Maintaining the integrity of the nation state was and is a long and continuous process for Lithuania. The three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, expressed their desire for independence almost at the same time in 1918, when the European empires began to fall apart at the end of the First World War. However, the way in which they obtained their sovereign status is different.
Establishing a state of Lithuania
Historians still disagree about when Lithuanian statehood first became a reality. Many assume that this happened during the reign of Grand Duke Mindaugas (1236-1263), who was later crowned king by the Pope. Others argue that this must have happened much earlier, in the ninth century, or at least in the twelfth century, when Lithuanian military power was at its peak. They invaded remote Russian and Polish areas and successfully fought the Teutonic Knights. Since there are no previous known facts regarding the founding of a separate state, July 6, the day Mindaugas was crowned in 1253, is celebrated as the day the state was founded.
Meanwhile, the Latvians and Estonians failed to unite before the German knights’ attacks began. As a result, one tribe after another came under the authority of the German knights. In 1227, the entire Estonian territory was conquered, while one Latvian tribe, the Semigalliers, resisted until 1292.
According to Estonian historians, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania stood in the way of Germany’s conquest of all Baltic territories. Although the enslaved tribes revolted many times in an attempt to overthrow their various conquerors and even came to the aid of the rebellious Lithuanians, the Latvians and Estonians proved unable to push back their conquerors, leaving them in slavery for another seven centuries. lived.
The fate of Mindaugas, the only Lithuanian king ever, was tragic. His rivals murdered him in 1263. But the state he founded survived, survived a difficult period of bloody unrest, and grew stronger. The growth of its power and authority was clearly visible during the reign of Grand Duke Gediminas (1316-1341), which began with the Gediminas dynasty. He is also considered the founder of the capital Vilnius and invited craftsmen and traders from Europe to live and work there, offering good business conditions.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania reached the height of its power during the time of Grand Duke Vytautas (1392-1430). At that time, his country’s territory expanded to the Black Sea and to the outskirts of Moscow in the east. The joint Lithuanian and Polish armies, led by Vytautas and the Polish king Wladislaus II Jagiello, defeated the Knightly Teutonic Order at Grünwald in 1410. The victory ended the threat to the country from the west, thus creating the so-called Drang nach Osten, the German advance to the east was halted.
The successors of Vytautas the Great were not so brave and cunning, which created a difficult situation in the country. Because the country was a natural border between expanding forces from the east and west, Lithuania strengthened peace and stability in Eastern Europe, but also suffered great losses and damage. Between 1700 and 1721, during the Northern War, foreign armies destroyed towns and villages, there was famine and an outbreak of plague (the country lost about 40 percent of its inhabitants).
Internal conflict and anarchy damaged the combined state of Lithuania and Poland (the Republic of Two Nations), which was established at the Union of Lublin in 1569. Lithuania became increasingly weak, while its neighbors Russia, Prussia and Austria grew stronger. In 1795 they completed the division of the Baltic countries and Lithuania was under the rule of the Russian Tsar for more than a hundred years.
Attempts to break away from Tsarist Russia
Neither the Lithuanians nor the Poles had reconciled themselves to the situation, and attempts were made to overthrow the foreign occupier’s rule. In 1831 and 1863, powerful uprisings rocked the Russian Empire, but these uprisings were brutally suppressed, killing everyone who took part in the resistance. Their families and supporters were deported by the thousands to regions near the Volga River and to Siberia.
The Russian authorities increased repression after each failed attempt for freedom. In 1832, Vilnius University, which had been founded in 1579, was closed. After the 1863 uprising, hundreds of Russian settlers were brought to Lithuania to start a life on the farms whose owners had been exiled. An intensive Russification began. Publications in the Latin alphabet were banned, the Catholic Church was persecuted, and all organized activities were suppressed.
Despite the reprisals, resistance continued, said it in other forms. The armed struggle was replaced by cultural resistance. This was expressed through the promotion and protection of national culture, and it soon proved far more effective than an unequal armed confrontation.
From 1863 onwards the struggle came under pressure due to another problem: a conflict of interests between Poland and Lithuania. The first wanted a continuation of the old Lithuanian-Polish state, which was supported by most Lithuanian nobles, who called themselves gente lituanus, natione polonus. Another part of society, including the leaders of the rebellion Kostas Kalinauskas and the priest Antanas Mackevičius, supported a sovereign Lithuania.
They understood that the time of supranational imperial power was over, and that with it a restored republic of two nations would be a Polish state, while Lithuanians would sooner or later lose their national identity, language and traditions. The process, which began shortly after the Union of Lublin in the 16th century, had been going on for some time. The nobility, the middle class and the landowners looked up to Poland. Until the 1863 uprising, all civil servants in Lithuania used the Polish language (until they were replaced by Russians). The country lost most of its intellectual upper class. They lost contact with the peasant population who still adhered to their national identity. Furthermore, some of the nobles were against the idea of a sovereign Lithuania. The rural elite came to the cities to take the place of the previous leaders. In fact, Lithuania had to fight on two fronts: against Russification and against Polonization.
