The first domino that drove the collapse of the Soviet Union was Lithuania, a small country on the Baltic Sea. It has been entangled with Russia for hundreds of years. When the Soviet Union annexed Lithuania, it certainly did not expect that it was this small country of several million people that opened the curtain on the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Lithuania formed no later than Russia, and was an independent nation in the 13th century. Lithuania belonged to the Baltic peoples and was closer to the Germans than to the Slavs. This is one of the main reasons why Lithuania has been reluctant to submit to Russia.
At first, Lithuania, like Russia, was a grand duchy, and there was not much difference in strength. In the second half of the 14th century, the Grand Duke of Lithuania also made three expeditions to Moscow, which were comparable to the Russians. Its territory was also many times larger than it is now, and many parts of Ukraine and Belarus were once part of Lithuania.
In the 16th century, Tsar Ivan IV attempted to gain access to the Baltic Sea. In order to resist Russian aggression, Lithuania formed a kingdom with Poland, shattering the dreams of the Russians. Since then, the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania has dominated Eastern Europe for more than 200 years, was able to compete with Sweden, Russia, The Ottomans and other great powers, and once occupied Moscow. This was the most glorious period in Lithuanian history.
In the days that followed, Lithuania was on a downward spiral. By 1768, the kingdom had been turned into a vassal of its own by the Russians. More than 30 years later, it was completely divided up by Germany, Russia, Austria and other countries. Lithuania was in darkness for more than two hundred years, and it was not until World War I that it regained its independence.
As can be seen from the history of Lithuania, this nation has always been a sworn enemy of Russia, close to Poland. However, the rulers of Lithuania and Poland failed to use their power effectively to seize the historical opportunity, and as a result became a small marginal state in Eastern Europe. This has a lot to do with the irrationality of their political system.
After Lithuania regained its independence at the end of World War I, in just one year, it first became a republic, four months later it became a kingdom, and after 5 months it became a republic, and finally the Soviets were formed.
The country is obviously not serious enough about the change of political system, or it is deeply influenced by foreign forces, and it has no control over the future of its own country, and all kinds of political systems must be tried again, and the time is extremely short, and there is no effect at all.
After the establishment of the Soviets, did Lithuania become a republic of the Soviet Union? It's still early! Lithuania first formed a Soviet Socialist Republic with Belarus, and six months later it became a bourgeois republic and regained its independence.
In September 1926, Lithuania concluded a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. Three months later, the fascists in his country staged a coup d'état to overthrow the pro-Soviet government.
In 1939, Germany attacked Poland, igniting World War II. The Soviet Union began to eliminate pro-Nazi forces in countries such as Lithuania. On June 27, 1940, the Soviets formally annexed Lithuania.
When Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Lithuania also launched an uprising, cooperating with the German army to drive out the Soviet army. They had hoped that the Germans would allow them to regain their independence. Hitler had no idea, and Lithuania was also the object of conquest by the Germans.
During the German occupation, Jews in Lithuania were also massacred, and more than 9,000 Jews were executed, nearly half of whom were children. Towards the end of World War II, soviet forces occupied Lithuania again until the moment before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In the 1990s, there was an ideological struggle within the Soviet Union, and the control of the union republics was greatly weakened. Lithuania took the opportunity to declare its independence first in March 1990. At this time, the Soviet Union had not yet disintegrated and refused to recognize Lithuania's independence.
However, the Soviet Union was not able to force Lithuania to cancel its independence, the Lithuanians had a very strong sense of independence, and the Soviet army had no plans to suppress it by force. The first crack was cracked in the hard eggshell. On September 6, 1991, the Soviet Union officially recognized Lithuanian independence. Three months later, the Soviet Union collapsed.
Lithuania was originally one of the richest republics in the Soviet Union. After independence, the level of economic development was slightly higher than that of Russia, but it still did not meet the expectations of Lithuania before independence, and there was still a big gap compared with Western European countries.
In the past two years, the population of Lithuania has been about 2.9 million, which is nearly 1 million less than at the beginning of independence. The main reason is that after joining the European Union, a large number of nationals went to Western Europe to work or immigrate. The suicide rate of the people once surpassed that of Japan, ranking first in the world.
The history of Lithuania is a history of constant annexation, and Poland, Germany, and Russia have all invaded and occupied Lithuania. Ethnically and culturally, Lithuania is closer to Poland, and even the name ''Lithuania'' comes from Polish.
However, Poland itself has been divided up by Germany, Russia and other countries many times, and it is impossible to take care of Lithuania as a little brother. This is the sadness of small countries, unable to control their own destiny, no matter which great power rises, it will fall victim. It is hoped that in the 21st century, Lithuania can develop with peace of mind and no longer be dominated by other countries.
[References: Lithuanian Country Profile, Collapse of the Soviet Union]