Fight for Restoration of Lithuania’s Independence Part 2

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 2

Whilst the movement to regain statehood was growing, economic conditions of the underdeveloped country with few job opportunities start playing a part. There was a large exodus to places overseas particularly US from 1867-68 due to the large famine and this exodus continues till 1914 with about 20% of the population leaving the country.   The cities are being abandoned to non-lithuanian speakers Jews and Poles. This has consequences especially for Vilnius in later years.

In 1904 the ban on using the Latin alphabet was lifted and books in Lithuanian flowed. The nationalist movement strengthened and was active on many fronts not only in Lithuania but outside Lithuania as well. It was flourishing throughout the 1800s in Russia. Secret Lithuanian student associations in Moscow and Warsaw fuelled the growth of nationalistic revival back in Lithuania. Why there? That is where you had to go for an education. Its membership seesawed over the years and included many – most of the country’s political, cultural and educational, elite and future leaders in various fields came through these ranks. By 1909, after 25 years of Aušra newpaper the so called next generation saw an opportunity to introduce a new journal Aušrine. It led to the first published issue in 1910 in which articles to motivate young people to be active in the movement were published besides poetry and literature. The publication quickly grew to attract articles from Lithuanian scholars in other places eg Paris, Belgium, Warsaw and Petrograde. Having completed their studies they returned to Lithuania and joined the movement. They were young, enthusiastic, patriotic and driven. They seized opportunites as they arose. I’ll mention a few.

During 1905 unrest in Russia they were under the radar and organised a large congress of Lithuanian representatives known as the Didysis Vilniaus Seimas / Grand Seimas of Vilnius and demanded provincial autonomy for Lithuania. They gained concessions not autonomy.

With the numbers of displaced people growing in Vilnius with the oncoming German army during WW1, and the Russian government allowing ethnic charity organisations to be set up, the activitists in the Lithuanian National movement quickly moved to set up the Lithuanian Society for Help in the Political Centre in Vilnius that had been set up a little earlier to bring together the various political entities interested in Lithuania’s future.

Expecting Germany to loose the war they made the Amber Declaration – Gintarinė Deklaracija. In it, they denounced Germany and declared their loyalty to the Russian Empire and at the same whilst stating the ethnic differences between slav and balt peoples expressed the need to reunite etnographic Lithuania.   Why called the Amber declaration? Because my grandfather using poetic license had written that the Germans had scattered Lithuania like an amber necklace scatters and it was now time to collect the pieces into a unified whole.

During the WW1 German occupation of Lithuania, recognising the need to gather all the leading people in the movement for independence together, because many had had to leave to avoid arrest, two Stockholm Congresses were held in 1915 and 1917 to plan and organise Lithuania’s government during and after WW1.

In 1915 over 300,000 fled or were forced to withdraw from Lithuania when the Russian army withdrew from Vilnius including many members of the help committee and the movement. So the incorporated Society for Help relocated to Petrograde as large Lithuanian communities sprung up there, in Moscow and elsewhere. Three of the committee even managed to get on the highest Russian government body responsible for the care and assistance to be provided for displaced people and consequently were able to provide really considerable funds to assist displaced Lithuanian people, provide education for them and keep the momentum going for people to want to go back and rebuild Lithuania. They did not limit themselves to charity works as politics was constantly on the agenda.

Again, when Russia allowed the formation of political parties in 1917 the Lithuanians immediately organised to bring together those of various political groups together and had a mini Lithuanian Council that adopted initially seven then nine resolutions to guide the re-establishment of independence and included the provision for the Polish, Russian, Jew and White Russian population in Lithuania to have representation on the Council. They were presented to the Temporary Russian Government Prime Minister. The Russians were not in a hurry to consider the matter and it was left hanging.

In the meantime, as often is the case amongst Lithuanians, dissent appeared between parties in relation to the presented resolutions. Consequently, a new Democratic National Freedom League party was established with the single purpose of re-establishing Lithuania as an independent nation and Šilingas started bringing together Lithuanian military who were scattered throughout Russia as a precursor to the formation of the Lithuanian army. In late May 1917 a congress of Lithuanian officers in the Russian military was held. There were 78 delegates representing 16,000 Lithuanian soldiers scattered throughout Russia. All this is preparation for when and what they did not know.

The Kijev Congress, of all nations within Russia, in the same year tried to impress on the delegates not to seek independence but to be autonomous within Russian Empire. Most delegates agree, except the Lithuanians who wanted total independence. Isn’t this reminiscent of the Perestroika period in the soviet period.

In September 1917 the occupying German government allowed the Vilnius Conference to go ahead on their terms requiring not only a declaration of loyalty to Germany but an annexation. The members of the Conference had a different agenda and that was to start the process of reinstating statehood based on ethnicity and language that would be independent of the Russian Empire, Poland and Germany. The publication of the resolution by the conference calling for the restatement of the Lithuanian state and election for a constituent assembly were not allowed. Regardless of this, the conference elected a 20 member Council – Taryba that it empowered to act as the executive authority of the Lithuanian people. The 1917 Stockholm convention endorsed the actions of this Lithuanian Council in September and agreed to the elected Lithuanian Council being the highest body to act for Lithuania.

The council led by Basanvaicius declared Lithuanian independence but as a German Protectorate on 11 November in 1917. The Council lost its credibility with the masses after this declaration as it was seen to be selling out to the Germans. The Germans did not act straight away. As the Lithuanian Council in Lithuania had become weakened the Russian Lithuanian Council started to raise funds for the return of the displaced to Lithuania and to fund peace talks.

