Soviet economic blockade of Lithuania
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The Soviet economic blockade of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos ekonominė blokada, ) was imposed by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
on
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
between 18 April and 2 July 1990. By late 1980s,
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
, leader of the Soviet Union, embarked on a course of liberalisation of the political system of the country, and as a result, movements appeared that advocated for autonomy or independence within the Soviet Union. The
Lithuanian Supreme Council Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
then adopted the
Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of March 11 ( lt, Aktas dėl Lietuvos nepriklausomos valstybės atstatymo) was an independence declaration by Lithuania adopted on March 11, 1990, signed by all members of the S ...
(Act) on 11 March 1990.
Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...
officials demanded that the Act be annulled, interpreting it as a secessionist affair, but Lithuania ignored them, arguing that they were coerced to join USSR back in 1940. Gorbachev then ordered to reinforce troops in Lithuania. The Lithuanians did not back down, however, so Gorbachev sent an ultimatum on 13 April, requiring Lithuanians to renounce the act under the threat of economic sanctions. As the Soviet officials were not satisfied with the answer from Lithuania, the
blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are le ...
started on 18 April at 21:25 (
EEST Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) is one of the names of the UTC+03:00 time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries, which makes it ...
). The economic blockade restricted or cancelled the centralised supply of energy resources, on which Lithuania was extremely dependent from USSR, as well as electricity, foodstuffs, and pharmaceuticals. To a much lesser extent, the embargo also impacted
Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and administr ...
. The Soviet Union sealed the republic's borders and blocked Lithuania's bank accounts. As the rebel republic felt crippling shortages of essential items,
Western countries The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
pressured Lithuania and the Soviet Union to reach a compromise, which initially could not be achieved. However, amid the intensification of internal sovereigntist movements within the other fourteen republics of the Soviet Union, particularly within the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
(RSFSR), the blockade was eased in mid-June, and the sanctions were lifted on 2 July. This happened after the Lithuanian parliament agreed to suspend the effects of the Act and to begin talks with the Soviet side. The long-awaited negotiations, however, did not yield any results. Despite its short duration, the blockade had profound effects on the country. Total losses from the blockade on the Lithuanian side exceeded 500 million
roubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...
, or 1.5% of the
gross national product The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...
(GNP). Thousands of workers lost their jobs or were idling at their factories as supplies were lacking. Effects on market transition were mixed. The embargo forced Lithuania to centralise its governance and strengthen regulation of resource usage. Enterprises created partnerships with fellow companies and Lithuania negotiated trade agreements with other republics, marking a transition to capitalist economics. It also made the country look for other ways to import oil and start industrial exploitation of its resources. The economic blockade also slowed the pace of separation of the other two
Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
,
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, from the Soviet Union. The role of the minorities (particularly
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
) in the blockade is unclear but some speculate that the Polish minority, which was dominated by pro-Soviet politicians, was treated preferentially during the blockade by the Soviet Union.


Background

Shortly after Germany and the Soviet Union signed of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, the
Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...
were occupied and illegally incorporated into the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
; the territories, including Lithuania, fell under control of the USSR after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Despite being part of the Soviet Union for more than 40 years, in the 1980s the Baltic states were still seen as somewhat different from the rest of the USSR. After
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
was elected leader of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...
(CPSU) in 1985, the Soviet government gradually introduced some liberalisation measures, including
perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
and
glasnost ''Glasnost'' (; russian: link=no, гласность, ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, ...
. These policies enabled massive demonstrations in most
Soviet republics The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were national-based administrative units of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( ...
. In the Baltic states, the gatherings, which initially protested the environmentally-unfriendly projects of the central government, turned more and more political. By late summer 1988,
Sąjūdis Sąjūdis (, "Movement"), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis), is the political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was es ...
, the movement which was initially in favour of perestroika, started to demand legalisation of the Lithuanian interwar flag, resignation of the republic's government and
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
for Lithuania. By early 1989, the movement already pushed for independence from USSR. These demands were eventually implemented. In November 1988, the
Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR ( lt, Lietuvos TSR Aukščiausioji Taryba; russian: Верховный Совет Литовской ССР, ''Verkhovnyy Sovet Litovskoy SSR'') was the supreme soviet (main legislative branch, legislative ...
established the tricolored flag as the flag of the republic. Later on, in May 1989, the republic issued a declaration of sovereignty. It asserted the primacy of Lithuanian law, though still in the framework of the Soviet Union. While the declaration expressly violated Article 74 of the 1977 Constitution, which said that Soviet law should prevail in case of conflicting legislation, no actions were undertaken by the officials in the
Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...
- to the contrary, in November 1989 the Soviet Union made some concessions by approving a plan of financial and economical autonomy for the Baltic republics. At the same time, revelations in Lithuania concerning the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact (whose existence the USSR had denied) further angered the opposition, which demanded their disclosure and condemnation. The Soviet Union formally acknowledged their existence in December 1989, following deliberations of a select committee in the Congress of People's Deputies, and declared them "legally untenable and invalid from the moment they were signed". Finally, Gorbachev had problems inside his party. In December 1989,
Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas (, 1932 – 2010) was the first President (fourth overall) of a newly re-independent post-Soviet Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He also served as head of the Communist Party of Li ...
, the leader of the
Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...
(CPL), announced that CPL was independent from CPSU, despite pleas not to do so by Gorbachev. Angry, the Central Committee of CPSU sent Gorbachev to Vilnius to quell the party revolt. However, the First Secretary failed to subordinate party rebels and his trip only made Lithuanians press harder for independence.


