Ethnographic Lithuania

Last updated
Lithuanian language area in the 16th century Lithuanian language in the 16th century.png
Lithuanian language area in the 16th century
Lithuania's territorial claims during the Interbellum. They were almost identical to historical ethnic Lithuanian lands. Lazauskas 1936.jpeg
Lithuania's territorial claims during the Interbellum. They were almost identical to historical ethnic Lithuanian lands.
A 1920 map showing the territorial evolution of Lithuania published by the Lithuanian Information Bureau in France. Carte de la Lithuanie - btv1b53121255h.jpg
A 1920 map showing the territorial evolution of Lithuania published by the Lithuanian Information Bureau in France.
"Our Lithuania" 1964-1968 (1989-1991 editions pictured) by Bronius Kviklys. The books are encyclopedia volumes containing information about historical Lithuanian cities, towns and villages both within and outside the modern-day borders of Lithuania. Musu lietuva resize.jpg
"Our Lithuania" 1964-1968 (1989-1991 editions pictured) by Bronius Kviklys. The books are encyclopedia volumes containing information about historical Lithuanian cities, towns and villages both within and outside the modern-day borders of Lithuania.

Ethnographic Lithuania is a concept that defines Lithuanian territories as a significant part of the territories that belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Lithuanians as all people living on them, regardless of whether those people contemporarily or currently speak the Lithuanian language and considered themselves Lithuanian. The concept was in contrast to those of "historic Lithuania", the territories of the Duchy, and the "linguistic Lithuania", the area where Lithuanian language was overwhelmingly spoken. [1] [2]

Contents

The concept of ethnographic Lithuania clashed with the right for self-determination of people living in that large territory, particularly Poles and Belarusians, who, according to the supporters of the ethnographic Lithuania, were "slavicized Lithuanians" who needed to be re-Lithuanized. They argued that an individual cannot choose his ethnicity and nationality, which are determined not by language but by ancestry. [2]

In 1920, Lithuanian politician Mykolas Biržiška wrote about nationality:

"One cannot define it according to the opinion of every individual. Belonging or not to a given nationality is not something everybody can decide for themselves, it is not something that can be solved according to political liberalism, even if hidden under the cloak of democratic slogans. It is too complex, too tied with ancient history, too related with the history of a given nation, for the will or passivity of any individual to challenge it. [...] Ethnographic Lithuania does not end where the locals no longer speak Lithuanian, it spreads further, to the regions which do not speak - but used to - Lithuanian, since it is composed of one Lithuanian nation, regardless of whether it speaks Lithuanian, has forgotten the language or even holds it in contempt." [2]

The geographical scope of ethnographic Lithuania was noted in 1905, the year of Great Seimas of Vilnius, when Russian prime minister Sergei Witte received the following memorial:

"Lithuanians, knowing that territory inhabited by them since the historical times consists of the Lithuanian gubernyas of the Northwestern Krai: Vilna Governorate, Kovno Governorate and Grodno Governorate, part of Courland and Suwałki Governorate (incorporated into the Kingdom of Poland), consider them in the ethnographic perspective Lithuanian, and their inhabitants living there alongside the Lithuanians as either newcomers - such as Poles, Jews and Russians - or slavicized Lithuanians, such as Belarusians." [2]

Demands of this early program would only slightly be modified in the coming decades [2] (some would also include part of the Minsk Governorate around Naugardukas and the Lithuanian Minor territory around Memel). In essence, Lithuanian elites demanded the creation of a Lithuanian country with 125,000 square miles (320,000 km2), from the Baltic Sea in the West, Daugava River in the north, to Bug River and Polesie marshes in the south. [2] That territory was inhabited in the early 20th century by 5,850,000 people; out of those, according to the official Russian Empire statistics, linguistic Lithuanians formed 1,659,000 - i.e. less than 30%. [2] Out of the regions mentioned in the 1905 declaration, only the Kovno Governorate and the northern part of Suwałki Governorate had a clear Lithuanian-speaking majority. [2]

The concept of ethnographic Lithuania conflicted with newly Polish state, which sought to recreate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Currently, the Republic of Lithuania has no territorial claims.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Lithuania</span> Historical development of Lithuania

