- History of Vilnius
This article is about the history of
Vilnius , the capital and largest city ofLithuania .Middle Ages
The earliest settlements in the area of present day Vilnius appear to be of
mesolithic origin. Numerous archaeological findings in different parts of the city prove that the area has been inhabited by peoples of various cultures since the earlyMiddle Ages . Initially a Baltic settlement, later it was also inhabited bySlavs ,Jews and Germans. Some historians identify the city withVoruta , a forgotten capital of King Mindaugas.The city was first mentioned in written sources in 1323 as the capital city of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania in theletters of Gediminas . Gediminas built his wooden castle on a hill in the city. The city became more widely known after he wrote a circular letter of invitation to Germans and Jews to the principalHansa towns in 1325, offering free access into his domains to men of every order and profession. Vilnius was granted city rights byJogaila in 1387, following theChristianization of Lithuania and the construction of theVilnius Cathedral . The town was initially populated by localLithuanians , but soon the population began to grow as craftsmen andmerchants of other nationalities settled in the city.According to a tale, tired after a busy hunting day,Gediminas had a prophetic dream about aniron wolf howling on a top of the hill. When he asked a "krivis " (a pagan priest)Lizdeika for an explanation of the dream, he was told that he must build acastle on the top of that hill, which is strategically surrounded by three rivers (Neris , Vilnia, andVingria (now underground)) and a grand city around that hill, so that "the iron-wolf-like sound about this great city would spread around the world". Some versions of this tale state, that for his advice, Lizdeika was given a name ofRadziwiłł . cite book| author = various authors | title = "Legendy wileńskie" (translated from "Vilniaus Legendos") | publisher = Žuvėrda | year = 1998 | location = Vilnius | page = p. 21 | isbn = 9986-500-30-3 | language = Polish ] cite book| last = Zahorski | first = Władysław | others = illustrated by I.Pinkas 1929 | title = "Podania i legendy wileńskie" | publisher = Graf | year = 1991 | origyear = 1925 | location = Gdańsk | page = p. 22 | isbn = 83-85130-22-5 | language = Polish ] cite book| last = Zahorski | first = Władysław | others = illustrated by I.Pinkas 1929 | title = "Podania i legendy wileńskie" | publisher = Graf | year = 1991 | origyear = 1925 | location = Gdańsk | page = p. 22 | isbn = 83-85130-22-5 | language = Polish ] cite book| first = Joanna | last = Marszałek-Kawa | coauthors = Renata Runiewicz-Jasińska | title = "Legendy i podania litewskie" | page = p. 26 | language = Polish | isbn = 83-7322-789-X | year = 2004 | location = Toruń | publisher = Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek ] The derivative of a Lithuanian name "Radvila" has also been falsely interpreted as derived from the Belarusian word "радзіць" or Polish "radzi" (meaning "advises").English king Henry IV spent a full year of 1390 supporting the unsuccessful siege of Vilnius by
Teutonic Knights with his 300 fellow knights. During this campaign Henry Bolingbroke also bought captured Lithuanian princes and then apparently took them back to England. King Henry's second expedition toLithuania in 1392 illustrates the financial benefits to the Order of these guest crusaders. His small army consisted of over 100 men, includinglongbow archers and six minstrels, at a total cost to the Lancastrian purse of £4,360. Much of this sum benefited the local economy through the purchase of silverware and the hiring of boats and equipment. Despite the efforts of Bolingbroke and his English crusaders, two years of attacks on Vilnius proved fruitless.Between 1503 and 1522, for the sake of protection from Crimean Tatar attacks, the city was surrounded by walls that had nine gates and three towers. Communities of
Lithuanians ,Jews ,Ruthenians , andGermans were present in different areas of Vilnius. The Orthodox inhabitants concentrated in the eastern part of the city left of the "Pilies Street ", while mostly Germans and Jews occupied the western side of the city around the "German Street". The town reached the peak of its development under the reign ofSigismund II Augustus , Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, who moved his court there in 1544 with a large number of Polish royal servants, making up a larger part of then insignificant Polish speaking population. This event greatly impelled the Polonization of the city's inhabitants. [ [http://www.geocities.com/tenorsaxas/rastija.htm First Lithuanian written texts] K. Jablonskis “Mažvydo gyvenimas ir aplinka” // Senoji lietuviška knyga, Kaunas, 1947, p. 100.] In the 16th century Vilnius became a constantly growing and developing city, as Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of PolandSigismund II Augustus and his mother queenBona Sforza were spending much of their time in theRoyal Palace of Lithuania .Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
