The ancestors of the modern inhabitants of Lithuania were the tribes of the Žmūd, the Aukštota, and the Litvins. The territory in which these tribes lived stretched from the Vistula and Daugava rivers to the Baltic Sea. The name “Lithuania” was first mentioned in chronicles in 1009. But before the XIII century there was no independent state. At the beginning of the XIII century, Prince Mindovg subjugated the nations. But these lands were attacked by crusaders, and in 1251 Prince Mindovg accepted Catholicism, but in 1260 he renounced it because he defeated the crusaders.
Википедия
Since the end of the 13th century, Lithuania has been expanding. Later Prince Gedimin annexed the Russian lands and formed the state of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Samait and Russian. Gedimin was a wise prince, during his reign Orthodox monasteries were built and the country developed.
In 1377 – 1434 years, Prince Jagaila as a result of a dynastic marriage became the Polish king and was called Wladyslaw II. And in 1387 Jagaila officially baptized Lithuania according to the Catholic rite. Lithuania was the last state in Europe, which adopted Christianity.
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On July 15, 1410, the troops of Vladislav II and Duke Vitovt defeated the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunwald. The fifteenth century was the best time for the development of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, it occupied an area from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea.
In 1512 – 1522 there was the Russo-Lithuanian war, which resulted in one third of the Russian lands, which were part of Lithuania, went to Russia. And in 1558 – 1583 there was the Livonian War, which weakened Lithuania and Poland.
In 1569 the Union of Lublin was signed, a unified state called the Rzeczpospolita was formed. For a long time it waged bloody wars with Sweden, the Ottoman Empire, together with Russia in the Northern War and against Russia. During the weakening of the Rzeczpospolita its territory was divided between Russia, Austria and Prussia in 1772 – 1795. As a result, Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire for the entire 19th century, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist.
Википедия
During World War I Lithuania was occupied by Germany, but in 1918 the Restoration of Independence finally took place, and in 1919 the first president, Anastas Smetona, took office, and the first constitution was adopted in 1922. In 1941, Lithuania was invaded by German fascist forces. Many Lithuanians resisted, did not pay their dues, and published newspapers in Lithuanian. And in 1944, the Soviet army liberated Lithuania from the Germans and Lithuania became part of the Soviet Union, but it resisted Soviet power for a long time. And in 1990 the Act of Restoration of Independence of Lithuania came out. In 1991 the Republic of Lithuania was accepted by the international community, and in 2003 it joined the European Union.
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