Restoration of independence

On 7 February 1990, following the Soviet parliament's findings on the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Lithuania announced that the declaration that had had Lithuania join the USSR did not represent the will of Lithuanians and was therefore void. A month later, on 11 March, Lithuania became the first republic to restore its independence from the USSR. The timing aimed to preempt the election of the
president of the Soviet Union The president of the Soviet Union (russian: Президент Советского Союза, Prezident Sovetskogo Soyuza), officially the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), abbreviated as president of the USSR (), was ...
, scheduled on 15 March. When Vilnius sent an invitation to the Kremlin to begin negotiations related to the restoration of independence the next day, the Soviet leadership was infuriated. It demanded that the
Lithuanian Supreme Council Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
repeal the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, but Lithuania rejected the request and its leader,
Vytautas Landsbergis Vytautas Landsbergis (born 18 October 1932) is a Lithuanian politician and former Member of the European Parliament. He was the first Speaker of Reconstituent Seimas of Lithuania after its independence declaration from the Soviet Union. He has ...
, appealed to the "democratic nations" to recognise the country's independence. Gorbachev later warned, in an attempt to dissuade Lithuania from secession, that if Lithuania were to do so, the Soviet Union would claim
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
and
Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuan ...
, which were not part of Lithuania prior to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. The theme would recur in Gorbachev's later speeches and in maps circulated among Byelorussian officials. Lithuanians argued that since Lithuania was independent due to the restoration act, negotiations could only happen based on
international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
, but the Soviets saw it as an attempt to secede, which they said was only subject to Union's regulations. As a result, the 3rd session of the Congress of People's Deputies ruled the act to be unconstitutional and declared any unilateral declarations of independence void until a law regulating secession was adopted. When it was passed on 3 April, the terms set in the document proved virtually impossible to implement. Landsbergis government promptly responded with a letter which asserted that the resolution of the Congress of People's Deputies was illegal and insisted on talks on equal footing between the USSR and Lithuania. In addition to that, a proposal by
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
to calm the situation by organising an independence
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
was firmly rejected by the Soviets. In late March, the Soviet government ordered to reinforce troops in Lithuania, introduced about 100 tanks and 1,500 soldiers to the streets of Vilnius and captured some strategic buildings, including the prosecutor's office, the
Vilnius airport Vilnius Airport ( lt, Vilniaus oro uostas) is the international airport of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It is located south of the city. It is the largest of the three commercial airports in Lithuania by passenger traffic. With one runway ...
, the Party Historical Institute, the headquarters of the Communist Party of Lithuania, and printing offices of the main newspapers and journals of the republic. Additionally, Gorbachev issued a decree ordering
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
officers to enhance surveillance of Lithuania's borders (which also involved closing the only border crossing with
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
on 3 April), mandated surrender of hunting rifles by the population and ordered all foreigners (including diplomats and journalists) to leave the region. Gorbachev still sought to reach a compromise with Lithuanians by secretly negotiating with Algirdas Brazauskas, who by then has become deputy
prime minister of Lithuania The prime minister of Lithuania ( lt, Ministras Pirmininkas; "Minister-Chairman") is the head of the government of Lithuania. The prime minister is Lithuania's head of government and is appointed by the president with the assent of the Lithuania ...
; however, the Soviet leader backtracked after Brazauskas demanded an exorbitant sum in reparations.


Blockade

On 13 April 1990,
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
, President of the Soviet Union, and
Nikolai Ryzhkov Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov ( uk, Микола Іванович Рижков; russian: Николай Иванович Рыжков; born 28 September 1929) is a Soviet, and later Russian, politician. He served as the last Chairman of the Counci ...
,
Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the USSR's
Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
, issued an
ultimatum An ultimatum (; ) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series o ...
to Lithuania, which demanded to revoke the Act and to restore the supremacy of the Soviet laws within two days, lest an
embargo Economic sanctions are commercial and financial penalties applied by one or more countries against a targeted self-governing state, group, or individual. Economic sanctions are not necessarily imposed because of economic circumstances—they m ...
on produce paid for by freely convertible currency is imposed. Hardliners within the CPSU were nudging towards a
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
, and initially Gorbachev was open to consider such a scenario, but later he dismissed such calls. Gorbachev also reportedly thought about a full-scale military invasion or assumption of direct control of Lithuania from Moscow, but ultimately also resigned from these ideas. Therefore, Gorbachev decided to try an economic blockade instead, hoping to instigate a popular revolt against the Lithuanian leadership and to force it to rescind the independence declaration. This solution, formalised in an order of the USSR Council of Ministers on 17 April, was chosen despite the fact that the previous month,
Yuri Maslyukov Yuri Dmitriyevich Maslyukov (Russian: Юрий Дмитриевич Маслюков; 30 September 1937 – 1 April 2010) was a Russian politician who was in charge of the Gosplan for three years preceding the demise of the Soviet Union and firs ...
, the director of
Gosplan The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan), was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of ...
, the Soviet central planning committee, was assuring that an embargo would not happen as he thought it would be detrimental to both sides of the conflict. Lithuania did not respond in the time allocated, but on 18 April, the Supreme Council of Lithuania tried to prevent the embargo from happening by making a declaration whereby it voluntarily refrained from adopting new laws pending what Lithuanian officials called "preliminary consultations" between Lithuania and the Soviet Union. The Soviets were unimpressed, and on 18 April, at 21:25 (
EEST Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) is one of the names of the UTC+03:00 time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used as a summer daylight saving time in some European and Middle Eastern countries, which makes it ...
), the Kremlin launched the blockade by stopping supplies to the Mažeikiai oil refinery. Initially, the supply of 40-60 types of raw materials and other products were cut off. Notably, the supply of oil was halted and gas deliveries decreased by 84%. The USSR also suspended the movement of goods and restricted sales of fuel. The blockade worsened a few days later, when the USSR stopped supplying coal, electricity, paper, foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals, including the most essential drugs and vaccines for hospitals. Additionally, the Soviet Union also limited access to the port in Klaipėda and blocked Lithuania's bank accounts. Lithuania, whose borders were closed due to the sanctions, was also declared to be off-bounds for foreigners. The military took control of some of the printing offices. Almost immediately, the embargo impacted the everyday lives of citizens. Prices in the shops jumped around threefold, that assuming there was anything to buy at all. This was exacerbated by delays in paying salaries and rationing of basic foodstuffs. ''
Kommersant ''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...
'' reported that a canister of
petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
, which would cost 8
roubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...
in normal times, spiked to 50 roubles in less than a week, though some Lithuanians say petrol prices stayed at the usual rate of 20-30 kopecks per litre. Whatever the case, gasoline was rationed to 20 litres per person, and queues to petrol stations reached several kilometres in length. Public transport was forced to reduce the frequency of service. As electricity and paper were lacking, broadcasting and newspaper printing were also limited. According to M. Gaškienė, who was responsible for coordination of food supply chains within Lithuania, the only factories which were not impacted by the effects of embargo were the ones that still were under direct control of the Soviet Union. That said, the embargo still damaged the Soviets, as hundreds of Soviet-owned enterprises had difficulties to operate in blockade conditions. In particular, some of the exports that were primarily produced in Lithuania (such as vacuum cleaner parts, pneumatic brakes, TV tubes and black boxes) could not be brought back to the Soviet Union. Also, as the Mažeikiai oil refinery, which has not received any loads of oil, had to stop its operations, not only could the Soviet Union not extract profits from oil products but also oil supply was cut for
Kaliningrad Oblast Kaliningrad Oblast (russian: Калинингра́дская о́бласть, translit=Kaliningradskaya oblast') is the westernmost federal subject of Russia. It is a semi-exclave situated on the Baltic Sea. The largest city and administr ...
, which effectively became an exclave of the USSR between Lithuania and Poland. Electricity supply that would normally flow through Lithuania was also severed.