After the
Union of Lublin (1569) that created thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , the city flourished further in part due to the establishment ofVilnius University byStefan Batory , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1579. The university soon developed into one of the most important scientific and cultural centers of the region and the most notable scientific center of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania . Political, economic and social life was in full swing there. This is among all proven by theLithuanian Statutes issued in the16th century , the last of which was still in force until the19th century . In 1769 theRasos Cemetery was founded; today it is one of the oldest surviving cemeteries in the city.Rapidly developing, the city was open to
migrants from both East and West. In addition to old citizens, larger Jewish, Orthodox and German communities established themselves in the city. Each group made its contribution to the life of the city, and crafts, trade and science prospered. In 1655 during theRusso-Polish War (1654–1667) Vilnius was captured by the forces ofRussia and was pillaged, burned and the population was massacred. The city's growth lost its momentum for many years, yet the number of inhabitants recovered and by the beginning of the19th century the city was the third largest city in Eastern Europe.Fact|date=February 2007Russian Empire
After the Third Partition of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Vilnius was annexed by the
Russian Empire and became the capital ofVilna Governorate , a part of theNorthwestern Krai . In order to allow the city to expand, between 1799-1805 period, the city walls were pulled down, only theDawn Gate (also known as "Aušros vartai", "Medininkų vartai" or "Ostra Brama", "Вострая Брама") remained. In 1812 the city was seized byNapoleon on his push towardsMoscow . After the failure of the campaign, theGrande Armée retreated to the area where 80,000 of French soldiers died and were buried in thetrench es they had built months earlier. After theNovember Uprising theVilnius University was closed and repressions halted the further development of the city. During theJanuary Uprising in 1863 heavy city fights occurred, but were brutally pacified by Mikhail Muravyov, nicknamed "The Hanger" by the population because of the number of executions he organized. After the uprising all liberties were halted and the Lithuanian, Polish, and Belarusian languages were banned.Fact|date=October 2007During the second half of 19th and the beginning of 20th century Vilnius also became one of the centers of Jewish, Polish, Lithuanian and
Belarus ian national rebirths. Jewish culture and population was so dominant that some Jewish national revival leaders argued for a new Jewish state to be founded in a Vilnius region, with a city as its capital. These national revivals happened in Vilnius because it was one the most tolerant, progressive and liberal places in a region, legacy of the tolerance deriving from the years of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. One of the most important Polish, Belarusian poets and writers published their works in Vilnius at that time. It was the place where the first short-lived Belarusian weekly "Naša Niva " was founded.Vilnius became an important place of act of the Lithuanian national revival on December 4-5 1905, when the
Great Seimas of Vilnius was held in the Palace of the present-day National Philharmonics, with over 2000 delegates from allregions of Lithuania as well as emigrees. It was decided to make a demand to establish an autonomous ethnic Lithuanian state within the Russian Empire with its parliament (Seimas) in Vilnius.Interwar period
Polish-Lithuanian conflict
During
World War I , Vilnius was occupied byGermany from 1915 until 1918. Still under German occupation,Council of Lithuania proclaimed the "Act of Independence of Lithuania " in Vilnius onFebruary 16 ,1918 . Act proclaimed restoration of the independent state of Lithuania with Vilnius as its capital. The German civilian administration of theOber-Ost declined to pass full authority to Lithuania, which was not controlled by the Germans any more. Instead, the Germans tried to control the area by means of promoting conflicts between local nationalities as it became clear that the German plan for creation ofMitteleuropa , a net of satellite buffer states, failed.Finally, on
