The Soviet Union imposed an economic blockade on Lithuania between 18 April and 2 July 1990. By the late 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of the Soviet Union, embarked on a course of liberalisation of the political system of the country, and as a result, movements appeared that advocated for autonomy or independence within the Soviet Union. The Lithuanian Supreme Council then adopted the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania (Act) on 11 March 1990. Kremlin officials demanded that the Act be annulled, interpreting it as a secessionist affair, but Lithuania ignored them, arguing that they were forcefully incorporated into the USSR back in 1940. Gorbachev sent an ultimatum on 13 April, requiring Lithuanians to back down under the threat of economic sanctions. As the Soviet officials were not satisfied with the answer from Lithuania, the blockade started on 18 April at 21:25 (EEST).
The economic blockade restricted or cancelled the centralised supply of energy resources, which Lithuania was extremely dependent on the USSR for, as well as foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals. To a lesser extent, the embargo also impacted Kaliningrad Oblast. The Soviet Union sealed the republic's borders and blocked Lithuania's bank accounts. As the rebel republic felt crippling shortages of essential items, Western countries pressured Lithuania and the Soviet Union to reach a compromise, which initially could not be achieved. However, amid the intensification of internal sovereigntist movements within the other fourteen republics of the Soviet Union, particularly within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the blockade was eased in mid-June, and the sanctions were lifted on 2 July. This happened after the Lithuanian parliament agreed to suspend the effects of the Act and to begin talks with the Soviet side. The long-awaited negotiations, however, did not yield any results.
Despite its short duration, the blockade had profound effects on the country. Total losses from the blockade on the Lithuanian side exceeded 500 million roubles, or 1.5% of the gross national product (GNP). Thousands of workers lost their jobs or were idling at their factories as supplies were lacking. Effects on market transition were mixed. The embargo forced Lithuania to centralise its governance and strengthen regulation of resource usage. Enterprises created partnerships with fellow companies and Lithuania negotiated trade agreements with other republics, marking a transition to capitalist economics. It also made the country look for other ways to import oil and start industrial exploitation of its resources. The economic blockade also slowed the pace of separation of the other two Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia, from the Soviet Union. The role of the minorities (particularly the Poles) in the blockade is unclear but some speculate that the Polish minority, which was dominated by pro-Soviet politicians, was treated preferentially during the blockade by the Soviet Union.
Background
Shortly after Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, the Baltic states were occupied and illegally incorporated into the Soviet Union, which was interrupted by three years of German occupation before reverting to the USSR after World War II. Despite being part of the Soviet Union for more than 40 years, in the 1980s, the Baltic states were still seen as somewhat different from the rest of the USSR.
After Mikhail Gorbachev was elected leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1985, the Soviet government gradually introduced some liberalisation measures, including perestroika and glasnost. These policies enabled massive demonstrations in most Soviet republics. In the Baltic states, the gatherings, which initially protested the environmentally-unfriendly projects of the central government, turned more and more political. By late summer 1988, Sąjūdis, the movement which was initially in favour of perestroika, demanded legalisation of the Lithuanian interwar flag, resignation of the republic's government and sovereignty for Lithuania. By early 1989, the movement already pushed for independence from USSR.
These demands were eventually implemented. In November 1988, the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic established the tricolored flag as the flag of the republic. In May 1989, the republic issued a declaration of sovereignty. It asserted the primacy of Lithuanian law, though still in the framework of the Soviet Union. While the declaration expressly violated Article 74 of the 1977 Constitution, which said that Soviet law should prevail in case of conflicting legislation, no actions were undertaken by the officials in the Kremlin – to the contrary, in November 1989, the Soviet Union made some concessions by approving a plan of financial and economical autonomy for the Baltic republics.
