Wars of Independence, traditionally known as Freedom Struggles (Lithuanian: Laisvės kovos), refer to three wars Lithuania fought defending its independence at the end of World War I: with Bolsheviks (December 1918 - August 1919), Bermontians (June 1919 - December 1919), and Poland (August 1920 - November 1920). The wars delayed international recognition of independent Lithuania and formation of political structures.

Background information and forming the army

After 1795, the multiethnic state, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was annexed by the Russian Empire. From the beginning of the 20th century Lithuanians had expressed a desire to create a nation-state. During World War I Lithuanian territory was occupied by German forces from 1915 to the end of the war in 1918.

On February 16, 1918 the Council of Lithuania declared the re-establishment of independence from all previous legal bounds with other states. This was based upon the right of self-determination, meaning, that Lithuanians were creating a state within Ethnic Lithuanian borders. This declaration was initially suppressed by the occupying forces of the German Empire but on the 23 March 1918, the Germans acknowledged the declaration in hopes of creating a network of satellite countries, so called Mitteleuropa. However, Germany did not allow the Council to establish Lithuanian military, police, or other national institutions. In November 11, 1918 Germany signed the armistice act on the western front and officially lost the war and control over Lithuania. The first national government, led by Augustinas Voldemaras, was formed. Voldemaras issued a declaration that Lithuania did not need a military force, as it was not going to fight anyone, and only a small militia would suffice. This view turned to be unrealistic, and soon military conflicts erupted.

The first legislative act creating an army was passed on November 23, 1918. Its development and organization moved slowly due to lack of funding, guns and ammunition, and experienced military commanders. On December 20 Antanas Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras went to Germany to ask for help. The situation was complicated, because both leaders left a state without a head.

The Council of Lithuania released Volemaras' cabinet and Mykolas Sleževičius became Prime Minister of Lithuania and formed a Cabinet on 26 December 1918. Seeing that there was a direct threat to the state, several days later he issued a proclamation to Lithuanian men, inviting volunteers to join a force to defend country. At the very end of 1918, Germany paid the Lithuanian government a hundred million marks in reparations. The gradual formation of the Lithuanian army proceeded under the auspices of the German army, who did not totally withdraw from the territory after their defeat.

Lithuanian volunteers who agreed to join the military force were promised free land. Fullfilling the obligation in the November 11 ceasefire agreement to the Entente to support Lithuanian independence, Germany initially tried to orgnize volunteer force from units remaining in Lithuanian territory, but those attempts failed. The crimps were sent to Germany to look for Volunteers. Soon a division of volunteers was formed, who were paid 5 marks per day plus 30 marks per month. The first units started to arrive to Lithuania on January 1919, and part of them were sent away because they were in poor condition. At the end of January there were 400 volunteers stationed in Alytus, Jonava, Kėdainiai and Kaunas. They formed the basis for the 46 Saxonian division, (in March it was renamed Southern Lithuanian Saxonian Volunteer Brigade). It consisted of the 18th, 19th and 2Oth regiments. German troops popularly were known also as Freikorps. The last units of the Freikorps left Lithuania on July 1919.

After successful attempts to gather voluntary army forces that defended Lithuanian territories and started pushing-back enemies, on March 5, 1919 a mobilization to further improve armed forces in Lithuania was declared for men born 1897-1899. At the end of summer, the Lithuanian army had about 8,000 men. During the battles that followed 1,700 Lithuanian volunteers perished, more than 2,600 were injured, and 800 were Missing In Action^{citation needed}.

War against the Bolsheviks

Lithuanian Bolshevik war
Date December 1918 - August 1919 Location Lithuania Result Bolshevik forces driven out
Belligerents
Lithuania  German mercenaries	Russian SFSR Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR
Strength
8,000 Lithuanians in 1919 10,000citation needed Germans

Advance of Bolshevik forces (red arrows). Red line shows the Bolshevik front line in January 1919.

The Bolsheviks attacked Lithuania from the east trying to prevent independence and to spread the global proletarian revolution. These actions succeeded in some states, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan Georgia, Belarus and Ukraine, which were also briefly independent but then fell under Soviet rule soon after the civil war in Russia had ended. In Lithuania an effort to establish Bolshevik rule was not successful.

