On 10 October 1939, in Moscow, the Soviet Union and Lithuania sign the Mutual Assistance Treaty (and Vilnius cession), under which Moscow transfers Vilnius and its environs to Lithuania and obtains the right to station military bases on Lithuanian territory.

The document, signed by Molotov and Urbšys, provides mutual military assistance, Soviet arms and a limited number of Soviet troops. It belongs to the series of forced assistance pacts after the occupation of eastern Poland.

Instruments were exchanged in Kaunas on 16 October 1939. In June 1940 the USSR used the legal base for an ultimatum and the annexation of Lithuania.

The official text is on FOROST / treaty collections.

For Europe in 1939, 10 October marks the Soviet–Lithuanian Moscow signature.

The document is available on forost.ungarisches-institut.de.

The treaty of 10 October 1939 remains the milestone of the Vilnius–Soviet bases “exchange.”

Image: Vilnius / Moscow; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty. Treaty text: FOROST — Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty.