Stasys Raštikis was a Lithuanian military officer, ultimately obtaining the rank of divisional general. He was the commander of the Lithuanian Army from September 21, 1934, to April 23, 1940.
Stasys Raštikis
Raštikis inspects Lithuanian troops
Raštikis (second from left) stands behind President Smetona during a military ceremony in Tauragė in August 1937
Raštikis with the Lithuanian Armed Forces flag during a ceremony in 1939
The Lithuanian–Soviet War or Lithuanian–Bolshevik War was fought between newly independent Lithuania and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in the aftermath of World War I. It was part of the larger Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919. The offensive followed the retreat of German troops and sought to establish Soviet republics in Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and link up with the German Revolution. By the end of December 1918 Soviet forces reached Lithuanian borders. Largely unopposed, they occupied one town after another and by the end of January 1919 controlled about two thirds of the Lithuanian territory. In February, the Soviet advance was stopped by Lithuanian and German volunteers, who prevented the Soviets from capturing Kaunas, the temporary capital of Lithuania. From April 1919, the Lithuanian war went parallel with the Polish–Soviet War. Poland had territorial claims over Lithuania, especially the Vilnius Region; these tensions spilt over into the Polish–Lithuanian War.
Soviet prisoners of war in a Lithuanian camp. As of December 1, 1919, the Lithuanians held 1,773 Soviet prisoners.
Lithuanian partisan riflemen, led by Petras Šiaudinis, who fought against the Polish military in Lithuania, 1920
Grenadiers of the Vilnius battalion marching to the war front against the Bolsheviks near Kalkūnai, 1919