A Territorial Unit () was a type of
Lithuanian partisan
Lithuanian partisans () were partisans who waged guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule in Est ...
military unit
Military organization ( AE) or military organisation ( BE) is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer such military capability as a national defense policy may require. Formal military organization tends to use hiera ...
that existed from the end of 1944 to 1954, who fought against the
second Soviet occupation of Lithuania. Instead of destroyed or disintegrated units, new ones were founded, often with different names.
Due to the difficulties of
guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...
, as well as for
tactical
Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to:
* Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks
** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield
** Chess tactics
** Political tact ...
reasons, the territorial units' boundaries changed, so, depending on the case, they operated in one county, a part of thereof, or several neighboring counties. Sometimes territorial units were transferred from one military district to another. Territorial units, thought not all, published their own press.
Beginning
The first territorial units were formed in Southern and Eastern Lithuania at the end of 1944. At the beginning of the partisan war in Lithuania, some territorial units formed and operated independently (e.g.
Perkūnas
Perkūnas (, , Old Prussian: ''Perkūns'', ''Perkunos'', Sudovian language, Yotvingian: ''Parkuns'', Latgalian language, Latgalian: ''Pārkiuņs'') was the common Baltic languages, Baltic List of thunder gods, god of thunder, and the second m ...
,
Deer
A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
,
Vytautas
Vytautas the Great (; 27 October 1430) was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the prince of Grodno (1370–1382), prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites.
In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revere ...
in the
Tauras military district
Tauras military district (also Tauras partisans military district) is a military district of Lithuanian partisans which operated in 1945–1951 in the Suvalkija ethnographic region – counties of Marijampolė, Šakiai, Vilkaviškis and in the l ...
).
Composition
A territorial unit was made up of several
squad
In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...
s,
companies
A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...
,
battalion
A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...
s,
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
s. Most frequently, it included several companies. In turn, several territorial units made up a
military district
Military districts (also called military regions) are formations of a state's armed forces (often of the Army) which are responsible for a certain area of territory. They are often more responsible for administrative than operational matters ...
(). After the founding of the
Lithuanian Freedom Fighters Union in 1949, a territorial unit was composed of several homelands ().
Territorial units differed in the number of fighters (from roughly 50 to about 200 people). Sometimes, they were 700-strong. They were active anywhere from several to 8 years.
Command
The military district's commander appointed the territorial unit's commander. The people chosen were either staff officers or distinguished commanders of companies or other formations. Generally, these were Lithuanian army officers and school teachers.
List of territorial units
The following territorial units were active at various times:
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
Bibliography
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''Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia''
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* {{Cite web , last=Gaškaitė-Žemaitienė , first=Nijolė , date=2018c , title=Butigeidžio rinktinė , url=https://www.vle.lt/straipsnis/butigeidzio-rinktine/ , website=
vle.lt , language=lt
Lithuanian partisans