 20 000 Puna-armeijan sotilaan tulon maahan.
Talvisodan loputtua Suomessa ja Saksan sotiessa Tanskaa, Norjaa ja Ranskaa vastaan, Neuvostoliitto lisäsi diplomaattista painostusta Liettuaa vastaan. Kesäkuussa 1940 se antoi uhkavaatimuksen Liettualle, jossa vaadittiin Neuvostoliitolle myötämielisen hallituksen muodostamista ja antaa Puna-armeijalle lupa tuoda maahan rajattomasti joukkoja.
Liettua, jonka alueella oli jo runsaasti neuvostosotilaita, joutui taipumaan vaatimukseen. Presidentti Antanas Smetona pakeni maasta 15 neuvostodivisioonan (150 000 sotilasta) ylitettyä maan rajan 15. kesäkuuta 1940. Tuona päivänä Liettuan katsotaan menettäneen itsenäisyytensä.
Muiden Baltian maiden ja Suomen tavoin Neuvostoliitto alkoi vaatia Liettualta lupaa rakentaa maan alueelle sotilastukikohtia. Puolan offensiivin jälkeen Puolan jaossa Neuvostoliitto luovutti Liettualle Vilnan alueen sillä ehdolla, että maa hyväksyi 20 000 Puna-armeijan sotilaan tulon maahan.
Talvisodan loputtua Suomessa ja Saksan sotiessa Tanskaa, Norjaa ja Ranskaa vastaan, Neuvostoliitto lisäsi diplomaattista painostusta Liettuaa vastaan. Kesäkuussa 1940 se antoi uhkavaatimuksen Liettualle, jossa vaadittiin Neuvostoliitolle myötämielisen hallituksen muodostamista ja antaa Puna-armeijalle lupa tuoda maahan rajattomasti joukkoja.
Liettua, jonka alueella oli jo runsaasti neuvostosotilaita, joutui taipumaan vaatimukseen. Presidentti Antanas Smetona pakeni maasta 15 neuvostodivisioonan (150 000 sotilasta) ylitettyä maan rajan 15. kesäkuuta 1940. Tuona päivänä Liettuan katsotaan menettäneen itsenäisyytensä.
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Molotov-Ribbentrop-sopimuksen salaisessa lisäpöytäkirjassa Venäjä ja Saksa sopivat 23.8.1939 ensin Liettuan kuuluvan Saksan etupiiriin. Kun Venäjä ja Saksa hyökkäsivät liittolaisina Puolaan ja jakoivat Puolan keskenään, niin uutta rajalinjaa vedettäessä 28.9.1939 Saksa ja Venäjä sopivat sitten Liettuan kuuluvankin Venäjän etupiiriin.
Presidentti Smetona julisti 17.9.1939 Liettuan armeijan osittaisen liikekannalle panon poliittisena itsenäisyys tahto ilmauksena, mutta upseeriston pettymykseksi hän demobilisoi joukot 2.10. säästääkseen valtion menoissa. Kuitenkin juuri tuolloin oli noussut uhka, jota vastaan armeijaa olisi tarvittu. 29.9. Venäjän ulkoministeriö oli ilmoittanut Liettuan suurlähettiläälle Moskovassa, että Venäjä haluaa Liettuan pää-, tai ulkoministerin saapuvan neuvotteluihin Moskovaan.
Molotov-Ribbentrop -sopimuksen mukaisesti Liettua kuului Neuvostoliiton etupiiriin.
Ulkoministeri Juozas Urbshys matkusti Moskovaan 3.10.1939. Neuvotteluissa Venäjä vaati ja pakotti Liettuan sallia neuvostoliiton sotilastukikohtien perustaminen Liettuaan joten Liettua antoi periksi ja sopimus allekirjoitettiin 10.10.1939.
Tämän sopimuksen mukaan Venäjä sijoitti Liettuan tukikohtiin n. 20 000 miestä.
Vastineeksi sopimuksesta Liettua sai takaisin Vilnan, kun Saksa ja Neuvostoliitto jakoi keskenään Puolan. Näin Vilnasta tuli taas pääkaupunki, ja Liettua sai nykyisen itärajan.
