Lithuanization

Last updated

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

Contents

History

The Lithuanian annexation of Ruthenian lands between the 13th and 15th centuries was accompanied by some Lithuanization.[ citation needed ] A large part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania remained Ruthenian[ citation needed ]; due to religious, linguistic and cultural dissimilarity, there was less assimilation between the ruling nobility of the pagan Lithuanians and the conquered Orthodox East Slavs. After the military and diplomatic expansion of the duchy into Ruthenian (Kievan Rus') lands, local leaders retained autonomy which limited the amalgamation of cultures. [1] When some localities received appointed Gediminids (rulers), the Lithuanian nobility in Ruthenia largely embraced Slavic customs and Orthodox Christianity and became indistinguishable from Ruthenian nobility. The cultures merged; many upper-class Ruthenians merged with the Lithuanian nobility and began to call themselves Lithuanians (Litvins) gente Rutenus natione Lituanus, [2] [3] but still spoke Ruthenian. [4] [5] [6] The Lithuanian nobility became largely Ruthenian, [7] and the nobility of ethnic Lithuania and Samogitia continued to use their native Lithuanian. It adapted Old Church Slavonic and (later) Ruthenian, and acquired main-chancery-language status in local matters and relations with other Orthodox principalities as a lingua franca ; Latin was used in relations with Western Europe. [8] It was gradually reversed by the Polonization of Lithuania beginning in the 15th century [7] and the 19th- and early-20th-century Russification of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. [9]

A notable example of Lithuanization was the 19th-century replacement of Jews (many Lithuanian Jews, but also Polish Jews), until then the largest ethnic group in Lithuania's major towns, with ethnic Lithuanians migrating from the countryside. Lithuanization was primarily demographic, rather than institutionalized. [10] When Lithuania became an independent state after World War I, its government institutionalized Lithuanization. [11] [12]

Interbellum Republic of Lithuania

interwar Lithuanian propaganda poster depicting Gediminas' Tower, urging Lithuanians not to forget the lost Vilnius Region Lithuanian poster urging not to forget Vilnius.jpg
interwar Lithuanian propaganda poster depicting Gediminas' Tower, urging Lithuanians not to forget the lost Vilnius Region

Around the time of Lithuanian independence, the country began moving toward the cultural and linguistic assimilation of large groups of non-Lithuanian citizens (primarily Poles and Germans). [13] The Lithuanian government was initially democratic, and protected the cultural traditions of other ethnic groups; a 1917 Vilnius Conference resolution promised national minorities cultural freedom. [14] After World War I, the Council of Lithuania (the government's legislative branch) was expanded to include Jewish and Belarusian representatives. [15] The first Lithuanian governments included ministries for Jewish and Belarusian affairs; [16] when the Vilnius Region was detached from the country after Żeligowski's Mutiny, however, the largest communities of Belarusians, Jews, and Poles ended up outside Lithuania and the special ministries were abolished. [17] In 1920, Lithuania's Jewish community was granted national and cultural autonomy with the right to legislate binding ordinances; however, partly due to internal strife between Hebrew and Yiddish groups their autonomy was terminated in 1924. [18] The Jews were increasingly marginalized and alienated by the "Lithuania for Lithuanians" policy. [19]

As Lithuania established its independence and its nationalistic attitudes strengthened, the state sought to increase the use of Lithuanian in public life. [20] Among the government's measures was a forced Lithuanization of non-Lithuanian names. [21] The largest minority-school network was operated by the Jewish community; there were 49 Jewish grammar schools in 1919, 107 in 1923, and 144 in 1928. [17] In 1931, partially due to consolidation, the number of schools decreased to 115 and remained stable until 1940. [17]

Education

A 1925 anti-Polish cartoon depicting Poles as slackers and thieves Trimitas polacy.jpg
A 1925 anti-Polish cartoon depicting Poles as slackers and thieves

