The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was a Soviet republic that existed from 1940 to 1990. It was established as a puppet state after the Soviet army occupied Lithuania in June 1940 based on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Between 1941-1944 it was dissolved during the German occupation of the Soviet Union, but Soviet rule was re-established after the Germans retreated in 1944-1945. Lithuania remained under Soviet rule for nearly 50 years, during which time the Soviets made reforms to make Lithuania permanently dependent on the Soviet Union politically and economically.