INDEPENDENCE

When We hear "Independence Day" We hear freedom. Freedom from oppression, freedom from a loss of human rights, freedom from poverty, freedom to make choices that directly affect your future from actions that YOU take. And I think that any countries Independence Day is one to celebrate and be happy about it.



Seventy years ago,at the end of the I World War, on February 16, 1918, the Lithuanian National Council declared the independence of Lithuania and established the Republic of Lithuania.This restoration of Lithuania's sovereignty was recognized around the world -- even by the Soviet Union, in 1920. Lithuania joined the League of Nations in 1921, and for the next two decades Lithuanians enjoyed liberty and self-determination under a government.
The celebration was short lived. During World War II Lithuania was overrun by Soviet tanks on their way to Poland, followed by German tanks on their way to Russia, and again by the Soviets on their way to Berlin.
On January 13, 1991,the Soviet Union, fearful of increasing nationalist sentiment in Lithuania invaded the city of Vilnius and attacked the TV tower and other buildings. Images of the attack spread throughout the world, and were influential in the eventual fall of the Soviet Union eight months later.
The short Act of Independence of 1918, with its emphasis on democratic principles, was cited by Lithuanians as the inspiration for and the basis of the rebirth of their sovereign state.