The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded about 10,000 years ago, but the first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD. Lithuanians, one of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands and established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th century. The Grand Duchy was a successful and lasting warrior state. It remained fiercely independent and was one of the last areas of Europe to adopt Christianity. A formidable power, it became the largest state in Europe in the 15th century spread from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, through the conquest of large groups of East Slavs who resided in Ruthenia. In 1385, the Grand Duchy formed a dynastic union with Poland through the Union of Krewo. Later, the Union of Lublin (1569) created the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. During the Second Northern War, the Grand Duchy sought protection under the Swedish Empire through the Union of Kėdainiai in 1655. However, it soon returned to being a part of the Polish–Lithuanian state, which persisted until 1795 when the last of the Partitions of Poland erased both independent Lithuania and Poland from the political map. After the dissolution, Lithuanians lived under the rule of the Russian Empire until the 20th century, although there were several major rebellions, especially in 1830–1831 and 1863.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithuanian language</span> Baltic language spoken in Lithuania

Lithuanian is an East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are approximately 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 1,000,000 speakers elsewhere. Around half a million inhabitants of Lithuania of non-Lithuanian background speak Lithuanian daily as a second language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Republic of Central Lithuania</span> Short lived puppet state of Poland (1920-1922)

The Republic of Central Lithuania, commonly known as the Central Lithuania, and the Middle Lithuania, was an unrecognized short-lived puppet republic of Poland, that existed from 1920 to 1922. It was founded on 12 October 1920, after Żeligowski's Mutiny, when soldiers of the Polish Army, mainly the 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Infantry Division under Lucjan Żeligowski, fully supported by the Polish air force, cavalry and artillery, attacked Lithuania. It was incorporated into Poland on 18 April 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Duchy of Lithuania</span> European state from c. 1236 to 1795

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to the late 18th century, when the territory was partitioned in 1795 among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lithuanians, who were at the time a polytheistic nation born from several united Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija.

Tutejszy was a self-identification of Eastern European rural populations, who did not have a clear national identity. The term means "from here", "local" or "natives". This was mostly in mixed-lingual Eastern European areas, including Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Latvia, in particular, in Polesia and Podlachia. As a self-identification, it persisted in Lithuania’s Vilnius Region into the late 20th century. For example, in 1989, a poll of persons whose passports recorded their ethnicity as Polish revealed that 4% of them regarded themselves as tuteišiai, 10% as Lithuanians, and 84% as Poles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Podlachia</span> Place in Poland

Podlachia, or Podlasie, is a historical region in the north-eastern part of Poland. Between 1513 and 1795 it was a voivodeship with the capital in Drohiczyn. Now the part north of the Bug River is included in the modern Podlaskie Voivodeship with the capital in Białystok.

The city of Vilnius, now the capital of Lithuania, and its surrounding region has been under various states. The Vilnius Region has been part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the Lithuanian state's founding in the late Middle Ages to its destruction in 1795, i.e. five centuries. From then, the region was occupied by the Russian Empire until 1915, when the German Empire invaded it. After 1918 and throughout the Lithuanian Wars of Independence, Vilnius was disputed between the Republic of Lithuania and the Second Polish Republic. After the city was seized by the Republic of Central Lithuania with Żeligowski's Mutiny, the city was part of Poland throughout the Interwar period. Regardless, Lithuania claimed Vilnius as its capital. During World War II, the city changed hands many times, and the German occupation resulting in the destruction of Jews in Lithuania. From 1945 to 1990, Vilnius was the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic's capital. From the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Vilnius has been part of Lithuania.

The city of Vilnius, the capital and largest city of Lithuania, has an extensive history starting from the Stone Age. Vilnius was the head of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1795, even during the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The city has changed hands many times between Imperial and Soviet Russia, Napoleonic France, Imperial and Nazi Germany, Interwar Poland, and Lithuania. It was especially often the site of conflict after the end of World War I and during World War II. It officially became the capital of independent, modern-day Lithuania when the Soviet Union recognized the country's independence in August 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilnius Region</span> Historical region in present-day Lithuania and Belarus

Vilnius Region is the territory in present-day Lithuania and Belarus that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Administrative divisions of Lithuania</span>

Lithuania is now a country in the Baltic region of Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lithuania proper</span> Region of Lithuania