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Neuvostoliitto antoi Liettualle 14. kesäkuuta 1940 uhkavaatimuksen päästää rajoittamaton määrä joukkoja maahan. Pian tämän jälkeen Liettuasta muodostettiin Liettuan sosialistinen neuvostotasavalta.
Saksan valtakunta miehitti Liettuan 1941 hyökättyään Neuvostoliittoon. Vuosina 1941–1944 pääosa nykyisestä Liettuasta kuului siviilihallinnoltaan Saksan Ostlandin valtakunnan komissariaattiiin. Vuonna 1944 puna-armeija työnsi saksalaiset pois Liettuasta ja neuvostovalta palautui. Vastarintamiehet, niin sanotut metsäveljet vastustivat neuvostovaltaa pitkälle 1950-luvulle.
Neuvostovallan aikana Liettuassa ehdittiin toteuttaa viljelymaiden ja yritysten kansallistaminen ja kyydittää vastustelijat Siperiaan. Presidentti Antanas Smetona pakeni Yhdysvaltoihin, ja hänen Liettuaan palannut vastustajansa Augustinas Voldemaras vangittiin ja kuljetettiin Venäjälle.
On arvioitu että Saksan ja Neuvostoliiton miehityksen aikana, vuodet 1940 - 1954 Liettua menetti 780.000 kansalaistaan.
Saksalaiset lähettivät liettualaisia työleireille ja surmasivat 91 % maan juutalaisista.
Neuvostojoukkojen vuoden 1944 valtauksen jälkeen 120 000-300 000 liettualaista surmattiin tai lähetettiin Siperiaan. Osana Liettuan integrointia Neuvostoliiton viranomaiset rohkaisivat muuttoliikettä muista neuvostotasavalloista Liettuaan.
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Molotov-Ribbentrop-sopimuksen salaisessa lisäpöytäkirjassa Venäjä ja Saksa sopivat 23.8.1939 ensin Liettuan kuuluvan Saksan etupiiriin. Kun Venäjä ja Saksa hyökkäsivät liittolaisina Puolaan ja jakoivat Puolan keskenään, niin uutta rajalinjaa vedettäessä 28.9.1939 Saksa ja Venäjä sopivat sitten Liettuan kuuluvankin Venäjän etupiiriin.
Presidentti Smetona julisti 17.9.1939 Liettuan armeijan osittaisen liikekannalle panon poliittisena itsenäisyys tahto ilmauksena, mutta upseeriston pettymykseksi hän demobilisoi joukot 2.10. säästääkseen valtion menoissa. Kuitenkin juuri tuolloin oli noussut uhka, jota vastaan armeijaa olisi tarvittu. 29.9. Venäjän ulkoministeriö oli ilmoittanut Liettuan suurlähettiläälle Moskovassa, että Venäjä haluaa Liettuan pää-, tai ulkoministerin saapuvan neuvotteluihin Moskovaan.
Molotov-Ribbentrop -sopimuksen mukaisesti Liettua kuului Neuvostoliiton etupiiriin.
Ulkoministeri Juozas Urbshys matkusti Moskovaan 3.10.1939. Neuvotteluissa Venäjä vaati ja pakotti Liettuan sallia neuvostoliiton sotilastukikohtien perustaminen Liettuaan joten Liettua antoi periksi ja sopimus allekirjoitettiin 10.10.1939.
Vastineeksi sopimuksesta Liettua sai takaisin Vilnan, kun Saksa ja Neuvostoliitto jakoi keskenään Puolan. Näin Vilnasta tuli taas pääkaupunki, ja Liettua sai nykyisen itärajan.
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Neuvostoliitto antoi Liettualle 14. kesäkuuta 1940 uhkavaatimuksen päästää rajoittamaton määrä joukkoja maahan. Pian tämän jälkeen Liettuasta muodostettiin Liettuan sosialistinen neuvostotasavalta.
Saksan valtakunta miehitti Liettuan 1941 hyökättyään Neuvostoliittoon. Vuosina 1941–1944 pääosa nykyisestä Liettuasta kuului siviilihallinnoltaan Saksan Ostlandin valtakunnan komissariaattiiin. Vuonna 1944 puna-armeija työnsi saksalaiset pois Liettuasta ja neuvostovalta palautui. Vastarintamiehet, niin sanotut metsäveljet vastustivat neuvostovaltaa pitkälle 1950-luvulle.
