Unlike its Baltic neighbours,
Lithuania
once enjoyed a period of sustained
independence. Having driven off the
German Knights of the Sword in 1236
at Siauliai, the Lithuanians emerged
as a unified state under Grand Duke
Gediminas (1316-41). The 1569 Union
of Lublin established a combined
Polish-Lithuanian state which
reached its zenith under King Stefan
Bathory. But the Great Northern War
of 1700-21, in which
Poland-Lithuania, Russia and Sweden
battled for control of the Baltics,
left the country devastated, and by
the end of the eighteenth century
most of Lithuania had fallen into
Russian hands. Uprisings in 1830 and
1863 presaged a rise in nationalist
feeling, and Russia's collapse in
World War I enabled the Lithuanians
to re-establish their independence.
In July 1940, however, the country
was effectively annexed by the USSR.
German occupation from 1941 to 1944
wiped out Lithuania's Jewish
population and wrecked the country,
and things scarcely improved when
the return of the Soviets resulted
in executions and deportations. When
Moscow eventually relaxed its hard
line in the late 1980s, demands for
greater autonomy led to the
declaration of independence on March
11, 1990, way ahead of the other
Baltic States. A prolonged stand-off
came to a head on January 11, 1991
when Soviet forces killed fourteen
people at Vilnius TV Tower, but as
the anti-Gorbachev coup foundered in
August 1991, the world - soon
followed by the disintegrating
Soviet Union - recognized Lithuanian
independence.
Travel in Lithuania presents no
real hardships, and even in
well-trodden destinations the volume
of visitors is low, leaving you with
the feeling that there's still much
to discover here. Vilnius ,
with its Baroque old town, is the
most architecturally beautiful of
the Baltic capitals, with an
easy-going charm all of its own.
Lithuania's second city Kaunas
also has an attractive old town and
a couple of unique museums, along
with a handful of surprisingly good
restaurants and bars. The port city
of Klaipeda , despite its
restored old town, is more a
stopping-off point en route to the
low-key resorts of Neringa ,
a unique spit of sand dunes and
forest that shields Lithuania from
the Baltic.
