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 Wars of Independence
On February 16, 1918, the Council of Lithuania declared the re-establishment of independence from all previous legal bonds with other states. The declaration asserted the right to self-determination, meaning the creation of a state within ethnic Lithuanian territories. The publication of the Act of Independence was initially suppressed by the German occupation forces, but on March 23, 1918, the Germans acknowledged the declaration; their plans had shifted to the establishment of a network of satellite countries (Mitteleuropa). However, Germany did not allow the Council to establish a Lithuanian military force, police force, or civic institutions. On November 11, 1918 Germany signed an armistice on the Western Front and officially lost the war and control over Lithuania. The first national government, led by Augustinas Voldemaras, was formed. Voldemaras issued a declaration that Lithuania did not need a military force, as it was not planning to engage in warfare, and that only a small militia was needed. This view was unrealistic, since military conflicts soon erupted.