January 1 ,1919 , the German garrison withdrew and passed the authority over the city to a local Polish committee, against the pleas of the Lithuanian administration. Polish self-defence units formed of local inhabitants took over the posts and a Polish administration started to be formed while the Lithuanians withdrew along with the Germans. However, only three days afterwards, onJanuary 3 1919 the city was attacked and taken byBolshevik forces advancing from the east. The city was proclaimed the capital of the short-livedLithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic . TheRed Army attack on Vilnius is sometimes cited as the beginning of thePolish-Soviet War .Fact|date=September 2007 For the next 4 months the city became acommunist experiment in governance. cite book | authorlink = Norman Davies | last = Davies | first = Norman | title = "White Eagle, Red Star: the Polish-Soviet War, 1919–20" |publisher = Pimlico | year = 2003 | isbn = 0-7126-0694-7 | origyear = 1972 | other = First edition: New York, St. Martin's Press, inc., 1972. ] During the course of that conflict, onApril 19 ,1919 the city was again seized by Poland (Vilna offensive ), this time by forces of the regularPolish Army . A year later, onJuly 14 ,1920 it was lost to Soviet forces again (this time, the Soviets were aided by Lithuanians, who were promised Vilnius).Shortly after the defeat in the Battle of Warsaw in 1920, the withdrawing
Red Army handed the city over toLithuania , in accordance with the Russo-Lithuanian agreement ofJuly 12 of that year. The treaty allowed for the transfer to Lithuanian authority of a large part of the areas of the formerGrand Duchy of Lithuania . Although the city itself, as well as its surroundings were actually transferred, the fast pace of the Polish offensive prevented additional territories to be handed over by the Red Army and the disputed area was split into Lithuanian and Polish-controlled parts.Fact|date=September 2007Many historians argue Fact|date=February 2007 that the main reason behind the Soviet agreement with Lithuania was to weaken Poland and hand the disputed territories to a weaker state, which Lithuania was at the time, in order to reconquer the area more easily after the retreat of the
Red Army had halted.Fact|date=September 2007 Also, the independence of theBaltic States was seen byLenin as temporary. However, after theBattle of the Niemen River the Red Army was again defeated andBolshevik Russia was forced to abandon her plans for reincorporation of all the lands lost by theRussian Empire in theTreaty of Brest-Litovsk .As Russia ceased to be a major player in the area, Polish-Lithuanian relations worsened. In demographic terms Vilnius was the least Lithuanian of Lithuanian cities,Michael MacQueen, "The Context of Mass Destruction: Agents and Prerequisites of the Holocaust in Lithuania", Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Volume 12, Number 1, pp. 27-48, 1998, [http://hgs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/12/1/27] ] divided near evenly between Poles and Jews, with ethnic Lithuanians constituting a mere fraction of the total population (about 2-3% of the population, according to Russian 1897pl icon
Piotr Łossowski , "Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918-1920" (The Polish-Lithuanian Conflict, 1918–1920), Warsaw, Książka i Wiedza, 1995, ISBN 8305127699, pp. 11.] ru icon [http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/rus_lan_97.php?reg=32 Demoscope] .] and German 1916 censusespl icon cite book|author= Michał Eustachy Brensztejn|year=1919 |title=Spisy ludności m. Wilna za okupacji niemieckiej od. 1 listopada 1915 r. |publisher=Biblioteka Delegacji Rad Polskich Litwy i Białej Rusi,Warsaw |id= ] ) The Lithuanians nonetheless believed that their historical claim to the city (former capital of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania ) had precedence and refused to recognize any Polish claims to the city and the surrounding area. After the Bolshevik armies were pushed out of the area, the line reached by the Lithuanian forces before the Poles arrived was secured and diplomatic talks started. However, the negotiations on the future of the disputed area, held under the auspice of theConference of Ambassadors in Brussels and Paris came to a stalemate and the Polish head of state,Józef Piłsudski feared, that the Entente might want to accept thefait accompli created by theSoviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920 . As both countries were officially at peace and the Lithuanian side rejected the idea of aplebiscite , the Poles decided to change the stalemate by creating a "fait accompli" for their own cause. (SeePolish-Lithuanian War )On
