WE WERE MARTYRS
"Mes buvome kankiniai"
1940-1940
In the Western world, thousands of British and French soldiers were desperately evacuating France after the disastrous clash with the German Wehrmacht, in what was later known as Operation Ariel. Paris was already lost, with Nazi soldiers parading across this City of Light, and hundreds of thousands were dead after a Blitz across the Lowlands. People across the British Commonwealth and the United States were at the edge of their seats - what is going to happen in France? Where will the Hitlerite aggression stop? What is the fate of Europe, and is Britain next on Germany's list?
But just because the Westerners were focused on France, it doesn't mean that absolutely nothing was happening elsewhere...
In Kaunas, the temporary capital of the Republic of Lithuania - the preparations for moving back to Vilnius, handed back by the Soviets on October 1939, were still not finished - the lights were on in the Presidential Palace throughout the whole night. In the office room of President Antanas Smetona, the revered and honored leader of this authoritarian republic for almost two decades, the entire Cabinet of Ministers, along with a few additional persons, were discussing a single page document, sitting calmly on the table. Everyone was here - First Minister Antanas Merkys, Foreign Minister Juozas Urbšys, the rest of the Ministers, and finally both the current and former Commander-In-Chiefs, Vladas Vitkauskas and Stasys Raštikis. Despite this being the most urgent part of the tiny Baltic republic's life, the room was strangely silent.
The paper in front of them didn't lie. After brought up to a visit to Moscow, Urbšys was handed it by Vyacheslav Molotov himself, who followed it up with two words:
"Good luck"
The words written in the paper were simple and laconic, declaring that the Republic of Lithuania is guilty for kidnapping and torturing three Soviet officers stationed on the border, even though there was zero proof brought of such a claim, conspiring against the Soviet Union along with Latvia and Estonia and "not committing enough to the Soviet-Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Pact of October 1939". The Soviet Union demanded to be allowed to send an "unspecified" among of troops into the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, extradite people responsible for the kidnapping and to replace the current government of the nation with one that would be able to adhere to the Mutual Assistance Pact. Lithuania was given 10 hours to send a response, and absence of response would mean a denial.
It was, in essence, an ultimatum demanding de facto occupation of the Republic of Lithuania. And the opinions on this matter differed among the Ministers.
President Smetona was willing to fight. Throughout 22 years of independence, Lithuania spent over a billion Litas on it's armed forces, turning them into a moderately capable, though somewhat confused force, lacking a solid doctrine, or even a plan in this situation. In his eyes, a few units should hold off the Soviets for long enough to let the Government and the rest of the army to escape through Germany. But there were holes in this plan. Lithuania was not mobilized, and it's standing forces were meager compared to the 300 000 troops that were prepared to roll through Lithuania. Plus, since October of 1939, there were about 20 000 Soviet troops based in Lithuania for "protecting the nation" as part of the Mutual Assistance Treaty. These bases were, unfortunately, placed mere kilometers away from Kaunas and Vilnius, the two most important cities in the Republic. What did Lithuania get in exchange for this practical loss of independence? The Vilnius Region returned to the nation.
This situation led to the rise of a common Lithuanian joke to describe the situation - "Vilnius - mūsų, o mes - rusų" ("Vilnius - ours, but we - [owned by] Russians")
In contrast, Merkys and a few of the ministers were against the idea of resistance. According to the First Minister, the Soviet troops that have been based in Lithuania since October have been exceptionally disciplined and have not caused a single mishap yet, so why should more Soviet troops do anything worse? Some still believed that the Soviets were willing to preserve Lithuania's independence, and that they will be willing to only stick to what is written in the ultimatum. As in, they will not try to turn Lithuania into a Soviet Republic, they won't try to deport the Lithuanians, that would be too risky for them. Merkys hoped that the West will support them. But the West, as said before, was busy with it's own war. Angering the Soviet Union by trying to protect the Baltics would be the dumbest move they could do right now.
But will giving up independence and shamefully surrendering to the Soviets show a good example to the Lithuanian people? The same nation that shed it's blood in the Wars of Independence to avoid this exact situation? Is Lithuania really going to go down without a fight? Especially when battles with worse odds have been won by our ancestors?
On the morning of June 15th, the Government of Lithuania issued a decree of mass mobilization. All reserve units and soldiers were to immediately enter service at the nearest Lithuanian military base, all members of the Riflemen Union (the Šauliai, a Lithuanian paramilitary organization focused on civilian training and resistance preparations) were to immediately mobilize, and all regular units were immediately activated and ordered to prepare for defense. This is not an exercise! I repeat! This is not an exercise! These words for be heard echoing across all Lithuanian cities...
On 8:05, Vilnius Time, a telegram arrived to the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union in Moscow, with only three words:
"THE GOVERNMENT DECLINES."