Outline of Lithuania
During the 14th century, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe, as present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. With the Lublin Union of 1569 Poland and Lithuania formed a new state: the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was finally destroyed by its neighboring countries in 1795. Most of Lithuania's territory was annexed by the Russian Empire, until the Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, which declared re-establishment of a sovereign state. Between 1940 and 1945 Lithuania was occupied by both the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany at different times. When World War II was near its end in 1944 and the Nazis retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first Baltic republic to declare its restored independence after 50 years of Soviet occupation.
Lithuania became a full member of the Schengen Agreement on 21 December 2007. In 2009, Lithuania celebrated the millennium of its name.Geography of Lithuania
National Museum of Lithuania
The Museum of Antiquities in Vilnius, founded by Eustachy Tyszkiewicz in 1855, was the forerunner of today's museum. At its inception, the museum focused on the culture and history of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy. Made up mostly of Polish private collections, it was quite popular and received many visitors. After the January Uprising of 1863, the Russian Empire moved much of the collection to Moscow; the remaining collections were re-organized and were incorporated into the Vilnius Public Libray. From 1866 to 1914, the museum and the library operated together. In 1915, when the Eastern Front of World War I approached Vilnius, more of the exhibits was taken to Russia. 
After Lithuanian independence was established in 1918, the Museum of History and Ethnography was founded, based on the collections in the Museum of Antiquities and the Lithuanian Scientific Society. Its director was Jonas Basanavičius, one of the signatories to the Act of Independence of Lithuania. After 1919, Vilnius became a part of Poland, and the organization was incorporated into Vilnius University.