The coup d'état of December 1926 brought his future wife's uncle, Antanas Smetona, to power, which propelled his career.

He undertook an extensive military reform to standardize, streamline, and modernize the army during the period of increasing militarization and rising tensions in Europe.

He was a negotiator of the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty by which Lithuania regained a portion of the Vilnius Region but virtually sacrificed its independence.

When the Soviet Union presented its ultimatum in June 1940, he was briefly considered for prime minister in the new pro-Soviet People's Government.

[3] In summer 1915, the regiment withstood about ten days of German attacks along Merkys but then began retreating east towards Berezina River.

[5] After graduation, he was promoted to the rank of praporshchik[6] and spent the remainder of the war in the Caucasus campaign with the 279th Infantry Regiment.

Pranas Dailidė [lt], representative of the Council of Lithuania in Caucasus, obtained permission from the Germans for Lithuanian refugees and military personnel to return.

[5] Raštikis traveled via ship from Poti to Constanța, spent two weeks in quarantine in a prisoner camp in Pitești, and reached Vilnius in June 1918.

Raštikis reported for duty and was assigned to the Vilnius Battalion organized by Kazys Škirpa (later the 5th Infantry Regiment of Grand Duke Kęstutis).

[10] Released from captivity in April 1921, Raštikis received a warm welcome in Kaunas – the train with the 17 former prisoners was greeted by guards of honor, a choir, and a banquet hosted by Minister of Defense Konstantinas Žukas.

[12] He returned to the same duties, but due to conflicts with the regiment's commander was reassigned to the Intelligence Department of the General Staff in March 1922.

[24] The reforms were opposed by Juozas Tūbelis, Minister of Finance, as they required significant additional funding[25] to the army that already consumed about 18–19% of the Lithuanian budget.

[33] Great efforts were made to reduce the time for mobilization from 8–10 days to less than 48 hours,[34] and to develop comprehensive defense plans code-named L (against Poland) and V (against Germany).

The Union disapproved of Raštikis' attempts at keeping the army impartial, his prohibition of officer involvement in politics, and his growing prestige and popularity among Lithuanians.

After the German ultimatum in March 1939 and loss of the Klaipėda Region, Mironas's government resigned and Raštikis was offered to become the new Prime Minister, but refused.

Raštikis, as Commander or the Armed Forces, had great influence over these ministers and his relationship with President Smetona became increasingly tense.

[38] More politically sensitive, in light of the two ultimatums, were the visits to Nazi Germany on the occasion of Hitler's 50th birthday in April 1939 and to the Second Polish Republic in May 1939.

In it, he complained that a mayor (Merkys' position before becoming Prime Minister) or other civil servants earned more than the Commander of the Armed Forces.

[44] In his duties, Raštikis was replaced not by his deputy divisional general Stasys Pundzevičius, but by Vincas Vitkauskas who had no higher military education.

Raštikis was invited back to the military, but he agreed only to take the position of director of the Higher War School of Kaunas on June 7.

[51] On February 13, 1941, fearing an arrest by NKVD as an "enemy of the people", Raštikis left his wife and three young daughters in Kaunas and departed towards Germany.

[55] According to Raštikis memoirs, he, as a member of the Provisional Government, approached the Kaunas War Field Commandant General Oswald Pohl and the Military Command Representative General Karl von Roques in an attempt to help the Jews, however they replied that the Gestapo was handling these issues and that the German military could not help.

With the help of General Vladas Nagevičius, he got a job at the Lithuanian War Museum and began organizing army archives.

[2] In the United States, Raštikis obtained a job as a factory worker and became an active member of various Lithuanian American organizations.

[63] From November 1952 to September 1953, Raštikis was employed by the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania (VLIK) and lived in London and Reutlingen.

[63] He was also associated with the AEPOLE project of the CIA, which was active in 1949–1959 and sought to strengthen anti-communist resistance in Lithuania via radio broadcast, mailing operations, emigre organizations, and political and psychological briefings for legal travelers.

[64] Upon his return to the United States, Raštikis moved to Monterey, California, and joined the Defense Language Institute as an instructor of Russian and Lithuanian.

[65] Originally interred in Los Angeles, his and his wife's remains were returned to Kaunas in November 1993 and reburied in Petrašiūnai Cemetery with full military honors.

[67] Raštikis contributed about 1,000 articles to various Lithuanian newspapers and magazines[65] on various topics ranging from veterinary to military strategy to official proclamations.

Some of the pre-1941 diaries were destroyed by him to avoid their falling into the Soviet hands,[69] but he recreated some of the key moments as soon as he fled to Nazi Germany in 1941.