lithuania became part of the soviet union on february 16, 1918.
lithuania became part of the soviet union on february 16, 1918.
when did lithuania become part of the soviet union?
february 16, 1918
almost immediately after the german–soviet boundary and friendship treaty, soviets pressured lithuanians into signing the soviet–lithuanian mutual assistance treaty. according to this treaty, lithuania gained about of territory in the vilnius region (including vilnius, lithuania's historical capital) in return for five soviet military bases in lithuania (total 20,000 troops). the territories that lithuania received from the soviet union were the former territories of the second polish republic, disputed between poland and lithuania since the times of the polish-lithuanian war of 1920 and occupied by the soviet union following the soviet invasion of poland in september 1939. the soviet–lithuanian treaty was described by "the new york times" as "virtual sacrifice of independence." similar pacts were proposed to latvia, estonia, and finland. finland was the only state to refuse such a treaty and that sparked the winter war. this war delayed the occupation of lithuania: the soviets did not interfere with lithuania's domestic affairs and russian soldiers were well-behaved in their bases. as winter war ended in march and germany was making rapid advances in the battle of france, the soviets heightened anti-lithuanian rhetoric and accused lithuanians of kidnapping soviet soldiers from their bases. despite lithuanian attempts to negotiate and resolve the issues, soviet union issued an ultimatum on june 14, 1940. lithuanians accepted the ultimatum and soviet military took control of major cities by june 15. the following day identical ultimatums were issued to latvia and estonia. to legitimize the occupation, the soviets staged elections to the so-called people's seimas, which then proclaimed establishment of the lithuanian soviet socialist republic. this allowed soviet propaganda to claim that lithuania voluntarily joined the soviet union.
german occupation of lithuania during world war ii
soviet deportations from lithuania were a series of 35 mass deportations carried out in lithuania, a country that was occupied as a constituent socialist republic of the soviet union, in 1941 and 1945–1952. at least 130,000 people, 70% of them women and children, were forcibly transported to labor camps and other forced settlements in remote parts of the soviet union, particularly in the irkutsk oblast and krasnoyarsk krai. among the deportees were about 4,500 poles. these deportations do not include lithuanian partisans or political prisoners (approximately 150,000 people) deported to gulags (prison camps). deportations of the civilians served a double purpose: repressing resistance to sovietization policies in lithuania and providing free labor in sparsely inhabited areas of the soviet union. approximately 28,000 of lithuanian deportees died in exile due to poor living conditions. after stalin's death in 1953, the deportees were slowly and gradually released. the last deportees were released only in 1963. some 60,000 managed to return to lithuania, while 30,000 were prohibited from settling back in their homeland. similar deportations took place in latvia, estonia, and other parts of the soviet union (see soviet deportations from estonia and population transfer in the soviet union). lithuania observes the annual mourning and hope day on june 14 in memory of those deported.
soviet deportations from lithuania