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Lithuania: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Lithuania
The first written record of Lithuania appears in a 1009 chronicle, yet the true meaning of its name remains a mystery that has puzzled scholars for a millennium. The Annals of Quedlinburg mention a figure named Lietuva, a pagan priest who was killed by Bruno of Querfurt, but the etymology of the word itself has never been definitively solved. Some historians argue the name derives from a small stream called Lietava near the ancient capital of Kernavė, while others suggest it comes from the word leičiai, referring to a distinct warrior social group that existed from the 13th century onward. This linguistic ambiguity mirrors the country's own history, where the identity of the people has often been defined by what they were not, rather than what they were. For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes who maintained a separate linguistic and religious identity from the rest of Europe. The Balts did not maintain close cultural or political contacts with the Roman Empire, though they did maintain trade contacts via the Amber Road, which transported valuable amber from the region to the Roman Empire. This isolation allowed traditional Lithuanian pagan customs and mythology, with many archaic elements, to be preserved for a long time, including the practice of cremating rulers' bodies until the conversion to Christianity.
The Giant Of The East
By the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had become the largest country in Europe, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD, but it was not until the 1230s that Lithuanian lands were united for the first time by Mindaugas, who formed the Kingdom of Lithuania on the 6th of July 1253. Mindaugas incorporated Black Ruthenia into Lithuania by taking advantage of the weakened territory of the former Kievan Rus' due to the Mongol invasion. After Mindaugas' assassination in 1263, pagan Lithuania was again a target of the Christian crusades of the Teutonic Order and Livonian Order. Traidenis during his reign from 1269 to 1282 reunified all Lithuanian lands and achieved military successes against the crusaders, fighting alongside other Baltic tribes. From the late 13th century, members of the Gediminids dynasty began ruling Lithuania, and Grand Duke Gediminas consolidated a hereditary monarchy and established Vilnius as the capital city in his letters. Lithuania was Christianized and incorporated East Slavs' territories, significantly expanding the Grand Duchy of Lithuania's territory to approximately 650,000 square kilometers in the first half of the 14th century. In 1385, Lithuania formed a dynastic union with Poland through the Union of Krewo, and by the 15th century, patrilineal members of the Lithuanian ruling Gediminids dynasty ruled Lithuania and Poland, as well as Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, and Moldavia. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe, and its power was such that it could challenge the Muscovite, Lithuanian Wars for the Lithuanian-controlled Eastern Orthodox territories.
When was the first written record of Lithuania created?
The first written record of Lithuania appears in a 1009 chronicle known as the Annals of Quedlinburg. This document mentions a figure named Lietuva, a pagan priest who was killed by Bruno of Querfurt.
Who united Lithuanian lands for the first time in the 13th century?
Mindaugas united Lithuanian lands for the first time in the 1230s and formed the Kingdom of Lithuania on the 6th of July 1253. He incorporated Black Ruthenia into Lithuania by taking advantage of the weakened territory of the former Kievan Rus due to the Mongol invasion.
When did Lithuania restore its independence from the Soviet Union?
The Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence on the 11th of March 1990. Lithuania became the first Soviet-occupied state to announce the restitution of independence.
Where is the geographic centre of Europe located?
The geographic centre of Europe is located in Lithuania at a specific coordinate north of Vilnius. Jean-George Affholder determined this location in 1989 by calculating the centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe.
What is the largest lake in Lithuania?
Drūkšiai is the largest lake in Lithuania. The country contains more than 3,000 lakes, with Tauragnas being the deepest and Asveja being the longest.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, formed in 1569, was one of the largest and most prosperous states in Europe, lasting more than two centuries until neighboring countries gradually dismantled it between 1772 and 1795. The real union strongly intensified the Polonization of Lithuania and Lithuanian nobility, and in 1588, Sigismund III Vasa personally confirmed the Third Statute of Lithuania where it was stated that Lithuania and Poland have equal rights within the Commonwealth and ensured the separation of powers. The mid-17th century was marked with disastrous military losses for Lithuania as during the Deluge, most of the territory of Lithuania was annexed by the Tsardom of Russia, and Vilnius was captured for the first time by a foreign army and ravaged. In 1655, Lithuania unilaterally seceded from Poland, declared Swedish King Charles X Gustav as the Grand Duke of Lithuania and fell under the protection of the Swedish Empire. However, by 1657, Lithuania was once again a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth following the Lithuanian revolt against the Swedes. Vilnius was recaptured from the Russians in 1661. In the second half of the 18th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was three times partitioned by three neighboring countries which completely dissolved both independent Lithuania and Poland from the political map in 1795 after a failed Kościuszko Uprising and short-lived recapture of Vilnius in 1794. Most of Lithuania's territory was annexed by the Russian Empire, while a portion was annexed by Prussia. Following the annexation, the Russian Tsarist authorities implemented Russification policies in Lithuania, which then made a part of a new administrative region known as the Northwestern Krai.
