The Balts in the Surrounding of the Slavs

Baltai slavų apsuptyje

Author(s): Simona Vaškevičiūtė / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 1/2007

The Baltic vvorld faced many innovations during the Migration period, and the most significant transformations could be associated vvith the changes in the Baltic geopolitical space and a large-scale Slavic invasion into the eastern Baltic territories. The Slavs came to Europe in the middle of the 6th century. At the end of 6th century they settled in the north-eastern part of Europe, i.e. the upper reaches of the Volga-Oka rivers and began ousting the Balts into the VVest. Before the beginning of this Slavic expansion, the southern coast of the Baltic Sea was settled by the Balts who belonged to the following Dniepr (east) Balts cultures: Bantserov-Tushemlya, Moshchin and Kolochin. The Bantserov-Tushemlya culture covered territories from the upper reaches of the Neris, the Nemunas and the Shchara in the VVest till the Sozh basin in the East, and it is dated by the middle of the first millennium. However, invading Slavic tribes from the South destroyed this culture in the 7th-8th centuries; instead, barrow cemeteries of the Kriviches and the Dregoviches appeared on this territory. The Moshchin culture was spread along the river Oka's upper basin southward from Moscow. In the VVest, it extended as far as the upper reaches of the Dnieper where it bordered on the Bantserov-Tushemlya culture; in the North and East it came into contact with the Finno-Ugrian tribes.

The Generation Conflict VVithin the Lithuanian Peasant Populist Party in the 4th Decade of the 20th Century

Kartų konfliktas Lietuvos valstiečių liaudininkų sąjungoje XX a. 4-ame dešimtmetyje

Author(s): Mindaugas Tamošaitis / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 1/2007

The article analyses the relationship betvveen the leaders of the Lithuanian Youth Union (LYU) and the Lithuanian Peasant Populist Union (LPPU) in the intervvar Lithuania focusing on their long-lasting disagreements and touching upon the causes and details of these disagreements. The development in the relationship betvveen these leaders underwent two stages in the years 1922-1940. The first stage covers the period from 1922, vvhen LYU vvas established, till the beginning of 1936, when LYU and its organisations as vvell as LPPU were officially banned; the second stage conditionally covers the period from November, 1936, when LYU issued a nevv Journal Mūsų jaunimas (Our Youth), till June 15,1940, when Lithuania lost its independence

An Open Page in the Lithuanian History

Neužverstas lietuvių istorijos puslapis

Author(s): Romualdas Grigas / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 1/2007

he article is based on the theories, related to history and archaeology, such as sočiai organisation, symbolic interactionizm, sočiai construction, hermeneutics, sočiai anthropology, and other modern theories. The focus of the author's attention is on the mounds, the heritage of ancient Lithuanians, vvhich today is forgotten both by the Lithuanian society and Lithuanian statė. The author raises and promotes the ideathat manyof them couid haveserved as theBaltic shrines under the open sky. He also hypothesises that the building and functioning of the mounds, which vvas so intense during the 8th—1 2th centuries, is to be correlated with the Baltic religious reform which couid have been implemented as opposition against the spread of Christianity from the South and VVest. The author also presumes that the building of the mounds and using them for ritual ceremonies notonly fortified the nature-faith' of the Lithuanian ancestors, thus retarding the advance of? Christianization, but also promoted the formation of integrated territorial communities. This formed the prerequisites for the riseof a Consolidated nation (in a senseof self-defence and expansionism). The author statės that the reanimation of the Lithuanity' (especially of the younger mounds couid fortify the mouldering of generation). It is also important to validate this heritage as a priceless constituent of the old European culture; it couid also serve as an attraction for tourists.

A Historical Role of Lithuania's Science Organisations (1920-1940)

Lietuvos mokslo organizacijų istorinė raiška (1920-1940 m.)

Author(s): Romas Juyefovičius / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 1/2007

The article analyses the form and content of the educational activities of some Lithuanian scientific organisations, especially thosedealing vvith historical investigations. The present research, based on the analysis of published, archival and manuscript materials, proves that Lithuania's scientific societies initiated many important vvorks in different societal spheres, important both for the academic community and common people interested in their cultural identity and development. For example, their investigations dealt vvith the search for the sources of Lithuania's history, threvv some light on press development, military history, analysed the quality of academic publications etc. Established by humanitarians, these scientific organizations tried to adapt the directions of their activities and forms of expression to the needs of the society, its most acute cultural, educational and other problems. This educational activity, promoted by historical and other humanitarian organizations, vvas definitely a very important contribution to the formation of humanitarian culture in the independent Lithuania's society in the 20th century.