At the same time, revelations in Lithuania concerning the secret protocols of the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact (whose existence the USSR had denied) further angered the opposition, which demanded their disclosure and condemnation. The Soviet Union formally acknowledged their existence in December 1989, following deliberations of a select committee in the Congress of People's Deputies, and declared them "legally untenable and invalid from the moment they were signed". Finally, Gorbachev had problems inside his party. In December 1989, Algirdas Brazauskas, the leader of the Communist Party of Lithuania (CPL), announced that CPL was independent from CPSU, despite pleas not to do so by Gorbachev. Angry, the Central Committee of CPSU sent Gorbachev to Vilnius to quell the party revolt. However, the First Secretary failed to subordinate party rebels and his trip only made Lithuanians press harder for independence.
Restoration of independence
On 7 February 1990, following the Soviet parliament's findings on the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact, Lithuania announced that the declaration that had had Lithuania join the USSR did not represent the will of Lithuanians and was therefore void. A month later, on 11 March, Lithuania became the first republic to assert its independence from the USSR. The timing aimed to preempt the election of the president of the Soviet Union, scheduled on 15 March. When Vilnius sent an invitation to the Kremlin to begin negotiations related to the restoration of independence the next day, the Soviet leadership was infuriated. It demanded that the Lithuanian Supreme Council repeal the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, but Lithuania rejected the request and its leader, Vytautas Landsbergis, appealed to the "democratic nations" to recognise the country's independence. Gorbachev later warned, in an attempt to dissuade Lithuania from secession, that if Lithuania were to do so, the Soviet Union would claim Vilnius and Klaipėda, which were not part of Lithuania at the time the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact was signed. The theme would recur in Gorbachev's later speeches and in maps circulated among Byelorussian officials.
Lithuanians argued that since Lithuania claimed state continuity and since the Soviet occupation was illegal, the negotiations could only happen based on international law, but the Soviets saw it as an attempt to secede, which they said was only subject to Union's regulations. Article 72 of the 1977 Constitution did provide for the right of a Soviet republic to secede, but Soviet authorities were not intent at letting it happen so easily. The 3rd session of the Congress of People's Deputies ruled the independence declaration to be unconstitutional and declared any unilateral declarations of independence void until a law regulating secession was adopted. When it was passed on 3 April, the terms set in the document proved virtually impossible to implement. Landsbergis' government promptly responded with a letter which asserted that the resolution of the Congress of People's Deputies was illegal and insisted on talks on equal footing between the USSR and Lithuania. A proposal by President George H. W. Bush to calm the situation by organising an independence referendum was firmly rejected by the Soviets.
In late March, the Soviet government ordered to reinforce troops in Lithuania, introduced about 100 tanks and 1,500 soldiers to the streets of Vilnius, and captured some strategic buildings, including the prosecutor's office, the Vilnius Airport, the Party Historical Institute, the headquarters of the Communist Party of Lithuania, and printing offices of the main newspapers and journals of the republic. Additionally, Gorbachev issued a decree that:
- ordered KGB officers to enhance surveillance of Lithuania's borders (which also involved closing the only border crossing with Poland on 3 April),
- mandated surrender of hunting rifles by the population,
- ordered all foreigners (including diplomats and journalists) to leave the region.
Gorbachev still sought to reach a compromise with Lithuanians by secretly negotiating with Algirdas Brazauskas, who by then had become deputy prime minister of Lithuania; however, the Soviet leader backtracked after Brazauskas demanded an exorbitant sum as compensation. Meanwhile, the Soviets were rapidly losing control as Lithuanians were sabotaging conscription to the Soviet Armed Forces, refused to acknowledge Soviet officials sent from Moscow, and started issuing their own identification documents.