At the beginning of 1920, Lithuania had 20 Polish-language schools for Poles in Lithuania. The number increased to 30 in 1923, but fell to 24 in 1926. [17] The main reason for the decrease was the policy of Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, which transferred students whose parents had "Lithuania" as their nationality on their passports to Lithuanian schools. [17] After the party lost control, the number of schools increased to 91. Soon after the 1926 coup d'état, nationalists led by Antanas Smetona came to power. The nationalists decided to ban attendance at Polish schools by Lithuanians; children from mixed families were forced to attend Lithuanian schools. Many Poles in Lithuania were identified as Lithuanians on their passports, and were forced to attend Lithuanian schools. The number of Polish schools decreased to nine in 1940. [17] In 1936, a law was passed which allowed a student to attend Polish school only if both parents were Poles. [20] This resulted in unaccredited schools, which numbered over 40 in 1935 and were largely sponsored by Pochodnia. [17] [20] A similar situation developed concerning German schools in the Klaipėda Region. [22] [23]

Lithuanian attitudes towards ethnic Poles were influenced by the concept of treating them as native Lithuanians who were Polonized over several centuries and needed to return to their "true identity". [24] [25] [26] [27] Another major factor was the tense relationship between Lithuania and Poland about the Vilnius Region and cultural (or educational) restrictions on Lithuanians there; in 1927, the Lithuanian Education Society Rytas chairman and 15 teachers were arrested and 47 schools closed. [28]

Religion

Although the Lithuanian constitution guaranteed equal rights to all religions, the government confiscated Orthodox churches (some of which had been converted from Catholic churches). Former Eastern Catholic Churches were confiscated as well, including the Kruonis Orthodox church. Thirteen Orthodox churches were demolished. [29]

Another target group for discrimination was the Poles; anti-Polish sentiment had appeared primarily due to the Polish occupation of Lithuania's capital Vilnius in 1920. Lithuanian Catholic priests (derogatorily called Litwomans in Polish) promoted Lithuanian in equal terms to Polish, which in many places had been used forced onto the locals by Polish Church authorities. It was often the case, that the parish was inhabited by Lithuanian-speaking people, yet they knew their prayers only in Polish, as the priests tried Polonizing them. [30] Eugeniusz Romer (1871–1943) noted that the Lithuanian National Revival was positive in some respects, he described some excesses, which he found often to be funny, although aggressive towards Poles and Polish culture. [31] For example, Lithuanian priests were forced to drive out of confessional boxes people who wanted to confess in Polish or refused to sing Polish songs that were sung in those churches for centuries during additional services, preferring Lithuanian instead. [32]

Anti-Polish propaganda was sponsored by the government; during the interwar period, caricatures and propaganda were published attacking Poles and depicting them as criminals or vagabonds.[ citation needed ]

Surnames

During the interwar, discussions started about returning to native Lithuanian surnames, as opposed to Germanization and Slavicisation (which included both Russification and Polonization). These talks resulted in a draft law to this end, which was submitted to the Seimas in 1939, but not accepted as insufficiently prepared. A special commission "Pavardžių atlietuvinimo komisija" (Commission for the Re-Lithuanianization of Surnames) was set up. Because of the talks on the issue, even though the law did not pass, many Lithuanians re-Lithuanianized their names themselves. [33] Common approaches were to cut out the Slavic part of the suffix, e.g., "Kunčius  [ lt ]" from "Kuncevičius  [ lt ]" (equivalent of Polish Kuncewicz) or replace a Slavic suffix with the matching Litnuanian one: Antanaitis from Antanavičius (Polish: Antonowicz). [34]

Modern Lithuania

In modern Lithuania, which has been independent since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuanization is not an official state policy. It is advocated by groups such as Vilnija, however, whose activities create tension in Polish-Lithuanian relations. [24] [35] [36] [37] The former minister of education and science of Lithuania, Zigmas Zinkevičius, stated that the Polish minority inhabiting the Vilnius region is composed of "Polonized Lithuanians" who "are incapable of understanding where they truly belong" and it is "every dedicated Lithuanian's duty" to re-Lithuanize them. [38] Lithuanization promoted the cooperation of Polish and Russian minorities, who support the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania.[ dubious – discuss ]