On December 8, 1918, a temporary revolutionary government in Vilnius was formed solely from Communist Party of Lithuania members. Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas became the chairman. The following day a workers' soviet was formed and declared its control over Vilnius. However, at the same time Voldemaras' government and Polish committee declared the same. The Germans left Vilnius on December 31, 1918. The Red Army advanced and on January 5, 1919 took Vilnius and advanced further to the west. Only local Polish paramilitary platoons led by general Władysław Wejtko were defending Vilnius for five days, Lithuanian Government left Vilnius together with the regular German Army. On January 1, 1919 local communists in the town of Šiauliai rebelled and created a 1000-men-strong "Samogitian regiment", thus when the Red army entered the town on January 15 soviet power already existed there. January 18th Soviets and Germans signed treaty and marked demarcation line, that did not allow Bolshevik forces to directly attack Kaunas. Instead they had to go around through Alytus or Kėdainiai, and thus saved time for preparations and marked initial battle zone.

The German volunteers led by Rüdiger von der Goltz arrived to Lithuania, took positions along the Hrodna-Kaišiadorys-Kaunas line, and helped Lithuanian volunteer self-defence forces under command by Jonas Variakojis to stop the Red Army near Kėdainiai. On February 8th, during the skirmish at reconnaissance mission first Lithuanian soldier Povilas Lukšys was killed near Taučiūnai. February 10th joint forces liberated Šėta, and forces Red Army to retreat. The success of the operation motivated forces. During the first half of February 18th regiment of Saxon volunteers stationed between Kaišiadorys and Žiežmariai had skirmishes on their line, and Lithuanian forces supported by Germans liberated Jieznas in operation held on February 10-13th. After this the 7th riflemen regiment of Bolsheviks started to fall apart, and many soldiers deserted.The regiment could have been completely destroyed, if the Germans would have not refused to pursue the retreating units.

On February 12 Bolshevik forces attacked Alytus. Lithuanian 5th, 6th,7th and 8th companies of the 1st infantry regiment had to held Bolshevik pressure, while German units left their posts. During the battle first Lithuanian officer was killed, the commander of the 1st infantry regiment Antanas Juozapavičius. After the loss of the commander the regiment started retreating towards Marijampolė. On the night night of February 14-15th Germans retook Alytus.

In the end of 1918 officer Povilas Plechavičius together with his brother Aleksandras started organizing partisans in Skuodas. On February 9th the partisans took oath, and on February 16th paraded on town square. In Joniškėlis an underground partisan unit was also organized and commanded by army officers.

Advance of Polish (blue arrows), Lithuanian (dark purple arrows), Latvian/German (white arrows from west), and Estonian/Latvian (white arrows from north) forces. Blue line shows the Polish front in May 1920.

The move of Bolsheviks towards East Prussia made Germans worry, and they sent a volunteers (Brigade Shaulen) under command by general Rudiger von der Goltz to free railroad line Liepaja-Mažeikiai-Radviliškis-Kėdainiai. In the end of February The Lithuanian partisans supported by German artillery liberated Mažeikiai and Seda, and pursued Bolsheviks until Kuršėnai. On February 27, 1919, German volunteers supported by Plechavičius' led partisans and with support form Joniškėlis partisans behind Bolshevik backs defeated the The Samogitian regiment in a battle near Luokė. By the time the regiment was already incorporated into the Red Army's 2nd Latvian International Riflemen Division. The same day the Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Litbel) was declared. On March 7, 1919 the Germans took town of Kuršėnai, on March 11 - Šiauliai, on March 12 - Radviliškis, on March 14 - Lithuanian partisans and German forces liberated Šeduva. The German troops were active in Lithuania until May 31, 1919.

In Kėdainiai stationed volunteer regiment secured it's positions and in March started small expeditions into nearby towns. local volunteers who knew the location well succeeded to drive out Bolshevik supporters out of Ramygala, Truskava and Krekenava, but soon these towns were recaptured by Bolsheviks again. The so called expeditions into different towns were successfully carried out until the end of March. For successful operations the regiment was given a name Separate Panevėžys volunteer regiment on March 22. Because of constant losses Bolshevik forces stationed in Panevėžys and Kupiškis rebelled, and were quelled only by Red Army Division that came from Latvia. Bolshevik forces morale decreased further and on March 19-24 their forces left Panevėžys. Lithuanian forces entered the city on March 26th, but Red Army retook city on April 4th.