Blockade
On 13 April, Gorbachev and Nikolai Ryzhkov (USSR's prime minister) issued an ultimatum to Lithuania, demanding that the country revoke the independence declaration and restore the supremacy of the Soviet laws within two days, and threatening an embargo on produce paid for by freely convertible currency if it refused. Hardliners within the CPSU were nudging towards a coup d'état; initially, Gorbachev was open to consider such a scenario, but later dismissed such calls. Gorbachev also reportedly thought about a full-scale military invasion or assumption of direct control of Lithuania from Moscow, but ultimately also dismissed these ideas. Therefore, Gorbachev decided to try an economic blockade instead, hoping to instigate a popular revolt against the Lithuanian leadership and force it into rescinding the independence declaration. This solution, as formalised in an order of the USSR Council of Ministers on 17 April, was chosen despite the fact that just the previous month, Yuri Maslyukov (director of Gosplan, the Soviet central planning committee) had assured the government that an embargo would not happen, as he thought it would be too detrimental to both sides.
Lithuania did not respond within the time allocated; however, on 18 April, the Supreme Council of Lithuania tried to prevent the embargo with a declaration whereby it voluntarily refrained from adopting new laws, pending what Lithuanian officials called "preliminary consultations" between Lithuania and the Soviet Union. The Soviets were unimpressed, and on 18 April, at 21:25 (EEST), the Kremlin launched the blockade by stopping supplies to the Mažeikiai oil refinery.
Initially, the supply of 40–60 types of raw materials and other products were cut off. Notably, the supply of oil was halted and gas deliveries decreased by 84%. The USSR also suspended the movement of goods and restricted sales of fuel. The blockade worsened a few days later, when the USSR stopped supplying coal, electricity, paper, foodstuffs, and pharmaceuticals, including the most essential drugs and vaccines for hospitals. Additionally, the Soviet Union also limited access to the port in Klaipėda and blocked Lithuania's bank accounts. Borders were closed and foreigners forbidden from entering. The military took control of some of the printing offices.
Almost immediately, the embargo impacted the everyday lives of citizens. Prices in the shops jumped around threefold, that assuming there was anything to buy at all. This was exacerbated by delays in paying salaries and rationing of basic foodstuffs. Kommersant reported that a canister of petrol, which would cost 8 roubles in normal times, spiked to 50 roubles in less than a week, though some Lithuanians say petrol prices stayed at the usual rate of 20–30 kopecks per litre. Whatever the case, gasoline was rationed to 20 litres per person, and queues to petrol stations reached several kilometres in length. Public transport was forced to reduce the frequency of service. As electricity and paper were lacking, broadcasting and newspaper printing were also limited.
According to M. Gaškienė, who was responsible for coordination of food supply chains within Lithuania, the only factories which were not impacted by the effects of embargo were the ones that still were under direct control of the Soviet Union. That said, the embargo still damaged the Soviets, as hundreds of Soviet-owned enterprises had difficulties to operate in blockade conditions. In particular, some of the exports that were primarily produced in Lithuania (such as vacuum cleaner parts, pneumatic brakes, TV tubes, and black boxes) could not be brought back to the Soviet Union. Also, as the Mažeikiai oil refinery, which has not received any loads of oil, had to stop its operations, not only could the Soviet Union not extract profits from oil products, but also, oil supply was cut for Kaliningrad Oblast, which effectively became an exclave of the USSR between Lithuania and Poland. Electricity supply that would normally flow through Lithuania was also severed.
Political negotiations
Soviet efforts to isolate Lithuania's problem from the world and to undermine confidence in the cause for independence largely backfired. While support for Landsbergis dropped from 45% to 28% during the months of the blockade, people became even more united in opposition to the Soviet Union. Stasis Žemaitis, a worker from Marijampolė, committed self-immolation in protest of the embargo.
Western countries' reaction, however, was rather cool. On 20 April, François Mitterrand, President of France, and Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany, urged Lithuania to temporarily suspend the independence restoration process and asked to negotiate with Moscow. Meanwhile, the then prime minister Kazimira Prunskienė visited Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Ottawa, seeking economic and political support. On 3 May, she met President George H. W. Bush and then, from 9 to 11 May, she talked to the prime minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, Mitterrand, and Kohl. American and British leaders expressed only limited support for Lithuanians and urged to look for a compromise with the Soviets. Lithuanian officials were accepted warmly, but only as private guests.