The relationship between Poles and Lithuanians has been long and complex. From 1588 until 1840, the Lithuanian Statutes forbid Polish nobility from purchasing manors in Lithuanian territory, regardless of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth uniting both Poland and Lithuania. Both nations simultaneously lost their independence after the Commonwealth was partitioned in the late 18th century and they regained their independence in the wake of World War I, but hostilities over the ownership of Vilnius and the surrounding region broke out in 1920. The disputes became politically moot after the Soviet Union exercised power over both countries after World War II. Lithuania–Poland relations were tense over the Vilnius Region after Lithuanian independence in 1990. Poland was highly supportive of Lithuanian independence and became one of the first countries to recognize independent Lithuania, despite apprehensions over Lithuania's treatment of its Polish minority.