LITHUANIA, UKRAINE AND BELARUS BENEFITED MOST FROM THE MOLOTOV–RIBBENTROP PACT (23 August 1939)
LITHUANIA, UKRAINE AND BELARUS BENEFITED MOST FROM THE MOLOTOV–RIBBENTROP PACT (23 August 1939).
In ancient times, the Belarusian lands were called Lithuania (Brest-Litovsk is one example), the Ukrainian lands were called Rus’, and the territory of modern Lithuania was called Samogitia. The united Grand Duchy was therefore known as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Belarus), Samogitia (Lithuania) and Rus’ (Ukraine). Its capital was the city of Vilnia (Vilno), formerly Kryvich-grad of the Principality of Polotsk, while its coat of arms was the Pahonia, the emblem of the princes of Polotsk. Belarusians acquired their modern name in the nineteenth century, when they were part of the Russian Empire. Following the collapse of Russia in 1918, the Samogitians appropriated the illustrious historical name ‘Lithuania’, the capital Vilnia (Vilnius) and the Polotsk coat of arms, the Pahonia.
In October 1920, the Poles seized the Vilna Region together with Vilnius. Lithuania’s attempts to regain the capital by appealing to the League of Nations were unsuccessful. The League of Nations recognised the incorporation of the Vilna Region into Poland, as Belarusians, Poles and Jews made up 95% of the region’s population. Lithuania was thus left within its ethnic (Samogitian) borders, and Kaunas became its capital.
On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. As Hitler had expected, Britain and France did not come to the aid of the Poles. On 16 September, the Polish government left the country. On 17 September, the Red Army crossed the Polish border and by 22 September had occupied the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands that formed part of Poland. This marked a historic moment for Ukraine and Belarus: their lands were united within their respective republics.
Thanks to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Soviet Ukraine even acquired Ukrainian lands that had never formed part of the Russian Empire: the Lviv Region. In 1940, Stalin added Northern Bukovina, including Chernivtsi, and the Izmail Region from Romania to Ukraine; in 1945, he added Carpathian Rus’, including Uzhhorod, from Hungary.
Expansion of Ukraine’s Territory in 1939, 1940 and 1945
The lands of Western Belarus, including Trakai Castle and the ancient Belarusian capital, the city of Vilnia, became part of Soviet Belarus. A Belarusian administration arrived in the city. From 24 September to 18 October, the Belarusian-language newspaper ‘Vilenskaya Prauda’ was published there.
Unification of the Belarusian Lands in September 1939
On 28 September 1939, the USSR and Germany signed a new secret protocol under which Lithuania passed into the Soviet sphere of influence, while the Lithuanian territory from Vilkaviškis to Lazdijai passed to Germany. Stalin then decided to fulfil the Lithuanian people’s dream by transferring the Vilna Region, including Trakai Castle and the city of Vilnia (now Vilnius), from the Byelorussian SSR to Lithuania. On 10 October 1939, Lithuania and the USSR signed a mutual assistance treaty in Moscow. Under the treaty, Red Army units were stationed in Lithuania, while the Vilna Region was transferred to Lithuania. The transfer took place on 24 October 1939. On 27 October 1939, Lithuanian Army units entered Vilnia, and two days later the flag of the Republic of Lithuania was ceremonially raised on Gediminas’ Tower. Lithuania rejoiced, but the residents of Vilnia — this ‘Lithuanian Jerusalem’, whose population was 55% Jewish and 40% Polish and Belarusian — showed little enthusiasm. The Lithuanian soldiers who entered the city also sensed this. One of them, Antanas Kvaščiauskas, later recalled: ‘The ubiquitous Polish language dampened our spirits.’
The Lithuanian Army Enters Vilnia
However, in August 1940 Lithuania became part of the USSR, and Stalin transferred to it territories from the Byelorussian SSR around Druskeniki (now Druskininkai), Sventsiany (now Švenčionys) and Salechniki (now Šalčininkai). On 10 January 1941, the USSR paid Nazi Germany compensation of 7.5 million US dollars so that Lithuania could retain the territory from Vilkaviškis to Lazdijai, which Germany had claimed under the secret protocol of 28 September 1939.
Expansion of Lithuania’s Territory in 1923, 1939, 1940 and 1945
Lithuania therefore had good reason to rejoice in 1939. During the war, Hitler exterminated all the Jews of Vilnius, while Stalin expelled the Poles from the city. In February 1945, Stalin returned the Memel (Klaipėda) Region from Germany to Lithuania, expelling all the Germans from it. Vilnia and Memel thus became the wholly Lithuanian cities of Vilnius and Klaipėda.
In short: ‘Long live Lithuania!’
Territory of Belarus in 1945
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