Neuvostovallan aikana Liettuassa ehdittiin toteuttaa viljelymaiden ja yritysten kansallistaminen ja kyydittää vastustelijat Siperiaan. Presidentti Antanas Smetona pakeni Yhdysvaltoihin, ja hänen Liettuaan palannut vastustajansa Augustinas Voldemaras vangittiin ja kuljetettiin Venäjälle.
On arvioitu että Saksan ja Neuvostoliiton miehityksen aikana, vuodet 1940 - 1954 Liettua menetti 780.000 kansalaistaan.
Saksalaiset lähettivät liettualaisia työleireille ja surmasivat 91 % maan juutalaisista.
Neuvostojoukkojen vuoden 1944 valtauksen jälkeen 120 000-300 000 liettualaista surmattiin tai lähetettiin Siperiaan. Osana Liettuan integrointia Neuvostoliiton viranomaiset rohkaisivat muuttoliikettä muista neuvostotasavalloista Liettuaan.
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The then predominantly ethnic German Memel Territory (Prussian Lithuanians and Memellanders constituted the other ethnic groups), situated between the river and the town of that name, was occupied by Lithuania in the "Klaipėda Revolt" of 1923.
It was annexed by Nazi Germany in March, 1939 and immediately reintegrated into East Prussia, just half a year before the outbreak of the Second World War. In the final stages of the war in 1945 it was occupied by Soviet forces, and was formally annexed by the Soviet Union in 1946, cleared of its native German population, and made a part of the Lithuanian SSR in 1948.
It was annexed by Nazi Germany in March, 1939 and immediately reintegrated into East Prussia, just half a year before the outbreak of the Second World War. In the final stages of the war in 1945 it was occupied by Soviet forces, and was formally annexed by the Soviet Union in 1946, cleared of its native German population, and made a part of the Lithuanian SSR in 1948.
The division of Prussia was also promoted by Poland's Roman Dmowski in Versailles who acted by orders of Józef Piłsudski: the purpose was to give the lower part of Neman River and its delta, which was located in Germany and called the Memel River, to Lithuania as this would provide her access to the Baltic Sea, while Lithuania itself should be part of Poland. These ideas were supported by the French prime minister Georges Clemenceau.
In 1920, according to the Treaty of Versailles, the German area north of the Memel river was given the status of Territoire de Memel under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors, and French troops were sent for protection. During the period of French administration, the idea of an independent State of Memelland grew in popularity among local inhabitants.
The organisation Deutsch-Litauischer Heimatbund (German-Lithuanian homeland federation) promoted the idea of a Freistaat Memelland, which later should return to Germany. It had 30,000 members, both ethnic German and/or Lithuanian, about 21% of the total population.
The organisation Deutsch-Litauischer Heimatbund (German-Lithuanian homeland federation) promoted the idea of a Freistaat Memelland, which later should return to Germany. It had 30,000 members, both ethnic German and/or Lithuanian, about 21% of the total population.
On 9 January 1923, three years after the Versailles Treaty had become effective, Lithuania occupied the territory during the so-called Klaipėda Revolt, mainly by militia that had entered the region from Lithuania. France at the same time had started the Occupation of the Ruhr in Germany, and the French administration in Memel did not take any significant counteractive measures against the rebels. On 19 January, the territory was annexed by Lithuania, and the fait accompli was eventually confirmed by the Council of Ambassadors in 1924.
By late 1938, Lithuania had lost control over the situation in the Territory. In the early hours of 23 March 1939, after an oral ultimatum had caused a Lithuanian delegation to travel to Berlin, the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Juozas Urbšys and his German counterpart Joachim von Ribbentrop signed the Treaty of the Cession of the Memel Territory to Germany in exchange for a Lithuanian Free Zone for 99 years in the port of Memel, using the facilities erected in previous years
Hitler had anticipated this aboard a Kriegsmarine naval ship, and at dawn sailed into Memel to celebrate the return heim ins Reich of the Memelland. This proved to be the last of a series of bloodless annexations of territories separated from the German or Austrian Empire by the Treaty of Versailles, which had been perceived by many if not most Germans as a humiliation.
