Anthem of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic

The State Anthem of the Lithuanian SSR (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinės Respublikos himnas) was the anthem of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic under the Soviet Union.

This Soviet era anthem was imposed by the Lithuanian SSR government in 1950, substituted for the outlawed national anthem of the Republic of Lithuania (Tautiška giesmė). The music was composed by Balys Dvarionas and Jonas Švedas, and the original lyrics authored by Antanas Venclova. After Joseph Stalin's death, Vacys Reimeris changed the second stanza of the lyrics to remove mention of Stalin. The second stanza lyrics were changed to state that Lenin had lit the path to freedom, helped by the Russian people, led by the party (Reimeris changed the word "Stalin" to "party") and exhorted the Lithuanian people to work with peoples of the other Soviet Republics. This Soviet era anthem was confirmed in Article 169 of the 1978 Constitution of the Lithuanian SSR (this is the version presented below). In 1988, the official anthem of the Republic of Lithuania (Tautiška giesmė) was once again openly utilized as the Lithuanian anthem, and its status as the national anthem was restored by the independent Lithuanian government in 1992 and is still used today.

The Soviet era anthem for the Lithuanian SSR is presented below:

* The original lyrics by Antanas Venclova contained the line "Mus Stalinas veda į laimę ir galią" (modified by Vacys Reimeris as part of the Soviet de-Stalinization campaign).

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