V Y TAU TA S M AG N US U N I V E R SI T Y
FAC U LT Y OF H U M A N I T I E S
DE PA RT M E N T OF H I S T ORY
Rūstis Kamuntavičius
History of Lithuanian Culture
DIDACTICAL GUIDELINES
Kaunas, 2013
Reviewed by Prof. Dr. Zigmantas Kiaupa
Approved by the Department of History of the Faculty of Humanities at Vytautas Magnus University on 30 November 2012 (Protocol No. 3–2)
Recommended for printing by the Council of the Faculty of Humanities of
Vytautas Magnus University on 28 December 2012 (Protocol No. 8–6)
Translated and edited by UAB “Lingvobalt”
Publication of the didactical guidelines is supported by the European Social Fund
(ESF) and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Project title: “Renewal
and Internationalization of Bachelor Degree Programmes in History, Ethnology,
Philosophy and Political Science” (project No.: VP1-2.2-ŠMM-07-K-02-048)
ISBN 978-9955-21-350-5
© Rūstis Kamuntavičius, 2013
© Vytautas Magnus University, 2013
Table of contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1. First lecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Food and Drinks in the Middle and New Ages . . . . . . 3. Economy and Culture under the Rule of the
Jagiellonian Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.Money and Society in Lithuania inthe 16–17 th Centuries . 5. Art, Science, and Society in Lithuania in the 17th century 6. Religions and Confessions in the 16-18th centuries . . . . . 7. Economy and Culture in the 18th Century . . . . . . . . . 8. Noble’s Democracy in the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. Jews in Lithuanian History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.Lithuanian Culture in 19th century. National Identity and
Russification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. Interwar Culture of Lithuania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.Changes in the Second Half of the 20th Century.
Sovietisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7
10
14
18
22
26
30
34
38
42
45
49
Introduction
This course is dedicated to discussions on Lithuanian cultural history in the broadest sense of this term. The most relevant topics
related to these problems, such as civil culture, tolerance, everyday
material life and other, are analysed.
Most recent historiography in English is used for the analysis of
the topics. It is important to highlight that the history of the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania is closely related to the history of Belarus and
Poland in particular. Due to this reason, the course contains so
much historiography related to Poland, especially when analysing
the issues where information about Lithuania is lacking or when
common Polish and Lithuanian issues of the past are looked into.
For instance, the history of medieval food and drinks in Lithuania
is discussed based on the book dedicated to Poland. Since it speaks
much of the habits of the elite in this country, which is closely
linked with Lithuania (the ruler used to be the same from the end
of the 14th century), it may be assumed that the reality of Lithuania
was not very remote from that of Poland. Moreover, the material for
lectures contains supplementary literature which allows deepening
knowledge, looking for similarities and differences. Another example is the study by Jerzy Lukowski on the political culture of Poland
and Lithuania in the 18th century. Again, Poland is in the focus of
the book; however, the author is unable to ignore Lithuania being
the other party of the union. It provides certain advantages because
5
History of Lithuanian Culture
Lithuania is seen from a slightly different perspective, which is less
typical of Lithuanian historiography. The same observations are
applicable to two other books on the common history of Poland
and Lithuania – Citizenship and Identity in a Multinational Commonwealth and The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386–1795 (D. Stone).
All the books for reading are new, published over the last ten
years. Only a few are an exception, for instance, Money, Prices and
Power in Poland, 16–17th Centuries by A. Mączak and The Baltic
States by R. Misiūnas and R. Taagaperos. Both of them were published in 1995. They are classical books in terms of their themes,
written by the most famous researchers; therefore, they cannot be
ignored in a course like this.
The first lecture of the course is introductory. The teacher is the
only one who speaks. The rest of the lectures are both lectures and
seminars. Students come to each of them having read a specified
chapter from the books in the reference list and have a discussion
with the teacher on the specific topic of the lecture-seminar. The
most important material required for preparation is scanned and
available online. Students are encouraged to look for additional
material individually in libraries and online.
1. First lecture
The subject of cultural history in the same way as history in general
is a human being. Cultural history may be understood both in a
very narrow and in a very wide sense. On the one hand, culture is
only exhibitions of pieces of art, theatre performances, symphonic
orchestras, etc. Yet, a wider definition of culture includes everything that was created by the hands and brain of a human. This is
daily routine, economic activities, outlook, national identity, social
activities, etc. There are a number of intermediate definitions of
culture which encompass merely some areas of human activity, for
instance, only material or only spiritual aspects. No consensus has
been reached which out of many definitions of culture is the most
correct. In this course, culture is perceived in its broadest sense.
Since this perspective considerably expands the range of topics, and
the course is limited by time and poor choice of literature in English, several most important topics related to the broad definition of
culture will be analysed.
The first and the most broadly analysed topic in the course is
material and economic life. What Lithuanian drank, ate, produced,
how they traded and what was the development of these areas from
the Middle Ages to the changes brought by the Soviet Era in the
second half of the 20th century. Another topic is the political culture of Lithuania. The history of the country is particularly poorly
known from this perspective because the development of a civil
7
History of Lithuanian Culture
society is reflected by it. These topics are relevant to democratic
societies, and Lithuania has been among them only for the last 20
years. Consequently, the topic was not paid appropriate researchers’ attention. In the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, especially in the 15–16th centuries, Lithuanian nobility were factual
rulers of the state and this determined the formation of a specific
political culture. There was nothing similar in Europe; therefore,
this Polish–Lithuanian phenomenon was outstanding in the global
context. One more unique tradition was developed in the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania – tolerance. Coexistence of Lithuanian, Polish,
Belarusian, Jewish, and other nations became a phenomenon with
merely a few analogues in the entire European continent. The last –
fourth – topic analysed in the course is related to shifts in mentality.
They are value judgements, understanding of space and other phenomena related to people’s perception of the world. In fact, these
problems are analysed in each lecture of the course and are related
to the issues of political culture and tolerance.
Having selected these topics, Lithuanian history may be divided
into several more or less logical periods which in principle correspond to the established tradition. The first one includes the period
from the establishment of the state at the turn of the 12–13th centuries
to the rule of Vytautas and Jogaila at the turn of the 14–15th centuries. These two centuries are related to the period of paganism. The
Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a multinational, tolerant state with
a specific material culture and economic system started forming
at the time. The second period (15–18th centuries) is the time of political and cultural affinity with Poland. Besides, this is the period
when Lithuania moves from Paganism to Christianity and is subject
to the most intense protestant and in particular catholic influences
which leave essential footprints in its culture. At the same time, a
specific state governance model based on the noble’s democracy is
under formation. The third period is the times of Tsarist Russia,
when occupied Lithuania undergoes the key social and economic
8
First lecture
transformations. Namely at that time, serfdom was abolished, rapid Russification was taking place, new towns were constructed and
the old ones were expanded like never before, the infrastructure
of transport and communications was developed. The last period
covers the years from the First World War to present times. This epoch encompasses two periods of Lithuanian independence lasting
for two decades each and half a century of Soviet occupation. The
changes undergone by Lithuania over this period transformed radically its cultural horizons. From an agricultural country Lithuania
became an urban one, from a multinational country it turned into
a homogenous one with Lithuanian-speaking population. Lithuanian culture has never experienced so many essential changes
within such a short period of time as it did in the 20th century.
Having surveyed the topics, it is important to note that only the
historical period of the Lithuanian state, i. e. from around the 13th
century to present days, is analysed in the course. It was decided to
do so because fundamental changes occur in the nature of historiography (archaeological research prevails) and topics (it is impossible to analyse the problems pertaining either to tolerance or to civil
society) when examining earlier periods. Furthermore, literature in
the English language is hardly available to examine the prehistoric
times.
2. Food and Drinks in the Middle and New Ages
Food and drinks are among the major topics of material culture.