October 9 1920 , the so called Lithuanian-Belarusian Division of the Polish Army under GeneralLucjan Żeligowski seized the city in a staged mutiny. Vilnius was declared the capital ofRepublic of Central Lithuania , with Żeligowski as its head of state. [en icon Jerzy J. Lerski. Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945. 1996, p.309] The negotiations in Brussels continued, but the Polish move did not simplify the situation. Among the plans proposed by the Entente was a creation of a Polish-Lithuanian state based on a cantonal system, with shared control over the disputed area. While this was acceptable to both sides, Poland insisted on inviting the representatives of Central Lithuania to the talks. At the same times the Lithuanian politicians argued that the Central Lithuania was but apuppet state of Poland and rejected the idea. Finally, the talks came to yet another stalemate and no agreement was reached.On
January 8 ,1922 , general parliamentary elections were held in Central Lithuania. Many evidence showed the elections being unfair. Lithuanian historians also claim that many Lithuanian candidates were not registered because they did not speak Polish Zigmantas Kiaupa. The History of Lithuania. 2002, 2004. ISBN 9955-584-87-4] . Apart from the Lithuanian, Jewish and Belarusian organisations that eventually decided toboycott the voting, Poles, who took part in it supported the incorporation of the area into Poland - with different levels of autonomy. 63.9% Fact|date=September 2007 of the entire population took part in the voting, but among different ethnic groups the turnout was lower (41% ofBelarusians , 15.3%Jews and 8.2% ofLithuanians )Zigmantas Kiaupa. The History of Lithuania. 2002, 2004. ISBN 9955-584-87-4] . Poles were the only major ethnic group in which the majority of people voted. This and the frauds noted by the Pro-Polish Chief of Military control sent byLeague of Nations Col. Chardigny in his report were the pretexts for Lithuania not to recognise it. Also, the Lithuanian side argued that the election area covered only the territory of Central Lithuania, that is the areas under Lithuanian administration prior to Żeligowski's action, while it should also cover the areas promised to Lithuania in theSoviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920 , known as the Vilnius region.A decision was reached in the Central Lithuanian Parliament on
February 20 1922 , to return the whole area to Poland, with Vilnius becoming the capital of the Wilno Voivodship. The situation was soon afterwards approved by theConference of Ambassadors and theLeague of Nations . However, the Lithuanian authorities never recognized thestatus quo and continued to claim sovereignty over the "Region of Vilnius". Also, the city itself was declared the constitutional capital of the Lithuanian state whileKaunas was only atemporary capital of Lithuania . Lithuania and Poland remained at thede facto state of war until the Polish ultimatum to Lithuania in 1938.Poland
Lithuanian authorities never accepted the fact that puppet state's Parliament chose to be part of Poland. That in turn was not understoodFact|date=September 2007 by Poles who, together with Jews, made up a majority in the city of Vilnius itself. In the years 1920-1939
Poles made up 65% of the population,Jews 28%, 4%Russians , 1%Belarusians 1%Lithuanians pl icon cite journal | author= | title=Drugi Powszechny Spis Ludności z dnia 9 XII 1931 r | journal=Statystyka Polski | volume=D | issue=34 | year=1939 | pages= ] . Lithuanians therefore were a very marginal minority (less than 3% immediately after World War I, and less than 1% later in 1930s). However, in certain parts of the Polish controlled region other nationalities (Belarusian, Jewish or Lithuanian) made up a majority. Fact|date=February 2007Lithuania claimed its right to encompass a multinational territory, in the same way that Poland did. It also claimed that based on historical criteria, its rights to the area were more justified. The Lithuanian constitution continued to name Vilnius as the capital of the country. Lithuania broke all diplomatic relations with Poland, closed the border and declined to accept the Polish authority over the territory in question until 1938, when taking advantage of the international concern over
