Signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania recognition. The signatories succeeded in their mission and independent Lithuania survived until the Soviet Union occupied the state on June 15, 1940. Their political, professional, and social backgrounds were diverse. Several rose to political prominence; Antanas Smetona and Aleksandras Stulginskis were later elected Presidents of Lithuania and Jonas Vileišis went on to become mayor of Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania. After Lithuania lost its independence during World War II, six of the surviving signatories were sent to prison or executed by the Soviet government and six others emigrated to Western countries. The signatories came from a variety of social
Regional Party of Lithuania and White Ruthenia Regional Party of Lithuania and White Ruthenia The Regional Party of Lithuania and White Ruthenia was a political party of major Polish-speaking (mostly of Belarusian origin) nobility and landlords (so called krajowcy) living on the lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (what is now Republic of Lithuania and Belarus) in early 20th century. The initiator of creation of the party was Raman Skirmunt (he called himself "Belarusian"). In November 1905 he published a manifest of the "Regional party of Lithuania and Ruthenia" that in fact was a party program which demanded introduction of democratic freedoms and especially the