Not only destinies of individuals but also of entire countries and regions depended on them. Those who managed to accumulate larger
stocks of food were able to survive famine or political turmoil more
successfully. Those living on a more fertile land also used to have
a much better quality of life than others. Countries of wine culture organised their work and lifestyle in a completely different way
than regions drinking beer. Lithuania located in the north-eastern
part of Europe was also specific.
The first thing that distinguished Lithuanians from the entire
European context was a relatively high consumption of meat. Huge
forests were a perfect breeding place for a number of animals, and
a relatively sparse population (compared to Western Europe) contributed even more effectively to their prosperity. Till the very beginning of the 19th century, Lithuania was one the most excellent
places for hunting in Europe. Only in the independent interwar
period, having cut down a large part of forests in Lithuania, it started gradually resembling other countries further to the west. Not
only wild but also domestic animals were abundant. Cows, sheep,
goats, horses and other animals used to be numerous because they
had much more space for pasture than in other European countries. Such peculiarity of Lithuania was evident from the end of the
Middle Ages. It is likely that Lithuanians did not consume so much
10
Food and Drinks in the Middle and New Ages
meat earlier; such conclusions can be drawn based on the findings
of archaeological research. The breakthrough in meat consumption
probably took place in the 15–16th centuries when both agriculture
and livestock farming improved considerably. Interestingly, meat
consumption and substantial nutrition determined that Lithuanians were quite tall. Europeans were surprised by this peculiar
feature of Lithuanians from the times of the Crusades to the Baltic
lands. Even today, on average, Lithuanians are slightly taller compared to the inhabitants of southern Europe.
Lithuanians used to drink a lot of various drinks along with
meat. Since they kept cows, they used to drink a lot of milk from
the Middle Ages. Consumption of alcohol was high, especially beer.
Like in entire Europe, beer was often drunk as a substitute for water
because water was unhealthy to drink because of its contamination.
From the 16th century, vodka started becoming increasingly more
popular in Lithuania, which was much stronger than beer. It is no
secret that in the 18–19th centuries the scope of its consumption
reached intolerable limits and the movement of sobriety started. In
Lithuania, production of mead started even earlier than production of vodka. Till the very 19–20th centuries, it used to be a “speciality” drink of this region common in the entire territory of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and some neighbouring countries. Wine
was among foreign drinks which reached Lithuania but due to its
price only the highest social classes could afford it. Starting with
the Middle Ages, Hungarian wines such as Tokaji used to be the
most popular, yet merchants used to bring wine even from remoter
countries – shores of Rhine, France, and Italy.
Meat and alcohol certainly were not the only food and drinks
of Lithuanians and even not the most important ones. Grains prevailed in their daily nutrition. Bread, porridges, and soups used to
be cooked from them. In the 16th century, grain also became the
major Lithuanian good for exports. Lithuanians always consumed
little vegetables. Even in the 19th century, the major and almost the
11
History of Lithuanian Culture
only vegetable was a turnip. In the Middle Ages, Lithuanians used
to laugh at “herbivorous” Germans who ate cabbages. Coffee was
brought to Lithuania only roughly in the 18th century, tea (the way
we perceive it today) even later. Salt was brought from mines in Poland, near Krakow because it was its nearest source.
Elite social classes, i. e. tycoons, wealthy nobility, and urban
residents, had a more sophisticated cuisine and more refined manners than the majority of ordinary people. In fact, in the Middle
Ages, the diversity of their food hardly differed from the food eaten
by peasants, simply the wealthy used to eat more. Yet, the situation
started changing in the 16th century. Upon the arrival Bona Sforza
to take a rule over Poland and Lithuania, Italian fashion started
making its way to the country. More vegetables, sauces, and various
exotic products appeared. Table manners started emerging, and
over time ordinary pieces of cutlery such as a fork appeared. Till
that time, only knives and hands were used for eating. The cuisine
of the elite in the 17th century was heavily influenced by the French
fashion because two French ladies were in throne successively (Ludwika Maria and Maria Sobieska). The influence was so great that
even mineral water was transported from France, not to mention
chefs or recipes. Nonetheless, this high fashion existed only in a
very narrow circle of the elite isolated from the society in luxurious
estates.
Mandatory literature:
• Maria Dembińska, Food and Drink in Medieval Poland,
Penn 1999, 47–135.
Additional literature:
• Puronas V., Nuo mamutų iki cepelinų (Lietuvos kulinarijos
istorija), VAGA 1999.
• Martin, A. Lynn, Alcohol, Sex, and Gender in Late Medieval
and Early Modern Europe, Palgrave 2001.
12
Food and Drinks in the Middle and New Ages
Questions:
1. What influences affected Polish and Lithuanian cuisine
more: the eastern or the western ones? 2. What was the reason behind that?
3. How was the kitchen of the king and nobility organised?
Why was its structure so complicated?
4. What kinds of meat were consumed? Why was the consumption of certain kinds of meat higher?
5. What drinks and in what proportions were consumed?
6. What dishes were made from grain? Compare the consumption of grain with nowadays.
3. Economy and Culture under the Rule of
the Jagiellonian Dynasty
The rule of the Jagiellonian Dynasty covers the period from the beginning of the rule of Jogaila (Grand Duke of Lithuania over the
period from 1377 to 1432 and King of Poland over the period from
1386 to 1432) to the death of the last representative of the Jagiellonian Dynasty Sigismund Augustus (Grand Duke of Lithuania over
the period from 1544 to 1572 and King of Poland over the period
from 1547 to 1572). The term of the Jagiellonian Dynasty is more
common in Polish literature as well as English literature, which is
influenced by the former; the term of Gediminids is more common
in Lithuanian historiography. The latter covers a much longer period than the former (from the rule of Grand Duke Gediminas over
the period of 1316–1345 to 1572). The reason for that was the fact that
Gediminas was only the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
and Jogaila (one of his grandsons) also became the King of Poland.
Since we are going to discuss the 15–16th centuries, for the sake of
convenience we will use the term of the Jagiellonian Dynasty.
The era of the Jagiellonian Dynasty was the period of political
prosperity for Poland and Lithuania. The major medieval rivals were
overcome. The Teutonic Order was beaten in 1410 and was finally
eliminated in 1525. In 1561, the Livonian Order was destroyed. The
territories of these countries were divided between Lithuania and
Poland; other neighbouring countries also received small territories.
The influence of the Jagiellonian Dynasty was spreading to other
14
Economy and Culture under the Rule of the Jagiellonian Dynasty
states of Central Europe: at the turn of the 15–16th centuries, they
were elected as the rulers of Hungary and the Czech state. No force
was more powerful than the Jagiellonian Dynasty in Central and
Eastern Europe and only the House of Habsburg could match it.
As wars with German Orders ceased, favourable conditions
for economic development emerged in Lithuania. To stimulate
them, Lithuanian rulers and nobility used to invite craftsmen and
merchants from Europe. Jews and Germans, who inhabited cities,
started coming on a massive scale. Very rapidly they became the
economically strongest urban residents, and in the 16th century they
became predominant in the highest stratum of the state economy.
They exerted control over huge capital and were the major money
lenders both to the ruler and nobility. When in around 1500 Grand
Duke Alexander came up with an idea to exile Jews from the country, he was forced to bring them back immediately because the
economy of the state started collapsing. Never again in the history
of Lithuania, Jews were exhaled from the country.
Another important process which emerged in the economic life
of Lithuania was the so-called second serfdom. In the Middle Ages,
serfdom existed in entire Europe: all land belonged to the noble,
and peasants had to cultivate it and pay tributes; the major function
of the noble used to be governance and defence of the state. In the
16th century, the situation started changing. Serfdom was becoming
weaker in Western Europe – increasingly more people moved to cities, where they became free and were released from serfdom, now
they could acquire real estate and manage their lives on their own.
