Background
This Soviet era anthem was imposed by the Lithuanian SSR government in 1950, replacing the outlawed national anthem of the Republic of Lithuania (Tautiška giesmė). The music was composed by Balys Dvarionas and Jonas Švedas, and the words were originally written by Antanas Venclova. After Joseph Stalin's death, the second stanza of the lyrics was changed by Vacys Reimeris 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 national 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.
The Soviet era anthem for the Lithuanian SSR is presented below:
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