Political negotiations

Despite efforts of the Soviet Union to isolate Lithuania's problem from the world and to undermine confidence in the cause for independence, they largely backfired. While support for Landsbergis dropped from 45% to 28% during the months of the blockade, people became even more united in opposition to the Soviet Union. Stasis Žemaitis, a worker from
Marijampolė Marijampolė (; also known by several other names) is a cultural and industrial city and the capital of the Marijampolė County in the south of Lithuania, bordering Poland and Russian Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lake Vištytis. The population of Mari ...
, committed
self-immolation The term self-immolation broadly refers to acts of altruistic suicide, otherwise the giving up of one's body in an act of sacrifice. However, it most often refers specifically to autocremation, the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself o ...
in protest of the embargo. Western countries' reaction, however, was rather cool. On 20 April,
François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
,
President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
, and
Helmut Kohl Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
,
Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...
, urged Lithuania to temporarily suspend the independence restoration process and asked to negotiate with
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. Meanwhile, the then Prime Minister Kazimira Prunskienė visited
Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
,
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
,
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, and
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, seeking economic and political support. On 3 May, she met
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
and then, from 9–11 May, she talked to
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
,
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
, Mitterrand and Kohl. The American and British leaders expressed only limited support for Lithuanians and urged to look for a compromise with the Soviets. Lithuanian officials were accepted warmly, but only as private guests. Such reticence to openly support Lithuania in its independence movements was explained by several factors. Western leaders generally feared destabilisation of the situation in the Soviet Union and wanted Gorbachev in office, as the West perceived him as a friendly ruler and a guarantor for democratic transition in Eastern Europe. The West also felt that Gorbachev was the key person in negotiations of arms control treaties and trade agreements, on which Gorbachev has put strong emphasis. In addition to that, particular interests of European rulers of the Western world also distracted from the Lithuanian problem. Chancellor Kohl wanted to successfully reunify Germany, which needed good relations with the Soviet Union, while President Mitterrand aimed to maintain friendly relations with Germany to facilitate negotiations over reforming the
European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...
, which would eventually become the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. Thatcher did not seem particularly interested in this event. Ultimately these countries distanced themselves from the Lithuanian crisis. As for the United States, the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
urged Bush to recognise Lithuania's independence and a group of nine senators accused him of applying double standards when treating the Lithuanian issue, but President Bush suggested there was no constructive role the United States could have in the process and refused to mediate the conflict. All of that happened despite the longstanding policy of non-recognition of occupation of Baltic states and amid several violations of international and Soviet law. Internally, however, the Bush administration decided to postpone trade normalisation with the Soviet Union until Gorbachev lifted the blockade of Lithuania. More friendly attitudes were exhibited in Poland, with government delegations being accepted according to the official protocol for foreign dignitaries. Poland offered mediation in the conflict that started since 11 March and even signed an economic agreement with Lithuania on 30 May, but that country still fell short of recognising Lithuania's restoration of independence, fearing retribution from USSR. The Landsbergis government initially insisted that the independence restoration act could not be subject to negotiations, while the Soviet side demanded that it be annulled before any discussion could occur. However, on
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
and French advice, when Prunskienė met with Gorbachev on May 17, she announced that the independence restoration process could be suspended, which
TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...
, the Soviet state news agency, suggested was the minimum requirement for the negotiations to start. Six days later, the Lithuanian parliament adopted a resolution which suspended all laws adopted after 11 March which were related to the subject of negotiations, but the Soviets were not content with the concessions and the blockade continued.


