Lietuvos karo istorijos tyrimų organizavimas 1918-2008 metais
Researches in Lithuania‘s Military History in 1918 - 2008

Summary/Abstract: Until now there have been no extensive studies on the development of Lithuanian military history research made by Lithuanian or foreign scholars. Thus the present article aims at showing the beginning and development of Lithuanian military history research up to the present days which will allow setting the guidelines for further works in the field. The article discusses the research in Lithuanian military history carried out during the three different historical periods of Lithuania from 1918 to 2008. First, the beginning and early achievements in military history research from 1918 up to the Soviet occupation in 1940 are overviewed. Second, the works of Lithuanian and emigration historians published throughout the period of Soviet occupation are introduced. Third, the present day state of the Lithuanian military history research is discussed. It should be noted that the article deals exceptionally with the works published in Lithuanian language and by Lithuanian authors, leaving the discussion of foreign research for future publications. The short overview of the Lithuanian military history research development allows us to make certain gene ralizations. The restoration of the Lithuanian statehood in 1918 was favorable for the beginning of research in Lithuanian military history. The period from 1918 until the Soviet occupation can be divided into two phases. The first phase, 1921-1926, can be seen as preparatory and the second, 1927-1940, as a phase of specific and purposeful implementation of research works. The Soviet occupation which started in Lithuania on June 15th, 1940, the same as in Latvia and Estonia, ceased the initiated works. Despite the occupational regime, several fundamental military history works by Lithuanian historians appeared throughout the 1960s - 1980s. At the same time, Lithuanians living in emigration continued the works begun by historians of the First Lithuanian Republic, although inaccessible Lithuanian archival material made their possibilities rather limited. In 1990, after the restoration of Lithuanian independence, several centers aiming at the Lithuanian military history research and publication of military history sources appeared (the Military Museum of Vytautas the Great, the Lithuanian Aviation Museum, the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of Lithuania, the Union of Lithuanian Political Prisoners and Deportees, the editorial and publishing office of the magazine Sword). Military history courses gained their position at Vilnius and Vytautas Magnus universities. Since 2000 onwards, together with the establishment of the Society of Lithuanian Military History and the Lithuanian Military History Centre, in cooperation with different institutions, complex research in Lithuanian military history is being pursued.

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