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Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania

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Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania

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Initially inhabited by fragmented Baltic tribes, in the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of Lithuania on 6 July 1253.After his assassination in 1263, pagan Lithuania was a target of the Christian crusades of the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. Siege of Pilėnai is noted for the Lithuanians' heroic defense against the intruders. Despite the devastating century-long struggle with the Orders, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded rapidly, overtaking former Slavic principalities of Kievan Rus'.

On 22 September 1236, the Battle of Saulė between Samogitians and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword took place close to Šiauliai. The Livonian Brothers were smashed during it and their further conquest of the Balts lands were stopped.[32] The battle inspired rebellions among the Curonians, Semigallians, Selonians, Oeselians, tribes previously conquered by the Sword-Brothers. Some thirty years' worth of conquests on the left bank of Daugava were lost. In 2000, the Lithuanian and Latvian parliaments declared 22 September to be the Day of Baltic Unity.

According to the legend, Grand Duke Gediminas was hunting near the Vilnia River, tired after the successful hunt, he settled in for the night and dreamed of a huge Iron Wolf standing on top a hill and howling as strong and loud as a hundred wolves. Krivis (pagan priest) Lizdeika interpreted the dream that the Iron Wolf represents Vilnius Castles. Gediminas, obeying the will of gods, built the city, and gave it the name Vilnius – from the stream of the Vilnia River.

Lithuanians crushing the Golden Horde during the Battle of Blue Waters

Vytis with Columns of Gediminas (15th century)

In 1362 or 1363, Grand Duke Algirdas marched between lower Dnieper and Southern Bug. First, Algirdas captured remaining territories of the Principality of Chernigov – the bulk of the territory, including the capital in Bryansk, fell under Lithuanian control around 1357–1358. The Lithuanians then attacked Korshev (Коршов), an unidentified fortress located in the upper reaches of the Bystraya Sosna River, tributary of the Don River. It is believed that Algirdas further conquered territories of the former Principality of Pereslavl. The area belonged to Crimean ulus which was engaged in a campaign against New Sarai and could not organize effective resistance. Three Tatar beys of Podolia gathered an army to resist the invasion.Lithuanians smashed the Golden Horde forces during the Battle of Blue Waters and stopped its further expansion in the present-day Ukraine. The victory brought the city of Kiev and a large part of present-day Ukraine, including sparsely populated Podolia and Dykra, under the control of the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The duchy also gained access to the Black Sea. Algirdas left his son Vladimir in Kiev. After taking Kiev, Lithuania became a direct neighbor and rival of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

By the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia.[39] The geopolitical situation between the west and the east determined the multicultural and multi-confessional character of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The ruling elite practised religious tolerance and Chancery Slavonic language was used as an auxiliary language to the Latin for official documents.

In 1385, the Grand Duke Jogaila accepted Poland's offer to become its king. Jogaila embarked on gradual Christianization of Lithuania and established a personal union between Poland and Lithuania. It implied that Lithuania, the fiercely independent land, was one of the last paganareas of Europe to adopt Christianity.

Battle of Grunwald and Vytautas the Great in the centre

After two civil wars, Vytautas the Great became the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1392. During his reign, Lithuania reached the peak of its territorial expansion, centralization of the state began, and the Lithuanian nobility became increasingly prominent in state politics. In the great Battle of the Vorskla River in 1399, the combined forces of Tokhtamysh and Vytautas were defeated by the Mongols. Thanks to close cooperation, the armies of Lithuania and Poland achieved a great victory over the Teutonic Knights in 1410 at the Battle of Grunwald, one of the largest battles of medieval Europe.

In January 1429, at the Congress of Lutsk Vytautas received the title of King of Lithuania with the backing of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, but the envoys who were transporting the crown were stopped by Polish magnates in autumn of 1430. Another crown was sent, but Vytautas died in the Trakai Island Castle several days before it reached Lithuania. He was buried in the Cathedral of Vilnius.

After the deaths of Jogaila and Vytautas, the Lithuanian nobility attempted to break the union between Poland and Lithuania, independently selecting Grand Dukes from the Jagiellon dynasty. But, at the end of the 15th century, Lithuania was forced to seek a closer alliance with Poland when the growing power of the Grand Duchy of Moscow threatened Lithuania's Russian principalities and sparked the Muscovite–Lithuanian Warsand the Livonian War.

During the Battle of Orsha in 1514 Lithuanians hopelessly trounced the Grand Duchy of Moscow forces

On 8 September 1514, Battle of Orsha between Lithuanians, commanded by the Grand Hetman Konstanty Ostrogski, and Muscovites was fought. According to Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii by Sigismund von Herberstein, the primary source for information on the battle, the much smaller army of Poland–Lithuania (under 30,000 men) defeated a force of 80,000 Muscovite soldiers, capturing their camp and commander. The battle destroyed a military alliance against Lithuania and Poland. Thousands of Muscovites were captured as prisoners and used as laborers in the Lithuanian manors, while Konstanty Ostrogski delivered the captured Muscovite flags to the Cathedral of Vilnius.

The Livonian War was ceased for ten years with a Truce of Yam-Zapolsky signed on 15 January 1582 according to which the already Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth recovered Livonia, Polotsk and Velizh, but transferred Velikiye Luki to the Tsardom of Russia. The truce was extended for twenty years in 1600, when a diplomatic mission to Moscow led by Lew Sapieha concluded negotiations with Tsar Boris Godunov.[46] The truce was broken when the Poles invaded Muscovy in 1605.

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Lithuanian cuisine features the products suited to the cool and moist northern climate of Lithuania: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, berries, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialties. Fish dishes are very popular in the coastal region. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with Northern Europe, Lithuanian cuisine has some similarities to Scandinavian cuisine. Nevertheless, it has its own distinguishing features, which were formed by a variety of influences during the country's long and difficult history. Dairy products traditionally is an important part of Lithuanian cuisine - white cottage cheese (varškės sūris), curd (varškė), soured milk (rūgpienis), sour cream (grietinė), butter (sviestas), kastinis - sour cream butter. Traditional meat products are usually seasoned, matured and smoked - smoked sausages (dešros), lard (lašiniai), skilandis, smoked ham (kumpis). Soups (sriubos) - boletus soup, cabbage soup, beer soup, milk soup and various kinds of porages (košės) are part of tradition and daily diet. Freshwater fish, herring, wild berries and mushrooms, honey are highly popular diet to this day.

One of the oldest and most fundamental Lithuanian food products was and is rye bread. Rye bread is eaten every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bread played an important role in family rituals and agrarian ceremonies.

Lithuanians, Poles, Jews, and other nations which lived in Grand Duchy of Lithuania share many dishes and beverages. Namely, similar versions of: dumplings (koldūnai, kreplach or pierogi), doughnuts (spurgos or pączki), and lietiniai, sklindžiai (blini). German traditions also influenced Lithuanian cuisine, introducing pork and potato dishes, such as potato pudding (kugelis or kugel) and potato sausages (vėdarai), as well as the baroque tree cake known as Šakotis. The most exotic of all the influences is Eastern (Karaite) cuisine, and the dishes kibinai and čeburekai are popular in Lithuania. Lithuanian noblemen usually hired French chefs - French cuisine influence came to Lithuania in this way .

Balts were using mead(midus) for thousands of years. Beer(alus) is the most common alcoholic beverage. Lithuania has a long farmhouse beer tradition, first mentioned in 11th century chronicles. Beer was brewed for ancient Baltic festivities and rituals. Farmhouse brewing survived to a greater extent in Lithuania than anywhere else, and through accidents of history the Lithuanians then developed a commercial brewing culture from their unique farmhouse traditions.Lithuania is top 5 by consumption of beer per capita in Europe in 2015, counting 75 active breweries, 32 of them are microbreweries. The microbrewery scene in Lithuania has been growing in later years, with a number of bars focusing on these beers popping up in Vilnius and also in other parts of the country.

