29. Soviet Union/Lithuania (1940-1991)

 

Crisis Phase (August 6, 1940-August 2, 1944):  The Soviet Union formally annexed Lithuania on August 6, 1940. The United States refused to recognize the Soviet annexation of Lithuania. A new constitution was adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic on August 25, 1940. The Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF) was established in opposition to the Soviet government on September 17, 1940.  The Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters (Lietuvos Laisves Kovotoju Sajunga – LLKS) was established in opposition to the Soviet government on December 26, 1940. Soviet troops executed some 1,500 Lithuanians between April 24 and June 26, 1941, and some 12,600 Lithuanians were deported to the Soviet Union on June 14-18, 1941. Some 125,000 members of the Lithuanian Activist Front (LAF) and LLKS rebelled against Soviet troops beginning on June 22, 1941, and Colonel Kazys Skirpa formed a provisional government as prime minister on June 23, 1941. Some 4,100 Lithuanians were killed during the rebellion. German troops invaded Lithuania on June 22, 1941, and German troops captured Kaunas on June 24, 1941. Soviet troops withdrew from Lithuania on June 22-29, 1941. The German government abolished the provisional government on August 5, 1941. Some 250,000 Lithuanians, including some 200,000 Jews, were deported or killed during the German occupation. Two Germans were killed by Lithuanians near Lentupiai on May 19, 1942, resulting in the killings of some 500 Lithuanians by German troops on May 20, 1942. German troops massacred some 119 Lithuanians in the village of Pirciupis on June 3, 1944. Soviet troops invaded Lithuania, and Soviet troops captured Vilnius on July 13, 1944 and Kaunas on August 1, 1944.

Conflict Phase (August 3, 1944-May 31, 1953):  Lithuanian partisans initiated an insurgency against Soviet occupation beginning on August 3, 1944. Soviet troops and Lithuanian partisans clashed in the Kaunas district on December 16, 1944, resulting in the deaths of three Soviet soldiers. Soviet troops massacred 56 Lithuanian civilians in the Kaunas district on December 17-21, 1944. Soviet troops and Lithuanian partisans clashed in Kedainys district on December 16, 1944, resulting in the deaths of some 90 Soviet soldiers. Soviet troops and Lithuanian partisans clashed in the Ukmerge district on January 12, 1945, resulting in the deaths of 24 partisans and 80 Soviet soldiers. Soviet troops and Lithuanian partisans clashed in the Trakai district on February 8, 1945, resulting in the deaths of seven partisans and 17 Soviet soldiers. Some 10,000 Soviet troops launched an operation against Lithuanian partisans in western and southern Lithuania between June 28 and July 16, 1946, resulting in the deaths of some 200 Soviet soldiers and 31 partisans.  Soviet troops commanded by Major General Juozas Bartasiunas launched an operation against Lithuanian partisans on August 12-16, 1946, resulting in the deaths of some 500 Soviet soldiers and 200 partisans.  Soviet government officials deported some 320,000 Lithuanians to the Soviet Union between 1945 and 1951. The Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters (ULFF) was established by Lithuanian partisans on February 10, 1949.  The Lithuanian insurgency against Soviet occupation was largely suppressed by Soviet forces by the end of May 1953.  Some 20,000 partisans, 13,000 Soviet soldiers, and 2,600 civilians were killed during the conflict.

Post-Conflict Phase (June 1, 1953-September 6, 1991):  Adolfas Ramanauskas, military commander of the ULFF, was captured by Soviet forces on October 11, 1956.  Adolfas Ramanauskas was sentenced to death on September 25, 1957, and he was executed on November 29, 1957.  Soviet troops and policemen suppressed student demonstrations against the government in Kaunas on May 18-19, 1972, resulting in the death of one government policeman and the arrests of some 500 individuals.  The European Parliament (EP) condemned the Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries on January 12, 1983.  The Lithuanian Reform Movement (LRM) or Sajudis was established in Vilnius on June 3, 1988. Several thousand Lithuanians demonstrated in Vilnius against the 1940 annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union on July 23, 1988. The Lithuanian Supreme Soviet approved the Declaration of State Sovereignty on May 18, 1989, which decreed that the 1940 annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union was illegal. Parliamentary elections were held on February 24, 1990, and the Sajudis headed by Vytautas Landsbergis won 92 out of 141 seats in the Supreme Soviet. The Lithuanian Communist Party of Lithuania (LCP) won five seats in the Supreme Soviet. Vytautas Landsbergis was elected chairman of the Supreme Council by the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet. The Lithuanian Supreme Soviet repudiated the 1940 annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union and proclaimed the Act of the Restoration of Independence on March 11, 1990. President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union declared the Lithuanian independence movement as illegal on March 13, 1990. The Soviet Union cut off the supply of oil and gas to Lithuania on April 18, 1990. On May 16, 1990, the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet suspended laws implementing the declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. The Lithuanian Supreme Soviet suspended its declaration of independence on June 29, 1990, and the Soviet Union re-opened the oil and gas supply to Lithuania on June 30, 1990. On January 11, 1991, Soviet troops seized several government buildings in Vilnius after Lithuania ended the suspension of its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union on January 2, 1991. Soviet troops and Lithuanian demonstrators clashed in Vilnius on January 13, 1991, resulting in the deaths of 14 individuals. Iceland provided diplomatic assistance (diplomatic recognition) to the Lithuanian government on January 31, 1991. Some 90 percent of Lithuanians voted in favor of independence in a referendum on February 9, 1991. The USSR State Council recognized the independence of Lithuania on September 6, 1991.

[Sources: Banks and Muller, 1998, 554-561; Ference, 1994, 337-391; Gerutis 1969; Keesing’s Record of World Events, October 21-28, 1972; March 1990, January 1991; Leskys, 2009, 58-86; Stasaitis, 2000, 115-122.]