German forces seized the territory even before the official Lithuanian ratification. The United Kingdom and France, as after the revolt of 1923, did not actively protect the autonomy of the territory. It was under these conditions that the Seimas was forced to approve the treaty, hoping that Germany would not press any other territorial demands upon Lithuania.
German forces seized the territory even before the official Lithuanian ratification. The United Kingdom and France, as after the revolt of 1923, did not actively protect the autonomy of the territory. It was under these conditions that the Seimas was forced to approve the treaty, hoping that Germany would not press any other territorial demands upon Lithuania.
Still, the reunion with Germany was welcomed by the majority of the population, both by Germans and by Memellanders.
According to the treaty, the citizens of Memel Territory were allowed to choose citizenship: either German, or Lithuanian. 303 people (counting family members, 585) asked for Lithuanian citizenship and only 20 requests were granted. Another item stated that persons who had settled in the Memel Territory during the occupation period from 1923 to 1939 should emigrate. About 8,900 Lithuanians did so. At the same time, Nazis expelled about 1,300 (local Memel and Lithuanian) Jews and only about 40 Prussian Lithuanians.
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With many countries, including France and Estonia, supporting Poland in the conflict over Vilnius, Lithuania pursued policies friendly to Germany and the Soviet Union, but both powers soon encroached on Lithuania's territory and independence. Following the Nazi electoral success in Klaipėda in December 1938 and a few days after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Lithuania received on 20 March 1939 an oral ultimatum from Joachim von Ribbentrop demanding to cede the Klaipėda Region to Germany. The Lithuanian government accepted the ultimatum to avoid an armed intervention. The Klaipėda Region was directly incorporated into the East Prussian province of the German Reich.
This triggered a political crisis in Lithuania and forced Smetona to form a new government which for the first time since 1926 included members of the opposition. The loss of Klaipėda was a major blow to Lithuanian economy and the country shifted to the sphere of German influence. When Germany and the Soviet Union concluded the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939 and divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, Lithuania was, at first, assigned to Germany, but that was changed after Smetona's refusal to participate in the German invasion of Poland.
The interwar period of independence gave birth to the development of Lithuanian press, literature, music, arts, and theater as well as a comprehensive system of education with Lithuanian as the language of instruction. The network of primary and secondary schools was expanded and institutions of higher learning were established in Kaunas. Lithuanian society remained heavily agricultural with only 20% of the people living in cities.
The influence of the Catholic Church was strong and birth rates high: the population increased by 22% to over three million during 1923–39, despite emigration to South America and elsewhere. In almost all cities and towns, traditionally dominated by Jews, Poles, Russians and Germans, ethnic Lithuanians became the majority; Lithuanians, for example, constituted 59% of the residents of Kaunas in 1923, as opposed to 7% in 1897. The right-wing dictatorship of 1926–40 had strangely stabilizing social effects, as it prevented the worst of antisemitic excesses as well as the rise of leftist and rightist political extremism.
In August 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, with secret clauses assigning spheres of influence in the area of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania with Vilnius, initially assigned to the German sphere of influence, was transferred to the Soviet sphere in secret additional protocols of the German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty of September 28, 1939. Vilnius, regarded by Lithuanians as their capital, but under Polish control before the war, was occupied by the Red Army on 19 September 1939 during the invasion of Poland; Lithuania petitioned Moscow for the city.
Joseph Stalin apparently overruled the Soviet government circles inclined to grant Vilnius to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic and in the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Pact of 10 October 1939 transferred a part of the Vilnius Region previously held by Poland, including Vilnius, to Lithuanian control in exchange for the stationing of 20,000 Soviet troops within Lithuania. Lithuania established its state authority in Vilnius and under the leadership of Prime Minister Antanas Merkys proceeded with Lithuanization of the city.
In 1940, once the Winter War in Finland was over and Germany was making rapid advances against Denmark and Norway and against France and the Low Countries, the Soviets heightened their diplomatic pressure on Lithuania, culminating in the Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania of June 14, 1940.
The ultimatum demanded the formation of a new pro-Soviet government and admission of an unspecified number of Russian troops.