Lifting the embargo

By June, the situation started to tilt towards setting some compromise. Lithuania was exhausted by the blockade, which forced factories to close. The general populace had to deal with food and energy shortages. Moreover, regular visits of the Lithuania's Prime Minister gradually led the Lithuanian leadership to believe that temporary suspension of the restoration act was inevitable to reduce tensions. Problems were also appearing in the Soviet Union. On 30 May, the
Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
city council urged the central government to begin negotiations with the republic under blockade, and
Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...
voted to recognise the independence of Lithuania the following day. However, it was
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
who made the largest impact. Two days after his election as chairman of the
Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR The Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR (russian: Верховный Совет РСФСР, ''Verkhovny Sovet RSFSR''), later Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation (russian: Верховный Совет Российской Федерации, ...
, the main constituent republic of the Soviet Union and the one that included Kaliningrad Oblast, Yeltsin met with representatives of the Baltic republics, including Landsbergis, pledging support for their independence cause. Then, on 12 June, the RSFSR declared itself a sovereign state within USSR, and, in its declared capacity as a sovereign republic, announced it would not enforce the blockade. Meanwhile, the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
tied the trade normalisation to the resolution of the blockade in Lithuania, which created further pressure to resolve the issue. On 16 June, the Soviets increased the flow of gas from 15% to 30% of the level before the blockade and let some deliveries of raw materials in, which enabled partial reopening of some industrial plants, including
Jonava Jonava ( ; pl, Janów; german: Janau) is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of . It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, north east of Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas Interna ...
's
fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...
facility. They also pledged to grant statehood to Lithuania 2–3 years after they froze the declaration of independence. From the Lithuanian side, Landsbergis, who had insisted that the Act of Restoration of Independence was non-negotiable, now recommended a motion to the Seimas to suspend the effects of the Act. After two weeks of discussions, on 29 June, the Supreme Council of Lithuania declared a 100-day moratorium on the "legal actions arising from" ( lt, iš jo kylančius teisinius veiksmus) the 11 March declaration of restoration of Lithuania, which was to take effect once the negotiations with the Soviet Union started. The declaration did not constitute the moratorium on independence itself, but this time, the Kremlin decided to enter into negotiations with Lithuania. Oil deliveries were resumed by the evening of 30 June, while on 2 July, the blockade was fully lifted, which Nikolai Ryzhkov, Chairman of USSR's Council of Ministers, confirmed the following day. Finally, on 6 July, Soviet diplomatic agencies could grant visas to foreigners travelling to Lithuania again, and on 7 July, the rail connections between USSR and Lithuania were fully restored.