In Eastern Europe – Poland, Lithuania, and Hungary – reverse processes were taking place. Here, serfdom started becoming more intense in the 16th century and processes continued up to the very 19th
century. This was determined by strengthening of the nobility in
this region. They took over trade business from cities and impeded
the growth of their political power in all possible ways. Economically and politically weak cities failed to grow. The growing demand
15
History of Lithuanian Culture
for forests and grain in particular in the west further strengthened
the nobility who being an absolute sovereign of the state continuously weakened peasants’ rights, imposed more duties on them and
sanctions for incompliance. They were the major reasons behind
the strengthening of the second serfdom. Wallach Reform in Lithuania in the middle of the 16th century should be considered as one
of the most outstanding symbols of the second serfdom. Peasants
who used to live in individual farmsteads or chaotic villages were
divided into orderly settlements, each of them was provided with
the same amount of land, and equal taxes were imposed. Consequently, agriculture became more effective, yet much more control
was exerted over peasants’ life; they were derived of the right to
movement and free choice.
Changes in the area of spiritual culture were even greater than
in economy. In the course of the 15th century, Lithuania, christened
in 1387, integrated into the cultural area of the west, and became
its fully-fledged participant in the 16th century. Since modernisation took place mainly through Poland, the language and culture
of the country became fashionable among the Lithuanian elite, and
active polonisation was started. In fact, at the beginning of the 17th
century, the majority of the elite of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
already spoke only Polish. However, in spite of losing the Lithuanian language, representatives of the political elite were not following the Polish example blindly. This lead to specific achievements
of Lithuania– three Lithuanian statutes, the first baroque church
outside Italy (Nesvizh, 1593), and a unique branch of Protestantism based on the teachings of protestants from Northern Italy and
Switzerland. In none of the cases, examples from Poland were copied. In most cases, the representatives of the Radziwill family, who
used to be the actual rulers of the entire state because due to an
increasingly more frequent residence by the Jagiellonian in Poland
the vacuum of supreme power formed in Lithuania, played an important role in introducing innovations. It is important to note that
16
Economy and Culture under the Rule of the Jagiellonian Dynasty
in 1589 a university was founded in Vilnius, which became the remotest higher education school of the European level in the northwest. Key changes also took place in the horizons of the culture of
Lithuanian-speaking population over this period, i. e. the first book
was published, the Catechism by Martynas Mažvydas (1547).
Mandatory literature:
• Daniel Stone, The Polish–Lithuanian State, 1386–1795, 67–115.
Additional literature:
• Kiaupa Z., The History of Lithuania, Baltos lankos 2002.
• Davies N., The Gods Playground, vol. 1, Columbia University
Press 1982.
Questions:
1. What was the relation between Poland and Lithuania in a
single state in the areas of economy and culture?
2. Why is the rule of the Jagiellonian Dynasty called the Golden
Age?
3. Why was Poland and Lithuania a wealthy country although
agriculture rather than cities constituted the basis of its
economy?
4. Why and how did Jews manage to become predominant in
the economic life of Poland and Lithuania?
5. Why is it said that the state of Poland and Lithuania was located between the east and the west? 6. What features of its
culture and economy were eastern and which ones western?
What determined such trends?
4. M
oney and Society in Lithuania in
the 16–17th Centuries
In the first half of the 16th century, Lithuania was under the rule
of two last Gediminids: the father Sigismund the Old and the son
Sigismund Augustus. The death of the latter in 1572 marked the end
of the Jagiellonian (Gediminid) Dynasty. Lithuania ceased being
a dynastic state; moreover in 1596 the Union of Lublin was signed.
The election of rulers started for the first time in the history of
Lithuania, moreover their candidacies had to be coordinated with
colleagues in Poland. After a short rule of Henry of Valois from
France and a rule of Stephen Bathory from Hungary which lasted
for a decade (1576–1586), the epoch of the Swedish House of Vasa
started, which lasted for 80 years (1588–1668). This period is not
considered to be as noble as the times of the Jagiellonian Dynasty,
yet it is still called a silver era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In political terms, the state retained its dominant position
in Central and Eastern Europe. In 1611, Moscow was occupied for
a short period of time; wars with yet another major rival Turkey
were successful. Troubles started in the middle of the 17 th century
when Poland and Lithuania were simultaneously invaded by the
largest states in the region – Russia and Sweden. During the wars,
which lasted for approximately 20 years (1648–1668), two thirds of
the population perished, great material losses were suffered. During these wars, Vilnius was occupied by a foreign army for the first
time in the history.
18
Money and Society in Lithuania in the 16–17th Centuries
In the 16–17th centuries, rapid economic and social changes
took place in Poland and Lithuania. They lead to integration of the
country into the European economic system; however it remained
agrarian with poorly developed cities. A number of theories were
developed to explain these changes; however one of the most accomplished ones was proposed by F. Braudel, a famous French historian, probably the most famous historian in the world in the second half of the 20th century.
What is the core of F. Braudel’s theory? According to the historian, a single economic area started forming in Europe from the end
of the Middle Ages. This implies that no completely isolated islets
remained, anyone was buying and selling, and products, raw materials, and money travelled from one side of the continent to the other.
However, instead of reducing the differences between the countries
and equalising the level of their economic development, this system
merely strengthened specialisation and accumulation of wealth even
to a greater extent. In fact, it turned out that wealthier countries, constituting the minority, exploited the rest which formed the majority.
Only there, production, finance, culture developed rapidly, whereas
the rest had to do with a peripheral role, i. e. the remoter a country
was from the centre, the poorer it looked like. Thus, although the
general economic level and technical progress of Europe started improving rapidly, wealthier countries became even wealthier whereas
less wealthy ones were not developing as fast as they wanted. According to F. Braudel, such processes were taking place throughout the
entire New Ages, they also continued in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The historian even listed the centres which dominated in the European economy from the Middle Ages. They were as follows: Venice
(the 14–15th centuries), Antwerp (the 16th century), Genoa (turn of the
16–17th centuries), Amsterdam (the 17–18th centuries), London (the
19th century), and the USA (the 20th century).
What is the place of Lithuania in this model by F. Braudel?
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was geographically remote
19
History of Lithuanian Culture
from the major European economic centres, had to do with a peripheral role. It became the centre of agriculture and supply of
natural raw materials. Products from forests and grain used to be
transported to Western Europe. A well-known fact is that in the
17 th century the prosperity of Amsterdam was based on the Dutch
control over the trade in grain in the Baltic Sea. Namely, this
city used to house the largest granaries in Europe. Although the
Dutch did not grow grain, they managed to generate much higher
profits from mediation than the Lithuanian and Polish who had
fertile lands and abundant manual labour that was growing grain.
According to estimations, trade in grain gave much higher profits
to the Dutch than trade in spices. Thus, it may be stated that starting with the 16th century, Lithuania became an economic colony
of the Dutch.
Such a peripheral position of Lithuania in an economic sense
did not mean that the state of affairs was absolutely bad. Due to
an active trade, enormous amounts of money were flowing to the
country. At the time, Lithuania was flourishing in the same way
as the countries in possession of oil do nowadays. Money was not
wasted totally unwisely. Wars with the Turkish and Muscovites,
construction of churches, monasteries, and cities were financed
from it. Lithuanian baroque architecture was funded namely from
this money. On the other hand, this trade had certain social consequences. Since it was under nobility’s control, tycoons in particular,
the latter became even stronger over time. Since no family managed to usurp the entire power, the democratic system based on the
supremacy of law (statutes) and comprehensive tolerance developed
and strengthened further.
Mandatory literature:
• Antoni Mączak, Money, Prices and Power in Poland, 16–17th
Centuries, Money and Society in Poland and Lithuania in
the 16th and 17th Centuries, VI: 69–104.
20
Money and Society in Lithuania in the 16–17th Centuries
• Antoni Mączak, Money, Prices and Power in Poland, 16–17th
Centuries, The Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania in the late
seventeenth century: an Essay in Interpretation of Spae, 7–20.