8 Lithuanian restaurants are listed in White Guide Baltic Top 30

Cepelinai, a potato-based dumpling dish characteristic of Lithuanian cuisine with meat, curd or mushrooms.

The pink-colored cold beetroot soup šaltibarščiai. Often eaten with a hot boiled potato, sour cream and dill in summer.

Skilandis is a Lithuanian matured sausage made of meat, fat, salt, pepper and garlic.

Kibinai filled with mutton and onion are popular with Karaiteethnic minority, particularly in Trakai.

Home made curd - varškė. Curd is very popular as an ingredient and part of the desserts.

Kūčiukai is a traditional Lithuanian dish served on Kūčios, the traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

Šakotis, a spit cake. One of the main attributes of the Lithuanian feast.

Traditional Lithuanian beer has an earthy and yeasty flavour, rich color of the clay or straw.

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Lithuania is located in northern-eastern Europe Note and covers an area of 65,200 km² (25,200 sq mi).[131]It lies between latitudes 53° and 57° N, and mostly between longitudes 21° and 27° E (part of the Curonian Spit lies west of 21°). It has around 99 kilometres (61.5 mi) of sandy coastline, only about 38 kilometres (24 mi) of which face the open Baltic Sea, less than the other two Baltic Sea countries. The rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Lithuania's major warm-water port, Klaipėda, lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian: Kuršių marios), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The country's main and largest river, the Nemunas River, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping.

The Nemunas (Nieman) River between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast.

Lithuania lies at the edge of the North European Plain. Its landscape was smoothed by the glaciers of the last ice age, and is a combination of moderate lowlands and highlands. Its highest point is Aukštojas Hill at 294 metres (965 ft) in the eastern part of the country. The terrain features numerous lakes (Lake Vištytis, for example) and wetlands, and a mixed forest zone covers over 33% of the country.

After a re-estimation of the boundaries of the continent of Europe in 1989, Jean-George Affholder, a scientist at the Institut Géographique National (French National Geographic Institute), determined that the geographic centre of Europe was in Lithuania, at 54°54′N 25°19′E, 26 kilometres (16 mi) north of Lithuania's capital city of Vilnius.[132] Affholder accomplished this by calculating the centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe.

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Our country is in the South-West of Europe. It is located on the Iberian peninsula. It is the largest country in Southern Europe. Spain's capital and largest city  is Madrid.

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The typycal food in Spain is paella

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In Spain there are many different types of costumes, although the most well known is the Andalusian one.

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Important cities in our country are Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao and Málaga.
This is Barcelona:

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Some of our famous buildings are La Alhambra in Granada, La Giralda in Seville, La Mezquita de Córdoba, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, etc.
This is La Mezquita de Córdoba:

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If any one thing symbolizes the fieriness and passion of Spanish culture, it is its traditional music and dance, although there is no one form. Both are as varied as the country's culinary repertoire, influenced by the varied cultures that settled the region. Yet, if there is one genre that symbolizes Spanish fervor, it is flamenco, the country's chief musical export.
Flamenco music accompanies the flamenco dance, the best known of the gypsy dances.
But there are other types of music such as the  rumba catalana is similar to flamenco. Born in the Catalonian port city of Barcelona, and nurtured by that city's musicians who saw new forms of music come onto the docks, the rumba arrived from Cuba during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Catalonian performers took the Cuban rumba and molded it into their own unique style.The Celtics of northern Europe also influenced Spanish music. The music of Galicia and Asturias, both regions in northern Spain, is marked by the gaita, or bagpipes, along with drums. The jota, from Aragon in northeastern Spain, are upbeat, joyous songs, accompanied by dancing, castanets and tambourines

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Greek cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine.Contemporary Greek cookery makes wide use of vegetables, olive oil, grains, fish, wine (white and red), and meat (including lamb, poultry, veal, beef, rabbit and pork). Other important ingredients include olives, cheese, lemon juice, herbs, bread and yoghurt. The most commonly used grain is wheat; barley is also used. Common dessert ingredients include nuts, honey, fruits, and filo pastry. It is strongly influenced by Ottoman cuisine and thus shares foods such as baklava, tzatziki, gyro, moussaka, dolmades, yuvarlakia and keftethes with the neighboring countries.

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Menemen
Menemen is a delicious Turkish style omelet
Iskender Kebap
İskender Kebap is actually döner meat.
Mantı
mantı is a hot dish served with cold yogurt and garlic. You can think of mantı as some kind of dumplings consisting of the dough and its filling.
Baklava baklava is sweet

Kuru Fasulye
haricot beans:ingredients — butter, tomatoes, and tomato paste.
Köfte
A Turkish staple, köfte is balls or patties of ground beef or lamb, and can be served stewed, in sandwiches, over salads, or plain with yogurt.
Lahmacun
This flat and crispy bread is traditionally topped with minced meat, salad, and lemon juice

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ACROPOLIS
THE GREEK PARLIAMENT
THE PALACE OF RHODES
THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS

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1. ATHENS
2. THESSALONIKI
3. OLYMPIA
4. OLD TOWN OF RHODES
5. SPARTA

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Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία), historically also known as Hellas, is a country located in Southern Europe,[ with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2016.
Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.
Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.

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The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "sky-blue-white" or the "blue-white" officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols, is based on nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the established religion of the Greek people. According to popular tradition, the nine stripes represent the nine syllables of the phrase "Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος" ("Freedom or Death"), the five blue stripes for the syllables "Ελευθερία" and the four white stripes "ή Θάνατος".The nine stripes are also said to represent the letters of the word "freedom" (Greek: ελευθερία).
Blue and white have been interpreted as symbolising the colours of the famed Greek sky and sea.

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Turkey officially the Republic of Turkey is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe.

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Tarkan
Sertab Erener
Mercan Dede
İdil Biret
Kudsi Ergüner

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İSTANBUL
İZMİR
BURSA
ANTALYA
ANKARA

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Hungary  is a country in Central Europe that covers an area of 93,030 square kilometres  in the Carpathian Basin, bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Austria to the northwest, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, and Slovenia to the west.With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union.The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world.Hungary's capital and its largest city and metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, classified as a leading global city.Major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr.
Our flag:TYPICAL FOOD:
Hungarian cuisine is a prominent feature of the Hungarian culture, just like the art of hospitality. Traditional dishes such as the world-famous Goulash (gulyás stew or gulyás soup) feature prominently. Dishes are often flavoured with paprika (ground red peppers), a Hungarian innovation.[208] The paprika powder, obtained from a special type of pepper, is one of the most common spices used in typical Hungarian cuisine. Thick, heavy Hungarian sour cream called tejföl is often used to soften the dishes' flavour. The famous Hungarian hot river fish soup called Fisherman's soup or halászlé is usually a rich mixture of several kinds of poached fish.
The csárda is the most distinctive type of Hungarian inn, an old-style tavern offering traditional cuisine and beverages. Borozó usually denotes a cozy old-fashioned wine tavern, pince is a beer or wine cellar and a söröző is a pub offering draught beer and sometimes meals. The bisztró is an inexpensive restaurant often with self-service. The büfé is the cheapest place, although one may have to eat standing at a counter. Pastries, cakes and coffee are served at the confectionery called cukrászda, while an eszpresszó is a cafeteria.

Pálinka: is a fruit brandy, distilled from fruit grown in the orchards situated on the Great Hungarian Plain. It is a spirit native to Hungary and comes in a variety of flavours including apricot (barack) and cherry (cseresznye). However, plum (szilva) is the most popular flavour. Beer: Beer goes well with many traditional Hungarian dishes. The five main Hungarian brands are: Borsodi, Soproni, Arany Ászok, Kõbányai, and Dreher.
TRADITIONAL COSTUMES AND DANCE: Old style dances dating back to the Middle Ages. Solo or couple dances accompanied by old style music, shepherd and other solo man's dances from Transylvania, and marching dances along with remnants of medieval weapon dances belong in this group.

