March 11: Anniversary of the Restoration of Lithuanian Independence, 1990
Left to right: Kazimieras Motieka, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council; Bronislovas Juozas Kuzmickas, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council; Vytautas Landsbergis, Chairman of the Supreme Council; Česlovas Vytautas Stankevičius, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council; and Aloyzas Sakalas, Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Council. Vilnius, 10.44 p.m., March 11, 1990.
The Act stipulated that "the execution of the sovereign powers of the State of Lithuania, abolished by foreign forces in 1940, is re-established, and henceforth Lithuania is again an independent state."
It was a day of critical decisions: The Supreme Council adopted the legal acts to change the name of the state and the names of its supreme state institutions, and approved Vytis as the national coat of arms. At 6.08 p.m. the coat of arms of the Lithuanian SSR was covered and the three-color national flag was hoisted in the Plenary Chamber. The deliberation on the Act on the Re-establishment of the Independent State of Lithuania and the accompanying documents commenced. The Drafting Committee completed its work at 9.00 p.m. At 10.39 p.m. Vytautas Landsbergis, Chairman of the Supreme Council, announced the results of the roll-call vote on the Act: 124 votes in favor, with 6 abstentions. At 10.44 p.m. Lithuania became a free state after fifty years of occupation. Members of the Supreme Council and guests chanted in the Plenary Chamber, "Lithuania is free! Latvia will be free! Estonia will be free! "
Near the building of the Supreme Council people cheered and congratulated each other. The media hurried to report the news to the world. At the end of the sitting, the Supreme Council appealed to the nations of the world and the USSR, and Lithuania’s ethnic communities, and informed the public about the restoration of the Lithuanian State. It also asked for solidarity and support for Lithuania to return to the family of free nations. Mikhail Gorbachev called the Act illegal and demanded its revocation. He began applying sanctions against Lithuania including an economic blockade.
May 13, 1990:
The Supreme Soviet of Moldavian SSR voted to recognize the Restoration of the Independence of Lithuania. Its Parliament was the first legislature in the world to recognize Lithuania's independence, although Moldavia was still part of the Soviet Union.
January 13, 1991:
Soviet forces stormed the LRT building in Vilnius along with the Vilnius TV Tower. Unarmed civilian Lithuanians confronted Soviet soldiers. Fourteen people were killed and seven hundred injured in what became known as the January Events.
Russian leader Boris Yeltsin arrived in Tallinn, and with the leaders of the Baltic countries signed a joint declaration recognizing one another's independence/sovereignty.
September 2, 1991:
Lithuanian independence recognition was reconfirmed by the United States. President George H. W. Bush announced that if the Soviet Union were to use armed force against Lithuania, the U.S. would react accordingly. (Lithuania would not join NATO until March 29, 2004.) Bush's administration said he had been waiting to recognize Lithuanian independence until the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union did so first, but Bush later decided he could not wait any longer.
September 6, 1991:
Lithuania's independence was recognized by the State Council of the Soviet Union.
Credit to the Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Unit for Historical Memory of Parliamentarianism, and wikipedia
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