• Daniel Stone, The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386–1795, 190–210.
Additional literature:
• Laumenskaitė Egidija, Ekonominė mintis ir jos kūrėjai Lie­
tuvoje (XVI–XVII a.), Vilnius 1995.
• Tyla Antanas, Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės iždas per
dvidešimtmetį karą (1648–1667), Vilnius 2010.
• Fernand Braudel, Civilization and Capitalizm, vol. 1–3, 1979.
Questions:
1. How did Lithuanian economy develop under the rule of the
House of Vasa? Why did differences from Poland appear?
2. What determined the rise of tycoons under the rule of the
House of Vasa? Why did they become the economic drivers
of the state and how did it manifest?
3. How did wars affect the economy of Poland and Lithuania in
the 17th century?
4. What were the major trends in urban development in the 17th
century? Why was the importance of Gdansk so great and
what economical consequences did this have?
5. How was the trade of the state of Poland and Lithuania with
foreign partners organised in the 16–17th centuries? What
were the trends?
5. Art, Science, and Society
in Lithuania in the 17th century
The political history of Lithuania in the 17 th century is rather controversial. On the one hand, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was in
a common state with Poland, where the latter was apparently predominant. The King resided and parliamentary sittings were held
in Warsaw, the elite spoke Polish. On the other hand, sovereignty of
Lithuania and a desire to be different from the Polish was strengthened. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania retained law (Statutes), courts,
army, money, and borders independent from Poland. When necessity rose, individual parliamentary sittings – legislative authority –
used to be summoned, and in 1655 even the union with Poland was
terminated for a short while and a new one concluded with Sweden
(Union of Kėdainiai). Since the King residing in Warsaw had merely
a formal power, a specific executive power developed in Lithuania
representatives whereof used to be noblemen with most influential
positions, i. e. Chancellor, Hetman, Voivode of Vilnius, etc. These
officials were not accountable to anybody, even the King, and the
latter had no right to dismiss them, therefore, they had every possibility of implementing their own policies. In the course of the 17th
century, all major positions, i. e. the entire executive power, was in
the hands of several large families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:
the Radziwill family (up to 1655), the Pac family (1655–1684), and the
Sapieha family (1684–1701).
22
Art, Science, and Society in Lithuania in the 17th century
Having accumulated wealth from trade with the west and possessing a huge political power, the noblemen used to take up ambitious artistic and architectural projects. Highly-paid artists of the
highest European level used to be invited directly from the west.
For instance, brothers Giovanni, Giacomo and Constantino Tencallo coming from the shores of Lake Lugana used to be working in
Vilnius in the third and fourth decades. They constructed, reconstructed, and decorated Saint Casimir’s Chapel at Vilnius Cathedral and the Royal Palace; they also developed several other large
architectural and artistic projects in the city. They were assisted
by other artists, sculptors, and architects from Switzerland, Italy
and other European countries who also contributed to a number of
other projects in the entire territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the middle of the 17th century, when the wars ceased, a need
for reconstruction of destroyed cities of the country occurred. Even
more architects particularly from Germany and Italy were invited.
Namely in this period, Vilnius was basically reconstructed and became a baroque city, i. e. the city we know today. At the time, two
significant masterpieces at the European level were constructed:
Pažaislis church and monastery, Saint Peter and Saint Paul’s church
in Vilnius, Saint Trinitory church and monastery in Vilnius and
many other.
Lithuania was famous not only for art but also for science in Europe in the 17th century. Vilnius University governed by Jesuits had
the programmes which were no worse than the programmes in other most famous contemporary universities. Professors from Spain,
France and other countries used to teach there. Lithuanian professors also travelled around Europe and astonished it with their creations. Poet M. Sarbiewski, who used to write in Latin, was granted
the highest award from the Pope, a book by K. Semenavičius on
artillery was published in the Netherlands and became one of the
most famous bestsellers of the century in Europe. Lithuanian nobility used to travel a lot around Europe; they used to communicate
23
History of Lithuanian Culture
with the leaders and aristocracy of other countries, studied at universities. Hundreds of them graduated from universities of Basel,
Padua and other most prestigious schools of higher education in
the continent.
Multiculturalism of Lithuania became particularly evident in
the 17th century. Eventually, there was no Lithuanian speaking population in cities. The Yiddish, Polish or German Languages used
to be spoken there; one could hear the Belarusian language in the
eastern part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Strong Tatar and
Karaite communities used to reside in a number of small settlements around Vilnius. Kėdainiai and Biržai, the towns belonging
to the protestant Radziwill family, used to be the home for a large
Scottish community. Countless numbers of Italians, French, Germans and Spanish used to be flocking to the country. In each larger
city, Vilnius and Grodno in particular, one could easily meet these
foreigners. Such a huge mix of cultures determined countless conflicts, yet they never grew into bloody massacre or wars like it often
happened in Europe in the 16–17th centuries.
Mandatory literature:
• Daniel Stone, The Polish–Lithuanian State, 1386–1795, Culture in the Vasa period, 211–232.
Additional literature:
• Frick David, Wilnianie. Żywoty siediemnastowieczne, Warszawa 2008.
• Paknys Mindaugas, Pažaislis. Menas ir istorija, 2005.
• Paknys Mindaugas, Vilniaus miestas ir miestiečiai 1636 m.:
namai, gyventojai, svečiai, Vilnius 2006.
Questions:
1. What was the core of sarmatism ideology? How is it linked to
the story about Palemonas?
24
Art, Science, and Society in Lithuania in the 17th century
2. Why was Protestantism deteriorating in Poland and Lithuania in the 17th century?
3. What shows a high European level of art and architecture in
the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of the 17th century?
4. How were science and education developing in the 17th century? Did the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth manage to
integrate fully into the European context?
5. What did the everyday life of cohabitation of various Polish
and Lithuanian nations look like in the 17th century?
6. R
eligions and Confessions
in the 16–18th centuries
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was one of the most diverse in the
history of European countries from a religious and confessional
perspective in the 16th century. A fairly large Muslim community,
Tartars and Karaites, used to live in the south and around Vilnius. Jews, Judaists, and Arameans inhabited the cities. Enormous
eastern territories of the country were inhabited by orthodox Belarusians. To link them more and integrate into the catholic majority of the country, the Union of Brest was concluded at the end of
the century. Under it, a part of orthodox confessors in the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania recognised the supremacy of the Pope of the
Roman Catholic Church although they retained their ancient orthodox ceremonies. These people belonged to the Ukrainian Greek
Catholic Church. This mosaic was made even more diverse by various protestant sects. There used to be a lot of Lutheran Germans
in cities, and Anabaptists, Arianists, Calvinists and various other
“sectarians” used to visit the country under the auspices of various noblemen. The major custodians of Protestants used to be the
Radziwill family, the most powerful Lithuanian tycoons.
The diversity of religions and confessions in Poland and Lithuania was increased by active migration from Western Europe. There
were two causes for that. On the one hand, Lithuanian nobility invited foreigners. For instance, the protestant Radziwills inhabited
their private town of Kėdainiai with Scottish people. Craftsmen and
26
Religions and Confessions in the 16–18th centuries
merchants were lacking in the country, yet the invitation of Catholics was undesirable. Since contacts with Scotland were quite good, it
was decided to address the people of this country. Several centuries
earlier, at the turn of the 14–15th centuries, the rulers invited Muslim
Tartars who were both loyal soldiers and fairly good craftsmen. Judaists, who were also invited to the country and received privileges
for being good craftsmen and merchants, started inhabiting Lithuania even earlier. Yet various confessions came to Lithuania not only
because they were invited by the rulers and nobility. Since pagan
times, Lithuania was famous for being a tolerant country. While
people of different appearance and other confessions were pursued
in entire Europe, Lithuania and Poland remained an oasis of tranquillity and tolerance. Consequently, Jews from Spain, Protestants
from Italy and France, and later Old Believers from Russia fled and
inhabited the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
It is hard to tell from a distant historical perspective whether such
a huge religious and confessional diversity disunited and weakened
the country, or still created a specific variety of harmony. The sources
evidence of a number of conflicts, clashes and fights, yet they never
turned into open massive bloodsheds or a civil war like in Germany
or France. It is important to note that fights and clashes in the streets
used to be a frequent phenomenon in Europe of the time and their
causes were the same. In Italy, families used to fight, in the Polish–
Lithuanian Commonwealth Lithuanians were fighting with Polish,
etc. On the one hand, a conflict between Catholics and Protestants
in Lithuania stimulated book publishing and polemic. In a stronger
or a weaker form, it continued from the beginning of the 16th century to the middle of the 17th century. It provided a great impetus to
the development of science and education. Slightly later, in the late
17th century and the 18th century, the tension between Catholics and
Orthodox Believers led to the construction of churches and monasteries on a massive scale, which gave birth to a unique baroque style
of Vilnius which is astonishing Europe even today.
27
History of Lithuanian Culture
Although Lithuania had close relations with Poland and the
trends were similar, there were several specific differences. Firstly,
Protestantism was much stronger and much more widely spread
here. Lithuanian tycoons thought that by strengthening Protestantism they would become less independent from Poland, develop
a unique Lithuanian religious area and thus strengthen the autonomy and independence of Lithuania even more. These trends were
in particular evident in the 16th century. In the 17th century, most of
Lithuanian tycoons returned to Catholicism, only some Radziwills
remained faithful to Protestantism. The second specific feature of
Lithuania was the fact that pagans survived here for a long time.
Even in the 16th century, in two hundred years after the christening
of Samogitia, they were numerous enough. Although they nearly
became extinct in the 17th century, a number of them survived in
other locations of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Black Ruthenia
(currently Western Belarus, around Grodno) in particular. Interestingly, pagans (called stara Litwa) used to live in villages together
with Catholics, Orthodox Believers, and Jews. They mixed among
themselves, went to each other’s churches. This situation was typical of the entire central part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where
a number of cultures overlapped. There is no doubt that such a situation constituted the basis for a very unique micro world which was
absolutely different from Western Europe.
Mandatory literature:
• Citizenship and Identity in a Multinational Commonwealth,
Commonwealth of All Faiths: Republican Myth and the
Italian Diaspora in Sixteenth Century Poland–Lithuania,
171–205.
• Antoni Mączak, Money, Prices and Power in Poland, 16–17th
Centuries, Confessions, Freedoms and the Unity of Poland–
Lithuania, VII: 269–286.
• Jerzy Lukowski, Disorderly Liberty, Keeping the Faith, 55–75.
28
Religions and Confessions in the 16–18th centuries
Additional literature:
• Frontiers of Faith: Religious Exchange and the Constitution
of Religious Identities 1400–1750, Budapest 2001.
Questions:
1. Why did Italians of different confessions migrate to Poland
and Lithuania in the 16th century? 2. How did their integration into the cultural life of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth take place?
3. What was the impact of confessional and religious fragmentation on the political and social unity of Poland and Lithuania? Was it destroying the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth or creating a unique model of cohabitation?
4. What were the implications of religion for the society of the
18th century? How was it reflected in contemporary publicism?
5. Why and how was the religious and confessional situation in
Lithuania different from that in Poland in the 16–18th centuries?
6. As an individual task, find information about another country of any historical period where religious and confessional
diversity was the same as in Lithuania in the 16th century.
7. Economy and Culture in the 18th Century
In traditional Lithuanian historiography, the 18th century is considered to be one of the darkest periods in the history of the country.
The beginning and the middle of the century were marked by lost
wars, anarchy, cultural degradation and all other endless troubles.
The last quarter was slightly lighter when essential educational and
state governance reforms were implemented, yet they were implemented too late, moreover, their assessment was contradictory (e.g.,
discussion about the Constitution of May 3). The culmination of
the 18th century was the collapse of the state (1795). Due to these
reasons frequently this period is not of interest for Lithuanians. Yet,
was the cultural life of the state really dark?
A weak power of the King resulted in an entrenched decentralisation in Poland and Lithuania. The most powerful units in political, economic and cultural respect, i. e. tycoons’ estates and their
private towns, were scattered throughout the entire country. The
noble used to construct palaces, set up theatres, factories, printing
houses, etc., there. For instance, in Slonim Duke Oginski, having
invited architects and artists from Western Europe, constructed a
huge palace and a theatre accommodating 2,000 people, where a
troupe consisting of Polish and Italian artists was constantly working. He established a prestigious school in the town where children
of the nobility learnt singing, dancing, fencing, etc. A large park
was planted and a canal connecting Black Ruthenia and Ukrainian
30
Economy and Culture in the 18th Century
ports was dug. Over a short period of time, Slonim became an important economic and cultural centre and was not the only one.
Mir and Nesvizh located nearby were constructed, developed and
fostered by the Radziwills already in the 16th century. In Nesvizh,
there was not only a publishing house but also the first baroque
church outside Italy. In the 18th century, the city was renovated and
experienced its second renaissance. Several dozens of kilometres
further, in Ruzhany, there was the major residence of the Sapieha
family with one of the largest palaces in Eastern Europe. These are
only several examples from Black Ruthenia; identical or similar
centres were scattered throughout the entire country – in Druya in
Northern Belarus, Biržai and Kėdainiai in Lithuania, etc. Although
tycoons always existed in Poland and Lithuania, namely in the 18th
century they experienced golden ages, i. e. they had never had so
much political and economic power before. Such a situation determined that namely in this century their estates and cities became
the actual drivers of the state’s economy and culture.
Although during wars and occupations which took place in
the course of the 19th and 20th centuries most of the heritage created in the estates of the nobility was destroyed, yet even today a
number of Lithuanian and Belarusian cities are adorned by rococo
style churches. All of them were built in the 18th century for tycoons’
money. It is important that the solutions of architecture and interior
of these churches were far from banal. Artists from entire Europe
were invited by tycoons for their construction, mainly from Italy
and German lands. Although the majority of architects were foreigners, they did not restrict themselves merely by the conveyance
of western forms. A unique style called Vilnius baroque developed
in the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was included
in all the books on history of European architecture and art. Its
main principles were two elegant tapering towers and specific curvy
ornaments. Nowhere else in Europe there were so many of such
playful, elegant and at the same time elaborate churches like in the
31
History of Lithuanian Culture
historical lands of Lithuania in the 18th century. This architecture
and its spirit, being the pride of Vilnius nowadays, were created
mainly in the 18th century. Saint John’s Church in Vilnius University, the Basilian Monastery Gate (at the Gate of Dawn), the façade
of the Jesuit Church (Town Hall Square) and several dozens of other
churches, monasteries, and nobility palaces are just a few examples.
Certainly, architecture is not the entire heritage of the times of
tycoons’ prosperity. Intellectual heritage is of great importance. In
the 18th century, the pace of growth in printing of newspapers and
books was tremendous in Poland and Lithuania. Certainly, the
major publications with the largest circulations were in the Polish
language, yet the number of publications in the Jewish, Belarusian, German and many other languages was rising and they were
published at much larger quantities than before. Never before, so
many and so prominent foreign scholars delivered lectures in Vilnius University like in the 18th century, besides, at the beginning of
the century a branch of Krakow University, the second school of
higher education in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
was established in Biala, a town of the Radziwills. A democratic
framework of the state was further developing, changing and improving (it is discussed in the next chapter). It resulted in the implementation of reforms in the 7–9th decades, which turned the state
of Poland and Lithuania into a modern European country with a
democratic governance system which was far ahead of time. An educational reform implemented at that time abolished the monopoly
of the Jesuit Order in education, and the Constitution declared on
May 3 was the first of the kind in Europe and the second one in
the world after the USA. These advanced reforms and many other
implemented at that time show that Poland and Lithuania governed
by tycoons was far from a dark and gloomy country as it was tried
to prove for a long time. Unfortunately, this development of history
was terminated by the invasion of three neighbouring countries
and the collapse of the state.
