"This gripping and well-documented account of the history of the town of Vilnius and its surrounding region from the Polish ultimatum of March 1938, which forced Lithuania to open diplomatic relations with Poland, to the incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union in June 1940 is set against the evolution of Lithuania's relations with her neighbours during this crucial period. It is a major contribution to the outbreak of war in September 1939 and the subsequent evolution of Nazi Soviet relations. Prof. Liekis presents a remarkable history based on archival sources never before utilized in any English-language study. In revealing the geopolitical, ideological, economic, social and ethnic dimensions of an immense tragedy in the heart of Europe, the author provides a new perspective on the unraveling of a society and nation during the initial days of World War II as prelude to the most violent period in European history."--Publisher's description.

CHAPTER 1. THE INTERWAR LITHUANIAN REPUBLIC - BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT: History -- Economic dimension -- Political dimension -- Social dimension -- Defence potential: the main parameters -- The determinants of mobilisation -- Lithuania -- Germany -- The USSR -- Poland -- CHAPTER 2. A DEVELOPING CRISIS: Memel -- Politics in the Klaipeda District -- Flotten parade -- The Vydunas Affair: a German-Lithuanian cultural stand-off -- The beginning of the end: a creeping takeover -- The distant victory: rallying the forces -- Plans and reality -- Embraced by Nazi Germany -- CHAPTER 3. A NEW FOCUS: International politics and the shift into the Soviet sphere of influence -- The Soviet takeover of Vilnius -- The takeover of Vilnius by Lithuania -- The mobilisation -- The march on Vilnius -- The social situation -- The economic situation -- Political crimes -- The Suwalki Triangle -- CHAPTER 4. THE POLISH AND JEWISH QUESTIONS AND THE NEW AUTHORITIES: How did the Suwalki Jewish crisis start? -- The new old Polish question in Lithuania -- The Catholic Church and the Polish question in Vilnius -- The concordat with the Vatican and its application in the Vilnius area -- Possible solutions to the Vilnius issue -- Drifting into Soviet hands -- The Patterns of anti-Jewish violence prior to 1939: the Lithuanian case -- Jewish-Polish relations facing the Lithuanian Administration in Vilnius, 1939-1940 -- The failure to revive the Vilnius Jewish community in 1939 -- CHAPTER 5. THE END OF THE REPUBLIC: Growing tensions -- The Lithuanian Army and its readiness for conflict -- The beginning of the end.