Why does Lithuania have two independence days?
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Celebration on March 11, 2019 / S. Žiūra
Lithuania has two celebrations merely a month apart that people casually refer to as “independence day” – and have a day off work.
The celebration on February 16 is actually called the State Restoration Day (Lietuvos valstybės atkūrimo diena). On February 16, 1918, the twenty members of the Council of Lithuania signed a document – the Act of Independence – declaring Lithuania a sovereign democratic state with the capital city Vilnius.
The document said Lithuania was severing statehood ties with all other nations – what it meant was primarily Russia, which ruled the land since the late 18th century, and Germany, under whose administration Lithuanians fell during World War One.