After finally getting agreement within its ranks the Lithuanian Council again proclaimed the Act of Independence according to what was agreed in September 1917, on 16 February 1918 proclaiming it as an independent autonomous republic organised according to democratic principles.   Germany tried to thwart these attempts anyway possible. On 23 March Germany recognised Lithuania’s independence but according to the November 1917 proclamation and not the 1918 proclamation. Obviously the declarations had to be presented to the relevant government. That is why the recent find in German archives of the intact 1918 proclamation is so important today as since 1918 February no one knew of its location or whether it had been destroyed.

Were you aware that there was another movement afoot during German occupation to revive the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a socialist multi-national federal republic by the Belarussian National Council under the leadership of Anton Lutskevich. He proclaimed the Belarussian People’s Republic in March 1918. He and the Council fled Minsk before it was taken over by the Bolsheviks in December 1918 and on arrival in Vilnius found no support as the Lithuanian leaders were in advanced stages of national planning for their state within their own ethnographic frontiers. Then on the other side Poland was also working towards reinstating the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. So many if and buts of what the future may have been if things had not panned out the way they did.

The 1918 declaration changed nothing immediately. Germany was making things difficult and there was lack of harmony again within the Lithuanian Council. In Russia several members of the movement were arrested and imprisoned on 27 February. To prevent Germany stopping its steps towards independence Lithuanian Council in July 1918 even chose a foreign born Mindaugas 11 as the titular head of the country but he never assumed the throne. He was Monaco born Prince Wilhelm of Urach. Some Council members resigned in protest to this appointment that was eventually recalled by the Council in November. Six new members were co-opted in July into the Council and all had just returned from Russia including my grandfather.

It was not until the end of the WW1 and Germany looses the war and leaves the country whilst the Bolsheviks are advancing towards it that independence becomes a reality and a government is quickly formed and puts in place its first temporary constitution on 13 November 1918.  The first Constitution was signed by the three members of the Nation’s elected Lithuanian Council Prezidium– Antanas Smetona, Justinas Staugaitis, Stasys Šilingas, also the author of the constitution and the Prime Minister Prof. Augustinas Voldemaras. The constitution was very brief as many legal structures were not in place. What is significant is that it abolished class privileges and declared every citizen regardless of class, sex, religion ethnicity equal. Women had equal rights, right to vote and an education.

Proclamation of independence was not the start of peace but the start of independence wars. For over two years there was an actual war with Lithuanian soldiers having to push back the Bolsheviks, Polish army and finally the West Russian Volunteer Army. It also gave rise to many who did their utmost to protect Lithuania. How many of you have heard of Marcele Kubiliūte, no relative, who is the most decorated Lithuanian woman for her efforts to protect the country. She was bright and wanted an education and was given an opportunity to go to Chicago. Due to her mother’s illness she didn’t go and after her mother’s death joined her brother in Petersburg where she learnt several languages. Coming back to Vilnius she tried to join the Lithuanian army but was told she was too young. At the time women were being recruited as spies. She was extremely successful as a spy – she was able to engage with Polish officers and gained considerable information that helped Lithuania overcome its enemies. She was responsible for providing the information that prevented the Polish takeover of Lithuania’s government in Kaunas in August 1919 that resulted in the conviction of 118 of those involved. Had the Lithuanian generals listened to what she had learnt maybe Vilnius would not have been occupied by the Poles. She had warned them that it was imminent but they didn’t believe her on the grounds that on that very day the Suwalki Agreement had been signed. The next day, 8 October 1920 as she had predicted, Vilnius was taken. Or what about Steponas Darius who left Lithuania as a 10 year old, as a young adult served in US army in WW1 then found other Lithuanians who had served in the US army and encouraged them to join the fight for independence in Lithuania and had a significant role in the charge during the Klaipeda uprising in 1922 leading to unification of Klaipeda region with Lithuania.

On July 12, 1920, a peace treaty is in place with the Soviets recognising a fully independent Lithuania and its claims to the disputed Vilnius region. However, tensions with Poland continued. Kaunas becomes the temporary capital and seat of government. Once Lithuania obtained international recognition and membership in the League of Nations by August 1922 it introduced a national currency, put land reforms in place and adopted a final constitution.

On going tensions with Poland, disparate views led to many difficulties in forming stable governments. Only the second Seimas served its full term. The third Seimas having signed the Soviet-Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact was accused of “Bolshevizing” Lithuania. Consequently, the government was deposed in 1926 bringing about the end of democratic Lithuania till 1992.  Smetona was re installed as President and stayed in this role until 1940. The Constitution was revised in 1938 reinforcing authoritarian rule.   The 1938 Constitution was adopted on regaining the 1990 independence and was in place till the new 1992 constitution. My grandfather as the author of this constitution had stated earlier in his life whilst he was philosophically opposed to dictatorial rule but that he was ready to do whatever was required for Lithuanian solidarity.

The period between the World Wars provided opportunities for development, consolidation, revival of traditions and culture and rebuilding of the nation but it still remained a highly agricultural country. Birth rate increased as did the population in spite of immigration to South America and other places. The number of Lithuanians outnumbered those of other nationality by a considerable number. The right wing dictatorship was seen as having a stabilising effect on society. Mistakes were made as personal ambitions started to get in the way. On both occasions when threat of invasion from the east occurred – December 1918 and 1940 the president removed himself and his family from Lithuania, although it was claimed in 1918 that it was to arrange state financial matters with Germany. This action was considered controversial then and still is as Smetona on both occasions left the management and handling of the crises to others.

Then the events that we all know about took place. Following a brief occupation by Nazi Germany, Lithuania was again absorbed into the Soviet union for close to 50 years.  In 1990–91, its sovereignty was restored, it joined the NATO alliance and the European Union in 2004.

 

Go to Part 3 https://rasamauragis.com/2018/02/19/fight-for-restor…ependence-part-3/ ‎