Karikázó: a circle dance performed by women only accompanied by singing of folksongs.

Csárdás: New style dances developed in the 18–19th centuries is the Hungarian name for the national dances, with Hungarian embroidered costumes and energetic music. From the men's intricate bootslapping dances to the ancient women's circle dances, Csárdás demonstrates the infectious exuberance of the Hungarian folk dancing still celebrated in the villages.

Verbunkos: a solo man's dance evolved from the recruiting performances of the Austro-Hungarian army.

The Legényes is a men's solo dance done by the ethnic Hungarian people living in the Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania. Although usually danced by young men, it can be also danced by older men. The dance is generally performed freestyle by one dancer at a time in front of a band. Women participate in the dance by standing in lines to the side, and singing or shouting verses while the men dance. Each man performs a number of points (dance phrases), typically four to eight without repetition.
MUSIC:
Hungarian music consists mainly of traditional Hungarian folk music and music by prominent composers such as Liszt and Bartók, considered to be among the greatest Hungarian composers. Other renowned composers are Dohnányi, Franz Schmidt, Zoltán Kodály, Gabriel von Wayditch, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, László Lajtha, Franz Lehár, Imre Kálmán, Sándor Veress and Rózsa. Hungarian traditional music tends to have a strong dactylic rhythm, as the language is invariably stressed on the first syllable of each word.

Hungary has renowned composers of contemporary classical music, György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Péter Eötvös, Zoltán Kodály and Zoltán Jeney among them. One of the greatest Hungarian composers, Béla Bartók, was also among the most significant musicians of the 20th century. His music was invigorated by the themes, modes, and rhythmic patterns of the Hungarian and neighboring folk music traditions he studied, which he synthesized with influences from his contemporaries into his own distinctive style.
Architecture:

Hungary is home to the largest synagogue in Europe (Great Synagogue), built in 1859 in Moorish Revival style with a capacity of 3000 people, the largest medicinal bath in Europe (Széchenyi Medicinal Bath), completed in 1913 in Modern Renaissance Style and located in the City park, the biggest building in Hungary with its 268 metres (879 feet) length (the Parliament building), one of the largest basilicas in Europe (Esztergom Basilica), the second largest territorial abbey in the world (Pannonhalma Archabbey), and the largest early Christian necropolis outside Italy (Pécs).

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Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika), is a country in the Baltic region of northern-eastern Europe. One of the three Baltic states, it is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2017, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Lithuanians are a Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, along with Latvian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.

For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, the Kingdom of Lithuania, was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.

As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuaniaafter 50 years of Soviet occupation.

Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, a full member of the eurozone, Schengen Agreement and NATO. It is also a member of the Nordic Investment Bank, and part of Nordic-Baltic cooperation of Northern European countries. The United Nations Human Development Index lists Lithuania as a "very high human development" country.

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Republic of LithuaniaLietuvos Respublika  (Lithuanian)

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Republic of LithuaniaLietuvos Respublika  (Lithuanian)

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Flag Coat of arms

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Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai

As per the 2011 census, 77.2% of Lithuanians belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. The Church has been the majority denomination since the Christianisation of Lithuania at the end of the 14th century. The Reformation initiated by Abraomas Kulvietis did not impact Lithuania to a great extent as seen in Estonia or Latvia as generally only local Germans in the Klaipėda/Memel area turned Protestant, while Lithuanians and Poles remained Catholic, and Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians—Eastern Orthodox. Some priests actively led the resistance against the Communist regime (symbolised by the Hill of Crosses).
Residents of Lithuania by religion (2011)
Roman Catholic |  | 77.2%
Orthodox |  | 4.1%
Orthodox (Old Believers) |  | 0.8%
Lutheran |  | 0.6%
Reformed |  | 0.2%
Others |  | 0.9%
No religion |  | 6.1%
Did not specify |  | 10.1%

4.1% are Eastern Orthodox, mainly among the Russian minority. This group is distinguishable into the Eastern Orthodox Church and Old Believers.

Protestants are 0.8%, of which 0.6% are Lutheran and 0.2% are Reformed. According to Losch (1932), the Lutherans were 3.3% of the total population; they were mainly Germans in the Memel territory (now Klaipėda). There was also a tiny Reformed community (0,5%), which still persists. Protestantism has declined with the removal of the German population, and today it is mainly represented by ethnic Lithuanians throughout the northern and western parts of the country, as well as in large urban areas. Believers and clergy suffered greatly during the Soviet occupation, with many killed, tortured or deported to Siberia. Newly arriving evangelical churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990.

Lithuanian Tatars maintained Islam as their religion. 6.1% of Lithuanians have no religion.

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 Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic 1940-1990

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 Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic 1940-1990

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After the retreat of the German armed forces, the Soviets reestablished the annexation of Lithuania in 1944. Under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference of 1945, the former German Memelland, with its Baltic port Memel (Lithuanian: Klaipėda), was again transferred to Lithuania, which was now referred to as the Lithuanian SSR. Most of Memelland's German residents had fled the area in the final months of World War II.

As the front was heading towards west, in July–October 1944 the USSR took over Lithuania again. The second Soviet occupation commenced. The massive deportations to Siberia were resumed and lasted until the death of Stalin in 1953. All Lithuanian national symbols were banned. People were persecuted for using them. Under the pretext of Lithuania’s economic recovery, the Moscow authorities encouraged the migration of workers and other specialists to Lithuania with intention to further integrate Lithuania into the Soviet Union and develop country’s industry. At the same time, Lithuanians were lured to work in the USSR by promising them all the privileges of settling in a new place.

Lithuanian partisans, dressed in Lithuanian Armed Forces uniforms, persistently fought with the occupants during 1944-1953. President Jonas Žemaitis was the Chairman of the Freedom Fighters. Being heavily outnumbered, partisans have killed thousands of Red Armyand NKVD soldiers before sacrificing their lives for the independent state during the longest partisan war in modern Europe

The second Soviet occupation was accompanied by the armed resistance of the Lithuanian population, which took place in 1944-1953. It sought to restore an independent state of Lithuania, to consolidate democracy by destroying communism in the country, returning national values and the freedom of religion. People from all walks of life, different age groups and education joined the resistance. The Soviets classified them as bandits, although the Soviet occupation made Lithuanian citizens to go to the forests and fight against them with a gun in their hands.

Lithuanian partisan warfare is divided into three stages. The first stage started in summer 1944 and lasted until summer 1946. During this time, large partisan groups were created, but they lacked one unified organization. There were frequent military encounters with the Red Army. The second stage covered summer 1946 until the end of 1948. At that time, the organizational structure of the partisans was formed, and the size of the groups was reduced to 5-15 people living in bunkers. Partisans used the tactics of underground combat and organized unexpected attacks. The third stage lasted from 1949 to the end of 1953. At that time, the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters was founded under the leadership of Jonas Žemaitis (codename Vytautas). The number of people in a group fell to 3–5 people.Open encounters with the Red Army took place rarely; the guerillas used mostly sabotage and terror. Despite the fact that the guerrilla warfare did not achieve its goal of liberating Lithuania and that it resulted in more than 20,000 deaths, the armed resistance de facto demonstrated that Lithuania did not voluntarily join the USSR and it also legitimized the will of the people of Lithuania to be independent.[121]

Anti-Soviet rally in Vingis Park of about 300,000 people. Sąjūdis was a movement which led to the restoration of an Independent State of Lithuania.