Lithuania, already partially controlled by Soviet forces and unable to effectively resist, accepted the ultimatum. President Antanas Smetona fled Lithuania as the Soviet military (15 divisions with 150,000 soldiers) crossed the Lithuanian border on June 15, 1940.
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Soviet representative Vladimir Dekanozov formed the new pro-Soviet puppet government, known as the People's Government. Justas Paleckis replaced Smetona as the acting President of Lithuania. The new government was a rubber stamp institution, carrying out orders from Moscow. The Fourth Seimas was disbanded and new show elections to the so-called People's Seimas were organized on July 14–15, 1940. With only Communist-led Lithuanian People's Bloc candidates running and under conditions of general terror, official results showed over 90% voter turnout and 95% support for the Bloc.
During its first session on July 21, the People's Seimas unanimously voted to convert Lithuania into the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and petitioned to join the Soviet Union. The application was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on August 3, which completed the formalization of the annexation. By August 6, the Republic was subjected to complete Red Army control. Twenty to thirty thousand Lithuanians, Poles and Jews were deported by the Soviet NKVD to Siberia, Kazakhstan and elsewhere between June 1940 and June 1941, including Lithuanian Prime Minister Merkys and Foreign Minister Juozas Urbšys.
Immediately following the occupation, Soviet authorities began rapid Sovietization of Lithuania. All land was nationalized. To gain support for the new regime among the poorer peasants, large farms were distributed to small landowners. However, in preparation for eventual collectivization, agricultural taxes were dramatically increased in an attempt to bankrupt all farmers. Nationalization of banks, larger enterprises, and real estate resulted in disruptions in production causing massive shortages of goods. The Lithuanian litas was artificially undervalued and withdrawn by spring 1941.
The standard of living plummeted. All religious, cultural, and political organizations were banned leaving only the Communist Party of Lithuania and its youth branch. An estimated 12,000 "enemies of the people" were arrested. During the June 1941 deportation campaign, some 12,600 people (mostly former military officers, policemen, political figures, intelligentsia and their families) were deported, under the policy of elimination of national elites, to Gulags in Siberia, where many perished due to inhumane conditions; 3,600 were imprisoned and over 1,000 killed.
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On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The German forces moved rapidly, encountering only sporadic Soviet resistance. Vilnius was captured on 24 June 1941, and within a week Germany controlled all Lithuania. The retreating Soviet forces murdered between 1,000 and 1,500 people, mostly ethnic Lithuanians (see Rainiai massacre). Several thousand non-Jewish accused collaborators may have been killed in retribution. The Lithuanians generally greeted the Germans as liberators from the oppressive Soviet regime and hoped that Germany would restore some autonomy to Lithuania.
The Lithuanian Activist Front organized an anti-Soviet revolt known as the June Uprising, declared independence, and formed the Provisional Government of Lithuania with Juozas Ambrazevičius as Prime Minister. The Provisional Government was not forcibly dissolved, but stripped by the Germans of any actual power; it resigned on August 5, 1941. Germany established the civil administration known as the Reichskommissariat Ostland and banned all Lithuanian political parties.
After the rebel government's dissolution, the rudimentary local administrative structure remained intact and most local offices were headed by Lithuanians; this included the Lithuanian Police Department headquartered in Kaunas and other law enforcement agencies. Policy decisions would be made by high-ranking Germans and actually implemented by low-ranking Lithuanians. Overall, local self-government was quite developed in Lithuania and helped to sabotage or hinder several German initiatives, including raising a Waffen-SS unit or providing men for forced labor in Germany.
There was substantial cooperation and collaboration between the German forces and some Lithuanians. The Lithuanian Activist Front volunteered a police force, known as Tautinio Darbo Apsaugos Batalionas (TDA), hoping that it would be later transformed into regular army of independent Lithuania. Instead these units were employed by the Germans as auxiliary in massacres of the Jews during the Holocaust. Another infamous unit was the Lithuanian Security Police (Saugumo policija) operating in Vilnius. A number of other police battalions were formed; the auxiliary forces were sometimes employed outside of Lithuania and charged with securing communications, guarding prisoners, delivering supplies, etc.