The Book Smugglers And The Act
Lithuanians resisted Russification through an extensive network of Lithuanian book smugglers, secret Lithuanian publishing and homeschooling, creating a cultural resistance that would eventually lead to the restoration of statehood. The Lithuanian National Revival, inspired by Lithuanian history, language and culture, laid the foundations for the reestablishment of an independent Lithuania. The Great Seimas of Vilnius was held in 1905 and its participants adopted resolutions which demanded a wide autonomy for Lithuania. During World War I, the German Empire annexed Lithuanian territories from the Russian Empire and they became a part of Ober Ost. In 1917, the Lithuanians organized the Vilnius Conference which adopted a resolution, featuring the aspiration for the restoration of Lithuania's sovereignty and military alliance with Germany and elected the Council of Lithuania. In 1918, the short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania was proclaimed; however, on the 16th of February 1918, the Council of Lithuania adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania which restored Lithuania as a democratic republic with its capital in Vilnius and without any political ties that existed with other nations in the past. In 1918, 1920, Lithuanians defended the statehood of Lithuania against Bolsheviks, Bermontians and Poles during the Lithuanian Wars of Independence. The aims of the newly restored Lithuania clashed with Józef Piłsudski's plans to create a federation known as Intermarium in territories previously ruled by the Jagiellonians. The Lithuanian authorities prevented the 1919 Polish coup attempt in Lithuania, and in 1920, during the Żeligowski's Mutiny, the Polish forces captured the Vilnius Region and established a puppet state of the Republic of Central Lithuania, which in 1922 was incorporated into Poland. Consequently, Kaunas became the temporary capital of Lithuania where the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania was held and other primary Lithuanian institutions operated until 1940.
The Silent Resistance
Lithuanian armed resistance to the Soviet occupation lasted until the early 1950s, with thousands of Lithuanian partisans and their supporters attempting to militarily restore independent Lithuania. Jonas Žemaitis, the chairman of the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters, was captured and executed in 1954, and his successor as chairman, Adolfas Ramanauskas, was brutally tortured and executed in 1957. Since the late 1980s, the Sąjūdis movement sought for the restoration of independent Lithuania, and in 1989, the Baltic Way was held. On the 11th of March 1990, the Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence, and Lithuania became the first Soviet-occupied state to announce the restitution of independence. On the 20th of April 1990, the Soviets imposed an economic blockade by ceasing to deliver raw materials to Lithuania. Domestic industry and the population started feeling the lack of fuel, essential goods, and even hot water. Although the blockade lasted for 74 days, Lithuania did not renounce its declaration of independence. Gradually, economic relations were restored. However, tensions peaked again in January 1991. Attempts were made to carry out a coup d'état using the Soviet Armed Forces, the Internal Army of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the USSR Committee for State Security. Because of the poor economic conditions in Lithuania, the authorities in Moscow believed the coup would receive strong public support. However, people flocked to Vilnius to defend the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania and independence. The coup ended with limited material losses, though the Soviet Army killed 14 people and injured hundreds. A large part of the Lithuanian population participated in the January Events. On the 31st of July 1991, Soviet paramilitaries killed 7 Lithuanian border guards on the Belarusian border in what became known as the Medininkai Massacre. On the 17th of September, Lithuania was admitted to the United Nations.
The Tiger And The Tech
Lithuania has an open and mixed economy that is classified as a high-income economy by the World Bank, and the country was often termed a Baltic Tiger due to very high real growth rates for the decade up to 2009, peaking at 11% in 2007. However, in 2009, due to the 2008 financial crisis, GDP contracted 15% and unemployment rate reached 17.8% in 2010. Growth has since been much slower, but the country has rebounded with a focus on technology and innovation. Lithuania ranks moderately in the International Innovation Index, and is placed 15th among EU countries by the European Innovation Scoreboard. Lasers and biotechnology are flagship fields of the science and high-tech industry. Šviesos konversija has developed a femtosecond laser system that has 80% market share worldwide, with applications in DNA research, ophthalmological surgeries, and nanotechnology. The Vilnius University Laser Research Center has developed one of the most powerful femtosecond lasers in the world dedicated primarily to oncological diseases. In 1963, Vytautas Straižys and his colleagues created the Vilnius photometric system that is used in astronomy. Noninvasive intracranial pressure and blood flow measuring devices were developed by Kaunas University of Technology scientist A. Ragauskas. Kęstutis Pyragas contributed to the study of chaos theory with his method of delayed feedback control, the Pyragas method. Kavli Prize laureate Virginijus Šikšnys is known for his discoveries in CRISPR, namely with respect to CRISPR-Cas9. Lithuania has launched three satellites to space: LitSat-1, Lituanica SAT-1 and LituanicaSAT-2. Lithuania in 2018 became an Associated Member State of CERN, and two CERN incubators in Vilnius and Kaunas will be hosted.
The Center Of Europe
After a re-estimation of the boundaries of the European continent in 1989, Jean-George Affholder, a scientist at the Institut Géographique National, determined that the geographic centre of Europe was in Lithuania, at a specific coordinate north of Vilnius. Affholder accomplished this by calculating the centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe. Lithuania is located in the Baltic region of Europe and covers an area of 65,300 square kilometers, lying between latitudes 53° and 57° N, and mostly between longitudes 21° and 27° E. The country has around 900 kilometers of sandy coastline, with around 500 kilometers facing the open Baltic Sea. The rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. The warm-water port at Klaipėda lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon, a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The country's main and largest river, the Nemunas River, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping. Lithuania lies at the edge of the North European Plain, and its landscape was smoothed by the glaciers of the last ice age, and is a combination of moderate lowlands and highlands. Its highest point is Aukštojas Hill at 293 meters in the eastern part of the country. The terrain features numerous lakes and wetlands, and a mixed forest zone covers over 33% of the country. Drūkšiai is the largest lake, Tauragnas is the deepest lake, and Asveja is the longest lake in Lithuania. Lithuania is a particularly watered region with more than 3,000 lakes, mostly in the northeast. The country is also drained by numerous rivers, most notably the longest Nemunas.