March 11th marks the 22nd anniversary of the historic signing
of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania
There are many brave men and
women to thank

Signatories celebrating in the Seimas (Parliament) the night of March 11, 1990

The signing of this Act put an end to fifty years of brutal repression and occupation by Soviet Russia.

There are many brave men and women to thank for their valiant work that ultimately made this possible.

While the members of Sąjūdis, the Lithuanian Liberty League and the signatories of the Act are often the ones we think of first we also know that it was the people of Lithuania and many Lithuanians around the world whose work and support also made this historic event happen.

We would like to share with you some of the key events leading up to and following Lithuania and Lithuanians declaring themselves once again a free and independent country and people but before we get into all the details we would just like to say something to all who made this possible March 11, 1990 

AČIŪ JUMS

Su pagarbe Vincas Karnila, Associate editor
vin.karnila@VilNews.com

March 11, 1990
Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania

The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 (Aktas dėl Lietuvos nepriklausomos valstybės atstatymo) was an independence declaration by the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic adopted on March 11, 1990, signed by all members of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR. The act emphasized restoration and legal continuity of interwar period Lithuania, which lost its independence in June 1940 as a result of Soviet Russia’s invasion and resulting annexation and occupation. It was the first time that a Soviet Socialist Republic declared independence from the Soviet Union.

LOSS of INDEPENDENCE

After the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century, Lithuania was under the control of the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Council of Lithuania, chaired by Jonas Basanavičius, proclaimed the Act of Independence of Lithuania on February 16, 1918. Lithuania enjoyed independence for two decades. In August 1939, Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. The Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, were assigned to Russia and subsequently were occupied in June 1940 and converted into soviet socialist republics. The Soviet authorities undertook Sovietization policies such as the nationalization of all private property, collectivization of agriculture, suppression of the Catholic Church, and imposition of totalitarian control. By 1953 the armed anti-Soviet partisans had been reduced to the point that they could no longer operate as an effective organized force and approximately 130,000 Lithuanians, dubbed "enemies of the people", had been forcibly deported into Siberia. After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, the Soviet Union adopted de-Stalinization policies and ended mass persecutions. Nonviolent resistance continued both in Lithuania and among Lithuanian Diaspora. These movements were conducted in secret as they were deemed illegal and focused more on social issues such as human rights and cultural affairs rather than political demands.

INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS

As Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to revive economy of the Soviet Union, he introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). These reforms encouraged changes within the Soviet government and invited the public into discussions. For the activists, it was an opportunity to bring their movements from underground into the public life.

Map of the Eastern Bloc

As Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to revive economy of the Soviet Union, he introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). These reforms encouraged changes within the Soviet government and invited the public into discussions. For the activists, it was an opportunity to bring their movements from underground into the public life. On August 23, 1987, the 48th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Lithuanian Liberty League organized the first public protest rally that did not result in arrests. In mid-1988, a group of 35 intellectuals organized the Sajūdis Reform Movement with the officially stated goal of supporting, discussing, and implementing Gorbachev's reforms. Sąjūdis grew in popularity, attracting large crowds to rallies in Vingis Park in Vilnius and radicalizing its agenda.

  
The Baltic Way August 23, 1989

Sąjūdis grew into a universal movement, with the citizens of Lithuania demanding that first economic and then political relations should be changed. The Constituent Assembly of Sąjūdis was held on October 22-23, 1988. The prospective objective - the independence of the Lithuanian economy and finally its political independence, so that Lithuania should not be bound to other countries by any obligations restricting its sovereignty, was discussed in the lobby and even in official speeches of the participants of the Assembly. The Sąjūdis Seimas was elected, and the historic name of the Lithuanian state power was brought back in this way. The Sąjūdis Council was formed, and on November 24, 1988, Vytautas Landsbergis, a musicologist, a specialist on creative work of M.K. Čiurlionis and a member of the initiative group of Sąjūdis was elected the Chairman of the Council.

                                 Sąjūdis logo                                          Lithuanian Communist Party (LCP)

The movement continuously pushed further with its demands. These demands included limited discussions on Gorbachev's reforms, greater say in economic decisions and political autonomy within the Soviet Union. By the time of the Baltic Way on August 23, 1989, which was a human chain made up of more than two million people spanning over 600 kilometers (370 mi) across the three Baltic states to mark the 50th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, full independence was the official goal.

DEMOCRATIC ELECTION

As the elections to the Supreme Council of February 1990 approached, two political forces took shape in Lithuania, Sąjūdis uniting the consistent supporter of independence and the independent Lithuanian Communist Party (LCP) that in 1989, during the mass protests of the Singing Revolution against Soviet Union in Lithuania, had declared itself independent from Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The essence of the Sąjūdis program was based on the historical link of the re-established Lithuanian State with the former Republic of Lithuania, which existed from 1918 to 1940. The Supreme Council, elected in universal, free and democratic elections, was to formalise this continuity in appropriate legal, political and historical acts. The LCP proclaimed a popular but abstract electoral slogan: "A Lithuania without sovereignty is a Lithuania without a future!"

Sąjūdis rally in Vingas Park, Vilnius 23 August 1988

The Parliamentary elections of February 1990 were the first free and democratic elections in Lithuania since World War II. The people overwhelmingly voted for the candidates endorsed by Sąjūdis, even though the movement did not run as a political party. Sąjūdis candidates received 96 out of 141 deputy mandates.

Vytautas Landsbergis

The result was the first post-war non-communist government. Among the first laws enacted by the Supreme Council was the Law on the Name and National Emblem which officially promulgated the country's name as the Republic of Lithuania and reintroduced the historic emblem depicting the mounted knight Vytis. At 10.44 p.m., March 11, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania adopted an Act embodying the expectations and hopes of the nation “On the Re-establishment of the Independence of the Republic of Lithuania” which solemnly proclaimed the end of the period of occupation by a foreign government and the beginning of a new era of statehood.

