Main article: Occupation of the Baltic states
As a result of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Lithuania was occupied by the Red Army and forcibly annexed into the Soviet Union along with Latvia and Estonia, with no military resistance.[citation needed] The legality of the annexation was not recognised by most Western countries and the Baltic states continued to exist as formally independent nations until 1991.
Some Lithuanians sided with Germany after Hitler eventually invaded the Soviet Union in the hopes of restoring Lithuania's independence. Some collaborators were involved in the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity. A Lithuanian division (the 16th Rifle Division) and other units (29th Rifle Corps) were formed in the Red Army. Unlike in Latvia and Lithuania, an attempt by the German authorities to form a 'Lithuanian Legion' failed, with the most notable unit formed being the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force.
At the end of the war, the subsequent Forest Brothers armed insurrection against the Soviet authorities started, which lasted in the Baltic states until the mid-1950s.
As a result of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, Lithuania was occupied by the Red Army and forcibly annexed into the Soviet Union along with Latvia and Estonia, with no military resistance.[citation needed] The legality of the annexation was not recognised by most Western countries and the Baltic states continued to exist as formally independent nations until 1991.
Some Lithuanians sided with Germany after Hitler eventually invaded the Soviet Union in the hopes of restoring Lithuania's independence. Some collaborators were involved in the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity. A Lithuanian division (the 16th Rifle Division) and other units (29th Rifle Corps) were formed in the Red Army. Unlike in Latvia and Lithuania, an attempt by the German authorities to form a 'Lithuanian Legion' failed, with the most notable unit formed being the Lithuanian Territorial Defense Force.
At the end of the war, the subsequent Forest Brothers armed insurrection against the Soviet authorities started, which lasted in the Baltic states until the mid-1950s.