Armed Anti-Soviet Resistance in Lithuania 1944-1953

This bachelor thesis discusses in great detail the anti-Soviet military resistance in Lithuania between years 1944 and 1953. It introduces the guerrilla movement, its structure, chronology, tactics, geographical location and development. It also defines, who were its members; the reasons that led them to the uneasy choice of life in the underground; their age, nationality, social structure, etc. On the same note, it also describes methods used by particular Soviet law-enforcement agencies in their fight against the "banditism" (that is, against the guerrillas) and in enforcing "Soviet law". It also covers a chapter on active resistance in the whole region, focusing on comparison with Latvian, Estonian and partly also Ukrainian guerrilla movements and their specifics. Guerrilla warfare and the fight of Lithuanian guerrillas (also called "forest brothers"- miško broliai) against sovietization of the country after the reinstatement of the soviet dominion in 1944 is significant and controversial topic of contemporary historiography. The discussions of the topic and the research in this area is often liable to political views and ideologies. For this reason, the bachelor thesis also explores the picture of guerrillas as seen by contemporary Lithuanian and Soviet historiography, which may also cover some..