In April Lithuanian army started to move towards Vilnius, took Žąsliai and Vievis but on April 8th attacks stopped. Menwhile on February 19, 1919 the Polish Army took over Vilnius from Bolsheviks first, forcing them to withdraw the left wing of their army from territory south of the Neris River. Shortened line of front with Bolsheviks allowed Lithuanians to send stronger forces to northeastern Lithuania, and carry operations there. Already May 3rd May Separate Panevėžys volunteer regiment supported by the 18th regiment of Saxonian volunteers secured Siesikai, Atkočiai, Deltuva and captured Ukmergė. Lithuanian were the first who entered the city.

In the beginning of March mobilization of men to the army started and Lithuanian forces started to grow. In end of April the Lithuanian army command chain was reformed and general Silvestras Žukauskas was assigned as a chief of Staff, and since May 7th he assumed command of Lithuanian army. The whole Staff was rerganized in following several weeks, and strengthened Lithuanian forces were ready to push the Red Army back. Žukauskas decided to concentrate main Lithuanian forces on two directions - first brigade on Ukmergė-Utena-Zarasai named Vilkmergė group and second brigade on Kėdainiai-Panevėžys-Rokiškis named Panevėžys group. Middle of May was spent planning operations

On May 17th first operation was carried out, and town Kurkliai was liberated, and Lithuanians started preparations to advance to Anykščiai. City was liberated on May 19th. The same day Skiemonys and Alanta were secured. On May 22nd Lithuanian forces started advancing towards Utena, and reached village of Diktarai. Advancement was stopped with a counterattack, and Lithuanians retreated. The attack was stopped for several days, and line Alanta-Skiemonys-Anykščiai was taken. Advancement towards Utena started on May 31st, and the city was liberated on June 2nd.

The Panevėžys group of Lithuanian armed forces on May 18th started operation towards Panevėžys, continued on May 19th securing Raguva and liberating Panevėžys city. On may 20th field Staff of this group moved to Panevėžys. The city survived Bolshevik attack on 21-22 of May.In May 24th Žukauskas ordered further advance of both groups. The second group advanced towards Kupiškis and secured Subačius on May 25th. On May 30 Rokiškis was taken, and Bolshevik forces left Kupiškis on the night of May 30-31, and Lithuanians secured city on June 1. Advancement continued, and on 10th of June Lithuanians reached territory controlled by Latvian partisans (Green Guard) an supplied them munitions.

Lithuanians continued advancement an by the end of August, the Bolsheviks were defeated near Zarasai. October 2nd Lithuanians took suburb of Daugavpils Griva. After reaching Daugava River Lithuanian forces stopped, and the front line stabilized. The Litbel was discontinued.

On June 12, 1920, Lithuania signed a peace treaty with the Russian SFSR. Russia recognized Lithuania's independence and its right to the Vilnius region, though this treaty was not recognized by Poland or by the short lived Belarusian National Republic.

Despite of peace treaty with the Bolsheviks (Soviet-Lithuanian Treaty of 1920) and the war with Poland, Lithuania was very close to being invaded by the Soviets in the summer of 1920 and having to face an attempt to forcibly convert into a socialist republic. It was only the Polish victory against the Soviets in the Polish-Soviet War that disrupted the Bolshevik plans.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

War against the Bermontians

War with Bermontians
Date July 26 - December 15 1919 Location Lithuania Result Bermontians driven out
Belligerents
Lithuania	White Movement

The Bermontians, nicknamed after their leader opportunist Pavel Bermondt-Avalov and formally known as the West Russian Volunteer Army, were a mixed German-Russian army. The army included Russian POWs, released by the German Empire on their promise to fight against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War, and Freikorps members, stationed in Latvia and Lithuania when Germany lost the war.^[5] The official goal of the army was to fight Bolsheviks as part of Aleksandr Kolchak's forces, but the real purpose was to retain German power in the territories they had taken during World War I.^[6]

