Myth Of The 20th Century – Episode 24: Lithuania, Crossroads Of The Baltic

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Welcome to the Myth of the 20th Century. The podcast airs on Fridays.

— Brought to you by —

Adam Smith, Hans Lander, Nick Mason, Hank Oslo, and special guest Cathedral Princess

Notes:

Lithuania today is a country with fewer than 3 million people, but has a history stretching back thousands of years, with one of the oldest living Indo-European languages, and a heritage of being at the center of a constellation of empires, including that of Kiev-Rus and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. But as the 20th century progressed and the First World War came to a close, the small nation state sat precariously between two weakened but steadily rebuilding rivals – Germany and Russia. As the Second World War erupted in 1939, Lithuania was literally torn apart, as the two great armies rolled through. In some ways the war did not end for the Lithuanian people until 1953, when the last of the Forest Brother partisans submitted to Soviet occupation, and after nearly a third of their population had been forcibly removed to the gulag. When the Iron Curtain fell in 1990, Lithuania aligned itself more closely with the West and enjoyed an economic boom, joining NATO and the EU. As Europe today struggles with its economy and a demographic and migration crisis, however, Lithuania looks for ways to retain its sovereignty while maintaining its vitality.

Timeline:

1263-1569- Grand Duchy of Lithuania
1569-1795- Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1795-1914- Lithuania under Russian domination
1914-1918- Lithuania under German occupation during WWI
1918, February 16- Lithuanian Declaration of Independence
1921- refugees from Bolshevism flood across border; starving Peasants from Russia
1932- non-aggression pact signed
1939- Soviet Union demands a mutual assistance pact for nations on the Baltic
1939, October- Soviet Union demands access to bases, quarters garrisons
1940, June- Soviets claim being attacked, demand total occupation or annihilation
1940- puppet government setup, criminals let out of prison, assigned to police duty, NKVD losely monitored
1941- 14,000 shipped to Siberia for slave labor
1941- July – Nazis invade, welcomed by locals tired of Soviet occupation
1944- Soviets retake Lithuania
1944-1953- Forest Brothers guerrilla army attempts to expel the Soviet army
1991- Lithuania receives independence from the USSR
2004- Lithuania joins NATO and the EU
2007- Lithuania joins the Schengen Zone

References:

– True Lithuania – http://www.truelithuania.com/
– Partizanai: Istorija ir Dabartis [Partisans: History and Present] – http://www.partizanai.org/
– Tikros Istorijos – 1941 Birželio Sukilimas [True Stories – The June 1941 Uprising] – http://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/irasas/3261
– The Baltic Tragedy – Nazi and Soviet occupation in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x440cUS4uTU
– Tarpukario nepriklausomos Lietuvos konspektas (1918-1940) [Inter-war Independent Conspiracy of Lithuania (1918-1940)] – http://istorijai.lt/tarpukario-nepriklausomos-lietuvos-konspektas-1918-1940/

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