1009 Lithuania was first mentioned in the Annales Quedlinburgenses.

1253 The Lithuanian state was founded. MINDAUGAS, the ruler of the united Lithuania, was crowned King.

1385 The Act of Krėva was signed with Poland. JOGAILA, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, married the Polish Princess Jadwiga, accepted Christianity and was crowned King of Poland.

1386 JOGAILA established the Vilnius diocese and organised the campaign to baptise Lithuania, which was the last country in Europe to adopt Christianity.

1410 In the Battle of ŽALGIRIS (Grünwald) close to Tannenberg, joint Lithuanian, Polish, Russian and Czech army under the command of VYTAUTAS, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, defeated the Teutonic Order. This victory stopped the 200-year-long attacks of the order.

1569 A union agreement between Lithuania and Poland was signed in Lublin, establishing a Commonwealth.

1579 Vilnius University was founded. For another 200 years it remained the most eastern university in Europe.

1795 Russia, Prussia and Austria carried out the third partition of the Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth. Lithuania was incorporated into the Russian Empire.

1864–1904 A ban on Lithuanian publications in Latin characters was introduced. Books and newspapers in Latin characters were published in East Prussia and smuggled in across the border.

1918 February 16 The Council of Lithuania adopted a resolution on the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania, with the capital in Vilnius.

1920-1939 Vilnius was occupied by Poland. Kaunas became provisional capital

1940 Following the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribentropp pact, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union.

1941–1944 Lithuania was occupied by the Nazi Germany.

1944–1953 The armed resistance movement ‘the war after the war’ took place in forests in Lithuania. It was an attempt to stop the Soviet occupation and colonisation, forced collectivisation, mass persecutions and deportations of the Lithuanian population. The periods of Soviet and Nazi occupation inflicted enormous losses on the population due to the Holocaust of Lithuanian Jews, mass deportation to Siberia and numerous political emigration to the West.

1988 The SĄJŪDIS independence movement was established.

1990 March 11 The restoration of the independence of the Republic of Lithuania was declared.

1991 Lithuania became a member of the United Nations.

1993 Soviet troops left Lithuania.

2004 Lithuania joined NATO.

2004 Lithuania became a member of the EU.

 

2007 Lithuania is accepted into the Schengen area