Even with the suppression of partisan resistance, the Soviet government failed to stop the movement for the independence of Lithuania. The underground dissident groups were active publishing the underground press and Catholic literature. The most active participants of the movement had been Vincentas Sladkevičius, Sigitas Tamkevičius and Nijolė Sadūnaitė. In 1972, after Romas Kalanta’s public self-immolation, the unrest in Kaunas lasted for several days

Baltic Way, the human chain connecting the three Baltic capitals

The Helsinki Group, which was founded in Lithuania after the international conference in Helsinki (Finland), where the post-WWII borders were acknowledged, announced a declaration for Lithuania’s independence on foreign radio station. The dissident movement lifted up the spirit of the people and did not allow forgetting history and national values. The Helsinki Group informed the Western world about the situation in the Soviet Lithuania and violations of human rights. All these activities made Moscow to soften its grip. With the beginning of the increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities (glasnost) in the Soviet Union, on June 3, 1988, the Sąjūdis was established in Lithuania. Very soon it began to seek country's independence.Vytautas Landsber became movement's leader.The supporters of Sąjūdis joined movement's groups all over Lithuania. On 23 August 1988 a big rally took place at the Vingis Park in Vilnius. It was attended by approx. 250,000 people. A year later, on 23 August 1989 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and aiming to draw the attention of the whole world to the occupation of the Baltic States, a political demonstration, the Baltic Way, was organized The event, led by Sąjūdis, was a human chain spanning about 600 kilometers across the three Baltic capitals—Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn. The peaceful demonstration showed the desire of the people of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to break away from the USSR.

1990–present

On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence. After refusal to revocate the Act, the Soviet forces stormed the Seimas Palace, while Lithuanians irresistibly defended their democratically elected Council. The Act was the first such declaration in the USSR and later served as a model, inspiration to other Soviet republics, and strongly influenced the dissolution of the USSR.

On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence. Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to announce its secession from the USSR. But the process was not so simple. On 20 April 1990, the USSR imposed an economic blockade by stopping to deliver supplies of raw materials (primarily oil) to Lithuania. Not only the domestic industry, but also the population started feeling the lack of fuel, essential goods, and even hot water. Although, the blockade lasted for 74 days, Lithuania did not renounce the declaration of independence.

On 13 January 1991, Soviets began shooting and crushing with tanks unarmed independence supporters

Gradually, the economic relations had been restored. But the tension had peaked again in January 1991. At that time, attempts were made to carry out a coup using the Soviet Armed Forces, the Internal Army of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the USSR Committee for State Security (KGB). Because of the bad economic situation in Lithuania, the forces in Moscow thought the coup d’état will receive a strong public support. But the situation was the opposite.

People from all over Lithuania flooded to Vilnius to defend their legitimately elected Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania and independence. The coup ended with a few casualties of peaceful civilians and caused huge material loss. Not a single person who defended Lithuanian Parliament or other state institutions used a weapon, but the Soviet Army did. Soviet soldiers killed 14 people and injured hundreds. A large part of the Lithuanian population participated in the January Events.[127] Shortly after, on February 1991 Iceland became the first country to recognize the independence of Lithuania.[128] On 31 July 1991, Soviet paramilitaries killed seven Lithuanian border guards on the Belarusian border in what became known as the Medininkai Massacre.[129] On 17 September 1991, Lithuania was admitted to the United Nations.

On 25 October 1992, the citizens of Lithuania voted in the referendum to adopt the current constitution. On 14 February 1993, during the direct general elections, Algirdas Brazauskas became the first president after the restoration of independence of Lithuania. On 31 August 1993, the last units of the Soviet Army left the territory of Lithuania.[130] Since 29 March 2004, Lithuania has been part of the NATO. On 1 May 2004, it became a full-fledged member of the European Union, and a member of the Schengen Agreement on 21 December 2007.

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Of women...

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TRADITIONAL COSTUMES
of men...

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SYRTAKI
BOUZOUKI
HASAPIKO
PENTOZALI

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Our country is a transcontinental state located in the West of Europe. This is borderer than Spain, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Germany. It has important coastlines in the Atlantic, Channel, North Sea and Mediterranean. France’s capital city is Paris.

Our motto is “Liberty, Egality, Fraternity” created in the “Declaration of Human and Citizens' Rights” of 1789.

Our National anthem is the “Marseillaise”.

France is also made up of many territories located outside the European continent, commonly called overseas France. These territories have various statuses in territorial administration.

-Guadeloupe

-Martinique

-Saint-Barthélemy

-Saint-Martin

-Guyana

-Reunion

-Mayotte

-Saint Pierre and Miquelon;

- New Caledonia,

-French Polynesia

-Wallis and Futuna,

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It is the national emblem of the French Republic. Its origins are ancient and go back to the three colours of freedom, the French Revolution of July 14th 1789, (identical to the three colours of the American Revolution and to those of the flag of the United States). The blue and red would have as origin the colours of the city of Paris, those of the National Guard, colours which would surround the white of the royalty, thus identical to the three colours used by the various French flags of the Ancien Régime.

The colours blue, white, red had long been used together or separately as a symbol of the authority of the State in France.

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French cuisine refers to various gastronomic styles derived from the French tradition.

Different styles of cooking are practiced and there are many regional traditions, so it is difficult to speak of French cuisine as a unified whole.

There are many regional dishes that have developed to the point of being (re)known at national level. Many dishes, originally regional, have also multiplied across the country with some variations from one region to another. Agricultural products such as cheese, wine, meat, etc. occupy an exceptional place in French cuisine, with many regional products bearing a quality label such as that of organic farming or an appellation protection such as the “appellation d'origine contrôlée” or the “protected geographical indication”.

Some famous gastronomes campaigned for French cuisine to become part of humanity's intangible cultural heritage. President Nicolas Sarkozy supported this request and the "gastronomic meal of the French", as proposed by the European Institute of Food History and Cultures, has been added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In France we can eat for example:

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Boeuf Bourguignon, Bouillabaisse, Oysters, Axoa, Galettes, Raclette, Choucroute, Ratatouille, Cheese, Wine and Bread

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Important cities are Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg

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-Opéra Garnier:
This Opera is a French public institution whose history extends, under various names, from the Ancien Régime (1669) to the present day.

-Château de Versailles:
This Castle was the one of Kings of France Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. The king and the courtresided there permanently from May 6, 1682 to October 6, 1789.

-Mont Saint-Michel:
It is an abbey classified as a historic monument by

the 1862 list, based on the Mount Saint-Michel.

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In the order: "Etretat Cliffs", "Dune du Pyla", "Mont Blanc"

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OUR MUSIC
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OUR MUSIC
Tarkan 
Sertab Erener
Mercan Dede
İdil Biret
Kudsi Ergüner
FAMOUS CITIES
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FAMOUS CITIES
İSTANBUL
İZMİR 
BURSA
ANTALYA
ANKARA

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           SPAIN

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THIS IS OUR COUNTRY
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Elena Falcó Verdú
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THIS IS OUR COUNTRY
Our country is in the South-West of Europe. It is located on the Iberian peninsula. It is the largest country in Southern Europe. Spain's capital and largest city  is Madrid.
OUR FLAG
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OUR FLAG
TYPICAL FOOD
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Elena Falcó Verdú
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TYPICAL FOOD
The typycal food in Spain is paella 
TRADITIONAL COSTUMES
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TRADITIONAL COSTUMES
In Spain there are many different types of costumes, although the most well known is the Andalusian one.
FAMOUS CITIES
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FAMOUS CITIES
Important cities in our country are Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao and Málaga.
This is Barcelona:
SOME OF OUR FAMOUS BUILDINGS
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SOME OF OUR FAMOUS  BUILDINGS
Some of our famous buildings are La Alhambra in Granada, La Giralda in Seville, La Mezquita de Córdoba, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, etc.
This is La Mezquita de Córdoba:
OUR MUSIC
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Elena Falcó Verdú
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OUR MUSIC
If any one thing symbolizes the fieriness and passion of Spanish culture, it is its traditional music and dance, although there is no one form. Both are as varied as the country's culinary repertoire, influenced by the varied cultures that settled the region. Yet, if there is one genre that symbolizes Spanish fervor, it is flamenco, the country's chief musical export.
Flamenco music accompanies the flamenco dance, the best known of the gypsy dances.
But there are other types of music such as the  rumba catalana is similar to flamenco. Born in the Catalonian port city of Barcelona, and nurtured by that city's musicians who saw new forms of music come onto the docks, the rumba arrived from Cuba during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Catalonian performers took the Cuban rumba and molded it into their own unique style.The Celtics of northern Europe also influenced Spanish music. The music of Galicia and Asturias, both regions in northern Spain, is marked by the gaita, or bagpipes, along with drums. The jota, from Aragon in northeastern Spain, are upbeat, joyous songs, accompanied by dancing, castanets and tambourines

