1. Lithuania

2. Pre-history
The first settlers of Lithuania
arrived in approximately 12,
000 B. C.
Between the 5th and 8th
centuries tribal groupings
formed in the western
territories: Prussians,
Yotvingians, Curronians,
Zemgalians, Lithuanians and
Latgallians.
In 1009, the name of Lithuania
was mentioned for the first
time in the written account of
the mission of St. Bruno.

3. Monarchy and tolerance
In the Middle Ages, Lithuania had
already had its state: the Grand Duchy
of Lithuania.
Following the coronation of Mindaugas,
Lithuania was recognized by and
accepted into the family of the
Western Europe as an equal member
of the political system.
With the official adoption of Christianity
in 1387, Lithuania chose to follow the
Western path of development: the
following period saw the spread of the
written language, schools were
opened, Lithuanian students travelled
to study to European Countries
Lithuania was also a country of many
nations and religions.

4. From the Baltic to the Black Sea
We won one more
important victory in the
Battle of Žalgiris
(Grünwald) in 1410 when
in alliance with the
Kingdom of Poland we
defeated the Order of
Teutonic Knights.
After the battle, the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania
reached the peak of its
power, with its territory
stretching from the
Baltic to the Black Sea.

5. First written Constitution in Europe
The Lithuanian Statutes as
the legal framework testify
to the fact that Lithuania
became an integral part of
Western Europe as early as
of the 16th century. The
legal thought reached
further heights at the end
of the 18th century when a
Constitution was adopted
on 3rd May 1791. It was the
first constitution in Europe
(preceding the French
Constitution), and the
second in the world.

6. THE OLDEST UNIVERSITY IN EASTERN
EUROPE
Vilnius University, founded
in 1579, was the first higher
education school not only
in the Grand Duchy of
Lithuania, but in the whole
Eastern Europe.

7. Fall of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth
From the XVIII century an
attempt was made to carry
out reforms in 1791, and on
May 3, a constitution was
established, but it was
already too late and the
three divisions destroyed the
state. The first - in 1772. The
second - in 1793. The third -
in 1795. The state was
divided by the Russian
Empire, Kingdom of Prussia,
the Austrian Empire.

8. Lithuania in the XIX century
We had rebelled against
Russia 2 times: first was in
1830 and the second one
was in 1863.
After failed attempts of
regaining our
independence, we had
suffered many restrictions
and repressions.
After resisting those
restrictions we were able to
regain our independence
on February 16th, 1918.

9. 1940 Soviet Ultimatum to LithuaniaThe Soviet Union issued
an Ultimatum to
Lithuania before
midnight of June 14,
1940. The Soviets,
using a formal
pretext, demanded
to allow an
unspecified number
of Soviet soldiers to
enter the Lithuanian
territory and to form
a new pro-Soviet
government
Lithuania, along with
Latvia and Estonia,
fell into the Russian
sphere.

10. SOVIET OCCUPATION AND ANNEXATION
OF LITHUANIA
On 15 June 1945, the Soviet
Union occupied Lithuania
again, and mass deportations
of the Lithuanian population
to remote areas of the Soviet
Union started on 14 of June.
Yet we have survived these
hardships: we endured
occupations, first by the
Soviets, then by the Nazi
Germany.
Many Lithuanians joined
partisan groups to fight for
Lithuania's independence.

11. SINGING REVOLUTION
On 23 August 1989, we joined
our hands to form a human
chain stretching 650
kilometres across Vilnius,
Riga and Tallinn to mark
the 50th anniversary of
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact as
a result of which Lithuania
lost its independence. The
Baltic Way was a symbolic
action that separated the
Baltic States from the Soviet
Union and by which our
people expressed their will
to be free.

12. We did not have to wait long. In 1990, the
independent State of Lithuania was re-
established. However, our people’s will was
opposed by the Soviet Union authorities which,
in 1991, sent to Vilnius their well trained and
heavily armed paratrooper units.

13. But even under the threat of
violence we responded to
the Soviet Union's
aggression peacefully –
without arms, singing
songs with an endless
faith in our victory. That is
why these events are
commonly referred to as
the Singing Revolution.
This was the third time in
history that Lithuania
started an epoch of
independent life.

14. EU AND NATO MEMBERSHIP
Following its EU and
NATO membership in
2004, Lithuania again
reunited with the
European family. Once
an EU member,
Lithuania has become
an official donor
country and has been
giving aid to Belarus,
Ukraine, Moldova,
South Caucasus,
Afghanistan and Iraq