The fate of the Latvians and Estonians took a different turn. After being conquered by the Danes, Swedes and Poland, they also ended up under Imperial Russia (Estonia in 1710, Latvia a little later). Three provinces, which were founded on their territory, had wide autonomy and exceptional freedoms, but only the German landlords, who lived there and on whose estates the local peasants worked as slaves, benefited from this.
Although the Germans made up a negligible part of the population, they controlled the police , the judiciary, the church, the schools, the cities and the economy. Because Protestantism was the prevailing religion, education, culture and folk art received more attention. German landowners published and distributed the first books in Latvian and started collecting Estonian folk songs. Priests refused to perform Christian marriage if the young couple could neither read nor write. German rule saved the inhabitants from Russification, while attempts to introduce German culture failed.
At the request of the German barons, slavery was abolished between 1817 and 1819 (almost half a century earlier than in Lithuania). Since neither the Latvians nor the Estonians rebelled against the Tsarist rules (only against the barons) and they adhered en masse to the old Orthodox faith, the Tsar considered them loyal and trustworthy subjects of the empire. They were allowed to set up numerous economic and cultural organizations. There were also no restrictions imposed on publishing books and newspapers.
Music festivals were important events that promoted culture. The first Estonian music festival was held in Tartu in 1869, with 40 choirs with almost 800 singers participating. At the 1 911 festival in Tallinn, 800 choirs with 12,000 singers already participated. The first music festival in Latvia took place in Riga in 1873, while the first festival in Lithuania took place only in 1924 (after independence).
Despite the difficult struggle against Russification and Polonization, the Lithuanian national movement grew. In 1883, the first periodical magazine in Lithuanian was founded called Aura. It was printed in East Prussia and smuggled into the country from there. The publishers and contributors, Jonas Basanavičius, Jonas Šliūpas and others, called themselves the lovers of Lithuania. They urged their compatriots to respect their native language and to take an interest in the country’s history. Between 1889 and 1905, the illegally published and distributed Varpas continued this work. This publication by Vincas Kudirka and his allies dealt not only with nationalist, but also with democratic ideas. In 1898 she published Kudirka’s Tautika giesmė (The National Anthem), which clearly states the idea of a national state: ,May our love for our own country continue to burn in our hearts, for the sake of the country we will remain together., It is still the national anthem of Lithuania.
The call for freedom became even stronger during the 1905 revolution. At the Seimas (parliament) in Vilnius, representatives from all over the country gathered for the first time. They expressed their strong desire for independence. Vilnius became the center of a national revival.
Time for self-determination
The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 hampered the movement for independence, as in 1915 Lithuania was occupied by the German army. The military authorities restricted the rights of the population (this happened neither in Latvia nor in Estonia). Although some leaders fled to Russia, several continued to work on the movement in Vilnius. They were stimulated by the idea of national self-determination. The process intensified in 1917, when the occupying authorities relaxed the strict police regime. This was mainly the result of the deteriorating situation of the German army at the front.
A conference of representatives was held in Vilnius from 18 to 22 September . A number of political declarations were adopted. The most important one reads: ,In order for Lithuania to develop freely, an independent state based on democratic principles must be established., For this purpose, the Council of Lithuania was elected, which functioned as a parliament.
However, the German authorities had different expectations from the Council. All they wanted was an obedient puppet regime consisting of the local population, so that they could remain in the event of a military defeat at the front. Because the authority of the German authorities in the occupied country was still strong, they were able to exert enormous pressure on the Council. It could be dissolved at any time for disobedience, so most members of the Council tended to compromise with the occupying forces and, according to Antanas Smetona, the President of the Council and the future President of Lithuania, worked according to the principle of ,better the half, then nothing,.
As a result, the law of December 11, 1917, which proclaimed the independent Lithuanian state, at the same time requested protection from Germany. It soon became apparent that the Germans were in no hurry to grant Lithuania even the most modest rights. Therefore, a small group of Council members began working on a new version of the Independence Act. After a long series of debates, the new law was adopted at the Council headquarters in Vilnius. This happened on February 16, 1918. The law said that ,an independent state is once again formed, based on democratic principles with Vilnius as its capital, severing all ties that the state has had with other nations in the past.,
The German authorities responded immediately. The circulation of the newspaper Lietuvos aidas in which the law was published was confiscated and the message from Berlin came: ,With its decision of February 16, 1918, the Lithuanian Council has seriously endangered the basis for recognition of Lithuania as an independent state. , However, German power was already declining by then.
Shortly afterwards, the Estonians and Latvians also established an independent state.
The date February 16 became a symbol of freedom. From 1919 to 1940, this day was celebrated in independent Lithuania and in Vilnius, which was occupied by Poland. It was celebrated in secret during the 50 years of Soviet occupation although it could mean imprisonment and even death. It is still celebrated today after independence was restored on March 11, 1990.