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GREECE

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TYPICAL FOOD
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TYPICAL FOOD
Greek cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine.Contemporary Greek cookery makes wide use of vegetables, olive oil, grains, fish, wine (white and red), and meat (including lamb, poultry, veal, beef, rabbit and pork). Other important ingredients include olives, cheese, lemon juice, herbs, bread and yoghurt. The most commonly used grain is wheat; barley is also used. Common dessert ingredients include nuts, honey, fruits, and filo pastry. It is strongly influenced by Ottoman cuisine and thus shares foods such as baklava, tzatziki, gyro, moussaka, dolmades, yuvarlakia and keftethes with the neighboring countries.
TYPICAL FOOD
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TYPICAL FOOD
Menemen
Menemen is a delicious Turkish style omelet
Iskender Kebap
İskender Kebap is actually döner meat.
Mantı
mantı is a hot dish served with cold yogurt and garlic. You can think of mantı as some kind of dumplings consisting of the dough and its filling.
Baklava baklava is sweet 

Kuru Fasulye
haricot beans:ingredients — butter, tomatoes, and tomato paste.
Köfte
A Turkish staple, köfte is balls or patties of ground beef or lamb, and can be served stewed, in sandwiches, over salads, or plain with yogurt.
Lahmacun
This flat and crispy bread is traditionally topped with minced meat, salad, and lemon juice 

FAMOUS BUILDINGS
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FAMOUS BUILDINGS
ACROPOLIS
THE GREEK PARLIAMENT
THE PALACE OF RHODES
THE PALACE OF KNOSSOS
FAMOUS CITIES
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FAMOUS CITIES
1. ATHENS
2. THESSALONIKI
3. OLYMPIA
4. OLD TOWN OF RHODES
5. SPARTA



THIS IS OUR COUNTRY
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Vasiliki Liapi
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THIS IS OUR COUNTRY
Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία), historically also known as Hellas, is a country located in Southern Europe,[ with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2016.
 Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki.
Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Situated on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.

OUR FLAG
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1yr
OUR FLAG
The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "sky-blue-white" or the "blue-white" officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols, is based on nine equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There is a blue canton in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a white cross; the cross symbolises Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the established religion of the Greek people. According to popular tradition, the nine stripes represent the nine syllables of the phrase "Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος" ("Freedom or Death"), the five blue stripes for the syllables "Ελευθερία" and the four white stripes "ή Θάνατος".The nine stripes are also said to represent the letters of the word "freedom" (Greek: ελευθερία).
Blue and white have been interpreted as symbolising the colours of the famed Greek sky and sea.
TRADITIONAL COSTUMES
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TRADITIONAL COSTUMES
Of women...
TRADITIONAL
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TRADITIONAL COSTUMES
of men...
OUR MUSIC/DANCE
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OUR MUSIC/DANCE
SYRTAKI
BOUZOUKI
HASAPIKO
PENTOZALI


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HUNGARY

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OUR COUNTRY:
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OUR COUNTRY:
Hungary  is a country in Central Europe that covers an area of 93,030 square kilometres  in the Carpathian Basin, bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Austria to the northwest, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, and Slovenia to the west.With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union.The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world.Hungary's capital and its largest city and metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, classified as a leading global city.Major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. 
Our flag:TYPICAL FOOD:
 Hungarian cuisine is a prominent feature of the Hungarian culture, just like the art of hospitality. Traditional dishes such as the world-famous Goulash (gulyás stew or gulyás soup) feature prominently. Dishes are often flavoured with paprika (ground red peppers), a Hungarian innovation.[208] The paprika powder, obtained from a special type of pepper, is one of the most common spices used in typical Hungarian cuisine. Thick, heavy Hungarian sour cream called tejföl is often used to soften the dishes' flavour. The famous Hungarian hot river fish soup called Fisherman's soup or halászlé is usually a rich mixture of several kinds of poached fish. 
The csárda is the most distinctive type of Hungarian inn, an old-style tavern offering traditional cuisine and beverages. Borozó usually denotes a cozy old-fashioned wine tavern, pince is a beer or wine cellar and a söröző is a pub offering draught beer and sometimes meals. The bisztró is an inexpensive restaurant often with self-service. The büfé is the cheapest place, although one may have to eat standing at a counter. Pastries, cakes and coffee are served at the confectionery called cukrászda, while an eszpresszó is a cafeteria.
Pálinka: is a fruit brandy, distilled from fruit grown in the orchards situated on the Great Hungarian Plain. It is a spirit native to Hungary and comes in a variety of flavours including apricot (barack) and cherry (cseresznye). However, plum (szilva) is the most popular flavour. Beer: Beer goes well with many traditional Hungarian dishes. The five main Hungarian brands are: Borsodi, Soproni, Arany Ászok, Kõbányai, and Dreher.
TRADITIONAL COSTUMES AND DANCE: Old style dances dating back to the Middle Ages. Solo or couple dances accompanied by old style music, shepherd and other solo man's dances from Transylvania, and marching dances along with remnants of medieval weapon dances belong in this group.
Karikázó: a circle dance performed by women only accompanied by singing of folksongs.
Csárdás: New style dances developed in the 18–19th centuries is the Hungarian name for the national dances, with Hungarian embroidered costumes and energetic music. From the men's intricate bootslapping dances to the ancient women's circle dances, Csárdás demonstrates the infectious exuberance of the Hungarian folk dancing still celebrated in the villages.
Verbunkos: a solo man's dance evolved from the recruiting performances of the Austro-Hungarian army.
The Legényes is a men's solo dance done by the ethnic Hungarian people living in the Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania. Although usually danced by young men, it can be also danced by older men. The dance is generally performed freestyle by one dancer at a time in front of a band. Women participate in the dance by standing in lines to the side, and singing or shouting verses while the men dance. Each man performs a number of points (dance phrases), typically four to eight without repetition. 
MUSIC:
Hungarian music consists mainly of traditional Hungarian folk music and music by prominent composers such as Liszt and Bartók, considered to be among the greatest Hungarian composers. Other renowned composers are Dohnányi, Franz Schmidt, Zoltán Kodály, Gabriel von Wayditch, Rudolf Wagner-Régeny, László Lajtha, Franz Lehár, Imre Kálmán, Sándor Veress and Rózsa. Hungarian traditional music tends to have a strong dactylic rhythm, as the language is invariably stressed on the first syllable of each word.
Hungary has renowned composers of contemporary classical music, György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Péter Eötvös, Zoltán Kodály and Zoltán Jeney among them. One of the greatest Hungarian composers, Béla Bartók, was also among the most significant musicians of the 20th century. His music was invigorated by the themes, modes, and rhythmic patterns of the Hungarian and neighboring folk music traditions he studied, which he synthesized with influences from his contemporaries into his own distinctive style.
Architecture: 
Hungary is home to the largest synagogue in Europe (Great Synagogue), built in 1859 in Moorish Revival style with a capacity of 3000 people, the largest medicinal bath in Europe (Széchenyi Medicinal Bath), completed in 1913 in Modern Renaissance Style and located in the City park, the biggest building in Hungary with its 268 metres (879 feet) length (the Parliament building), one of the largest basilicas in Europe (Esztergom Basilica), the second largest territorial abbey in the world (Pannonhalma Archabbey), and the largest early Christian necropolis outside Italy (Pécs).