Nazi Germany actions, Poland presented an ultimatum to Lithuania to renew diplomatic relations and in this way abolished the pressure on Poland about theVilnius region .Fact|date=September 2007In spite of the unfavorable geopolitical situation (which prevented the trade with the immediate neighbors: Lithuania, Germany and Soviet Russia) life in the town flourished.Fact|date=September 2007 A number of new factories, including modern "
Elektrit " radio factory was opened. New residential houses were being built throughout the city.Fact|date=February 2007 Much of the development concentrated along the central Mickiewicz Street, where the modernJabłkowski Brothers department store was opened, equipped with lifts and automatic doors. New radio buildings and towers were erected in 1927, including the site where noted Polish poet andNobel Prize winnerCzesław Miłosz worked.Vilnius University was reopened under the name "Stefan Batory University", with Polish as the language of instruction. The Lithuanian language was discouraged by limiting the number of Lithuanian schools. By 1931 the city had 195,000 inhabitants, which made it the fifth largest city in Poland. The city became an important center of Polish cultural and scientific life, while economically the rest of the region remained relatively backward. It was claimed that this relative underdevelopment, among other issues, was the reason for difficulties with integrating the region and the city with Lithuania, when it regained Vilnius in 1939.Vilnius was also an informal capital of
Yiddish at that time. The Museum of Jewish culture was founded there in 1919, andYIVO - Institute for Jewish Research, was founded there in 1924. A number of important Jewish cultural institutions including theatres, newspapers and magazines, museums and schools, and Jewish PEN-Club were created beforeSecond World War in Vilnius. In addition to its Jewish heritage, it continued to be a centre of Belarusian national life in Poland-occupied WestBelarus .World War II
In the beginning of the
Second World War , Vilnius suffered from continuous German air raids. Despite German pressure, the Lithuanian government categorically declined the suggestions to participate in Germany's aggression against Poland. As a result of theMolotov-Ribbentrop Pact and subsequent Soviet invasion, the territories of Eastern Poland were occupied byRed Army , which seized the city following a one day defense onSeptember 19 1939 . There were plans to include the city and the region as a part of theBelarusian SSR , but eventually it was decided that Vilnius might be used as a way to exert significant influence onLithuania .After talks in
Moscow onOctober 10 ,1939 the city and its surrounding areas were transferred to Lithuania in exchange for Soviet military bases established in strategic parts of the country. While the Lithuanian government attempted to refuse these demands, the Russians left them no choice as their troops would enter the country anyway. Only one fifth ofVilnius region was actually given back to Lithuania, despite the fact that the Soviets had recognized the whole region as a part of Lithuania while it was still under Polish control. This reunitedLithuanian Jews , although some people involved in Soviet activities decided to leave.Bauer p.108] In few days over 3000 Jews left Vilnius to Soviet Union.Levin, p. 44] Lithuanian authorities entered Vilnius onOctober 28 and the capital of Lithuania started to be slowly and cautiously transferred there fromKaunas .Immediately after Lithuanian army entered the town, a four day long Polish anti-Jewish
pogrom broke out, in which one person lost life and some 200 were wounded.en icon cite book | author =Yehuda Bauer | title =American Jewry and the Holocaust | year =1981 | pages =107-115| publisher =Wayne State University Press | location =Detroit, Michigan | isbn=0814316727 ] As the Lithuanian authorities and police only fueled and supported the pogrom, the Jewish community asked nearby Russian military units for intervention. The violence only stopped after a group of 35 Soviet tanks briefly re-entered the city.Levin, p. 51] This prevented futher pogroms, that were expected on November 10-11, traditional day of anti-Jewish disturbances in the city.Bauer p.108]A month of Soviet rule in Vilnius had catastrophic consequences: the city was starving, the museums and archives robbed, the valuables, industry [The whole "Elektrit" factory was transferred to Minsk, together with all the qualified workers (Levin, p. 40)] and historic documents were stolen and transferred to Russia, and many people were imprisoned or deported. Apparently, the Lithuanian government was deliberately slowing down the transfer of the capital back to Vilnius due to fears that the Soviet military presence around the city would enable the Russians to overthrow the Lithuanian government if it were based there.
