The First World War sent shockwaves across the world, leading to the dissolution of some of the largest European monarchies. In Lithuania, it took some time for the Germans to form an understanding of what the country was when they first occupied the Lithuanian territory in 1915. This awareness came about later, when Lithuanian public activists became increasingly vociferous in their demands for the establishment of an independent Lithuanian State. At the end of the First World War, a combination of favourable internal and external circumstances and, most importantly, the manifestation of political will put Lithuania on the map of Europe once again.