Talk:Lithuania (1983: Doomsday)/Old Version

NOTE: This page is stored for archival purposes and reflects the content of the then-sub graduated page on Lithuania as it appeared at 00:39, September 19, 2014 (UTC), located where the present state of Samogitia is currently located. Thank you for your interest!

The Duchy of Lithuania is a nation-state in what was once western Lithuania, and claims itself the heir to the old Duchy of Lithuania, the old Polish Kingdom, the Lithuanian SSR, and especially the Lithuanian Republic that was unjustly seized by the Soviet Union during World War II.

Pre-Doomsday
The first people settled in the territory of Lithuania after the last glacial period in the 10th millennium BC. Initially inhabited by fragmented Baltic tribes, in the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. After his assassination in 1263, pagan Lithuania was a target of the Christian crusades of the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. Despite the devastating century-long struggle with the Orders, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded rapidly overtaking former Slavic principalities of Kievan Rus'. By the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was the largest country in Europe and included Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia. In 1385, the Grand Duke Jogaila accepted Poland's offer to become its king. He converted Lithuania to Christianity and established a personal union between Poland and Lithuania.

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was created in 1569. From 1573, Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania were elected by the nobility, who were granted ever increasing Golden Liberties. These liberties, especially the liberum veto, led to anarchy and the eventual dissolution of the state. During the Northern Wars, the Lithuanian territory and economy were devastated by the Swedish army. Before it could fully recover, Lithuania was again ravaged during the Great Northern War. Eventually, the Commonwealth was partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Hapsburg Austria. The largest area of Lithuanian territory became part of Russia. After unsuccessful uprisings, the Tsarist authorities implemented a number of Russification policies, including a ban on the Lithuanian press and the closing of cultural and educational institutions, and Lithuania became part of a new administrative region called Northwestern Krai. Nevertheless, a Lithuanian National Revival laid the foundations of the modern Lithuanian nation and independent Lithuania.

During World War I, the Council of Lithuania (Lietuvos Taryba) declared the independence of Lithuania on 16 February 1918, and the re-establishment of the Lithuanian State. Domestic affairs were controlled by the authoritarian President, Antanas Smetona and his party, the Lithuanian National Union, who came to power after the coup d'état of 1926. In June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed Lithuania in accordance with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. A year later Russia was attacked by Nazi Germany leading to the Nazi occupation of Lithuania. After the retreat of the German armed forces, the Soviets re-established the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1944.

Doomsday
In the events of Doomsday, these Lithuanian cities were hit:
 * Jonava
 * Kaunas, destroyed in a strike on the headquarters of the local air force.
 * Kėdainiai
 * Klaipėda, destroyed in a strike on the naval facilities and the port itself.
 * Šiauliai, destroyed in a strike on the air base.
 * Vilnius

Government
Lithuania is a parliamentary democracy headed by a constitutional monarch. Executive power is exercised by the Grand Duke and the cabinet, which consists of several other ministers. The President has the power to dissolve the legislature and reinstate a new one, as long as the Grand Duke has judicial approval.

Following the establishment of the Grand Duchy, and not finding any true claims to the throne in the area, a committee was established that would keep a lookout for a descendant of one of the Grand Dukes, with both the will and desire to take the throne. After an exhausting search and no results, the Council instead chose one of its members as Grand Duke. He chose the name Jogaila III in honor of one of the few Lithuanian Grand Dukes.

Manufacturing
Though Lithuania has only regular access to the regional market, the Lithuanians manage to earn a substantial income supplying their manufactured goods to neighboring nations. As their most important port of Klaipėda was destroyed on Doomsday, the Lithuanians have a deal with Courland to ship the goods for them. In exchange the Lithuanians pay a tariff to the Courlanders. In light of the extremely friendly relationship between the two counties, the tariff is typically a pittance (10% of cargo value or lower), and most of the time the Courlanders don't bother to enforce it anyway.

Agriculture
The Lithuanians have a thriving agricultural sector. The ravages of Doomsday were quick to vanish as most of the radioactive fallout was contained within localized pockets (due to the lack of any strong local winds). Even these areas faded with time. The industry is strong enough to make Lithuania self-sufficient by way of foodstuffs, especially with the local food processing sector. Most of the food is either traded to other nations or used to feed their own citizens, but a portion of it serves another purpose.

Military


The Lithuanian army has been undertaking a major modernization. They had previously used old Soviet hand-me-downs like their ally Courland. They have started to purchase new equipment from the Nordic Union. They have officially made the AG-3 assault rifle the official rifle of the army. Due to the fondness some soldiers have for the AKM, the government made it an option to keep their AKM.

International Relations
The Lithuanians have good relations with the Nordic Union through Estonia, Belarus, East Poland and Prussia. Their exceptional relations with Courland facilitated the signing of the Baltic Alliance. The Lithuanians are supportive of an anti-Siberian Alliance to help break the Siberian's control of the League of Nations and guarantee their rights as a sovereign nation. They are planning a conference of post-Soviet states as soon as representatives of all nations could get to a designated city for the meeting.