The Lithuanian authorities started a campaign of "de-Polonization" of the city, similar policies also targeted the Jews. Immediately upon entering the city, the Lithuanian authorities abolished the use of
Polish złoty and ordered the currency to be converted toLithuanian litas , at 250% devaluation. Soon other discriminating policies followed. During the several months-long period of what the Lithuanians considered the retaking of their capital, while local Poles considered a Lithuanian occupation,en icon cite book | author =Saulius Sužiedelis | coauthors = | title =The Vanished World of Lithuanian Jews | year =2004 | editor = | pages =141-142 | chapter =Historical Sources for Antisemitism in Lithuania | publisher =Rodopi | location =Amsterdam-New Jersey | isbn=9042008504 ] roughly 50,000 ethnic Lithuanians were brought to the city. Roughly half of them were settlers from the areas of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union, while the other half were officials from within the pre-war borders of Lithuania. en icon cite book | author =Tadeusz Piotrowski | title =Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide... | year =1997 | pages =p. 160-162 | chapter =Lithuanian collaboration | publisher =McFarland & Company | location = | id =ISBN 0-7864-0371-3 See also [http://www.history.ucsb.edu/projects/holocaust/Resources/BookReviews/jessica.htm review] ]One of the unfortunate decisions made by Lithuanian authorities in this period was the closure and liquidation of the Stefan Batory University on
December 15 1939 . In the process of "Lithuanianization" Polish language books were removed from stores and Polish language street names were replaced with new, in Lithuanian. Polish offices, schools, charitable social and cultural organizations, stores and businesses were closed. By June 1940 only two institutions in the entire city offered instruction in the Polish language, while roughly 4000 Polish teachers lost their jobs. The refugees, many of whom were Poles and Jews who moved to the city in order to avoid being captured by the Germans, were denied free movement, and by March 28, 1940, all people who had not been citizens of the town in October 1920, were declared to be refugees. Altogether, some 12,000 people were granted Lithuanian citizenship, while 150,000 of the city's inhabitants, mostly Poles, were declared foreigners, excluded from many jobs and even prohibited from riding on trains.The process of moving the capital was not yet finished when in June 1940, despite Lithuanian resistance, Vilnius was again seized by the
Soviet Union and became the capital of theLithuanian SSR . Approximately 35,000 - 40,000 of the city inhabitants were arrested by theNKVD and sent togulag s at that time. In June 1941 the city was again seized by Nazi Germany. In the old town centre twoghetto s were set up for the large Jewish population - the smaller of which was "liquidated" by October. The second ghetto lasted until 1943, though its population was regularly decimated in so called "Aktionen". A failed Jewish ghetto uprising onSeptember 1 1943 , could not prevent its final destruction. About 95% of the local Jewish population was murdered. Many of them were among 100,000 victims of the mass executions in Paneriai, about 10 kilometers west of the old town centre. Most of the remaining 30,000 victims of the massacre were Poles -POW s,intelligentsia and members of theArmia Krajowa , which at the time was fighting against both Germans and Lithuanians.Military actions destroyed approximately forty-percent of Vilnius' buildings, but almost all architectural monuments, including all Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox churches, survived. Only the ghetto area with the famous Great Synagogue was totally destroyed.