Impacts


Economic

The introduction of the blockade stunned Lithuanians, who were not expecting such a strong reaction from the Soviet Union. According to Martha Olcott, who was writing for the ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...
'' on the topic, of all the scenarios that Gorbachev was considering, it was the economic blockade that
Sąjūdis Sąjūdis (, "Movement"), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis), is the political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was es ...
was afraid of the most. Lithuania's economy was tightly integrated in the USSR's and, while relatively developed, was still subordinated to the needs of the Soviet Union and was using little local input as a result. The other 14 republics were the destination of most exports (94.3% in 1990) and the origin of most imports (87.7% in 1990). Lithuania was even more dependent on energy resources, with total dependence on gas from the Soviet Union and only minuscule internal production of oil. According to Lithuanian estimates, by the end of the blockade, 415.5 million
roubles The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...
worth of production were lost, and the Lithuanian budget suffered a shortfall of 125 million roubles. (For comparison, the annual budgetary expenditures of the Lithuanian SSR in 1989 reached 4,626 million roubles). Hufbauer et al., who wrote a book evaluating the success of economic blockades, estimated the direct consequences of the blockade to cost Lithuania 1.5% of
GNP The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country, consisting of gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes earned by foreign ...
. The exact number of laid-off workers is unknown but estimates vary from 26,000 to 50,000 people; Stanley Vardys, a researcher of 20th-century Lithuania, says that 35,000 lost their jobs, while idle workers were paid salaries from the Lithuanian government, which widened its budget deficit. As the blockade meant a scarcity of important resources, Lithuania, which was transitioning to a market-oriented economy, was forced to centralise its management and to strongly regulate its economy in order to avoid exhausting supplies and to shield the consumers from price increases. This postponed some market-oriented reforms, particularly in comparison to Latvia and Estonia. On the long term, however, it helped the country prioritise trade deals with other countries and made the enterprises seek cooperation from other entities than the government, thereby realigning the economy towards the Western model. For example,
Juozas Olekas Juozas Olekas (born 30 October 1955) is a Lithuanian surgeon and politician, a former Minister of National Defence, from 2006 to 2008. In 1990 and from 2003 to 2004 he also served as the Health Minister. In 2019 he was elected to the European ...
, then-
Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...
of Lithuania, noted that the country lacked medical supplies, but managed to establish a good relationship with
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
, thanks to which the shortage of vaccines for hospitals was largely alleviated. The government of Lithuania and local industries started to actively search for direct relations with the enterprises (which were not subject to embargo), often engaging in
barter trade In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists distingu ...
with oil-rich republics (e.g. oil for butter or meat), such as the RSFSR and the
Kazakh SSR ; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы) *1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы) , linking_name = the ...
. The blockade's effects were also somewhat mitigated by smugglers operating on Lithuania's borders, as well as by the regiments of the Soviet Army stationing in the country, which were clandestinely selling the reserves of oil products they had in the garrisons.In response to the blockade, the government created a so-called , which operated on voluntary donations of Lithuanians. By the time the blockade ended, 7.6 million roubles were collected by the government, which it promptly invested in jewellery and gold to avoid depreciation of the roubles they received. In
Suwałki voivodeship Suwałki Voivodeship () was an administrative division and local government in Poland from 1975 to 1998. In 1999 the Voidvodeship was divided in half and reassigned to two other Voivodeships – the eastern half to Podlaskie Voivodeship and the we ...
, the Lithuanians, who are a sizeable minority in the border area, have also contributed to the effort. The embargo had profound effects on the energy sector of Lithuania. In Soviet times, geologists drilled the ground for the search of oil in Latvia and Lithuania, but the economic blockade forced Lithuania to extract it for the first time on an industrial scale - in 1990, Lithuanians have pumped out 12,000 tons of the fossil fuel. Moreover, the Baltic country could not import oil by the sea not only because of the naval blockade, but also because Klaipėda's oil terminal was far too small for the needs of Lithuania. That prompted the government to build a new oil terminal in
Būtingė Būtingė (German: ''Butendiekshof'' or ''Budendiekshof'') is a small village at the coast of the Baltic Sea in the north of Lithuania, at the border to Latvia. It belongs to Palanga City Municipality, and is situated north of the town Palanga. ...
, which was commissioned in 1998, along with continuation of the oil pipe to the new sea port.


Latvia and Estonia

The Soviet crackdown on Lithuania accelerated integration of three Baltic states and created a form of solidarity between the pro-independence parties in the three republics. A series of high-profile meetings occurred between the leaders of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Already in May, the three states signed an agreement which renewed the so-called
Baltic Entente The Baltic Entente was based on Treaty of Good-Understanding and Co-operation signed between Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia on September 12, 1934 in Geneva. The main objective of the agreement was joint action in foreign policy. It also included c ...
, an interwar treaty which sought political coordination, and established a Council of Baltic States, essentially having the same purpose. On the other hand, the economic sanctions had a chilling effect on the independence cause of the two other Baltic states, which, because of the tough reaction of the Kremlin and their larger share of ethnic minorities, particularly Russians, decided to water down their declarations of independence and generally sought less confrontational attitudes towards Moscow.