The Law on Ethnic Minorities, which remained in force until 2010, enabled bilingual signage in areas that have "substantial numbers of a minority with a different language". After the termination of its validity, municipal authorities in Šalčininkai and Vilnius were ordered to remove bilingual Polish-Lithuanian signs, most of which had been placed during the period when such signs were permitted. In 2013, Vilnius regional court fined the administrative director of Šalčininkai District Municipality (where Poles constituted 77.8% of the population in 2011 [39] ) €30 for each day of delay, and in January 2014 ordered him to pay a fine of over €12,500. [40] Liucyna Kotlovska from Vilnius District Municipality was fined about €1,738. [41] Bilingual signs, even those privately purchased and placed on private property, are now seen by Lithuanian authorities as illegal. The only exception is provided for names of organisations of national minority communities and their information signs. According to the EU's Advisory Committee, this violates Lithuania's obligations under Article 11 (3) of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. [42] [43] [44]

A Polish-Lithuanian woman protested when her last name (Wardyn) was Lithuanized to Vardyn. [45] In 2014, Šalčininkai District Municipality administrative director Boleslav Daškevič was fined about €12,500 for failing to execute a court ruling to remove Polish traffic signs. Polish and Russian schools went on strike in September 2015, [46] organised by the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania. [47]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Orest Subtelny Ukraine. A History. Second edition, 1994. p. 70
  2. ↑ Bumblauskas, Alfredas (2005-06-08). "Globalizacija yra unifikacija". alfa.lt (in Lithuanian).
  3. ↑ Marshall Cavendish, "The Peoples of Europe", Benchmark Books, 2002
  4. ↑ Jerzy Lukowski; Hubert Zawadzki (2001). A Concise History of Poland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 33–45. ISBN   0-521-55917-0.
  5. ↑ Serhii Plokhy (2006). The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 109–111. ISBN   0-521-86403-8.
  6. ↑ "The son of Gediminas, the Grand Prince Olgerd [(Algirdas)] expanded the Ruthenian lands he inherited from his father: he attached the Polish lands to his state expelling the Tatars out. The Ruthenian lands under his sovereignty were divided between princes. However, Olgerd, the person of a strong character, controlled them. In Kiev, he installed his son, Vladimir, who started the new line of Kiev princes that reigned there for over a century and called commonly the Olelkoviches, from Olelko, Aleksandr Vladimirovich, the grand-son of Olgerd. Olgerd himself, married twice the Ruthenian princesses, allowed his sons to baptize into Ruthenian religion and, as the Ruthenian Chronicles speak, had himself baptized and died as a monk. As such, the princes that replaced the St. Vladimir's [Rurikid] line in Ruthenia, became as Ruthenian by religion and by the ethnicity they adopted, as the princes of the line that preceded them. The Lithuanian state was called Lithuania, but of course it was purely Ruthenian and would have remained Ruthenian if only the successor of Olgerd in the Great Princehood, the Jagiello wouldn't have married in 1386 to the Polish queen Jadwiga"
    (in Russian) Nikolay Kostomarov, Russian History in Biographies of its main figures, section Knyaz Kostantin Konstantinovich Ostrozhsky (Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski)