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LITHUANIA

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Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania
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Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Initially inhabited by fragmented Baltic tribes, in the 1230s the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, who was crowned as King of Lithuania on 6 July 1253.After his assassination in 1263, pagan Lithuania was a target of the Christian crusades of the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. Siege of Pilėnai is noted for the Lithuanians' heroic defense against the intruders. Despite the devastating century-long struggle with the Orders, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania expanded rapidly, overtaking former Slavic principalities of Kievan Rus'.


On 22 September 1236, the Battle of Saulė between Samogitians and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword took place close to Šiauliai. The Livonian Brothers were smashed during it and their further conquest of the Balts lands were stopped.[32] The battle inspired rebellions among the Curonians, Semigallians, Selonians, Oeselians, tribes previously conquered by the Sword-Brothers. Some thirty years' worth of conquests on the left bank of Daugava were lost. In 2000, the Lithuanian and Latvian parliaments declared 22 September to be the Day of Baltic Unity.


According to the legend, Grand Duke Gediminas was hunting near the Vilnia River, tired after the successful hunt, he settled in for the night and dreamed of a huge Iron Wolf standing on top a hill and howling as strong and loud as a hundred wolves. Krivis (pagan priest) Lizdeika interpreted the dream that the Iron Wolf represents Vilnius Castles. Gediminas, obeying the will of gods, built the city, and gave it the name Vilnius – from the stream of the Vilnia River.

Lithuanians crushing the Golden Horde during the Battle of Blue Waters
Vytis with Columns of Gediminas (15th century)

In 1362 or 1363, Grand Duke Algirdas marched between lower Dnieper and Southern Bug. First, Algirdas captured remaining territories of the Principality of Chernigov – the bulk of the territory, including the capital in Bryansk, fell under Lithuanian control around 1357–1358. The Lithuanians then attacked Korshev (Коршов), an unidentified fortress located in the upper reaches of the Bystraya Sosna River, tributary of the Don River. It is believed that Algirdas further conquered territories of the former Principality of Pereslavl. The area belonged to Crimean ulus which was engaged in a campaign against New Sarai and could not organize effective resistance. Three Tatar beys of Podolia gathered an army to resist the invasion.Lithuanians smashed the Golden Horde forces during the Battle of Blue Waters and stopped its further expansion in the present-day Ukraine. The victory brought the city of Kiev and a large part of present-day Ukraine, including sparsely populated Podolia and Dykra, under the control of the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The duchy also gained access to the Black Sea. Algirdas left his son Vladimir in Kiev. After taking Kiev, Lithuania became a direct neighbor and rival of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.


By the end of the 14th century, Lithuania was one of the largest countries in Europe and included present-day Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia.[39] The geopolitical situation between the west and the east determined the multicultural and multi-confessional character of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The ruling elite practised religious tolerance and Chancery Slavonic language was used as an auxiliary language to the Latin for official documents.


In 1385, the Grand Duke Jogaila accepted Poland's offer to become its king. Jogaila embarked on gradual Christianization of Lithuania and established a personal union between Poland and Lithuania. It implied that Lithuania, the fiercely independent land, was one of the last paganareas of Europe to adopt Christianity.

Battle of Grunwald and Vytautas the Great in the centre

After two civil wars, Vytautas the Great became the Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1392. During his reign, Lithuania reached the peak of its territorial expansion, centralization of the state began, and the Lithuanian nobility became increasingly prominent in state politics. In the great Battle of the Vorskla River in 1399, the combined forces of Tokhtamysh and Vytautas were defeated by the Mongols. Thanks to close cooperation, the armies of Lithuania and Poland achieved a great victory over the Teutonic Knights in 1410 at the Battle of Grunwald, one of the largest battles of medieval Europe.


In January 1429, at the Congress of Lutsk Vytautas received the title of King of Lithuania with the backing of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, but the envoys who were transporting the crown were stopped by Polish magnates in autumn of 1430. Another crown was sent, but Vytautas died in the Trakai Island Castle several days before it reached Lithuania. He was buried in the Cathedral of Vilnius.


After the deaths of Jogaila and Vytautas, the Lithuanian nobility attempted to break the union between Poland and Lithuania, independently selecting Grand Dukes from the Jagiellon dynasty. But, at the end of the 15th century, Lithuania was forced to seek a closer alliance with Poland when the growing power of the Grand Duchy of Moscow threatened Lithuania's Russian principalities and sparked the Muscovite–Lithuanian Warsand the Livonian War.

During the Battle of Orsha in 1514 Lithuanians hopelessly trounced the Grand Duchy of Moscow forces

On 8 September 1514, Battle of Orsha between Lithuanians, commanded by the Grand Hetman Konstanty Ostrogski, and Muscovites was fought. According to Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii by Sigismund von Herberstein, the primary source for information on the battle, the much smaller army of Poland–Lithuania (under 30,000 men) defeated a force of 80,000 Muscovite soldiers, capturing their camp and commander. The battle destroyed a military alliance against Lithuania and Poland. Thousands of Muscovites were captured as prisoners and used as laborers in the Lithuanian manors, while Konstanty Ostrogski delivered the captured Muscovite flags to the Cathedral of Vilnius.


The Livonian War was ceased for ten years with a Truce of Yam-Zapolsky signed on 15 January 1582 according to which the already Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth recovered Livonia, Polotsk and Velizh, but transferred Velikiye Luki to the Tsardom of Russia. The truce was extended for twenty years in 1600, when a diplomatic mission to Moscow led by Lew Sapieha concluded negotiations with Tsar Boris Godunov.[46] The truce was broken when the Poles invaded Muscovy in 1605.



Cuisine
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Cuisine

Lithuanian cuisine features the products suited to the cool and moist northern climate of Lithuania: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, berries, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialties. Fish dishes are very popular in the coastal region. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with Northern Europe, Lithuanian cuisine has some similarities to Scandinavian cuisine. Nevertheless, it has its own distinguishing features, which were formed by a variety of influences during the country's long and difficult history. Dairy products traditionally is an important part of Lithuanian cuisine - white cottage cheese (varškės sūris), curd (varškė), soured milk (rūgpienis), sour cream (grietinė), butter (sviestas), kastinis - sour cream butter. Traditional meat products are usually seasoned, matured and smoked - smoked sausages (dešros), lard (lašiniai), skilandis, smoked ham (kumpis). Soups (sriubos) - boletus soup, cabbage soup, beer soup, milk soup and various kinds of porages (košės) are part of tradition and daily diet. Freshwater fish, herring, wild berries and mushrooms, honey are highly popular diet to this day.


One of the oldest and most fundamental Lithuanian food products was and is rye bread. Rye bread is eaten every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bread played an important role in family rituals and agrarian ceremonies.
Lithuanians, Poles, Jews, and other nations which lived in Grand Duchy of Lithuania share many dishes and beverages. Namely, similar versions of: dumplings (koldūnai, kreplach or pierogi), doughnuts (spurgos or pączki), and lietiniai, sklindžiai (blini). German traditions also influenced Lithuanian cuisine, introducing pork and potato dishes, such as potato pudding (kugelis or kugel) and potato sausages (vėdarai), as well as the baroque tree cake known as Šakotis. The most exotic of all the influences is Eastern (Karaite) cuisine, and the dishes kibinai and čeburekai are popular in Lithuania. Lithuanian noblemen usually hired French chefs - French cuisine influence came to Lithuania in this way .


