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
Council of Lithuania
After the last Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Lithuania had become part of the Russian Empire. During the 19th century, the Poles and the Lithuanians attempted to restore their independence. They rebelled during the November Uprising in 1830 and the January Uprising in 1863, but the first realistic opportunity came about during World War I. In 1915, Germany occupied Lithuania as its troops marched towards Russia. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, opportunities for independence opened up. Germany, avoiding direct annexation, tried to find a middle path that would involve some kind of union with Germany. In the light of upcoming peace negotiations with Russia, the Germans agreed to allow the Vilnius Conference, hoping that it would proclaim that the Lithuanian nation wanted to be detached from Russia and wished for a closer relationship with Germany. However, the conference, held between 18 and 23 September 1917, adopted a resolution that an independent Lithuania should be established and that a closer relationship with Germany would depend on whether it recognized the new state. On 21 September, the attendees at the conference elected a 20-member Council of Lithuania to establish this resolution. The German authorities did not allow that resolution to be published, but they did permit the council to proceed. The authorities censored the council's newspaper, "Lietuvos aidas" ("Echo of Lithuania"), preventing the council from reaching a wider public audience. The conference also resolved that a constituent assembly be elected "in conformity with democratic principles by all the inhabitants of Lithuania".