  7. 1 2 "Within the [Lithuanian] Grand Duchy, the Ruthenian lands initially retained considerable autonomy. The pagan Lithuanians themselves were increasingly converting to Orthodoxy and assimilating into Ruthenian culture. The grand duchy's administrative practices and legal system drew heavily on Slavic customs, and Ruthenian became the official state language. Direct Polish rule in Ukraine since the 1340s and for two centuries thereafter was limited to Galicia. There, changes in such areas as administration, law, and land tenure proceeded more rapidly than in Ukrainian territories under Lithuania. However, Lithuania itself was soon drawn into the orbit of Poland."
    from Ukraine. (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica.
  8. ↑ (in Lithuanian) Zigmas Zinkevičius The Problem of a Slavonic Language as a Chancery Language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
  9. ↑ Kevin O'Connor, The History of the Baltic States, Greenwood Press, ISBN   0-313-32355-0, Google Print, p.58
  10. ↑ "Jewish Social Studies". Jewish Social Studies. VIII. Indiana University Press: 272–274. 1939.
  11. ↑ Ezra Mendelsohn (1983). The Jews of East Central Europe Between the World Wars. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. pp. 225–230. ISBN   0-253-20418-6.
  12. ↑ István Deák (2001). "Holocaust in Other Lands – A Ghetto in Lithuania". Essays on Hitler's Europe. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 119–122. ISBN   0-8032-1716-1.
  13. ↑ James Stuart Olson, ed. (1994). An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 258. ISBN   0-313-27497-5.
  14. ↑ Laučka, Juozas (1984). "Lithuania's Struggle for Survival 1795–1917". Lituanus . 30 (4). Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  15. ↑ Skirius, Juozas (2002). "Vokietija ir Lietuvos nepriklausomybė". Gimtoji istorija. Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Elektroninės leidybos namai. ISBN   9986-9216-9-4. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2007-01-28.
  16. ↑ Banavičius, Algirdas (1991). 111 Lietuvos valstybės 1918–1940 politikos veikėjų (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Knyga. pp. 11–20. ISBN   5-89942-585-7.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Šetkus, Benediktas (2002). "Tautinės mažumos Lietuvoje". Gimtoji istorija. Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Elektroninės leidybos namai. ISBN   9986-9216-9-4. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  18. ↑ Vardys, Vytas Stanley; Judith B. Sedaitis (1997). Lithuania: The Rebel Nation . Westview Series on the Post-Soviet Republics. WestviewPress. pp.  39. ISBN   0-8133-1839-4.
  19. ↑ Eli Lederhendler, Jews, Catholics, and the burden of history, Oxford University Press US, 2006, ISBN   0-19-530491-8, Google Print, p.322
  20. 1 2 3 Eidintas, Alfonsas; Vytautas Žalys; Alfred Erich Senn (September 1999). Ed. Edvardas Tuskenis (ed.). Lithuania in European Politics: The Years of the First Republic, 1918–1940 (Paperback ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 133–137. ISBN   0-312-22458-3.
  21. ↑ Valdis O. Lumans (1993). "Lithuania and the Memelland". Himmler's Auxiliaries: The Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle and the German National Minorities of Europe. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 90–93. ISBN   0-8078-2066-0.
  22. ↑ SILVA POCYTĖ, DIDLIETUVIAI: AN EXAMPLE OF COMMITTEE OF LITHUANIAN ORGANIZATIONS ACTIVITIES (1934–1939) Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ Edgar Packard Dean, Again the Memel Question, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Jul., 1935), pp. 695–697
