Basketball has been the great passion of this country since the 1920s, when Frank Lubin played for the University of California team. It was first invaded by Germany in the First World War then for Poland later the Soviet Union took the territory without meeting resistance But with the outbreak of the Second World War, the Nazis controlled the country and many young people joined the Lithuanian Jewish extermination squads finally after the victory of the Soviet Union at the end of the war, it took control of the country again until its independence in 1988.īut, apart from the horror of war and a painful wake of death, at the beginning of the last century, another foreign force took over Lithuanian society, but for the better. Much of the twentieth century, this country spent it being annexed to different powers. At the World Cup in Italy 90, a unified German team raised the cup, which was a tremendous help to rebuild an entire nation, and therefore, at the opening ceremony of the 1991 Olympics, there was a lot of expectation as several countries were going to parade for the first time with their own flag.Īmong those nations was tiny Lithuania, which with just three million people, had become independent after 50 years of Soviet control. This meant that many nations became independent from Russia and began a somewhat chaotic transition, but that little by little, it returned to unite countries that for decades were divided. In 1989 the Berlin Wall fell and with this came the end of the Soviet Union. The early 1990s were a turbulent and changeful time for Europe.

Lithuania grateful dead