32
Economy and Culture in the 18th Century
Mandatory literature:
• Daniel Stone, The Polish–Lithuanian State, 1386–1795, 289–335.
Additional literature:
• Zigmantas Kiaupa, Jūratė Kiaupienė, Albinas Kuncevičius,
The History of Lithuania before 1795, Vilnius 2000.
Questions:
1. What were the consequences of the wars fought at the beginning of the century for the economic and cultural development of Poland and Lithuania?
2. What was the influence of private towns belonging to the
nobility on the economy and culture of the state? Why were
they more prosperous than royal or independent cities?
3. Why is the Constitution of May 3 considered to be one of
the most important intellectual achievements in the Polish–
Lithuanian Commonwealth?
4. How and why was the economic development of Lithuania in
the 18th century different from that of Poland?
5. How and why was the cultural development of Lithuania in
the 18th century different from that of Poland?
8. Noble’s Democracy in the Polish–Lithuanian
Commonwealth
Law was among the most interesting phenomena in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was among a few states where internal
sustainability was based not on an authoritarian power of a ruler,
clique or oligarchs but laws. It is even more important that these
laws were not developed by a ruler and imposed on lower classes
like it was the case probably in all other countries but they were
developed by the political nation, i. e. the nobility, and the ruler had
merely to sign them, and it is even more important that the ruler
had to comply with them.
Law started establishing itself in Lithuania quite early. D. Kuolys
proved in a fairly well–argumented way that namely Vytautas Magnus was the founder of the democratic and legal system in Lithuania because he was the first ruler who started passing laws. Upon
continuous strengthening of the nobility’s powers, the major step
was taken in the 16th century, i. e. rulers elected (starting from Henry of Valois in 1572) had to give an oath to comply with the laws
passed by the noble. Parallely, in the same century, one more major
action was taken in Lithuania, i. e. three Statutes of Lithuania were
adopted (1529, 1566, and 1588). They codified the law of that time
in the most modern way in Europe. It is important to note that
codification was performed by the political nation, i. e. the nobility, certainly with the ruler’s consent, but nothing more. The third
Statute of Lithuania was adopted in 1588 and remained effective till
34
Noble’s Democracy in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
the middle of the 19th century. Probably, there is no other law which
was effective for so long in global practice. Even in the 19th century
its influence was so great that during uprisings the Lithuanian nobility identified itself as “loving freedom and respecting the Statute
of Lithuania”.
In the 16–18th centuries, democracy in Poland and Lithuania had
a lot of similarities with democracy today. First, it was everyone’s
equality before the law, prohibition to punish for crimes committed
by relatives, to judge covertly, and to make a suspect wait for court
for a long period of time. Juries were held. Along with these innovations, certain obsolete phenomena existed. A woman was not considered to be a full-fledged person despite the fact that punishments
for hurting a woman were harsher than applicable to men in Lithuanian law. Peasants, certainly, were unable to participate in the governance of the state. Nevertheless, although the above mentioned
facts might look barbarian today, they still used to be considered a
rule not so long ago. For instance, in England and France in the 19th
century, property qualification used to be applied for participation
in political life in western democratic bastions, and women were
eliminated from voting in certain European countries even in the
second half of the 20th century (e.g. Switzerland).
Another important aspect of the democratic system was clientelism. This term was coined by historian A. Mączak. Its core is
that in legal terms all the nobility of Poland and Lithuania were
equal, yet in fact there used to be a great stratification among them.
Nonetheless it was one of the largest classes of the noble in Europe
(accounted for 5–10% of the society, when in the countries of Western Europe they amounted merely to around 1–2%), and all the
noblemen simply could not be equally wealthy and influential. It
was natural that more influential and powerful noblemen started
mustering weaker and less wealthy noblemen around them. On the
one hand, these “assistants” provided support in parliamentary sittings that would take place very frequently and where all the major
35
History of Lithuanian Culture
affairs of the state would be handled. Since all the noblemen were
able to attend them, and decisions were taken by the majority of
votes, a greater support could determine adoption of favourable decisions. On the other hand, a large escort of clients in important
meetings or when preparing balls use to be an important detail of
a baroque person.
It might seem that clientelism was likely to impede democracy
and strengthen central authority or at least the governance of oligarchs consisting of noblemen’s families. Yet this was not the case.
A possibility of confederating, i. e. uniting into military units and
fighting with arms for adherence to laws, was foreseen for the nobility in the legal system. Due to this reason, whenever it turned out
that the King or any noble family acquired too much power, the nobility would rise and always win by restoring the previous state of
affairs. In fact, there was no period in Poland and Lithuania when
some noble family or the King had an established absolute power. It
used to be one of the most equal and free states in the world.
Liberum veto should not be forgotten when speaking of a democratic setup. It was a specific law existent in Poland and Lithuania
which allowed any nobleman to abolish all the resolutions taken
in the Parliament if they were not suitable for this person, i. e. all
the major resolutions related to the affairs of the state had to be adopted unanimously. Nobody made use of this right for a long time
because simply there were no attempts to protest in the presence of
hundreds or thousands of noblemen convened to the Parliament.
This right was applied in practice only in the 17–18th centuries. It was
related to the relations between Poland and Lithuania. Since Poland
was twice as large as Lithuania, Lithuania was unable to defend its
interests on the basis of majority voting. Namely Lithuanians were
the ones who most often used liberum veto – it was their main tool
in defending the interests of their country by preventing Poland
from becoming predominant in the united state.
36
Noble’s Democracy in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Mandatory literature:
• Citizenship and Identity in a Multinational Commonwealth,
The Practice of Citizenship among the Lithuanian Nobility
ca. 1580–1630, 71–102.
Daniel
Stone, The Polish–Lithuanian State, 1386–1795, Noble
•
Democracy as a Political System, 177–190.
• Jerzy Lukowski, Disorderly Liberty, The Search for Harmony,
33–53.
Additional literature:
• Kuolys D., RES Lituana: Kunigaikštystės bendrija: Respublikos steigimas, Vilnius 2009.
• Kiaupienė J., Mes – Lietuva, Vilnius 2005.
• Mączak A., Klientela. Niefromalne systemy wladzy w Polsce
i Europe XVI–XVIII w., Warszawa, 1994.
Questions:
1. What are the main features of the organisation and activities
of local parliaments of Lithuanian nobility at the turn of the
16–17th centuries?
2. Why was the political system of Poland and Lithuania called
the Noble’s Democracy?
3. What reform of the political setup of the Polish–Lithuanian
Commonwealth was proposed in the 18th century?
4. Why did a democratic model of a political setup develop
namely in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth rather
than other western or eastern European countries?
5. Was democracy in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth a
sign of the strength or weakness of the state?
9. Jews in Lithuanian History
Destinies of a number of nations intertwine in Lithuanian history:
Belarusians Polish, Germans, Scottish, French, Italians, Ukrainians, Russians, Tartars, Karaites... All of them had a stronger or
a weaker influence on the development of the country. Jews are
particularly outstanding. Although in the 18–19th centuries and
even in the first half of the 20th century, they constituted the majority of city and town residents, all of them were immediately
eliminated during World War II, and one would not meet them
in the street today. Despite physical eradication, the memory and
their impact on the culture and economy were huge and left traces even in the present.
The history of Jews in Lithuania started in the same way as the
history of all other numerous nations in the territory of the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania. Pagan rulers invited them from Europe, firstly Gediminas (1316–1341). At the end of the 14th century, they were
granted privileges, autonomy, and possibilities to practice crafts and
trade. Since that time their number and influence were only growing. In fact, Jews used to live in closed communities, kahals, where
they had their own courts and separate laws. They could not participate in the governance of cities (only Christians were allowed to
do that). Irrespective of the aforementioned, they were among the
major lenders to the ruler and nobility, the most important crafts
and trade were in their hands.