  24. 1 2 Dovile Budryte (2005). Taming Nationalism?: Political Community Building in the Post-Soviet Baltic States. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. pp. 147–148. ISBN   0-7546-3757-3.
  25. ↑ Jerzy Żenkiewicz (2001). Ziemiaństwo polskie w Republice Litewskiej w okresie międzywojennym (Polish Landowners in the Republic of Lithuania Between the Wars) (in Polish). Toruń. ISBN   9788391136607.
  26. ↑ Zenon Krajewski (1998). Polacy w Republice Litewskiej 1918-1940 (Poles in the Lithuanian Republic) (in Polish). Lublin: Ośrodek Studiów Polonijnych i Społecznych PZKS. p. 100. ISBN   83-906321-3-6.
  27. ↑ Krzysztof Buchowski (1999). Polacy w niepodległym państwie litewskim 1918-1940 (Poles in the Independent Lithuanian State) (in Polish). Białystok: History Institute of the University of Białystok. p. 320. ISBN   83-87881-06-6.
  28. ↑ Kulikauskienė, Lina (2002). "Švietimo, mokslo draugijos ir komisijos". Gimtoji istorija. Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Elektroninės leidybos namai. ISBN   9986-9216-9-4. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  29. ↑ Regina Laukaitytė (2001). "Lietuvos stačiatikių bažnyčia 1918–1940 m.: kova dėl cerkvių (Orthodoxy in Lithuania between 1918 and 1940: The struggle for Orthodox churches)" (PDF). Lituanistica (in Lithuanian). 2: 15–53. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2004-03-20. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  30. ↑ Martinkėnas, Vincas (1990). Vilniaus ir jo apylinkių čiabuviai. Vilnius. p. 25. Žlugus 1863 metų sukilimui, 1864–1865 m. Vilniaus generalgubernatorius M. Muravjovas sumanė drausti, o jo įpėdinis K. Kaufmanas uždraudė spausdinti lotyniškomis raidėmis lietuviškus raštus. Nuo to laiko lieuviams buvo draudžiama leisti net maldaknyges lotynišku šriftu. Ilgus metus, neturėdami lietuviškų maldaknygių, palikti lenkiškos dvasininkijos globai, nepasiduodami pravoslavijai, noromis nenoromis lietuviai rinkosi nepersekiojamą lenkiškąją maldaknygę. Taip daryti ragino lenkų dvasininkai, kurie rūpinosi daugiau nutautinimu negu religijos mokymu. Kad šitokia veikla buvo įprastas reiškinys, yra daugybė pavyzdžių. Lietuvių šviesuomenės, kuri būtų galėjusi pasipriešinti tokiai politikai neturtingame Vilniaus krašte, buvo maža, o lietuvių kunigai buvo siunčiami į nelietuviškas parapijas. Kaip lenkų dvasininkija apaštalavo lietuviškose parapijose, liudijo seneliai, nemokėję nė žodžio lenkiškai, bet kalbėję lenkiškus poterius. Kai ilgainiui lietuviai pradėjo priešintis lenkinimui per bažnyčią, prasidėjo žiauri kova dėl lietuviškų pamokslų ir maldų. Ta kova primena savo metu siautusius katalikų ir protestantų religinius karus. Tik tų karų tikslas čia buvo kitas – ne religija, bet kalba. Yra žinoma, kad lenkiškoji lietuviškų parapijų dvasininkija kurstė brolį prieš brolį ir palaikė bažnytinius sąmyšius, organizuojamus lenkų naudai. Tose suirutėse kovojo tie patys lietuviai, kurių vieną dalį kunigija jau buvo aplenkinusi, kitos dar nespėjusi.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  31. ↑ Eugeniusz Römer (2001). ""Apie lietuvių ir lenkų santykius" (translation of "Zdziejów Romeriow na Litwie. Pasmo czynnośći ciągem lat idące...")". Lietuvos Bajoras (in Lithuanian). 5: 18–20. Retrieved 2007-12-17. Tai jokiu būdu nelietė tautinio lietuvių atgimimo gerųjų pusių, kultūros ir švietimo kėlimo, o daugiau tik tam tikrus šio judėjimo "perlenkimus", dažnai juokingus, o lenkų atžvligiu net agresyvius...