Rising tensions with the minorities

At the same time as the relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated, the conflict was brewing between the Lithuanian majority and the Polish minority in the south-eastern part of Lithuania and the Russians in Sniečkus, where the
Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant ( lt, Ignalinos atominė elektrinė, IAE) is a decommissioned two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power station in Visaginas Municipality, Lithuania. It was named after the nearby city of Ignalina. Due to the plant's sim ...
was located. Several times in 1990 and 1991, the local governments of these areas have sought autonomy and/or tried to assert that Lithuania's laws did not extend to their respective territories. The tensions were particularly strong with the Polish minority, which felt discriminated by Lithuanians, not least due to few educational and economical opportunities in the area and the official language policy of Lithuania, which mandated the use of Lithuanian in state buildings without exceptions for minorities. While the first attempts to introduce Polish self-government (or autonomy) started in late 1988 and early 1989, the movement gained significant momentum after the Act of 11 March, and its escalation happened during the blockade. On 15 May, the Šalcininkai district council voted to disregard the independence declaration and to recognise the Soviet Constitution and Soviet laws only;
Vilnius district Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
council was less radical, but on 24 May it still voted to create a Polish national district and to condemn Lithuania for what the council saw as a violation of human rights and ignoring national minorities' interests. Czesław Wysocki, head of the
Šalčininkai Šalčininkai (, , yi, סאָלעטשניק ''Solechnik'', be, Салечнікі) is a town in Vilnius County, Lithuania, situated south-east of Vilnius, near the border with Belarus. Šalčininkai attained the town status in 1956 and is now ...
district council, would explain that the CPSU, unlike Lithuania, endorsed creation of such entities; he went on to claim that the only way to alleviate tensions was to cancel the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. Both decisions were eventually cancelled by the Supreme Council of Lithuania as unconstitutional. However, on 1 June, delegates from majority-Polish regions appealed to the Lithuanian government, not the Soviet Union, to create a self-governing entity, which they argued was the only way to ensure that the rights of Poles are respected. Further preparations eventually led to the announcement of the Polish National-Territorial Region in October 1990, which the politicians wanted to be part of Lithuania. Opinions differ on the role of Poles in the process of Lithuanian struggle for independence and in the blockade. Lithuanian, Russian and Western scholars state that Poles were tacitly or directly supported by Moscow and were dominated by pro-Moscow politicians, such as
Jan Ciechanowicz Jan Ciechanowicz ( Lithuanian: ''Ivanas Tichonovičius'', ''Janas Ciechanowiczius'', ''Janas Ciechanovičius''; Russian: Иван Станиславович Тихонович; 2 July 1946 – 10 January 2022) was a Polish Lithuanian politician ...
and Wysocki (or, as Sąjūdis claimed, that Poles have been manipulated by Moscow communists), which eventually led to the increase of anti-Polish rhetoric by Sąjūdis. Winston A. Van Horne and
Alfred Erich Senn Alfred Erich Senn (April 12, 1932 – March 8, 2016) was a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Senn was born in Madison, Wisconsin, to Swiss philologist and lexicographer, . His father taught at the University of Li ...
suggest that Moscow helped the Polish regions weather the blockade (though M. Gaškienė, a senior government official, wrote to Algimantas Gureckas that the blockade was applied uniformly across Lithuania), while
Anatol Lieven Anatol Lieven is a British author, journalist, and policy analyst best known for his expertise on the Taliban of Afghanistan. He is currently a visiting professor at King's College London and senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Respons ...
underlines that the
Association of Poles in Lithuania Union of Poles in Lithuania ( pl, Związek Polaków na Litwie, ZPL; lt, Lietuvos lenkų sąjunga) is an organization formed in 1989 to bring together members of Polish minority in Lithuania. It numbers between 6,000 to 11,000 members. It defends ...
actually supported independence, but faced stiff competition from Polish anti-independence candidates. On the other hand, Polish scholars and members of the Polish community say the Polish-Communist ties are either an exaggeration or Lithuanian propaganda.


Aftermath

As Lithuania and the Soviet Union found a compromise upon which negotiations could start, commissions on both sides were set up to agree on the terms of further co-existence of Lithuania. Landsbergis, who was considered less reconciliatory than Prunskienė, was head of the Lithuanian delegation and Ryzhkov led the Soviet one. Even though the commissions were set in July, the negotiations were not agreed upon until October. When the groups were supposed to meet on 30 November 1990, the Soviet delegation refused to attend, citing preparations to the 4th session of the Congress of People's Deputies, and no new date for the meeting was set. The Lithuanians then cancelled the moratorium, restoring the effects of the Act of 11 March, which served as a catalyst to the
January Events , partof = Revolutions of 1989, Singing Revolution, and Dissolution of the Soviet Union , image = , caption = A man with a Lithuanian flag in front of a Soviet tank, 13 January 1991 , date = ...
of 1991. Soviet aggression against Lithuania's border posts continued further until the
1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt The 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, also known as the August Coup,, "August Putsch". was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Soviet Union's Communist Party to forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was Soviet ...
, when Lithuanian independence was recognised by the Russian SFSR, most of countries in the world as well as the Soviet Union itself.


Notes


References


External links


Interviews with politicians and passers-by in the days preceding the blockade, April 1990
(on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, in Russian)
Photos of petrol queues, via RIA Novosti photo repositoryInterview with Albertas Sinevičius, minister of trade of Lithuania during the blockade (in Lithuanian)
* {{Lithuania topics 1990 in Lithuania 1990 in the Soviet Union Conflicts in 1990 Singing Revolution Blockades