Harsh German policies of settling ethnic Germans in Lithuania, collecting large war provisions, gathering people for forced labor, conscripting men into the German army and the lack of true autonomy resulted in disillusionment commonly felt from the early 1942, widespread sympathy for the Western allies and produced a resistance movement. The most notable resistance organization, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania, was formed in 1943.
Despite German pressure a Waffen-SS division was not established in Lithuania. Eventually, the Lithuanian general Povilas Plechavičius agreed to form the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (LTDF), which was to operate solely in the Lithuanian territory and be commanded by Lithuanian officers. When Germans did not honor the agreement and attempted to subordinate LTDF to the German army, Plechavičius disbanded it in May 1944.
Lithuanians also organized armed resistance, which was conducted by pro-Soviet partisans, operated in eastern Lithuania, and mainly consisted of minority Russians, Belarusians and Jews. This group fought for the re-incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union. Soviet partisans committed a number of atrocities (for example, the Koniuchy massacre) and sacked towns and villages. The villagers were forced to organize local self-defense.
The Polish Armia Krajowa (AK) also operated in eastern Lithuania, expecting post-war Poland to resume control of the Vilnius Region. AK was fighting not only against the Nazis, but also against the pro-Nazi Lithuanian police involved in attacks on Poles, Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force, and the Soviet partisans. Relationships between different national military organizations were often adversarial and became only more hostile and retributive as the war went on.
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With many countries, including France and Estonia, supporting Poland in the conflict over Vilnius, Lithuania pursued policies friendly to Germany and the Soviet Union, but both powers soon encroached on Lithuania's territory and independence. Following the Nazi electoral success in Klaipėda in December 1938 and a few days after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Lithuania received on 20 March 1939 an oral ultimatum from Joachim von Ribbentrop demanding to cede the Klaipėda Region to Germany. The Lithuanian government accepted the ultimatum to avoid an armed intervention. The Klaipėda Region was directly incorporated into the East Prussian province of the German Reich.
This triggered a political crisis in Lithuania and forced Smetona to form a new government which for the first time since 1926 included members of the opposition. The loss of Klaipėda was a major blow to Lithuanian economy and the country shifted to the sphere of German influence. When Germany and the Soviet Union concluded the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939 and divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, Lithuania was, at first, assigned to Germany, but that was changed after Smetona's refusal to participate in the German invasion of Poland.
The interwar period of independence gave birth to the development of Lithuanian press, literature, music, arts, and theater as well as a comprehensive system of education with Lithuanian as the language of instruction. The network of primary and secondary schools was expanded and institutions of higher learning were established in Kaunas. Lithuanian society remained heavily agricultural with only 20% of the people living in cities.
The influence of the Catholic Church was strong and birth rates high: the population increased by 22% to over three million during 1923–39, despite emigration to South America and elsewhere. In almost all cities and towns, traditionally dominated by Jews, Poles, Russians and Germans, ethnic Lithuanians became the majority; Lithuanians, for example, constituted 59% of the residents of Kaunas in 1923, as opposed to 7% in 1897. The right-wing dictatorship of 1926–40 had strangely stabilizing social effects, as it prevented the worst of antisemitic excesses as well as the rise of leftist and rightist political extremism.
In August 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, with secret clauses assigning spheres of influence in the area of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania with Vilnius, initially assigned to the German sphere of influence, was transferred to the Soviet sphere in secret additional protocols of the German–Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty of September 28, 1939. Vilnius, regarded by Lithuanians as their capital, but under Polish control before the war, was occupied by the Red Army on 19 September 1939 during the invasion of Poland; Lithuania petitioned Moscow for the city.
Joseph Stalin apparently overruled the Soviet government circles inclined to grant Vilnius to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic and in the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Pact of 10 October 1939 transferred a part of the Vilnius Region previously held by Poland, including Vilnius, to Lithuanian control in exchange for the stationing of 20,000 Soviet troops within Lithuania. Lithuania established its state authority in Vilnius and under the leadership of Prime Minister Antanas Merkys proceeded with Lithuanization of the city.