The Foundation of Polish Schools in 1926

Lenkų mokyklų steigimas Lietuvoje 1926 m

Author(s): Benediktas Šetkus / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 1/2007

The article analyses a rapid establishment of Polish schools in Lithuania in 1926, i.e. the period when the Peasant Populist and the Social-Democratic coalition came to power. The author, on the basis of the materials of Lithuania's statė archives and published primary sources, tries to estimate the dangers of Lithuania's Polonisation. The research shovvs that after VVVVI the Polish language was widely spread in some districts of Lithuania. Landovvners and some of Lithuania's officials used it in their everyday life and even forced the Lithuanianstoaddressthem in Polish. Becauseof certain lack of self-consciousness, many children from Lithuanianfamilies attended Polish primary schools. This fact became especially evident after the census of 1923; consequently, the Government, represented by the Christian-Democratic party, resorted to some measures to limit the number of Lithuanian children learning in Polish or other national minority schools. These measures included the identification of pupils' nationality on the basis of their parents' passports, somechanges in the educational laws and regulations, and so on. Naturally, these measures were strongly opposed by Lithuania's Polish community.

A Sketch in Lithuania’s National Revival: Antanas Buivydas’ Letter to Vincentas Aleksandravičius

Lietuvių tautinio atgimimo epizodas: Antano Buivydo laiškas Vincentui Aleksandravičiui

Author(s): Aldona Gaigalaitė / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 4/2006

Keywords: Lithuanian students; the Aušra; the University of Moscow; nationalism

The section Publication of Sources presents a letter from a Lithuanian student Antanas Buivydas to Vincentas Aleksandravičius, dated by the 22nd of January, 1884. It was found in the personal archive of Zofija Aleksandravičiūtė-Navickienė, a descendant of Viekšniai pharmacist V. Aleksandravičius. While studying in Moscow, A. Buivydas was much concerned about Lithuania’s affairs, the publication of The Aušra, and took care of Lithuanian students’ social activities. Both A. Buivydas and V. Aleksandravičius studied at the University of Moscow in the eighth–ninth decades of the 19th century: the former – medicine, the latter – pharmacy. They were good friends and participated in many events organised by Lithuanian students.

The Tower Clock and the Bells of Varniai Cathedral

Varnių katedros laikrodis ir varpai

Author(s): Libertas Klimka / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 4/2006

Keywords: Samogitian diocese; Cathedral of Varniai; tower clock; anchor; bell.

The author of the article presents data about the tower clock and the bells of Varniai, which used to be a religious centre of the Samogitian diocese, Cathedral. The research proved that Varniai tower clock is an important historical evidence of Lithuania’s technical advance which tells a lot about the country’s achievements in the spheres of trades and technological innovations.

Lithuanian and American-Lithuanian Businessmen in 1930–1940

Lietuvos ir JAV lietuviai verslininkai 1930–1940 metais

Author(s): Juozas Skirius / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 4/2006

Keywords: Lithuanian businessmen; American-Lithuanian businessmen; trade; export; import; American–Lithuanian Trade Centre

The author of the article investigates trade activities of Lithuanian businessmen in the USA in 1930–1940; this was the period when these people had scanty possibilities to accumulate initial capital for larger orders of Lithuanian goods. According to the author, Lithuanian representatives in the USA, first of all Consuls General and, later, Ambassador Povilas Žadeikis tried to coordinate and centralise business activities and relations with Lithuanian producers in 1930s through the established American–Lithuanian Trade Centre.

A Communist Revolutionary Zigmas Angarietis: his Personality and Aspects of his Activity

Komunisto revoliucionieriaus Z. Angariečio asmenybės ir veiklos bruožai

Author(s): Edvardas Kriščiūnas / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 4/2006

Keywords: Revolutionary; communist party; Marxism; Bolshevism; communist revolution; Z. Angarietis

The article aims to present Zigmas Angarietis as a politician, concentrates on the factors which formed his personal views and the evolution of his world outlook as well as attempts to estimate his political activities from a historical point of view. The author of the article claims that social inequality of that period and Marxist ideas encouraged him to become a professional revolutionary; his exile in 1915–1917 made him become a member of the Russian Bolshevik party. The author also discloses Z. Angarietis’ hostility towards Lithuania as an independent state and concentrates on his role as a promoter of the communist ideas in Lithuania in 1919, as a propagator of the Bolshevik ideology and as a founder of Lithuania’s communist party in 1920–1937.

