Two days later, the government of the Soviet Russia renounced the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which had assured Lithuania's independence.

[4] Their forces followed retreating German troops and reached Lithuania by the end of December 1918.

The Communist Party of Lithuania (CPL) was organized by the 34 delegates at its first congress, held in Vilnius between 1 and 3 October 1918.

Its other members were Zigmas Aleksa-Angarietis, Pranas Svotelis-Proletaras, Semyon Dimanstein, Kazimierz Cichowski, Aleksandras Jakševičius, Konstantinas Kernovičius and Yitzhak Weinstein (Aizikas Vainšteinas).

[7] The government issued a manifesto, printed with a 16 December date, declaring the establishment of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.

"[6] The final version, edited by Stalin and the Russian Communist Party, eliminated references to the union with Russia and replaced the slogan with "Long live freed Soviet Lithuanian Republic!

[12] In Russia, the Soviets were generally supported by the industrial working class, but this was too small in Lithuania.

[1] Meanwhile, in the territory it had occupied, the Soviets created revolutionary committees and councils based on Russian models.

[13] Economic difficulties and cash shortage was illustrated by a decree published in January 1919 prohibiting financial institutions to pay more than 250 rubles per week to any resident.

[1][13] Between 8 and 15 February 1919, Lithuanian and German volunteers stopped the Soviet advance and prevented them from taking Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania.

[19][21] During the interwar years, Lithuanian–Soviet relations were generally friendly, but, a few months after the outbreak of World War II, the Soviet Union decided to occupy the Baltic states, including Lithuania, in July 1940.