This is a survey of the

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

and postal history of Lithuania.

Early postal history

The postal history of Lithuania started around the 10th or 12th century or even earlier, with a pre-Christian messaging system known as '' krivūlė''. The first mail service was introduced in 1562, connecting

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 ...

with

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

German occupation, 1916-1919

Lithuania was under the rule of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

until the 20th century. After the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Germany occupied Lithuania and Courland in 1915. The civil administration of the Oberbefehlhaber Ost was created in the German-occupied territory of the Russian Empire. Stamps of Germany overprinted "Postgebiet Ob. Ost" were issued in 1916. File:Postgebiet Ob. Ost Mi. 2.jpg, Stamp issued for use in

Ober Ost , short for ( "Supreme Commander of All German Forces in the East"), was both a high-ranking position in the armed forces of the German Empire as well as the name given to the occupied territories on the German section of the Eastern Front of Wo ...

during WWI, overprinted on German stamp, 1916 File:DR 1916 OberOst MiNr020a B002.jpg, Stamp issued for use in

during WWI, overprinted on German stamp, 1916

First stamps of the Republic

The

Act of Independence of Lithuania The Act of Independence of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės Aktas) or the Act of February 16, also the Lithuanian Resolution on Independence ( lt, Lietuvos Nepriklausomybės Nutarimas), The signed document is actually titled simply '' ...

was adopted on 16 February 1918, proclaiming Lithuania as an independent republic. The first Lithuanian postage stamps ("Baltukai" issue) were issued in Vilnius in 1918. A total of 768 stamps of different designs were issued by the Republic of Lithuania between 1918 and 1940, with more than 2,000 variations due to errors, misprints or perforations. The first

airmail stamp An airmail stamp is a postage stamp intended to pay either an airmail fee that is charged in addition to the surface rate, or the full airmail rate, for an item of mail to be transported by air. Airmail stamps should not be confused with airma ...

s were issued in 1921.

Soviet occupation, 1940-1941

After the 1940 occupation by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, Lithuanian postage stamps were overprinted "LTSR" (Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika, Lithuanian for ''Lithuanian Socialist Soviet Republic''). These were then replaced by Soviet stamps. File:Lithuania 1940 MiNr449 LTSR 001.jpg, Lithuanian stamp overprinted "LTSR", 1940 File:Lithuania 1940 MiNr452 LTSR 001.jpg, Lithuanian stamp overprinted "LTSR", 1940 File:Lithuania 1940 MiNr456 LTSR 001.jpg, Lithuanian stamp overprinted "LTSR", 1940

German occupation, 1941-1945

On June 22, 1941,

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

invaded the Soviet Union. Following the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, Soviet stamps were overprinted "Nepriklausoma Lietuva 1941-VI-23" (Independent Lithuania 1941-VI-23) in 1941. Lithuania became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland, the German occupation administration. Stamps were issued for use in the Reichskommissariat Ostland by overprinting "Ostland" on stamps of Germany. File:Lithuania WWII 1941 007.jpg, Soviet stamp overprinted "NEPRIKLAUSOMA LIETUVA 1941-VI-23" File:Lithuania WWII 1941 Vilnius 016.jpg, Soviet stamp overprinted "VILNIUS", local issue for the Vilnius region, 1941 File:Lithuania WWII 1941 Rossingen 005I.jpg, Soviet stamp overprinted "Raseiniai 1941.VI.23", local issue for

Raseiniai Raseiniai (; Samogitian: ''Raseinē'') is a city in Lithuania. It is located on the south eastern foothills of the Samogitians highland, some north from the Kaunas–Klaipėda highway. History Grand Duchy of Lithuania Raseiniai is one of th ...

, 1941 File:Остланд 3 пф.jpg, Stamp for the Reichskommissariat Ostland, 1941 1990-lithuania-Mi462

Soviet era

After the war, the

reestablished

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

over Lithuania and Soviet stamps came into use again.

Restoration of independence

After Lithuania declared the restoration of independence on 11 March 1990, Lithuania again issued own stamps. Lithuania's independence was recognized by the Soviet Union on September 6, 1991.

Local issues

There were also several local issues, including the Raseiniai local issue (1919), Telšiai Postmaster's provisional issue (1920), Grodno issue (1919), and others.

Central Lithuania

In the course of the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (Polish–Bolshevik War, Polish–Soviet War, Polish–Russian War 1919–1921) * russian: Советско-польская война (''Sovetsko-polskaya voyna'', Soviet-Polish War), Польский фронт (' ...

, pro-Polish separatists proclaimed the creation of the Republic of Central Lithuania (Litwa Środkowa) centered around

in October 1920. Central Lithuania issued stamps from 1920 until annexation by Poland in 1922. File:Central Lithuania 1920 MiNr 001A B002.png, Stamp of Central Lithuania, 1920 File:Central Lithuania 1921 MiNr 036B B002.png, Stamp of Central Lithuania, 1921

Memel

In 1920, according to the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

, the German area north of the Memel river was given the status of '' Territoire de Memel'' under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors, and French troops were sent for protection. On 9 January 1923, Lithuania occupied the territory during the

Klaipėda Revolt The Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory or ). The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from East Prussia, German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a ...

and the territory was annexed by Lithuania. File:Stamp Memel 1920 10pf.jpg, German stamp overprinted "Memelgebiet" by the French administration, 1920 File:FR 1920 Memel MiNr020 B002a.jpg, French stamp overprinted "MEMEL" and surcharged, 1920 File:Stamp Memel 1923 1000m Vytis.jpg, Stamp issued by Lithuania for Memel (Klaipėda), 1923

References

Sources

* Postage Stamp of Lithuania (1979, New York) * Lietuvos pasto zenklai: Pasto zenklu katalogas

External links

History of Lithuanian Post Office

Lithuanian postage stamps 1918-1940

Lithuanian postage stamps from 1990 on Lithuania Post official page

Postal history of Lithuania

Local stamp issues of Lithuania
{{PostalhistoryEurope Postal system of Lithuania Philately of Lithuania