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
Lithuanian Chronicles
The first or the short redaction (also known as "Chronicle of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania" or "Letopisec Litovskii") was compiled sometime in the 1420s in Smolensk, when Vytautas the Great hoped to be crowned as King of Lithuania. This redaction included the earliest known historical account produced in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: "Dis ist Witoldes sache wedir Jagalan und Skargalan", a complaint and memorial written by Vytautas in 1390 during the Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392). It detailed his power struggles against cousins Jogaila and Skirgaila in 1379–1390 and supported his claims to his patrimony in Trakai and title of Grand Duke of Lithuania. Two translations of this document survive: Latin "Origo regis Jagyelo et Witholdi ducum Lithuanie" from the 15th century and Russian "Litovskomu rodu pochinok" from the 14th century. Later this document was expanded to include events up to 1396. It formed the backbone of the first chronicle.