Occupation, Resistance and Lithuania’s Regained Independence

• The Soviet occupation of Lithuania began on 15 June 1940; the country’s statehood was subsequently incorporated into the Soviet system.
• The first wave of Soviet deportations began on 14 June 1941, before Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union.
• German occupation began in June 1941 and lasted until 1944; during this period, the Nazi regime and its collaborators perpetrated the Holocaust in Lithuania.
• After the Soviet army returned in 1944, partisans fought against the renewed occupation until 1953.
• On 3 June 1988, the initiative group of the Sąjūdis reform movement was elected.
• On 23 August 1989, the Baltic Way connected the Baltic capitals in a human chain stretching about 600 kilometres.
• On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council restored the state’s independence.
• Fourteen unarmed people were killed and nearly 1,000 injured during Soviet violence in Vilnius on 13 January 1991. On 17 September 1991, Lithuania joined the United Nations.

Soviet troops occupied Lithuania on 15 June 1940. The country lost its political independence; its authorities and institutions were incorporated into the Soviet system. This first period of Soviet occupation lasted until the German attack in June 1941. Soviet deportations began on 14 June 1941. According to the Lithuanian Center for the Study of Genocide and Resistance, they also aimed to target potential opponents of Sovietization. Those affected included people working in public service and education, along with their families. The deportations uprooted people from their daily lives and often separated family members for long periods.

On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, and German troops occupied Lithuania. The following years, until 1944, were marked by German rule, terror and the systematic murder of the Jewish population. The Nazi regime organized the Holocaust with the help of local collaborators. Jewish communities, which had shaped Lithuania’s cultural and urban life for generations, were almost entirely destroyed. The International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes examines this persecution separately from Soviet occupation crimes. For family histories, religious life and the long-standing Jewish presence in the country, see the article on Jewish history in Lithuania.

When Soviet troops returned in 1944, a second period of Soviet occupation began. The change of occupying power did not mean a return to Lithuania’s independent institutions of the interwar period. To put the country’s development before 1940 into context, start with the history of the First Republic of Lithuania.

After 1944, armed Lithuanian partisans fought against Soviet rule. The Lithuanian Center for the Study of Genocide and Resistance places the armed resistance in the period from 1944 to 1953. The resistance was not a single battle, but a network of regionally organized groups and their support networks, united by the political goal of restoring independent statehood. Soviet authorities used arrests and deportations against actual and suspected opponents; many families suffered repression and loss.

Resistance was not limited to armed struggle. People preserved religious and cultural traditions, circulated forbidden news and documented state interference. Clergy, dissidents and civil rights groups challenged state control in different ways. Underground publications made information about arrests and restrictions known beyond Lithuania. These forms of resistance were not without risk, and they did not all have the same aims, but they were part of a society in which the demand for self-determination endured.

The long experience of changing foreign rule had deeper roots: in historical perspective, the Soviet occupation was preceded by the period of the Russian Empire in Lithuania, and earlier still by the political union established by the Union of Lublin. Early forms of Lithuanian statehood and the development of Vilnius are explored in the articles on Mindaugas and Gediminas and Vilnius. This background helps explain why the restoration in 1990 was understood as the return of a state, rather than its creation for the first time.

In the late 1980s, public protest against Soviet rule grew. On 3 June 1988, people in Vilnius elected the initiative group of the Sąjūdis reform movement; its founding congress followed in October. The movement brought together calls for political self-determination, cultural renewal and public debate. Public gatherings and the renewed visibility of national symbols also made the desire for independence visible in everyday life.

On 23 August 1989, people from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia formed a peaceful human chain about 600 kilometres long between the capitals. The Baltic Way commemorated the 50th anniversary of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact and its secret protocol. At the same time, the event showed that the call for freedom had broad public support. UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register includes related documents and images; Lithuania’s parliament documents the political path from Sąjūdis to the restoration of statehood.

Visitors can connect this history with places in the capital: an overview of sights in Vilnius helps put the sites of political gatherings and the importance of the city centre into context. The historic sites of Kaunas also add to the picture, as the city was once the political centre of the independent republic and remained an important centre of Lithuanian culture.

Elections to the Supreme Council were held on 24 February 1990. They were the first democratic parliamentary elections in Lithuania under occupation. On 11 March, the newly elected parliament adopted the Act on the Restoration of the Independent State of Lithuania. The act declared that the exercise of state sovereignty, ended by foreign powers in 1940, was being restored. An official parliamentary page explains the path to the restoration of independence on the Lithuanian parliament’s website. The decision did not immediately end Soviet control: Moscow put Lithuania under economic and political pressure and continued to maintain a military presence.

During the night of 12–13 January 1991, Soviet troops attacked the television tower and the building of Lithuanian Radio and Television in Vilnius with tanks and firearms. People had gathered there to protect the facilities and the restored state. Fourteen unarmed defenders were killed and nearly 1,000 people were injured. Lithuania’s parliament describes how the people’s determination and the Supreme Council’s resistance defended the restoration of independence. The January events made the cost of state self-determination clear, but did not change the parliamentary resolution.

On 17 September 1991, Lithuania became a member of the United Nations. Membership marked an important step in the international recognition of the restored state. It did not retroactively erase the occupation period, but it gave Lithuania a voice in the international organization. Museums and memorial sites offer ways to explore the country’s recent history; the guide to museums in Lithuania helps visitors choose by region and subject.

When did the Soviet occupation of Lithuania begin?

Soviet troops occupied Lithuania on 15 June 1940. Deportations began the following year; in June 1941, the occupying power changed after Germany attacked the Soviet Union.

What happened on 14 June 1941?

Soviet deportations from Lithuania began that day. Those affected included people working in public service and education, along with their families. The German occupation began just days later.

How long did the armed partisan resistance last?

The armed anti-Soviet resistance is described as lasting from 1944 to 1953. Civilian, religious and cultural forms of dissent also existed, and they did not all end at the same time.

What was the Baltic Way?

On 23 August 1989, people from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia formed a peaceful human chain about 600 kilometres long to demand freedom and self-determination and to commemorate the 1939 German-Soviet Pact.

When did Lithuania regain its independence?

On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council declared the restoration of the independent republic. After Soviet troops attacked on 13 January 1991, Lithuania was admitted to the United Nations on 17 September 1991.