38
Jews in Lithuanian History
It may be argued that Jews found their niche in Lithuania. Agriculture, large-scale trade in grain, state governance, waging of
wars were left for the old-timers, i. e. peasants and noblemen. They
controlled only crafts, logistics, banking services and the remaining trade. Since Jews used to live in entire Europe, broad contacts
allowed developing trade networks encompassing many countries,
thus they became true monopolists in this area. Even more interestingly, Jews became a link between different nations which used to
live in Lithuania. In the 18th and 19th centuries, they were the ones
who spoke the widest range of languages – along with Yiddish they
spoke Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Russian and other languages
depending on the region where they worked. It is likely that if at that
time all of them had gone to Israel, the Lithuanian society would
have collapsed because different social groups would have not been
able to communicate with each other, and crafts along with trade
would have simply been ruined.
The 18–19th centuries were the times of cultural prosperity of
Jews. Undoubtedly, literacy and education was much more common among Jews than among Lithuanians or Belarusians who
constituted the majority of the population. Although they accounted merely for 10 per cent of the society, they used to hold
prestigious positions, i. e. doctors, lawyers, bankers, etc. In cities
and towns, they established own hospitals, banks, primary and
secondary schools as well as schools of higher education – yeshivas. One of them established in Tel iai became a forge of rabbis
famous all over the world at the turn of the 19–20th centuries. Vilnius which was simply called Northern Jerusalem used to be an
even larger centre of the Jewish culture. Gaon, one of the most
famous Jewish cultural figures of all times, used to live and work
here in the 18th century.
In the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the number
of Jews was increasing due to demographic and migration reasons, i. e. they came to Lithuania from other European countries,
39
History of Lithuanian Culture
mainly the western ones, trying to escape pursuit. In the 19th century, the above mentioned reasons remained unchanged, yet the
source of migration altered. The Tsar of Russia fearing the growing influence of Jews on the economy of the empire decided to
move all the Jews from largest cities, in particular St. Petersburg
and Moscow, to the former territory of the Polish–Lithuanian
Commonwealth. Thus, their number in Lithuania increased considerably, besides the number of Russian speakers went up as well.
Namely at that time, the second half of the 19th century and the
beginning of the 20th century, the largest number of synagogues
was constructed throughout the entire history of Jewish presence
in Lithuania.
Major changes in the life of Jews living in Lithuania occurred
in the twenties and forties of the 20th century. Primarily, it was related with the restoration of independence of Lithuania after World
War I. The national state supported Lithuanian culture; therefore,
it made every possible effort to integrate Jews. Although they continued building schools, hospitals and banks, they did not have any
autonomy and during the period of independence, which lasted for
two decades, assimilated with Lithuanians, integrated into Lithuanian culture and science. There were a lot of professors, doctors, opera singers among them who spoke fluent Lithuanian and fostered
both their culture and the Lithuanian one. Cohabitation of both
nations was terminated in the years of World War II when upon A.
Hitler’s order all the Jews were exterminated and their population
was never restored.
Mandatory literature:
• Jerzy Lukowski, Disorderly Liberty, Judaica, 205–222.
Additional literature:
• Hundert, Gershon David, Jews in Poland–Lithuania in the
Eighteenth Century, University of California Press 2004.
40
Jews in Lithuanian History
• Schreiner, Stefan & Donskis, Leonidas & Nikzentaitis, Alvydas & Staliunas, Darius, The Vanished World of Lithuanian
Jews, Rodopi 2004.
• Etkes, Immanuel & Etkes, I., The Gaon of Vilna: The Man
and His Image, University of California Press 1998.
Questions:
1. Why and how did antagonism against Jews arise in Poland
and Lithuania in the 18th century? What stereotypes were associated with them?
2. What were the main arguments of the nobility against Jews
in Poland and Lithuania in the 18th century?
3. Why were Jews involved only in urban professions and did
not work in agriculture?
4. Why were Jews more educated than the majority of other social groups? How did they achieve this?
5. How and why was the number and situation of Jews different
in Lithuania and Poland?
10. Lithuanian Culture in 19th century.
National Identity and Russification
In 1795, Lithuania and Poland were finally divided by three European powers – Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The largest part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania was taken by Russia, and a smaller share
(Suvalkija) – by Prussia, however, after Napoleonic wars, i. e. following 1815, this part was taken over by the Russian Empire. The
situation remained unchanged till World War I, despite the fact that
even three attempts were made to free it: during Napoleon’s campaign to Russia (1811–1812) and two uprisings (in 1831 and in 1863).
To attract Lithuanian speakers living in villages and constituting
the majority of the society, Russians at first weakened the positions
of Polish culture. For instance, Vilnius University, which at the beginning of the century was one of the most important scientific and
cultural centres in Central and Eastern Europe, yet where lectures
were held in Polish, was closed in 1832. Till World War I, there was
no university in the territory of Lithuania. Namely in the 19th century,
the theory was developed and strengthened that the Polish were the
greatest enemies of Lithuanians because only they were to blame for
polonisation of the country and anarchy (it is natural that a despotic
emperor of Russia called the democratic system of Poland and Lithuania this way), as well as for destroying the state of Lithuania and the
culture of its people. The Tsar claimed to be a patron and saver of
Lithuanian peasants from the oppression of Polish nobility.
By carrying out an active campaign against Polish in Lithuania, Russians made every effort at russifying local culture. It was
42
Lithuanian Culture in 19th century. National Identity and Russification
explained that in ancient times Lithuanians were lucky to create a
huge state only due to close cooperation with Russians (Belarusians
were called Russians as well) because the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
was more Russian than Lithuanian, and Russians and Lithuanians
had much more in common than Lithuanians and Polish, etc. Following the second uprising, the Latin alphabet was forbidden and
Lithuanian texts were printed in the Cyrillic script. Lithuanians
strongly resisted such an attempt and in 40 years, in 1904, the prohibition was abolished.
Being in the intersection of growing Russian and Polish nationalisms, Lithuanians managed to develop and strengthen their national movement. Its first centres developed at the beginning of the
19th century, in Petersburg, where Lithuanian intellectuals huddled.
Simonas Daukantas, the author of the first history of Lithuania
written in the Lithuanian language, was the most famous among
them. In the middle of the century, the initiative was taken over by
the Catholic Church with bishop Motiejus Valančius in the front
line. He contributed greatly to lithuanianisation of the Lithuanian
Catholic Church. As Russia exerted an increasingly greater pressure
in the second half of the century, national awakening was becoming
more mature and massive. At that time, more representatives of laity
started activities next to the church, mainly from peasant families
from Suvalkija and Semogitia. Publication of two first Lithuanian
newspapers started (editors J. Basanavičius and V. Kudirka).
Great demographic and economic changes took place along
with these spiritual changes. Population was growing rapidly in the
course of the century. With no place for them in Lithuania because
industry had never been developed here and there were no jobs in cities, people started emigrating from the country. Emigration became
massive in the sixties when serfdom was abolished and peasants were
granted the right of free movement. The major directions for emigration used to be the closest industrial centres, such as Riga or Lodz;
however flows to the USA were increasing. Although Russia did not
43
History of Lithuanian Culture
promote industry, namely in the 19th century the development of the
largest cities – Vilnius and Kaunas – was planned and implemented,
the main roads connecting Lithuania with the centres in Russia and
Poland were constructed, the road connecting St. Petersburg and
Warsaw crossing Kaunas was of particular importance.
Mandatory literature:
• Staliūnas Darius, Making Russians: Meaning and Practice of
Russification in Lithuania and Belarus after 1863, Rodopi 2007,
The Meanings of Russification, Separating “Them” from “Us.”
Definitions of Nationality in Political Practice, 57–129.