  32. ↑ Eugeniusz Römer (2001). ""Apie lietuvių ir lenkų santykius" (translation of "Zdziejów Romeriow na Litwie. Pasmo czynnośći ciągem lat idące...")". Lietuvos Bajoras (in Lithuanian). 5: 18. Retrieved 2007-12-17. Arba štai: bažnyčiose kovojant už neginčijamas lietuvių kalbos teises, kai kurie lietuvių kunigai buvo verčiami vyti nuo klausyklų tuos, kurie norėjo atlikti išpažintį lenkų kalba arba per papildomas pamaldas buvo atsisakoma per amžius jose giedamų lenkiškų giesmių ar Evangelijos lenkų kalba.
  33. ↑ Pavardžių žodyno pobūdis [The Character of the Dictionary of Surnames]
  34. ↑ Alfred Senn, Lithuanian Surnames, JSTOR   2491865
  35. ↑ Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (October 2006). ""Antypolski tekst K. Garsvy" (Anti-Polish text by K. Garsva)". Commentary on K.Garsva article "Kiedy na Wileńszczyźnie będzie wprowadzone zarządzanie bezpośrednie? (When Vilnius region will have direct self-government?)" in Lietuvos Aidas, 11 -12.10". Media Zagraniczne O Polsce (Foreign Media on Poland) (in Polish). XV (200/37062). Retrieved 2006-01-20.
  36. ↑ Paweł Cieplak. "Polsko-litewskie stosunki (Polish-Lithuanian affairs)". Lithuanian Portal (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
  37. ↑ Leonardas Vilkas, LITEWSKA, ŁOTEWSKA I ESTOŃSKA DROGA DO NIEPODLEGŁOŚCI I DEMOKRACJI: PRÓBA PORÓWNANIA (Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Way to Independence: An Attempt to Compare, on homepage of Jerzy Targalski
  38. ↑ Donskis, Leonidas (2001). Identity and Freedom: Mapping Nationalism and Social Criticism in Twentieth Century Lithuania. Routledge. p. 31. ISBN   978-0415270861. According to Professor Zigmas Zinkevicius, the former minister of education and science of Lithuania, Lithuanian Poles living in the Vilnius region are, in fact, Polonised Lithuanians. In his opinion, they can have no awareness of who they are because, once assimilated, these Lithuanian Poles/Polonised Lithuanians lost their original identity. The minister concludes that it is every dedicated Lithuanian's duty to educate and re-Lithuanianise those people who are incapable of understanding where they truly belong.
  39. ↑ Lazdiņa, Sanita; Marten, Heiko F., eds. (2019). Multilingualism in the Baltic States Societal Discourses and Contact Phenomena. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 156. ISBN   978-1137569134.
  40. ↑ Moore, Irina (2019). "Linguistic landscape as an arena of conflict. Language removal, exclusion, and ethnic idenitity construction in Lithuania (Vilnius)". In Evans, Matthew; Jeffries, Lesley; O'Driscoll, Jim (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Language in Conflict (1st ed.). Routledge. p. 387. ISBN   978-0429058011.
  41. ↑ "Kolejna grzywna za tabliczki. Nie ma nowego "rekordu"..." Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  42. ↑ Third Opinion on Lithuania adopted on 28 November 2013 (Report). Council of Europe, Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. 10 October 2014. pp. 24–25.
  43. ↑ Fourth Opinion on Lithuania – adopted on 30 May 2018 (Report). Council of Europe, Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. pp. 25–26.
  44. ↑ "Kara powyżej 40 tys. litów za dwujęzyczne tabliczki" . Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  45. ↑ "ETS: Litwa może odmówić Polakom zmiany pisowni nazwiska". 12 May 2011.
  46. ↑ More than 90 percent of Polish schools in Lithuania took part in the strike
  47. ↑ "LLRA rengs lenkiškų ir rusiškų mokyklų streiką" (in Lithuanian). 15min.lt. August 28, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2016.

