Lithuania proclaims independence. Lithuania is the first Soviet republic to proclaim its independence. In the Middle Ages, the state was one of the largest in Europe, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In 1795, it was annexed by Russia. After a brief period of independence between the two world wars, Lithuania was reabsorbed into the USSR in 1944. The process of liberalization of Soviet society, promoted by Gorbachev in the 1980s, pushed Lithuania to reaffirm its identity, and in 1990, the country officially proclaimed its independence. Moscow sent troops to occupy the capital, Vilnius, but on September 6, 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, it agreed to grant independence.
