History of Lithuania Essay

The country of Lithuania had originated in the in the 12th century during the reign of Mindaugas in which became the king of the state in during 1251. In 1325 due matrimony, another individual became the King of Poland Ladislaus II who was able to unite the countries of Poland and Lithuania. By 1410, the Polish and Lithuanians together were able to defeat groups of Teutonic Knights at the Tannenberg who were extremely powerful during that those times. In the period of the 14th and 16th century the states of Lithuania and Poland was one of the largest Empires in Europe that encompasses that spaces from the Black Sea up until the Moscow region. In the past, the countries of Lithuania and Poland had made a union which lasted for approximately 200 years. The countries formally united within in 1569. The countries of Austria, Prussia and Russia detached from Poland during the years of 1772 until 1795. For the reason that Poland was divided into several states, Lithuania was left to be ruled under Russia. As Russia was ruled over Lithuania, it tried to immerse their newly acquired country into the Russian language and culture. However, there had become a rise of anti-Russian protests. After the collapse of Russia throughout the World War I, Lithuania have declared their independence but still under another foreign assistance—Germany in 1918. (infoplease n. p. ) In 1940, the Republic of Lithuania was taken over by the Soviet Union. Starting one June 1941 until 1944 German Troops were able to occupy the state of Lithuania therefore, the Lithuanian army served the World War II in representation of Germany. As a consequence, there were estimated 240,000 Jews were slaughtered for the period of the Nazi Regime. Again, Soviets were able to invade Lithuania during 1944. (infoplease n. p. ) In 1988, the movements for the Lithuanian independence have again emerged again. The non-communist leader of the largest and most popular Lithuanian movement (Sajudis) Vytautas Landsbergis became the elected president of the again newly independent state of Lithuania. By the day in which the new president was elected, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania has declared that they are rejecting the Soviet ruling and are in preparation to restore the independence of the state. Because of the decision to restore independence, the Soviet Union immediately imposed economic sanction. However, after a while the sanction was lifted through a â€Å"face-saving compromise. † (infoplease n. p. ) With the state of Lithuania’s decision to be independent, the state was immediately recognized by various key European countries as well as the United States and other nations. In September of 1991, at last the Soviet Union have accepted and recognized the independence of the former Baltic States. Finally in the 17th September 1991, the United Nations have admitted the newly independent states. Also during these time, the successful implementation of various legislative and structural reforms helped Lithuania to attract numerous direct foreign investments. The investments and interest of the various foreign investors had paved the way for Lithuania to have development and ride the waves through the international economy. (infoplease n. p. ) During the year 2001, Lithuania had finally accepted the offer of membership made by European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and formally joined the two international organizations in the year 2004. In the year 2003, Valdas Adamkus an incumbent President was beaten by Rolandas Parksas during the presidential election. Adamkus became very upset and disappointed with the results of the election because it was Adamkus was the person responsible in the entry of Lithuania to the EU and NATO. However in the month of April in the year 2004, Paksas was ejected from the presidential seat due to the various issues and one of those were his investigated connections among Russian mobsters. This issue brought by Paksas became the most devastating political crisis which invaded the state of Lithuania since its independence since the Soviet Union’s ruling. After the removal of Paksas in the office, Adamkus was again elected to the presidential seat. (infoplease n. p. ) Current Demographics and Socioeconomic Status: The formal name of Lithuania is Republic of Lithuania or Lietuvos Respublika in their local language. The state of Lithuania is located within the Eastern Europe which is bordering the Baltic Sea, Russia (227 kilometers), Latvia (576 kilometers), and Belarus (680 kilometers). The territory of Lithuania has a total of 65,300 square kilometres and could be closely compared to the size of West Virginia however the republic state is somewhat larger (CIA n. p). The landscape of Lithuania is known to be predominantly has a flat lands however it is mostly containing fertile lands which are very suitable for agricultural industries. There are two varieties of hills which is located in the north and southern part of the country. Although there are two hills within the territory of Lithuania, there is no land form which could be closely compared to mountains because the hills were only an average of 500 feet. The highest of the hills is the Juozapines Hill which is 958 feet located near the border of Belarus. In addition, the country is mostly covered with woodland and forests. (Bultje 11) The coast line of Lithuania is located near the Baltic Sea (62 milers away) which is in the western part of the state. The coastline of the territory is composed of an excessively amount of sandbar which is about 2 miles wide which the have called Curonian Spit while the water linking the sandbar and the mainland is called Curonian Lagoon. Lithuania is known to have numerous rivers within its rivers. One of the most known rivers in Lithuania is Neman River or the Memel in the German Language. The Neman is the longest river in Lithuania which is 582 miles from Belarus and flows until the city of Kaunas and then it finally go through the Baltic Sea. Other rivers in Lithuania are Neris and Ventra. Although there are many rivers which are available most of the rivers are not passable by boat. There are 3,000 lakes in the territory which are most located in the eastern part of Lithuania. The largest lake in the country is Druksiai (17. sq. m. ) but the deepest is Tauragnas (198 ft). (Bultje 12) The climate in the country of Lithuania is known to be reasonably mild however; it differs within the inland and the coastal areas. In the location of the coastal regions it mostly has maritime temperatures—meaning the weather in the winter and summer is not far from each other. In addition, humidity is also fairly high. The central regions of Lithuania have a continental temperature in which it has specific seasons. Similar to other countries, the climates vary from summer and winter but the state only has a few rainfalls. During the summer time, which is from the months of May to August, the temperatures in the central region could reach the temperature of 86  °F but in the coastal areas it is typically cooler than the inland temperature. The winter in Lithuania is usually longer than the summer time. The winter season is during November to March where in there is a harsh frost and thick white snow often lies on the ground. Often, the numerous lakes become frozen. In addition, there are snowstorms and freezing rains which are likely to occurring during these months. In the eastern part of the country, the weather usually gets colder than other parts of the country. The temperature of in the eastern region could drop up to 13  °F. In comparison to the summer seasons where in the coastal areas are mostly temperate in the coastal areas, the winter season makes the coastal areas much colder. Compared to the winter season, spring is extremely short. During the month of April where in the snow has already melted the flowers and plants immediately pops out from the ground. The autumn season starts in the September which is has low temperature with a mixture of low temperature. (Bultje 13)