Balts were using mead(midus) for thousands of years. Beer(alus) is the most common alcoholic beverage. Lithuania has a long farmhouse beer tradition, first mentioned in 11th century chronicles. Beer was brewed for ancient Baltic festivities and rituals. Farmhouse brewing survived to a greater extent in Lithuania than anywhere else, and through accidents of history the Lithuanians then developed a commercial brewing culture from their unique farmhouse traditions.Lithuania is top 5 by consumption of beer per capita in Europe in 2015, counting 75 active breweries, 32 of them are microbreweries. The microbrewery scene in Lithuania has been growing in later years, with a number of bars focusing on these beers popping up in Vilnius and also in other parts of the country.


8 Lithuanian restaurants are listed in White Guide Baltic Top 30


Cepelinai, a potato-based dumpling dish characteristic of Lithuanian cuisine with meat, curd or mushrooms.

 

The pink-colored cold beetroot soup šaltibarščiai. Often eaten with a hot boiled potato, sour cream and dill in summer.

 

Skilandis is a Lithuanian matured sausage made of meat, fat, salt, pepper and garlic.

 

Kibinai filled with mutton and onion are popular with Karaiteethnic minority, particularly in Trakai.

 

Home made curd - varškė. Curd is very popular as an ingredient and part of the desserts.

 

Kūčiukai is a traditional Lithuanian dish served on Kūčios, the traditional Christmas Eve dinner.

 

Šakotis, a spit cake. One of the main attributes of the Lithuanian feast.

 

Traditional Lithuanian beer has an earthy and yeasty flavour, rich color of the clay or straw.

Geography of Lithuania
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Geography of Lithuania

Lithuania is located in northern-eastern EuropeNote and covers an area of 65,200 km2 (25,200 sq mi).[131]It lies between latitudes 53° and 57° N, and mostly between longitudes 21° and 27° E (part of the Curonian Spit lies west of 21°). It has around 99 kilometres (61.5 mi) of sandy coastline, only about 38 kilometres (24 mi) of which face the open Baltic Sea, less than the other two Baltic Sea countries. The rest of the coast is sheltered by the Curonian sand peninsula. Lithuania's major warm-water port, Klaipėda, lies at the narrow mouth of the Curonian Lagoon (Lithuanian: Kuršių marios), a shallow lagoon extending south to Kaliningrad. The country's main and largest river, the Nemunas River, and some of its tributaries carry international shipping.

The Nemunas (Nieman) River between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast.

Lithuania lies at the edge of the North European Plain. Its landscape was smoothed by the glaciers of the last ice age, and is a combination of moderate lowlands and highlands. Its highest point is Aukštojas Hill at 294 metres (965 ft) in the eastern part of the country. The terrain features numerous lakes (Lake Vištytis, for example) and wetlands, and a mixed forest zone covers over 33% of the country.


After a re-estimation of the boundaries of the continent of Europe in 1989, Jean-George Affholder, a scientist at the Institut Géographique National (French National Geographic Institute), determined that the geographic centre of Europe was in Lithuania, at 54°54′N 25°19′E, 26 kilometres (16 mi) north of Lithuania's capital city of Vilnius.[132] Affholder accomplished this by calculating the centre of gravity of the geometrical figure of Europe.

OUR Country
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Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublika), is a country in the Baltic region of northern-eastern Europe. One of the three Baltic states, it is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) to the southwest. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2017, and its capital and largest city is Vilnius. Lithuanians are a Baltic people. The official language, Lithuanian, along with Latvian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family.


For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, the King of Lithuania, and the first unified Lithuanian state, the Kingdom of Lithuania, was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighboring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.


As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of the modern Republic of Lithuania. In the midst of the Second World War, Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany. As World War II neared its end and the Germans retreated, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to declare itself independent, resulting in the restoration of an independent State of Lithuaniaafter 50 years of Soviet occupation.


Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, a full member of the eurozone, Schengen Agreement and NATO. It is also a member of the Nordic Investment Bank, and part of Nordic-Baltic cooperation of Northern European countries. The United Nations Human Development Index lists Lithuania as a "very high human development" country.

Republic of LithuaniaLietuvos Respublika (Lithuanian)
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Republic of LithuaniaLietuvos Respublika  (Lithuanian)


FlagCoat of arms
Location of Lithuania (dark green)
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Location of  Lithuania  (dark green)
Religion in Lithuania
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 Religion in Lithuania
Hill of Crosses near Šiauliai

As per the 2011 census, 77.2% of Lithuanians belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. The Church has been the majority denomination since the Christianisation of Lithuania at the end of the 14th century. The Reformation initiated by Abraomas Kulvietis did not impact Lithuania to a great extent as seen in Estonia or Latvia as generally only local Germans in the Klaipėda/Memel area turned Protestant, while Lithuanians and Poles remained Catholic, and Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians—Eastern Orthodox. Some priests actively led the resistance against the Communist regime (symbolised by the Hill of Crosses).
Residents of Lithuania by religion (2011)
Roman Catholic |  | 77.2%
Orthodox |  | 4.1%
Orthodox (Old Believers) |  | 0.8%
Lutheran |  | 0.6%
Reformed |  | 0.2%
Others |  | 0.9%
No religion |  | 6.1%
Did not specify |  | 10.1%
4.1% are Eastern Orthodox, mainly among the Russian minority. This group is distinguishable into the Eastern Orthodox Church and Old Believers.
Protestants are 0.8%, of which 0.6% are Lutheran and 0.2% are Reformed. According to Losch (1932), the Lutherans were 3.3% of the total population; they were mainly Germans in the Memel territory (now Klaipėda). There was also a tiny Reformed community (0,5%), which still persists. Protestantism has declined with the removal of the German population, and today it is mainly represented by ethnic Lithuanians throughout the northern and western parts of the country, as well as in large urban areas. Believers and clergy suffered greatly during the Soviet occupation, with many killed, tortured or deported to Siberia. Newly arriving evangelical churches have established missions in Lithuania since 1990.
Lithuanian Tatars maintained Islam as their religion. 6.1% of Lithuanians have no religion.

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic 1940-1990
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 Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic 1940-1990

After the retreat of the German armed forces, the Soviets reestablished the annexation of Lithuania in 1944. Under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference of 1945, the former German Memelland, with its Baltic port Memel (Lithuanian: Klaipėda), was again transferred to Lithuania, which was now referred to as the Lithuanian SSR. Most of Memelland's German residents had fled the area in the final months of World War II.


As the front was heading towards west, in July–October 1944 the USSR took over Lithuania again. The second Soviet occupation commenced. The massive deportations to Siberia were resumed and lasted until the death of Stalin in 1953. All Lithuanian national symbols were banned. People were persecuted for using them. Under the pretext of Lithuania’s economic recovery, the Moscow authorities encouraged the migration of workers and other specialists to Lithuania with intention to further integrate Lithuania into the Soviet Union and develop country’s industry. At the same time, Lithuanians were lured to work in the USSR by promising them all the privileges of settling in a new place.


Lithuanian partisans, dressed in Lithuanian Armed Forces uniforms, persistently fought with the occupants during 1944-1953. President Jonas Žemaitis was the Chairman of the Freedom Fighters. Being heavily outnumbered, partisans have killed thousands of Red Armyand NKVD soldiers before sacrificing their lives for the independent state during the longest partisan war in modern Europe

The second Soviet occupation was accompanied by the armed resistance of the Lithuanian population, which took place in 1944-1953. It sought to restore an independent state of Lithuania, to consolidate democracy by destroying communism in the country, returning national values and the freedom of religion. People from all walks of life, different age groups and education joined the resistance. The Soviets classified them as bandits, although the Soviet occupation made Lithuanian citizens to go to the forests and fight against them with a gun in their hands.