124 delegates voted in favor of the Act, 6 abstained and no votes were cast against the Act. The Act confirmed the continuous and unbroken link of the re-established Lithuanian State with the Act of Independence of February 16, 1918, and the Resolution of a democratic Lithuanian Government, passed by Constituent Assembly (Seimas) on May 15, 1920.

Vytis

With this Act the Council committed itself to carry out the functions of the highest authority, the Lithuanian Parliament, which expressed the will of the absolute majority of population. The Supreme Council terminated the validity of the Constitution of the USSR of October 7, 1977, and the Constitution of the Lithuanian SSR of April 20, 1978, declaring the nominal validity of the Constitution of May 12, 1938, within the territory of Lithuania. The Supreme Council announced that the Constitution of 1938 was in force. This fact signified the continuity of the rights of sovereignty of the Lithuanian State. However, to really regulate the life of the state the principal Provisional Law was passed shortly and the validity of the said Constitution was terminated.

The ACT

Watch the historic event of the night of  11 March 1990
1990 Kovo 11
http://youtu.be/D3kJY892Yi0 

SIGNATARAI
(THE SIGNATORIES) 

AFTERMATH

The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania served as a model and inspiration to other Soviet republics however the issue of independence was not immediately settled. While recognition by other countries was still not certain, the immediate response from the U.S.A. was very clear

The leadership of the USSR reacted to the re-establishment of the Lithuanian State with extreme antagonism. Mikhail Gorbachev called the Act of Independence illegal. The Congress of People's Deputies declared the Act of the re-establishment of the Lithuanian State "null and void", and President Gorbachev issued an ultimatum demanding that the sovereignty of the USSR be re-established on the territory of Lithuania and that the country abide by the provisions of the Soviet constitution. When Lithuania rejected the ungrounded and illegal demands of the foreign government, the USSR resorted to a policy of threats, blackmail and intimidation. Soviet military control over Lithuanian state borders was strengthen, foreign citizens' access to the country was limited, and the Soviet military units stationed in Lithuania behaved as they pleased.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Beginning with March 13, 1990, after the March 11th Act on the Re-establishment of an independent Lithuanian State was promulgated, the USSR started applying political and social sanctions against Lithuania. From April until June 1990, it imposed an economic blockade. Later, in order to break the will of the Lithuanian people, the government of the USSR began open military aggression. Unarmed Lithuanian citizens, encircling the strategically important objects including the Parliament buildings, guarded them day and night expecting to avoid aggression. In front of the Parliament buildings barricades were set up bearing different slogans and graffiti reflecting the chief aim of the defenders - To defend the re-established statehood of Lithuania. On January 13, 1991, using brutal force against the unarmed population, Soviet troops stormed the state television and radio buildings in Vilnius, 14 people were killed and about 600 civilians were injured. A wave of indignation rolling throughout the world and the determination of the Lithuanians to defend the Parliament of Lithuania stopped the atrocities of the aggressors.

During the days of barricades the Parliament was called "the heart of Lithuania", from 1990 till 1992, it was the political centre of the Lithuanian State. New legislation, which should decide economic and cultural growth of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as Lithuania's international recognition in the international community of states was related to the work of the Parliament. In other words, the objectives of the Supreme Council were similar to those of the Constituent Assembly (Seimas) of 1920. For this reason the Supreme Council later was given the name of the Reconstituent Seimas.

On account of those aggressive actions, on March 24 the Supreme Council (Reconstituent Seimas) adopted the decision to transfer its powers, in case its rights were restricted, to Stasys Lozoraitis the Independent Envoy of the Republic of Lithuania in Washington and at the Holy See. The United States of America were among the few countries which did not only refuse to recognise the occupation of the Republic of Lithuania and its annexation in 1940 but also allowed the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to function. On March 22, 1990, the Supreme Council (Reconstituent Seimas) passed the Law on the Government and the first Government of the re-established Lithuanian State was formed (the 22nd Cabinet of Ministers in the history of the Republic of Lithuania). On 24 March 1990, Kazimira Danutė Prunskiene was appointed Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania and during her visits abroad was received by US President G. Bush, Prime Minister of Great Britain M. Thatcher, President of France F. Mitterand, Chancellor of Germany H. Kohl.

Stasys Lozoraitis

Provocative actions of the Soviets lasted in fact until August 21, 1991, when the communist putsch in Moscow failed. After the failure of the putsch, Lithuania became fully independent of the USSR. The Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova was the first from the USSR to recognise the independent Republic of Lithuanian on May 30, 1990 and this was the sign to the authorities in Moscow that the Soviet Empire was breaking up. On February 11, 1991, the Independent Republic of Lithuania was recognised by Iceland. Then recognition of Lithuania’s independence was quickly followed by several countries including Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Canada, Poland, Malta, San Marino, Portugal, Romania, Ukraine, Latvia and Estonia. On September 17, 1991, Lithuania joined the United Nations along with Estonia and Latvia. Lithuania also became a full member of a number of other international organisations. At the 86th Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held on October 7, Lithuania became an IPU member. On January 24-26, 1992, the Secretariat of a new parliamentary organisation - the Baltic Assembly - was established. On 6 September 1992, the USSR recognised the Independence of Lithuania and on 8 September 1992, a treaty was signed with Russia in Moscow in which it was agreed that Russian troops would be pulled out from the territory of Lithuania by August 31, 1993.

We would like to thank the Honorable Vytautas Landsbergis. Much of the information came from his writings.