Lithuania proper refers to a region that existed within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where the Lithuanian language was spoken. The primary meaning is identical to the Duchy of Lithuania, a land around which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania evolved. The territory can be traced by Catholic Christian parishes established in pagan Baltic lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania subsequent to the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387. The Lithuania Proper was always distinguished from the Ruthenian lands since the Lithuanians differed from the Ruthenians in their language and faith. The term in Latin was widely used during the Middle Ages and can be found in numerous historical maps until World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty</span> Signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia on 12 July 1920

The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty, also known as the Moscow Peace Treaty, was signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia on July 12, 1920. In exchange for Lithuania's neutrality and permission to move its troops in the territory that was recognised during its war against Poland, Soviet Russia recognized the sovereignty of Lithuania. The treaty was a major milestone in Lithuania's struggle for international recognition and recognised Lithuania's eastern borders. Interwar Lithuania officially maintained that its de jure borders were those delineated by the treaty although a large territory, the Vilnius Region, was actually controlled by Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poles in Lithuania</span> Ethnic group in Lithuania

The Poles in Lithuania, also called Lithuanian Poles, estimated at 183,000 people in the Lithuanian census of 2021 or 6.5% of Lithuania's total population, are the country's largest ethnic minority.

The Lithuanian minority in Poland consists of 8,000 people living chiefly in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, in the north-eastern part of Poland. The Lithuanian embassy in Poland notes that there are about 15,000 people in Poland of Lithuanian ancestry.

Lithuanization is a process of cultural assimilation, where Lithuanian culture or its language is voluntarily or forcibly adopted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilna Governorate</span> Governorate of the Russian Empire

The Vilna Governorate was a governorate of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. In 1897, the governorate covered the area of 41,907.9 square kilometres (16,180.7 sq mi) and a population of 1,591,207 inhabitants. The governorate was defined by the Minsk Governorate to the south, the Grodno Governorate to the southwest, the Suwałki Governorate to the west, the Kovno and Courland Governorates to the north, and the Vitebsk Governorate to the east. The administrative centre was located in the city of Vilna. The city also served as the administrative centre of the Vilna Governorate-General, which existed until 1912. The area roughly corresponded to the Vilnius Region, which was later occupied by Germany, Bolsheviks, and Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Seimas of Vilnius</span> 1905 assembly held in Vilnius, Lithuania

The Great Seimas of Vilnius was a major assembly held on December 4 and 5, 1905 in Vilnius, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, largely inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1905. It was the first modern national congress in Lithuania and dealt primarily not with the social issues that sparked the revolution, but with national concerns. Over 2,000 participants took part in the Seimas. The assembly made the decision to demand wide political autonomy within the Russian Empire and achieve this by peaceful means. It is considered an important step towards the Act of Independence of Lithuania, adopted on February 16, 1918 by the Council of Lithuania, as the Seimas laid the groundwork for the establishment of an independent Lithuanian state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eduards Volters</span> Baltic German scholar

Eduards Volters was a linguist, ethnographer, archaeologist who studied the Baltic languages and culture. He was a long-time professor at the Saint Petersburg University (1886–1918) and Vytautas Magnus University (1922–1934).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litvinism</span> Pseudohistorical theory according to which Belarusians founded the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Litvinism is a branch of nationalism, philosophy and political current in Belarus, which bases the history of its state on the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and emphasizes the Baltic component of the Belarusian ethnic group. According to this branch of Belarusian nationalism, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a Slavic or Belarusian state, the medieval Lithuanians were Belarusians, and modern Lithuania is a consequence of a falsification of history. On the other hand, some Russian Litvinists refer to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a Slavic Russian state.

<i>Litwa</i> (newspaper)

Litwa (transl. Lithuania) was a Polish-language newspaper edited and published by Mečislovas Davainis-Silvestraitis in Vilnius, then part of the Russian Empire, from July 1908 to May 1914.

References

  1. Thomas Lane, Lithuania: Stepping Westward, Routledge, 2001, ISBN   0-415-26731-5, Google Print, p. 30
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Łossowski, Piotr (1995). Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918-1920 (in Polish). Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza. pp. 13–19. ISBN   83-05-12769-9.

Further reading

55°N24°E / 55°N 24°E / 55; 24