How One City Changed The Fate Of Eastern Europe

Some scholars believe that had the Baltic countries been able to work together to defend themselves, they could have gained a more favorable outcome for themselves. While it lost the war, Finland was able to secure some autonomy for itself and avoid outright Soviet annexation by mounting a strong resistance during the Winter War of 1939-40. Perhaps these three small nations would have only been sattellite states of the Soviet Union, like Poland and Hungary were after WWII. It’s impossible to speculate, however.

The Lithuanians did benefit from the Soviets in one aspect: Vilnius was given to them in November 1939 by their future conqerors. While this might appear to be a friendly gesture, it had the added bonus of adding territory directly to the Soviet Union, which already knew they would be invading. It also was an attempt to keep the Lithuanians in line – if they ever tried to leave, they would lose their beloved capital once again. But the Lithuanians did leave, and they took the entire country with it. In the late 1980s, the Soviets did play the Vilnius card. The Lithuanians took the risk and went ahead anyway. While the city may have helped them lose their independence once, it didn’t stop them from regaining it 50 years later. Today, Vilnius is the capital of the independent Lithuanian state and is a symbol of the lasting freedom that it took the nation over 75 years to gain.

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