Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact (Lithuanian: ''Lietuvos–SSRS nepuolimo sutartis'') was a

non-aggression pact A non-aggression pact or neutrality pact is a treaty between two or more states/countries that includes a promise by the signatories not to engage in military action against each other. Such treaties may be described by other names, such as a tr ...

, signed between 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, ...

and Lithuania on September 28, 1926. The pact confirmed all basic provisions of the

Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty, also known as the Moscow Peace Treaty, was signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia on July 12, 1920. In exchange for Lithuania's neutrality and permission to move its troops in the territory that was rec ...

of 1920. The Soviet Union continued to recognize

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 u ...

and

Vilnius Region Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time. The territory ...

to Lithuania, despite the fact that the territories were under Polish control since the

Żeligowski's Mutiny Żeligowski's Mutiny ( pl, bunt Żeligowskiego, also ''żeligiada'', lt, Želigovskio maištas) was a Polish false flag operation led by General Lucjan Żeligowski in October 1920, which resulted in the creation of the Republic of Central Lithuani ...

in 1920. It also recognized Lithuania's interests in the

Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...

. In exchange Lithuania agreed not to join any alliances directed against the Soviet Union, which meant

international isolation International isolation is a penalty applied by the international community or a sizeable or powerful group of countries, like the United Nations, towards one nation, government or group of people. The same term may also refer to the state a coun ...

at the time when Soviet Union was not a member of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide Intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by ...

. Ratifications were exchanged in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Tra ...

on November 9, 1926, and the pact became effective on the same day. The pact was registered in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'' on March 4, 1927. The pact was initiated by Lithuanians who sought a new direction in the foreign policy after the

Locarno Treaties The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland, during 5 to 16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 1 December, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of Central ...

. The negotiations started on December 25, 1925 when

People's Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English language, English transliteration of the Russian language, Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the pol ...

of Foreign Affairs

Georgy Chicherin Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin (24 November 1872 – 7 July 1936), also spelled Tchitcherin, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and a Soviet politician who served as the first People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs in the Soviet government from ...

stopped in

on his way to Moscow. The negotiations were difficult as Latvia and Estonia disapproved the pact because it prevented creation of the

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 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

claimed that the agreement violated the

Peace of Riga The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga ( pl, Traktat Ryski), was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, among Poland, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish–Soviet War. ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

was wary over strengthening Lithuanian claims to the Klaipėda Region. The pact was controversial in Lithuania and its ratification by the

Third Seimas The Third Seimas of Lithuania was the third parliament (Seimas) democratically elected in Lithuania after it declared independence on February 16, 1918. The elections took place on May 8–10, 1926. For the first time the Lithuanian Christian ...

on 5 November 1926 caused student protests against "Bolshevization" of Lithuania. As one of the protests was dispersed by force, it is cited as one of the reasons for the military coup in December 1926. However, the diplomats believed that keeping the dispute over Vilnius Region relevant in the European politics was worth the cost. The original pact was set to expire in five years, but on 6 May 1931, it was extended for another five years. On April 4, 1934, it was further extended to December 31, 1944. A separate convention was signed to define "aggression" on 5 July 1933. The pact was broken on 15 June 1940 with the

Soviet occupation of Lithuania The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were invaded and occupied in June 1940 by the Soviet Union, under the leadership of Stalin and auspices of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that had been signed between Nazi Germany and the Sovie ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soviet-Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact 1926 in Lithuania 1926 in the Soviet Union Treaties of the Soviet Union Treaties of Lithuania Treaties concluded in 1926 Non-aggression pacts September 1926 events