As many of us know, Lithuania was first mentioned in written chronicles over a thousand years ago. The country had a long and complicated history. But when asked, who are we celebrating our independence from on February 16, quite a few of us may have to rack our brains and ask ourselves: yea, what is this all about?
In this post, we will have a brief overview of the history of Lithuania and how we came to be an independent nation.
A thousand years ago, there was no unified Lithuania. What we now know as a Baltic state, consisted of small Baltic tribes, which often warred amongst themselves.
Kings and Grand Dukes
There were a lot of prominent people in Lithuanian history, who had a huge impact on Lithuania’s development and put it on the map of the world.
The coronation of the King Mindaugas (who, by the way was the only king in Lithuanian history) marks the beginning of the state of Lithuania. He is considered the founder of our country, and today we celebrate the day of his coronation on July 6.
Gediminas is another notable Grand Duke. His legacy includes the founding of the city of Vilnius, inviting Western business and culture to the newly budding Lithuania and introduction of our people to Christianity.
Gediminas is considered the builder of the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania.
Vytautas was another great leader of Lithuania. It is during his reign that the Lithuanian territory expanded all the way to the Black Sea!
He was also the commander-in-chief of the Lithuanian army that defeated teutonic knights in the Battle of Grunwald (Žalgirio mūšis), one of the greatest battles of the Middle Ages, in 1410.
Lituania and Poland
Lithuania and Poland are not only neighbors on the map. Our two countries have had a long and complicated history together.
There was a Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth which existed for a long time. It was founded in 1569 with the Union of Lublin and lasted all the way up till the last of the divisions of this country in 1795.
The Lithuania-Poland Commonwealth was divided three times during the course of the 18th century.
After the last division, Lithuania became part of the Russian empire.
Lithuania and Russia
Life in the Russian empire was not all peaches and butterflies for Lithuanians. People – both common folks and the upper classes – were rumbling.
Two uprisings took place in XIX century – one from the nobility and one from the farmers.
Russia’s response to Lithuanian attempts to be self-sufficient was to place a ban on Lithuanian press – any publication in Latin alphabet – between 1864 and 1904. The attempt was to replace the text into Cyrillic, so that Lithuanians lose not only their country but also their language.
As a response, a book carrier (knygnešiai) movement was born. It is because of these brave people that the Lithuanian language and books remained alive.
Lithuania is rising
As the 19th century drew to a close, nationalistic movement became more active.
Prominent people like Vincas Kudirka and Dr.Jonas Basanavičius ensured the publication of Lithuanian press – notably, the newspapers Varpas and Aušra.
In December of 1905, Lithuanian representatives gathered in Vilnius and demanded autonomy for Lithuania.
The Independent Country
Three largest European empires crumbled following WWI. It was only natural for Lithuania to seize the opportunity and declare its separation from Russia.
By declaring that and protesting against the temporary German occupation, Lithuania signed the Act of Independence on February 16, 1918.
What happened after?
Lithuania was independent and quite thriving for about 20 years until the turmoil of the WWII got its grip on it with the “help” of Russia and briefly Germany.
But that is a topic for another post because Lithuania has not one but TWO independence days!
The declaration of Lithuanian Independence on February 16, 1918 paved the way for our small but strong nation to be the best we can be.
Today, Lithuania is a bustling country with fast growing economy. It is a member of the European Union, it has world-class universities, is open to foreign capital and embraces culture and equality.
Today, Lithuanians are free to travel all over the world, start a business, preserve their culture, worship freely and speak their own language.
And that’s why we celebrate.
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