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On 20 March 1939, Nazi Germany's foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop presented an oral ultimatum to Juozas Urbšys, foreign minister of Lithuania. Germany demanded that Lithuania give up the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory) which had been detached from Germany after World War I, or the Wehrmacht would invade Lithuania ...
In August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the German–Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol, dividing Central and Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. Lithuania was initially assigned to the German sphere, likely due to its economic dependence on German trade.
Latvia followed on 5 October 1939 and Lithuania shortly thereafter, on 10 October 1939. The agreements permitted the Soviet Union to establish military bases on the Baltic states' territory for the duration of the European war [26] and to station 25,000 Soviet soldiers in Estonia, 30,000 in Latvia and 20,000 in Lithuania starting October 1939.
A secret protocol of the pact places Estonia, Latvia, and Finland in Soviet sphere of interest, Lithuania in Germany's sphere of influence. Poland was effectively divided between Stalin and Hitler. 1 September 1939, Nazi Germany invades Poland. This event signifies the start of World War II in Europe. 14 September 1939, Polish submarine Orzeł ...
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, officially the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, [1] [2] and also known as the Hitler–Stalin Pact [3] [4] and the Nazi–Soviet Pact, [5] was a non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, with a secret protocol establishing Soviet and German spheres of influence across Eastern Europe. [6]
At the beginning of World War II, which began with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Lithuania remained a neutral country. However, after Poland's defeat, pressure intensified on Lithuania, which was forced to sign he mutual assistance pact of October 10, 1939, with the Soviet Union, making it a de facto Soviet protectorate. [4]
Similarly, Lithuania signed a trade agreement with Germany in May 1926. Lithuania was the key to improved relationship with the Soviet Union. In exchange for Soviet recognition of Lithuania's claim to Vilnius, the countries signed a non-aggression pact in September 1926. [15] The situation appeared to be stable for the Baltic states.
In addition, Lithuania received only a fragment of territory that had been recognized by Soviet Russia as part of Lithuania under the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty of July 12, 1920. [6] Lithuania annexed most of Wilno-Troki County with Vilnius, half of Święciany County, and parts of Grodno, Lida, Oszmiany and Brasław counties. [6]