Fight for Restoration of Lithuania’s Independence Part 1

Fight for Restoration of Lithuania’s Independence

Speech given by me in Canberra on the occasion of celebrating 100 years of Restatement of Lithuania’s Independence

PART 1

We have gathered today to celebrate and rejoice on the occasion of 100 years of the restoration of statehood. In Lithuania last Friday not only did they celebrate this centenary but the historical bridge dating back to July 6 1253 and then 11 March 1990. We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for those two events.

Last year president Grybauskaitė after her greeting to the nation on the occasion of the coronation of King Mindaugas in Kernave, launched the start of the celebration of 100 years since regaining of statehood with the ringing sound from the so-called centenary bell. The sounds of the bell rang out and echoed through the hill fort valleys throughout Kernave leaving a tingling sensation whilst listening to it. Then in the evening the national anthem sounded out at the same time across 100 fort-hills throughout Lithuania.   These were two extremely moving poignant experiences that we were fortunate to be part of.

A hundred years does not sound like much in terms of history. The critical point is that it is a 100 years since regaining statehood – the birth of the modern Lithuania.  Lithuania has a considerably long history of independence. As many other nations have experienced in the past, no history of a nation is all about peace and glory. They all have their highs and lows, some chequered history, tragedies and civil wars. Some nations eventually disappear, others survive.   Lietuva – Lithuania survived incredible odds for a nation of its current size. Mistakes have been made and some patterns keep repeating. Whether we will learn from the past, from mistakes or not, time will tell. As a nation it seems to have the capacity for resilience, to survive the odds, to keep coming back. But for how long? Who knows?

It did survive the recent genocide attempts by the Soviets in 1941 and 1944 when hundreds of thousands were deported to Siberia to concentration camps. Some of us have family that was deported. But – let’s not forget that these were not the first deportations to Siberia. After the 1863 uprising across the whole former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, documentation shows that nearly 400 were executed, over 18,500 were deported to Siberia and 70,000 to 80,000 men and women sent to Russia’s interior to Caucasus, Urals and other remote areas. It was history repeating itself. A pattern of how they deal with those that don’t conform.

Let’s go back to the beginning.

We know that although the area now known as Lithuania was settled after the glaciers receded at the end of the last glacial period – around 10 millennia BC, there is no written reference to it as Lithuania until the Quedlinburg Chronicle of 9 March 1009, where, in an entry of the story of St Bruno, the Latinised name Litua for Lithuania is recorded. But our unique DNA dates back to 13,000 years ago in this region.

The significant milestone in Lithuania’s history is the coronation of King Mindaugas in 1253 and the accompanying recognition of Lithuania as a nation. The reinstatement of that statehood is what we are celebrating today. I’m not going to delve into the history of the country in any depth but take you on a journey touching the significant events that led to what we are celebrating today. From the late 12^th Century it was getting organized as a nation, a military force was in place that triggered a struggle for power and the outcome was the formation of this early statehood from which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania developed and grew. We know that it became one of the largest states in Europe. We saw the rise of the Gediminas family dynasty and its expansion through diplomacy via arranged marriages and warfare. We know of the dynastic union with Poland known as the Union of Krewo (Krevos sutartis) and the later Polish Lithuanian Union of Lublin creating the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that lasted from 1569 to 1795. Why the union with Poland? – Put simply – to have the strength to protect themselves against the threat of Russia.

During this union of over 200 years the reins of leadership slipped from Lithuanian hands and so did the way of life, and the language. Foreign ways made their way particularly into the lives of the affluent and ruling class. What is important is that the ruling class, who spoke little or no Lithuanian, did not allow for the full incorporation of Lithuania into Poland and protected its heritage and its autonomy. By mid15^th century the Lithuanian language was no longer spoken or used by the nobility, gentry or in public offices. As with any partnership eventually a dominant partner appears and takes over. Over time Poland became the dominant partner but even it could not hold out. The third and last Partition of Poland in 1795 erased both Poland and Lithuania from any political or geographical map. Lithuania’s autonomy was lost, 90% fell under Russian rule and the remaining portion under Prussia. Lithuania as a nation existed no more, its language close to extinction.

The Lithuanians did not take the 123 year domination of its country by Russia lying down. Their lives were difficult. The grass roots of the culture, traditions and language was surviving in pockets with the ordinary people – the peasants – across the land. It was only in Western Lithuania – Samogitia – Žemaitija that the language and traditions were also upheld by the affluent and upper classes. When you lose something you tend to appreciate what you had. Having lost what was dear to them gave rise to the Lithuanian National Revival and a very, very long fight to restore its statehood – from early 1800s to 1918. There were also two much divided viewpoints – ideological differences on how this would be achieved as by now many Polish nobles had acquired estates in Lithuanian. So there were those who sought to create a political movement bound with Poland and there were those that were creating a nationalist Lithuanian movement based on ethnicity and language in Western Lithuania.

