History of Lithuania
On February 16, 1918, Lithuania was re-established as a democratic state. It remained independent until the outset of World War II, when it was occupied by the Soviet Union under the terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Following a brief occupation by Nazi Germany after the Nazis waged war on the Soviet Union, Lithuania was again absorbed into the Soviet Union for nearly 50 years. In 1990–1991, Lithuania restored its sovereignty with the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. Lithuania joined the NATO alliance in 2004 and the European Union as part of its enlargement in 2004.
History of Lithuania (1219–95)
Some evidence suggests that Lithuanians began combining their forces at the dawn of the 13th century. For example, in 1207, soldiers were recruited across Lithuania to fight the German religious orders, and in 1212, Daugirutis' treaty with Novgorod shows that he exerted some degree of influence over a vast area. During the first twenty years of the 13th century, Lithuanians organized some thirty military expeditions to Livonia, Russia, and Poland. Historian Tomas Baranauskas argues that a Lithuanian state could be said to exist as early as 1183.