The act emphasized restoration and legal continuity of the interwar-period Lithuania, which was occupied by the Soviet Union and annexed in June 1940.

These events (part of the broader process dubbed the "parade of sovereignties") led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991.

In August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact dividing Eastern Europe into spheres of influence.

Two days later, under Soviet pressure, Merkys appointed Justas Paleckis, a left-wing journalist and longtime opponent of the Smetona regime, as prime minister.

The Paleckis government staged a heavily rigged election for a "People's Seimas," in which voters were presented with a single Communist-dominated list.

After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, the Soviet Union adopted de-Stalinization policies and ended mass persecutions.

These movements were secret, illegal, and more focused on social issues, human rights, and cultural affairs rather than political demands.

As Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to revive the economy of the Soviet Union, he introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).

For the Soviet Lithuanian dissidents and activists, it was a golden opportunity not to be missed, to bring their movements from underground into the public life.

On 23 August 1987 (the 48th anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact), the Lithuanian Liberty League organized the first public protest rally that did not result in arrests.

However, Sąjūdis grew in popularity, attracting large crowds to rallies in Vingis Park and therefore radicalizing its agenda, taking advantage of Gorbachev's passiveness.

The State of Lithuania stresses its adherence to universally recognized principles of international law, recognizes the principle of inviolability of borders as formulated in the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe in Helsinki in 1975, and guarantees human, civil, and ethnic community rights.

The Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania, expressing sovereign power, by this Act begins to realize the complete sovereignty of the state.

Lithuania's official position on the matter since then has been that all subsequent acts leading up to the Soviet annexation were ipso facto void.

[14] Its recognition of Lithuania's independence was quickly followed by several countries including China, India, and Belarus as well as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.