On March 11, Lithuania celebrates the Day of Restoration of Independence (lit. Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo diena), which, like the Day of Restoration of the Lithuanian State, is the main public holiday of the country.
On February 16, 1918, the Declaration of Independence of Lithuania was signed, which expressed the desire of the Lithuanian nation to create a democratic state. In honor of this event, the holiday — Day of Restoration of the Lithuanian State was established.
In 1940, Lithuania came under the control of the Soviet Union as a result of the signing of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (Molotov - Ribbentrop Pact) and its secret protocol. And a year later, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union, as a result of which Lithuania went to Germany.
During the bloody period of the Holocaust, the Nazis and their Lithuanian henchmen exterminated almost 190 thousand Lithuanian Jews, which amounted to 91% of the pre-war Jewish community. In 1944, after the expulsion of the German occupiers, the Soviet Union restored Lithuania to the status of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.
The movement to restore national independence became especially active in Lithuania in the 1980s, as in other Baltic Republics. On March 11, 1990, the Supreme Council of Lithuania decided to restore the independence of the Republic of Lithuania. Lithuania thus became the first Soviet republic to declare its independence.
Before the start of the global crisis of 2008–2009, the Lithuanian economy developed rapidly, the Republic recorded economic growth indicators on an equal basis with some Western countries. In 2009, Vilnius was named the European Capital of Culture, and Lithuania celebrated the millennium of its name.
On March 11, in honor of the holiday, state flags are hung in all official institutions of Lithuania, ceremonial events with the participation of government and public representatives, concerts and various festive events are held in the main squares of the cities.