Two Significant Conferences in the History of Science

Dvi reikšmingos mokslo istorijos konferencijos

Author(s): Libertas Klimka / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 4/2006

Historiography of the Resistance Movement in Lithuania in 1944–1953

1944–1953 metų partizaninio karo Lietuvoje istoriografija

Author(s): Mindaugas Pocius / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 4/2006

Keywords: Lithuanian historiography; partisan war; resistance; partisan resistance; anti-Soviet movement

The article surveys the historiography of the 1944–1953 Lithuanian partisan movement, which strived to restore the independent state of Lithuania; it also aims to summarise the results of the research concerning this movement, its problems, development, and tendencies. According to the author, the historiography of 1944–1953 resistance movement could be divided into two major periods: 1) the Soviet historiography till June, 1988, when the national reform movement Sąjūdis was formed in Lithuania and 2) historiography of national rebirth and the independent state of Lithuania (June 1998–2004). The author points to the fact that the historiography of the resistance movement also evolved independently in foreign countries (where Lithuanians lived in emigration) before and after the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania. Thus, researches of emigrant historians could be distinguished as a separate part of the resistance movement historiography.

Cultural Dialogue in Daugapils

Kultūrinis dialogas Daugpilyje

Author(s): Sandra Grigaravičiūtė / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 3/2006

Keywords: Communication; translation; Nordic-Baltic-Russian network; Nordplius; Daugapils; conference.

Educational System: Integration of Secondary and Higher Education

Aukštosios ir vidurinės mokyklos integracija: bendra švietimo sistema

Author(s): Audronė Janužytė,Sandra Grigaravičiūtė / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 3/2006

Keywords: Education system; secondary education; university; integration; reforms; conference

Fishing in Lithuania’s South-Eastern Waters in the 13th–14th Centuries

Žvejyba Pietryčių Lietuvos vandenyse XIII–XIV a.

Author(s): Manvydas Vitkūnas / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 3/2006

Keywords: Fishing; South-Eastern Lithuania; archaeological objects; Middle Ages

The article aims to summarize data, collected during the archeological and palaeozoological research, about fishing in Lithuania’s South-eastern waters in the 13th–14th centuries. In the 13th–14th centuries fishing, contrary to hunting, was available to people from various social positions, and fish products became basic everyday food for the majority of people. The author points to the fact that no means of water transport, dated by the 13th–14th centuries, could be discovered in South-eastern Lithuania. People used to fish in the nearest water pools. The analysis of fish bones and scales discovered in Vilnius, Kernavė, and Maišiagala regions helped identify the following kinds of fish: Atlantic sturgeon, Northern pike, perch, chub, bleak or riffle minnow, dace, European roach, red-eye, Rudd, cod, common beam and silver beam. Undoubtedly, other kinds of fish were also caught, but not all of their bones survived; in addition, it is difficult to identify fish without scales. Some kinds of fish, Atlantic sturgeon for example, are now extinct.

Is There Much Patriotism in the New Textbooks of Russian History?

Kiek patriotizmo naujausiuose Rusijos istorijos vadovėliuose?

Author(s): Vida Kniūraitė / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 3/2006

Patriotic education is and remains a crucial problem in the countries which regained their independence or recently emerged as independent states after the collapse of the Soviet empire. The rejection of the idea of the Soviet patriotism left a lacuna in this sphere; the most conspicuous consequence is an increasing number of young people who leave their native country and settle in foreign countries. To strengthen ties with young people, many countries, especially contemporary Russia, try to publish works dealing with historical issues. Therefore, the article aims to investigate the situation of patriotic education in Russia in terms of contemporary Russian history textbooks. A huge amount of science, science popular and pseudohistorical literature is dedicated to patriotic education in Russia. Though their authors made attempts to rewrite Russian history from ancient times till present days, the contemporary history textbooks follow the traditional ideology of the Soviet period. These textbooks do not present results of present day researches; the authors do not escalate those topics of Russian history which would stimulate the country’s youth to be proud of their history.

