List of rulers of Lithuania
The state of Lithuania formed in the 1230s, when threatened by the Livonian Order in the north and the Teutonic Knights in the west, the Baltic tribes united under the leadership of Mindaugas. He became the only crowned king of Lithuania. His state became known as Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After Grand Duke Jogaila became also king of Poland in 1386, the two states became closer connected and since 1440 both were ruled by a common ruler. In 1569 Union of Lublin was signed and a new entity—the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—emerged. The commonwealth was partitioned in 1795 and Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire till 16 February 1918. The Council of Lithuania was able to establish the sovereignty only in 1919, after Germany lost World War I. The first republic of Lithuania existed until 1940 when it was occupied by the Soviet Union. During the Soviet-German War, Lithuania was occupied by Nazi Germany. In 1944, as Germany was losing the war, Russia re-occupied Lithuania and established the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare independence. The restored Republic of Lithuania is a democratic republic, a member of both the European Union and NATO.
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.