oviet occupation
The Germans were forced to leave Vilnius in July 1944 by the combined pressure from the
Polish Home Army (Operation Ostra Brama ) and theRed Army (Battle of Vilnius (1944) ). In 1944–1947 the opponents of the regime, included were captured, interrogated in the NKVD Palace inLukiškės Square , executed and buried in theTuskulėnai Manor park. The Soviets decided that it was to became again a part of theLithuanian SSR and subsequently the Soviet government decided to repatriate the Polish population from Lithuania andBelarus after the end of World War II. This decision was soon implemented and most of the population were transferred during the so-calledrepatriation , organized by Soviet and local communist authorities. The repatriation was voluntary, but not all willing people could leave "Soviet Paradise", because Poles living in rural areas, were forced to remain where they had lived [cite web |url=http://www.istorija.lt/lim/stravinskiene2004en2.html |title=Poles in Lithuania from the second half of 1944 until 1946: choosing between staying or emigrating to Poland (summary) |accessdate=2007-02-13 |last=Stravinskienė |first=Vitalija |year=2004 |month= |format= |work=Lietuvos istorijos metraštis, 2004 vol 2 |publisher=The Lithuanian institute of history ] . Most of the surviving inhabitants left Vilnius, which had an obvious impact on the city's community and its traditions. Many of the remaining Poles were arrested, murdered or sent togulag s or to remote parts of Soviet empire.These events, coupled with the policy of
Russification and immigration of Russians from other Soviet republics the during post-war years and slow but steady repatriation of the surviving Jews toIsrael , had a critical influence on the demographic situation of the city in the 1960s. Vilnius experienced a rapid population upsurge due to immigrations by rural Lithuanians after1960 .Independent Lithuania
Beginning in 1987 there were massive demonstrations against Soviet rule in the country. On
March 11 ,1990 , the Supreme Council of theLithuanian SSR announced its independence from the Soviet Union and restored the independent Republic of Lithuania. The Soviets responded onJanuary 9 ,1991 , by sending in troops. OnJanuary 13 , during the Soviet Army attack on the State Radio and Television Building and theVilnius TV Tower , known as theJanuary Events , 14 people were killed and more than 700 were seriously injured. The Soviet Union finally recognized Lithuanian independence in August 1991, afterSoviet coup attempt of 1991 .The importance of Vilnius for Belarus remained at the end of 20th century. In June 1989 Vilnius was the site of the
Belarusian Popular Front conference as the Belorussian Soviet authorities would not allow the event to take place in Belarus. At the beginning of 21st century several institutes such as theEuropean Humanities University and the independent sociology centerNIESPI persecuted in Belarus by the government ofAlexander Lukashenko have found an asylum in Vilnius.In the years following its independence, Vilnius has been rapidly evolving and improving, transforming from a Soviet dominated enclave into a modern European city in less than 15 years.
References
Bibliography
* Theodore R. Weeks, [http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/nceeer/2004_819-06g_Weeks.pdf FROM “RUSSIAN” TO “POLISH”: Vilna-Wilno 1900-1925]
*pl icon cite book | first = Juliusz | last = Kłos | title = "Wilno", 3rd ed. | place = Wilno | year = 1937
*pl icon Jerzy Remer, "Wilno", Poznań
*pl icon cite book | first = Piotr | last = Łossowski | authorlink = Piotr Łossowski | title = Litwa | publisher = Trio | location = Warszawa | year = 2001 | isbn = 83-85660-59-3
*pl icon cite book | last = Levin | first = Don | title = Żydzi wschodnioeuropejscy podczas II wojny światowej | publisher = IPN PAN | year = 2005 | location = Warszawa | isbn = 83-7399-117-4
*en icon cite book | first = Tomas | last = Venclova | authorlink = Tomas Venclova | title= Vilnius - guide | publisher= Paknio Leidykla | location = Vilnius | year = 2001 | isbn = 9986-830-47-8ee also
* [http://www.vilnaghetto.com/index.html Chronicles of the Vilna Ghetto: wartime photographs & documents - vilnaghetto.com]
* [http://www.vilnius.info/history/ History of Vilnius] - brief history in timelines.
*History of Lithuania
*History of Poland
*Vilnius
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