Lithuania (German Heritage)

Lithuania, officially the Kingdom of Lithuania (: Lietuvos Karalystė), is a located in the  of. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the, to the east of and. It is bordered by to the north,  to the east,  to the south, and  to the southwest.

For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by and the  was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the annexing most of Lithuania's territory.

As neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of an independent Lithuania. Lithuania soon came under the influence of the, and became a monarchy under. Lithuania was invaded by the during, and suffered a harsh occupation before being liberated by the German Army in 1943-44. Since then, Lithuania has industrialised, becoming one of the more versatile of the Eastern economies.

Lithuania is currently a member of the, the , the and the Baltic Union.

History
The Germans were preparing for the upcoming negotiations for the and sought a declaration from the Lithuanians that they wanted a "firm and permanent alliance" with Germany. Such a declaration was adopted by the on December 11, 1917. However, these concessions divided the Council and still did not earn recognition from Germany. Therefore, the Council adopted the on February 16, 1918. The Act omitted any mention of alliance with Germany and declared the "termination of all state ties which formerly bound this State to other nations." On March 3, 1918, Germany and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which declared that the Baltic nations were in the German interest zone and that Russia renounced any claims to them. On March 23, Germany formally recognized independent Lithuania on the basis of the December 11 declaration. However, the country was still occupied by German troops, the Council still did not have any actual power and it was treated just as an advisory board by the Germans. Initially, the throne was offered to, but was vetoed by the Catholic Kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony, who opposed further expansion of the Protestant Prussia. Hoping to forestall complete German domination, the Lithuanians voted to elect as King. Duke William seemed to be a perfect candidate as he was a Catholic, was not in line of succession to the Kingdom of Württemberg due to his grandfather's morganatic marriage, was not closely related to the House of Hohenzollern, and had no ties to Poland.

After Duke Wilhelm was coronated on the 30th of July, 1918, he appointed and his Lithuanian Nationalist Union to fill the government. The Election of 1919 wielded no clear majority for any party, which led to the First Seimas being dissolved after a few months of existence. Mindaugas II died in 1928, passing the crown to his oldest son Wilhelm, who took the of. Mindaugus III began the pain-staking process of turning Lithuania into a more industrialised state. Though he studied law in university, Mindaugus was profoundly interested in engineering and technology, and so supported worker’s rights in order to boost industrialisation. During his thirty-year long reign, Mindaugas became a notworthy supporter of Lithuanian engineering, which became a defining point of his legacy.