The number of schools swelled. literature flourished. and there was an awakening appreciation of art and music. The year 1940 brought the Second World War and Russian occupation of Lithuania. The Soviets requested that a friendly government be installed and. when such a request was not willingly granted. a rigged election produced a parliament of Sovietallied statesmen. They asked for entry of Lithuania into the U.S.S.R. as a Soviet state. and the nation was annexed 1 month later. A process of Russification commenced which included deportations throughout the 1940s. As a result. much of the countrys population is either Russian or Polish. Despite this decentralization. the Lithuanians have kept alive their fight for freedom.
Keywords matched
deportations