Related Research Articles

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.

<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 language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are approximately 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 1 million 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">Grand Duchy of Lithuania</span> European state from c. 1236 to 1795

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 partitions of Poland–Lithuania. The state was founded by Lithuanians, who were at the time a polytheistic nation of several united Baltic tribes from Aukštaitija, which by 1440, became the largest European state controlling an area from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south.

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">Lithuanian nobility</span> Legally privileged class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania or the Szlachta of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth consisting of Lithuanians from Lithuania Proper; Samogitians from Duchy of Samogitia; following Lithuania's eastward expansion into what is now Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, many ethnically Ruthenian noble families (boyars); and, later on, predominantly Baltic German families from the Duchy of Livonia and Inflanty Voivodeship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polonization</span> Adoption or imposition of Polish culture

Polonization or Polonisation is the acquisition or imposition of elements of Polish culture, in particular the Polish language. This happened in some historic periods among non-Polish populations in territories controlled by or substantially under the influence of Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographic history of the Vilnius region</span>

The city of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and its surrounding region has a long history. 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. The city has changed hands many times between Imperial and Soviet Russia, Napoleonic France, Imperial and Nazi Germany, Interwar Poland, and Lithuania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance</span> Lithuanian political party

Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance or EAPL–CFA is a political party in Lithuania. It positions itself as Christian-democratic. It has 3 seats in the Seimas, 1 seat in the European Parliament and 57 seats in municipal councils after the 2023 local election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scouting and Guiding in Lithuania</span> Outdoor organizations within Lithuania

Scouting and Guiding in Lithuania consist of a number of different organizations, some of them connected to international bodies. Besides open associations, there are also some for the national minorities living in Lithuania, as well as Girl Scouts of the USA.

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

Lithuania proper[a] 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. 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.

Ypatingasis būrys or Special Squad of the German Security Police and SD was a killing squad operating in the Vilnius Region in 1941–1944. The unit, primarily composed of Lithuanian volunteers, was formed by the German occupation government and was subordinate to Einsatzkommando 9 and later to Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo).p.15 The unit was subordinated to German police, and had no official autonomy. In Polish they were colloquially called strzelcy ponarscy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krajowcy</span>

The Krajowcy were a group of mainly Polish-speaking intellectuals from the Vilnius Region who, at the beginning of the 20th century, opposed the division of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into nation states along ethnic and linguistic lines. The movement was a reaction against growing nationalism in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. The Krajowcy attempted to maintain their dual self-identification as Polish–Lithuanian rather than just Polish or Lithuanian. The Krajowcy were scattered and few in number and as a result failed to organize a widescale social movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edvardas Gudavičius</span> Lithuanian historian (1929–2020)

Edvardas Gudavičius was a Lithuanian historian. He was known as one of the best historians in Lithuania specializing in the early history of Grand Duchy of Lithuania and is an author of many publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zigmas Zinkevičius</span> Lithuanian linguist (1925–2018)

Zigmas Zinkevičius was a Lithuanian academician, Baltist, linguist, linguistic historian, dialectologist, politician, and the former Minister of Education and Science of Lithuania (1996–1998). Zinkevičius authored over a hundred books, including the popular six-volume "History of the Lithuanian Language" (1984–1994), and over a thousand articles, both in Lithuanian and other languages. He was an academician of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science since 1991 and a full member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences from 1990 to 2011, when he became an emeritus member.

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

The Poles of 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vilnius Conference</span> 1917 meeting establishing an independent Lithuanian state

In the history of Lithuania, the Vilnius Conference or Vilnius National Conference met on 18–22 September 1917, and began the process of establishing a Lithuanian state based on ethnic identity and language that would be independent of the Russian Empire, Poland, and the German Empire. It elected a twenty-member Council of Lithuania that was entrusted with the mission of declaring and re-establishing an independent Lithuania. The Conference, hoping to express the will of the Lithuanian people, gave legal authority to the council and its decisions. While the Conference laid the basic guiding principles of Lithuanian independence, it deferred any matters of the political structure of future Lithuania to the Constituent Assembly, which would later be elected in a democratic manner.

The History of Poles in Lithuania describes the history of Polish culture and language in Lithuanian lands, as well as the process of formation in the Polish community there before 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gediminas' Cap</span> Royal regalia of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Gediminas' Cap was the most important regalia of the Lithuanian monarchs who ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the Union of Lublin in 1569. During the inaugurations of Lithuanian monarchs, Gediminas' Cap was placed on the monarch's heads by the Bishop of Vilnius in Vilnius Cathedral.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.