The Nazi occupation authorities actually planned to use the force mainly for Eastern Front battles, only minimally fighting Soviet partisans.

The LTDF was disbanded one and a half months after its creation by its commander Povilas Plechavičius when Nazi Germany's occupational authorities threatened the unit's independence.

[6][7] The Nazis carried out reprisals against the population and deported 46 prominent figures and members of the intelligentsia to Stutthof concentration camp.

[4] On January 31, the Reich SS and police leader (SSPF) signed an order on the organization of Lithuanian battalions to fight against "banditry".

Militarily, they want to get people to plug the gaps in their army; politically - to announce to the world that Lithuanians are asking to be accepted under German leadership and protection to fight for the New Europe.

[14] Adrian von Renteln summoned general Povilas Plechavičius on January 7, 1944 to convince him that Lithuanian forces were necessary to combat Bolshevism.

[14] Plechavičius informed Renteln on January 9 that he would protect his countrymen if he was given the freedom to form and lead the Lithuanian units with independent leadership.

[14] Since military formations could only be constituted in occupied territory with the approval of Reich SSPF Heinrich Himmler, Renteln pledged to speak with Berlin.

[14] Plechavičius wrote to Petras Kubiliūnas, the first general councillor, on January 31, setting out the following conditions for his command of the Lithuanian unit.

[15][16] That same day, the Reich SSPF Heinrich Himmler issued an order to recruit 50,000 Lithuanians for the Wehrmacht's Army Group North.

[16] The Nazi occupation authorities viewed the LTDF differently and termed its units police battalions, planning to use them for Eastern Front battles and only minimally to fight Soviet partisans.

[18] Fighters from the anti-Nazi Lithuanian underground and Polish Home Army attempted to negotiate a joint struggle against the Nazi occupation but failed.

[19] From the end of 1943, the Polish Home Army escalated its activity and began attacking towns and district centres, terrorizing Lithuanians, whether local government officials, teachers or other civilians.

[4] On February 4, the following were invited as heads of departments of the headquarters:[4] Captain Justinas Liaukus was appointed adjutant of the LTDF's staff.

[17] Chief-of-Staff of the Northern Front Field Marshal Walter Model further demanded that the Lithuanians provide personnel for 15 security battalions for military airports.

[22] In April, the Polish AK in the Vilnius region attempted to begin negotiations with Plechavičius, proposing a non-aggression pact and cooperation against Nazi Germany.

[23] Justina Smalkyté claims that the 305th Battalion, together with Lithuanian auxiliary policemen, was involved in the round-up of peasants from a predominantly Polish village on April 29 who were ultimately deported as forced labourers to Germany.

[25] Even before the combat against Polish partisans, Plechavičius issued an order condemning unkind or even brutal treatment of any inhabitants of Lithuania, no matter what language they spoke, meaning that he forbade anti-Polish actions.

[26] The Lithuanian historian Arūnas Bubnys wrote that these casualties were most likely collateral damage in the crossfire between the Polish AK and the LTDF.

[22] Polish historian Piotr Łossowski claims that the Lithuanian 301st Battalion suffered 47 casualties at Hraŭžyški [be], and was dispersed by the 8th and 12th AK Brigades on May 5.

[citation needed] The disparity in size, and the fact that Lithuanians no longer felt safe inside their own barracks, added to the importance of the defeat.

[33] Beginning in March, Germans constantly tried to use LTDF to mobilize Lithuanians for labour in Germany for the Wehrmacht and the Hiwis, but Plechavičius blocked this.

[2] The mobilization failed completely; only 3–5% of the men of conscription age, most of whom were unfit for military service, reported to the German authorities.

[17] On hearing of this order and being informed that it had been signed by Jeckeln as early as April 15, Plechavičius opposed this challenge to his authority and rejected the demands.

[2] The failures of the operation against the Polish Home Army, culminating in the LTDF defeat in the Battle of Murowana Oszmianka on May 13–14, gave the Germans another excuse to assert control over the formation.

[17][27] Jeckeln and Hintze delivered a speech before the remaining LTDF officers accusing them of banditry, sabotage, and a political agenda, and threatening them with execution ot transfer to concentration camps.

[34] Many soldiers managed to evade the Germans and disappear with their weapons, forming the core of the armed anti-Soviet resistance, which waged a guerrilla war for the next eight years.

One of the most striking aspects of the Local Force is how quickly it moved from conditional cooperation to active resistance as circumstances changed, utilizing a relatively sophisticated network of underground contacts within the society, the Lithuanian officer corps and the native administration.

[40][41][42] Former cadet Kazys Blaževičius wrote: "The short and dramatic history of the force's soldiers - LTDF lasted for almost three months - proves that neither gen. P. Plechavičius, nor his officers were German collaborators.

"[42]In contrast, Justina Smalkyté said that the LTDF was a case of military collaboration, and that post-1990 Lithuanian scholarship produced "biased historical accounts that are highly nationalist in tone".