In 1940, once the Winter War in Finland was over and Germany was making rapid advances against Denmark and Norway and against France and the Low Countries, the Soviets heightened their diplomatic pressure on Lithuania, culminating in the Soviet ultimatum to Lithuania of June 14, 1940.
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Soviet representative Vladimir Dekanozov formed the new pro-Soviet puppet government, known as the People's Government. Justas Paleckis replaced Smetona as the acting President of Lithuania. The new government was a rubber stamp institution, carrying out orders from Moscow. The Fourth Seimas was disbanded and new show elections to the so-called People's Seimas were organized on July 14–15, 1940. With only Communist-led Lithuanian People's Bloc candidates running and under conditions of general terror, official results showed over 90% voter turnout and 95% support for the Bloc.
During its first session on July 21, the People's Seimas unanimously voted to convert Lithuania into the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and petitioned to join the Soviet Union. The application was approved by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on August 3, which completed the formalization of the annexation. By August 6, the Republic was subjected to complete Red Army control. Twenty to thirty thousand Lithuanians, Poles and Jews were deported by the Soviet NKVD to Siberia, Kazakhstan and elsewhere between June 1940 and June 1941, including Lithuanian Prime Minister Merkys and Foreign Minister Juozas Urbšys.
Immediately following the occupation, Soviet authorities began rapid Sovietization of Lithuania. All land was nationalized. To gain support for the new regime among the poorer peasants, large farms were distributed to small landowners. However, in preparation for eventual collectivization, agricultural taxes were dramatically increased in an attempt to bankrupt all farmers. Nationalization of banks, larger enterprises, and real estate resulted in disruptions in production causing massive shortages of goods. The Lithuanian litas was artificially undervalued and withdrawn by spring 1941.
The standard of living plummeted. All religious, cultural, and political organizations were banned leaving only the Communist Party of Lithuania and its youth branch. An estimated 12,000 "enemies of the people" were arrested. During the June 1941 deportation campaign, some 12,600 people (mostly former military officers, policemen, political figures, intelligentsia and their families) were deported, under the policy of elimination of national elites, to Gulags in Siberia, where many perished due to inhumane conditions; 3,600 were imprisoned and over 1,000 killed.
----
After the rebel government's dissolution, the rudimentary local administrative structure remained intact and most local offices were headed by Lithuanians; this included the Lithuanian Police Department headquartered in Kaunas and other law enforcement agencies. Policy decisions would be made by high-ranking Germans and actually implemented by low-ranking Lithuanians. Overall, local self-government was quite developed in Lithuania and helped to sabotage or hinder several German initiatives, including raising a Waffen-SS unit or providing men for forced labor in Germany.
There was substantial cooperation and collaboration between the German forces and some Lithuanians. The Lithuanian Activist Front volunteered a police force, known as Tautinio Darbo Apsaugos Batalionas (TDA), hoping that it would be later transformed into regular army of independent Lithuania. Instead these units were employed by the Germans as auxiliary in massacres of the Jews during the Holocaust. Another infamous unit was the Lithuanian Security Police (Saugumo policija) operating in Vilnius. A number of other police battalions were formed; the auxiliary forces were sometimes employed outside of Lithuania and charged with securing communications, guarding prisoners, delivering supplies, etc.
Harsh German policies of settling ethnic Germans in Lithuania, collecting large war provisions, gathering people for forced labor, conscripting men into the German army and the lack of true autonomy resulted in disillusionment commonly felt from the early 1942, widespread sympathy for the Western allies and produced a resistance movement. The most notable resistance organization, the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania, was formed in 1943.
Despite German pressure a Waffen-SS division was not established in Lithuania. Eventually, the Lithuanian general Povilas Plechavičius agreed to form the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force (LTDF), which was to operate solely in the Lithuanian territory and be commanded by Lithuanian officers. When Germans did not honor the agreement and attempted to subordinate LTDF to the German army, Plechavičius disbanded it in May 1944.
The Polish Armia Krajowa (AK) also operated in eastern Lithuania, expecting post-war Poland to resume control of the Vilnius Region. AK was fighting not only against the Nazis, but also against the pro-Nazi Lithuanian police involved in attacks on Poles, Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force, and the Soviet partisans. Relationships between different national military organizations were often adversarial and became only more hostile and retributive as the war went on.
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