Lithuanian partisan warfare is divided into three stages. The first stage started in summer 1944 and lasted until summer 1946. During this time, large partisan groups were created, but they lacked one unified organization. There were frequent military encounters with the Red Army. The second stage covered summer 1946 until the end of 1948. At that time, the organizational structure of the partisans was formed, and the size of the groups was reduced to 5-15 people living in bunkers. Partisans used the tactics of underground combat and organized unexpected attacks. The third stage lasted from 1949 to the end of 1953. At that time, the Union of Lithuanian Freedom Fighters was founded under the leadership of Jonas Žemaitis (codename Vytautas). The number of people in a group fell to 3–5 people.Open encounters with the Red Army took place rarely; the guerillas used mostly sabotage and terror. Despite the fact that the guerrilla warfare did not achieve its goal of liberating Lithuania and that it resulted in more than 20,000 deaths, the armed resistance de facto demonstrated that Lithuania did not voluntarily join the USSR and it also legitimized the will of the people of Lithuania to be independent.[121]

Anti-Soviet rally in Vingis Park of about 300,000 people. Sąjūdis was a movement which led to the restoration of an Independent State of Lithuania.

Even with the suppression of partisan resistance, the Soviet government failed to stop the movement for the independence of Lithuania. The underground dissident groups were active publishing the underground press and Catholic literature. The most active participants of the movement had been Vincentas Sladkevičius, Sigitas Tamkevičius and Nijolė Sadūnaitė. In 1972, after Romas Kalanta’s public self-immolation, the unrest in Kaunas lasted for several days

Baltic Way, the human chain connecting the three Baltic capitals

The Helsinki Group, which was founded in Lithuania after the international conference in Helsinki (Finland), where the post-WWII borders were acknowledged, announced a declaration for Lithuania’s independence on foreign radio station. The dissident movement lifted up the spirit of the people and did not allow forgetting history and national values. The Helsinki Group informed the Western world about the situation in the Soviet Lithuania and violations of human rights. All these activities made Moscow to soften its grip. With the beginning of the increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities (glasnost) in the Soviet Union, on June 3, 1988, the Sąjūdis was established in Lithuania. Very soon it began to seek country's independence.Vytautas Landsber became movement's leader.The supporters of Sąjūdis joined movement's groups all over Lithuania. On 23 August 1988 a big rally took place at the Vingis Park in Vilnius. It was attended by approx. 250,000 people. A year later, on 23 August 1989 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and aiming to draw the attention of the whole world to the occupation of the Baltic States, a political demonstration, the Baltic Way, was organized The event, led by Sąjūdis, was a human chain spanning about 600 kilometers across the three Baltic capitals—Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn. The peaceful demonstration showed the desire of the people of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to break away from the USSR.


1990–present

On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence. After refusal to revocate the Act, the Soviet forces stormed the Seimas Palace, while Lithuanians irresistibly defended their democratically elected Council. The Act was the first such declaration in the USSR and later served as a model, inspiration to other Soviet republics, and strongly influenced the dissolution of the USSR.

On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence. Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to announce its secession from the USSR. But the process was not so simple. On 20 April 1990, the USSR imposed an economic blockade by stopping to deliver supplies of raw materials (primarily oil) to Lithuania. Not only the domestic industry, but also the population started feeling the lack of fuel, essential goods, and even hot water. Although, the blockade lasted for 74 days, Lithuania did not renounce the declaration of independence.

On 13 January 1991, Soviets began shooting and crushing with tanks unarmed independence supporters

Gradually, the economic relations had been restored. But the tension had peaked again in January 1991. At that time, attempts were made to carry out a coup using the Soviet Armed Forces, the Internal Army of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the USSR Committee for State Security (KGB). Because of the bad economic situation in Lithuania, the forces in Moscow thought the coup d’état will receive a strong public support. But the situation was the opposite.


People from all over Lithuania flooded to Vilnius to defend their legitimately elected Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania and independence. The coup ended with a few casualties of peaceful civilians and caused huge material loss. Not a single person who defended Lithuanian Parliament or other state institutions used a weapon, but the Soviet Army did. Soviet soldiers killed 14 people and injured hundreds. A large part of the Lithuanian population participated in the January Events.[127] Shortly after, on February 1991 Iceland became the first country to recognize the independence of Lithuania.[128] On 31 July 1991, Soviet paramilitaries killed seven Lithuanian border guards on the Belarusian border in what became known as the Medininkai Massacre.[129] On 17 September 1991, Lithuania was admitted to the United Nations.


On 25 October 1992, the citizens of Lithuania voted in the referendum to adopt the current constitution. On 14 February 1993, during the direct general elections, Algirdas Brazauskas became the first president after the restoration of independence of Lithuania. On 31 August 1993, the last units of the Soviet Army left the territory of Lithuania.[130] Since 29 March 2004, Lithuania has been part of the NATO. On 1 May 2004, it became a full-fledged member of the European Union, and a member of the Schengen Agreement on 21 December 2007.


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FRANCE

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Our country
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Our country
Our country is a transcontinental state located in the West of Europe. This is borderer than Spain, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Germany. It has important coastlines in the Atlantic, Channel, North Sea and Mediterranean. France’s capital city is Paris.
 
Our motto is “Liberty, Egality, Fraternity” created in the “Declaration of Human and Citizens' Rights” of 1789.
 
Our National anthem is the “Marseillaise”.
 
France is also made up of many territories located outside the European continent, commonly called overseas France. These territories have various statuses in territorial administration.

-Guadeloupe
-Martinique
-Saint-Barthélemy 
-Saint-Martin 
-Guyana
-Reunion
-Mayotte
-Saint Pierre and Miquelon;
- New Caledonia, 
-French Polynesia 
-Wallis and Futuna,
Our flag
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Our flag
It is the national emblem of the French Republic. Its origins are ancient and go back to the three colours of freedom, the French Revolution of July 14th 1789, (identical to the three colours of the American Revolution and to those of the flag of the United States). The blue and red would have as origin the colours of the city of Paris, those of the National Guard, colours which would surround the white of the royalty, thus identical to the three colours used by the various French flags of the Ancien Régime.

The colours blue, white, red had long been used together or separately as a symbol of the authority of the State in France. 


Typical food:
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Typical food:

French cuisine refers to various gastronomic styles derived from the French tradition.

Different styles of cooking are practiced and there are many regional traditions, so it is difficult to speak of French cuisine as a unified whole.

There are many regional dishes that have developed to the point of being (re)known at national level. Many dishes, originally regional, have also multiplied across the country with some variations from one region to another. Agricultural products such as cheese, wine, meat, etc. occupy an exceptional place in French cuisine, with many regional products bearing a quality label such as that of organic farming or an appellation protection such as the “appellation d'origine contrôlée” or the “protected geographical indication”.

Some famous gastronomes campaigned for French cuisine to become part of humanity's intangible cultural heritage. President Nicolas Sarkozy supported this request and the "gastronomic meal of the French", as proposed by the European Institute of Food History and Cultures, has been added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

In France we can eat for example: 


In France we can eat
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In France we can eat
Boeuf Bourguignon, Bouillabaisse, Oysters, Axoa, Galettes, Raclette, Choucroute, Ratatouille, Cheese, Wine and Bread
Famous french cities
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Famous french cities
Important cities are Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg
French famous monuments
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French famous monuments
-Opéra Garnier: 
This Opera is a French public institution whose history extends, under various names, from the Ancien Régime (1669) to the present day. 

-Château de Versailles: 
This Castle was the one of Kings of France Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. The king and the courtresided there permanently from May 6, 1682 to October 6, 1789.

-Mont Saint-Michel:
It is an abbey classified as a historic monument by 
the 1862 list, based on the Mount Saint-Michel.
Our landcsapes
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Our landcsapes
In the order: "Etretat Cliffs", "Dune du Pyla", "Mont Blanc"

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