Lithuania and Poland in the Baltic Region

Lietuva ir Lenkija Baltijos regione

Author(s): Audronė Janužytė,Sandra Grigaravičiūtė / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 3/2006

Keywords: Lithuania; Poland; Baltic region; culture; history; conference.

Lithuanian Consulates in Denmark in 1924–1940

Lietuvos konsulatai Danijoje 1924–1940 metais

Author(s): Sandra Grigaravičiūtė / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 3/2006

Keywords: Vice-consulates; consulates; honorary consulates; Lithuanian consulates in Denmark

The article aims to review the process of establishing a network of Lithuanian consulates in Denmark in 1921–1922; it also concentrates on the functioning and activities of this network in 1924–1928 and presents major factors which stimulated the establishment of Lithuania’s consulates in Denmark in 1929–1930. The article also investigates the main directions of their activities in 1929–1936 and presents the undertakings of honorary consulates in cultural sphere in 1937–1940. The research was conducted on the basis of the materials of the Lithuanian State Archives and those of the Danish Royal Library Archives and manuscript department. The data from periodical press of 1921–1940, certain Danish and Lithuanian publications as well as Lithuanian historiography were also taken into consideration.

Lithuanian Police against Juvenile Delinquency in 1938–1940

Lietuvos policija ir nepilnamečių nusikalstamumas 1938–1940 metais

Author(s): Gediminas Bubnys,Vainius Smalskys / Language(s): Lithuanian / Issue: 3/2006

Keywords: Police; juvenile delinquency; Lithuania before II World War

In this article on the basis of concrete archival materials and legal acts, the authors explain how the police stations for juvenile affairs used to fight against juvenile delinquency in the Republic of Lithuania in 1938–1940. The authors point to the fact that in the districts of Kaunas and Vilnius the fight against juvenile delinquency was both preventive and legal, i.e. some legal acts became stricter. In the prevention of juvenile delinquency participated police officers and other professional workers who had necessary legal, economic or pedagogical qualifications; however, a short-time existence of these special police units did not lay foundations for an effective selection of specialists.

The Act of February 16th: the Sources of the Text and the Problem of the Authorship

Vasario 16-osios aktas: teksto formavimo šaltiniai ir autorystės problema

Author(s): Raimundas Klimavičius / Language(s): / Issue: 1+2/2004

Keywords: Act of February 16th; Lithuanian Council; Lithuanian state; Declaration of Independence

After the restoration of the Lithuanian state in 1990, the problem of the authorship of the text of the Act of Independence of February 16th, 1918, became popular in historical literature. The aim of article is to trace back the formation of the text of the Act of Independence and find out whether the ascription of the authorship of the Act of February 16th to the so called ‘left four’ was a well founded conclusion. All the assumptions made in the article are based on the sources of the Lithuanian Council as well as other documents and memoirs. The authors is doing conclusion that the Act of February 16th was the result of a collective work. Therefore, the attempts to ascribe the authorship of the text of the Act of Independence to one member of the Lithuanian Council or a group of them are unethical and do not correspond to historical reality.

Venclovas Venclovaitis Agripa: a Possible Case of Religious Conversion in Lithuania in the 16th Century

Venclovas Venclovaitis Agripa: galimos religinės konversijos atvejis XVI a. Lietuvoje

Author(s): Raimonda Ramanauskaitė-Ragauskienė / Language(s): / Issue: 1+2/2004

Keywords: Personal history; Lithuanian gentry; protestant church in the 16th century.

The article is dedicated to Venclova Venclovaitis, a little-known personality in the 16th century. He belonged to the Lithuanian gentry. The information about his family, their religious beliefs, and property is not precise. It is only known that he married a daughter of the Stakliškės colourbearer and had a large family: five sons and one daughter. In the district of Stakliškės he ruled the lands in or near Gripiškės, Lelioniai, and Sudvariškės; Balčia in Rečycos pavietas (an administrative district) also belonged to him. Venclovaitis was a literate man, possessed literary talents. Family traditions and the fact that one of his sons was given a protestant name Elijus (popular among protestants) allow historians to come to a conclusion that Venclovaitis confessed protestant truths, though in his will of 1612 he bequeathed to be buried in the Stakliškės Catholic church. This leads to a conclusion that at the end of his life he became a catholic. A survey of the local Stakliškės community, where Venclovaitis lived, shows that the network of protestant churches was not widespread in this district and in the whole Kauno pavietas in the second half of the 16th century.