At first the Bermontians operated mostly in Latvia, but in June 1919, they crossed the Lithuanian-Latvian border and took the town of Kuršėnai. At the time the Lithuanains were engaged in the battles with the Bolsheviks and could only send diplomatic protests.^[5] By October, the Bermontians had taken considerable territories in western Lithuania (Samogitia) with the cities of Šiauliai, Biržai, Radviliškis. Once they annexed a town, the Bermontians enforced the Russian language as the only language in administration.^[7] They became notorious for robbing and looting the local people, who started to form local partisan groups.

In October 1919, Lithuanian forces attacked the Bermontians, achieving an important victory on November 21-22 near Radviliškis, a major railway center. The Lithuanians collected significant spoils of war, including 30 planes and 10 cannons.^[5] Later clashes were stopped by Entente representative French General Henri A. Niessel, who oversaw withhdrawal of German troops to Germany.^[7] The Lithuanian military followed retreating soldiers to prevent them from further looting and to ensure all of them evacuated. By December 15, the Bermontians were completely pushed from Lithuania.

War against Poland

Polish-Lithuanian war
Date September 1 - October 7, 1920 Location Lithuania Result Polish control of Vilnius, states officially at war until 1927, diplomatic relations resumed in 1938
Belligerents
Lithuania	Poland

Main article: Polish-Lithuanian War

In June 1920 the Russian army retook Vilnius. Shortly after their defeat in the Battle of Warsaw, the withdrawing Red Army handed the city over to Lithuania under terms of the peace treaty signed on June 12. Negotiations were started in an attempt to avoid an armed conflict between Poland and Lithuania. On October 7, a cease fire in Suwałki was signed. However, the very next day, before the agreement formally went into effect, a staged mutiny by Polish troops lead to an attack on the disputed area. The Vilnius and the Suvalki regions were overrun. Initially Polish forces did not meet much resistance, and later they were able to withstand a Lithuanian counter-offensive. Since the Vilnius region and the Suvalkai region were effectively controlled by Poland, the Lithuanian government declared Kaunas a temporary capital.

Żeligowski's Mutiny

After a staged mutinity arranged by Polish Chief of State Józef Piłsudski carried out of Polish forces led by general Lucjan Żeligowski took control over Vilnius in the fall of 1920. Shortly after Lithuanian forces started to gain upper hand in this conflict rebel forces were supported by Polish regular army. This military action is considered as continuation of Polish-Lithiuanian war in historiography.

Armed conflict with Latvia

In the summer of 1919 the Lithuanian army, advancing against the Bolsheviks, crossed the Latvian border and reached the Daugava River, thus remaining in the eastern part of what Latvians claimed to be Augšzeme region, albeit inhabited mostly by Lithuanians. Promises were made to leave the area as soon the war with the Bolsheviks was ended^{citation needed}. In January, 1920, the Latvian and Polish armies liberated Daugavpils and the Lithuanian army, who declared, that it has reached Lithuania's borders and did not advance further lost a direct front line against the Bolsheviks. Nevertheless, in the summer of 1920 the Lithuanian army was still in disputed territory. On October 12, 1920 the Latvian army used the Polish-Lithuanian conflict and attacked weakened Lithuanian positions.^{dubious – discusscitation needed}

See also

• Latvian War of Independence
• Polish-Soviet War
• Central Lithuania
• Forest Brothers

References

Further reading

• Lesčius, Vytautas (2004). Lietuvos kariuomenė nepriklausomybės kovose 1918-1920. Vilnius: Vilnius University, General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania. ISBN 9955423234. 
• Gimtoji istorija, Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės (Lietuvos istorijos vadovėlis), CD, 2002, ISBN 9986-9216-7-8
• Jonas Rudokas, Bermontianos žlugimas, Veidas, November 25, 2004, No. 48
• Z. Butkus, Kartu su Latvija ir Estija ar atskirai?, Atgimimas, December 12, 1988, No. 10 (10)
• V. Lesčius. Lietuvos kariuomenė nepriklausomybės karuose. Vilnius, 2004.