Two failed uprisings by those seeking political solutions in 1830-31 and 1863-64 resulted in increased repression by the Russian authorities. The earlier 1830 uprising started by the gentry and scholars was in the hope of restoring the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, the ordinary people – the peasants – also saw this as an opportunity for social disobedience and change in society’s structures that were repressing them at the time. Whilst this uprising failed, it continued to fuel the growth of national identity, the desire for freedom and land ownership that was being denied. The second uprising in 1863 included more than a half of the barons, a third of the peasants and many townspeople and clergy. One of the main leaders of this uprising was kunigas Antanas Mackevicius, from Paberže parish. He was known to visit Paberžes manor to discuss important uprising matters with Stanislovas Šilingas who happens to be the grandfather of one of those who contributed to creating an independent Lithuania and my great, great grandfather. I wonder how many other future leaders were influenced by their ancestors participating in these early uprising? This uprising took 10 months to be quelled by the Russians followed by the deportations to Siberia that I mentioned earlier. Šilingas, having had his lands confiscated was deported for his part in the uprising. There were many others like him deported at that time as I mentioned earlier. The irony is, the same fate awaited his grandson.

On the other hand from early 1800s more and more signs of national revival emerged. Lithuanian became an underground language. The use of the written Lithuanian language started to spread.  The rise of nationalism was a very strong movement in Western Lithuania and one of the most significant figures was Simas Daukantas, who in 1822 wrote a history of Lithuania in Lithuanian but it was not published till later. After the uprisings any future with Poland was seen as outdated and the focus shifted from regaining the Duchy of Lithuania to regaining the historical ethnographic lands of Lithuania.

The combination of the uprising and this nationalistic movement in Western Lithuania led to total prohibition of printed literature using the Latin alphabet, a total ban on the use of the Lithuanian language, the closure of cultural, religious and educational institutions. So only anything in Russian script was allowed. What happens when something is banned? It goes underground. Lithuanian literature was printed in Prussia and Lithuania Minor and smuggled into Lithuania. There are many stories about the book smugglers. There are many who have ancestors that were involved in this smuggling operation. Books became valued, sought after, passed from one to another. Ordinary people were learning the language, learning to read and write from smuggled materials.

New leaders, activists emerged from all different social backgrounds and persuasions, often they were Polish-speakers, but united by their willingness to promote Lithuanian culture and language as a strategy for rebuilding a modern nation. So many of them had to learn the Lithuanian language. Even much later, leading into the 1900s many of those from more affluent families who went on to play a major role in the early years of independence were trying to master the language as adults after discovering their ethnicity and becoming fervent advocates for the restoration of statehood. My grandfather Stasys Šilingas was one, Jurgis Šaulys who penned the Act of Declaration another. Šaulys in his childhood considered himself a Russian but on discovering and acknowledging his ethnicity became a strong advocate inspiring others to do the same. Officially he was expelled from the seminary for reasons of ill health, unofficially for book smuggling. Mykolas Romeris, a signatory was a Polish Baron who classified himself as a Lithuanian Pole and tried unsuccessfully to convince other Polish barons to acknowledge the same and also learnt the language as an adult. There were many, many more.

The nationalist movement spread and was no longer confined to one part of the country.   Two prominent members of the movement were children of affluent peasantry and both attended Marijampolės secondary school six years apart. Both went on to become doctors against their parents’ wishes who wanted them to be priests. They were Basanavičius and Kudirka. Basanavičius was the first signatory on the act of reinstating independence whilst Kudirka wrote our national anthem – words and music. They were fortunate that the russified polish school had Lithuanian language classes, very unusual at the time, and Kudirka was also able to learn Polish at the school, also unusual. Like many of the brighter people they left the country to seek education and opportunities elsewhere as higher education was banned in Lithuania and returned to become prominent members of the Lithuanian rebirth movement. Basanavičius, went to Moscow, Kudirka to Warsaw, both became members of secret Lithuanian student associations. Basanavičius whilst training to be a doctor researched the Lithuanian literature, language, culture and put together an Elementary grammar book but was not allowed to publish it. He was concerned with educating the ordinary people. Even though he lived in Bulgaria and later Czechoslovakia he kept returning to Lithuania and initiated the printing of the first newspaper in the Lithuanian language Aušra, which was smuggled into the country, whilst a little later Kudirka was responsible for Varpas. Basanavičius even took out Bulgarian citizenship in 1891 before returning in 1905. On his return in 1889 Kudirka worked on bringing the Lithuanian peasantry into mainstream politics to be building blocks of a modern nation.

Go to Part 2  https://rasamauragis.com/2018/02/19/fight-for-restor…ependence-part-2/ ‎