Additional literature:
• Aleksandravičius, Egidijus & Kulakauskas, Antanas, Lietuva
XIX amžiuje, Baltos lankos 1996 (also accessible in the Polish
language).
Balkelis
Tomas, In search of Native Realm: The Making of
•
the Lithuanian Intelligentsia, 1883–1914, Toronto 2004.
Questions:
1. How did the Russian Empire perceive Russification of Lithuanians? What kind of final result was pursued?
2. How did the thinkers of the Russian Empire seek to implement the Russification of Lithuania and how well did they
manage to do it?
3. What was the relationship between Lithuanians and Belarusians in Lithuania in the 19th century? What was the development of their relationship in the context of Russification and
imperial pressure?
4. Which social group of Lithuania suffered most from Russification: Lithuanians, Polish or Jews? Why?
5. What was the role of V. Muravyov in the cultural and social
context of Lithuania in the 19th century?
44
11. Interwar Culture of Lithuania
Independent Lithuania established in 1918 was very different from
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Firstly, it did not have Vilnius – its
historical capital. It was occupied by Poland and its claims were
quite reasonable: only several percent of Lithuanians lived in the
city at that time. Although over a half of population was Jews, the
Polish language and culture prevailed. Secondly, the territory of the
restored state was smaller than that of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania beyond comparison. All Belarusian lands remained in the composition of Poland or Soviet Russia. A border between the territories inhabited by Lithuanians and Belarusians appeared for the first
time in history. Thirdly and most importantly, the new Lithuania
was based on completely different principles than the old Grand
Duchy of Lithuania. Previously, the basis was law, Statutes of Lithuania, and now Lithuanian culture and language were fundamental.
According to C. Milosz, the winner of the Nobel Prize of the Lithuanian origin, the interwar Lithuania was created on a philological
basis. This implied that multiculturalism, multilingualism and
multireligiousness considered to be typical of this country up to
that time became unacceptable and Lithuania chose the path of a
homogenous Lithuanian state. Although ethnical minorities were
not pursued, their economic and political activities, of Polish and
Jews in particular, were slightly restricted. The former were considered to be enemies of Lithuania (the state of war with Poland due to
45
History of Lithuanian Culture
occupation of Vilnius remained throughout the entire interwar period), and the latter were deemed to be too influential in economy.
It can undoubtedly be argued that the interwar period was ideal
for the development of Lithuanian culture. Over two decades, so
many books were printed like never before, taken all the periods
together. Literature, theatre, and science were developing. In 1922,
the University of Lithuania which became the first purely Lithuanian university was established. A great problem was encountered
how to prepare teachers because only peasants spoke Lithuanian,
and the Polish elite was not eager to “give in” in terms of the Lithuanian language. By offering high salaries, Lithuanians invited foreign professors, yet they were subject to one condition: to learn the
Lithuanian language and deliver lectures in Lithuanian. Over two
decades, at least seven professors from Switzerland came to Lithuania and gave lectures, including the founder of the botanical garden
von Regel, the founder of ELTA J. Ehret and the linguist A. Senn.
On the other hand, Lithuanian authorities granted generous scholarships to talented Lithuanians to go to Western Europe and acquire adequate education. Upon graduation of studies in Paris, Berlin, Heidelberg and other prestigious universities, they returned to
Lithuania to work. The majority of the contemporary Lithuanian
elite were prepared in this way.
Kaunas architecture is one of more interesting examples of the
interwar cultural heritage visible even today. In 1920, when Poland
occupied Vilnius, Lithuanians faced the problem of the capital. The
largest city in the free country was Kaunas, besides, it was one of
the most Lithuanian cities – around 10 per cent of Lithuanians lived
there (Jews constituted the majority in other towns). However, the
problem was that the major part of the city was wooden and rather unrepresentative, with the exception of a small old town constructed from bricks. At the order of authorities, it was prohibited
to construct wooden houses and houses lower than three floors in
the central part of the city, and construction of houses in the most
46
Interwar Culture of Lithuania
modern style was co-financed from the budget. Architects used to
be invited from abroad or Lithuanians, having graduated the studies in Western Europe, used to be hired. In the twenties and thirties,
grandiose construction took place, which resulted in a huge new
town dominated by buildings in a modern style. No other European city had a city centre with around 500 buildings of this style,
ranging from public institutions to private villas. Kaunas became
the most modern city and retained this feature till today.
Although in the interwar period rapid changes took place, Lithuania basically did not change. It remained a country of farmers.
Most of the population still lived in villages, and the main exports
were agricultural products: meat, cheese, grain. Since there were
no major industrial centres in Lithuania, people continued migrating, mainly to Southern America – Brazil, Argentina, etc. It is also
true that in the interwar period some former emigrants started returning, from the USA in particular. They brought the fashion of
the English language, large houses and cars, Hollywood films and
certainly basketball. Nonetheless, the numbers of those returning
were much lower than the numbers of emigrants. As earlier, Lithuania remained a multicultural country. Although Lithuanians
started dominating, Belarusians, Polish, Jews, and Germans living
nearby did not disappear anywhere. In Kaunas City Municipality,
documents used to be drafted in the Russian language till around
1930 because the majority of the Council members could hardly understand Lithuanian. Meanwhile, in Klaipėda, which became a part
of Lithuania for the first time in history (from 1923), two formal
languages, German and Lithuanian, coexisted.
Mandatory literature:
• Rauch Georg von, The Baltic States: The Years of Independence, New York 1974, 123–145.
• Spaull Hebe, The Baltic States: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia,
London 1931, 29–52.
47
History of Lithuanian Culture
Additional literature:
• Modernity and Identity: Art in 1918–1940, Vilnius 2000.
Questions:
1. What were the main cultural and social differences between
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Lithuania in the interwar
period? Did it have the right to be called the inheritor of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania?
2. Why was Lithuania much less economically developed compared to Latvia and Estonia in the interwar period?
3. What were educational and cultural differences among the
three Baltic States in the interwar period?
4. How and why did the state of ethnical minorities differ in
the three states? What reforms took place in the interwar
period?
5. What surprised an English traveller during his visit to Lithuania in 1931? What was most exotic in his opinion?
12. Changes in the Second Half
of the 20th Century. Sovietisation
World War II (1939–1945) was an enormous disaster which changed
Lithuania radically. At Stalin’s will, Vilnius was returned to Lithuania and became the capital of the country again. However, the
majority of Polish were forced to leave it. The absolute majority of
public servants, scholars and artists left for Poland during the first
post-war decade. Even the entire Polish Vilnius St. Bathory University was moved to Torun, a Polish city. Jews were subject to even
greater shocks than Polish. At Hitler’s will, not only all Jews residing in Vilnius but also in all other cities were exterminated. After
five hundred years, no Jews were left in Lithuanian cities for the
first time. On the other side of the country, in Klaipėda, as the end
of World War II was approaching, all the population of this part of
the country fled to Germany and never returned. Only 2,000 out of
200,000 remained. Even residents of Klaipėda who identified themselves as Lithuanians and had been living there for ages left. Kaunas
also lost a number of its residents. In the interwar period, public
servants, high officials, intellectuals and scholars used to huddle
there. Most of them either fled to the west or were exiled to Siberia
at the end of the war.
Such developments implied only one thing that Lithuanian cities became empty. However, it was not in the interest of the Soviet
Union to leave this part of the country lagging behind in economic
terms and it started investing into reconstruction of cities, their
49
History of Lithuanian Culture
inhabiting and development of industry. The leaders of the Lithuanian Communist Party made every effort to encourage Lithuanians to inhabit cities which were recovering and later developing,
although workers of the Russian origin were not avoided. Finally,
cities were inhabited and lithuanianised. For the first time in Lithuanian history, cities became inhabited exclusively by Lithuanianspeakers. Even in Vilnius, where the majority of residents had never
been Lithuanians from the 14th century, their numbers exceeded 50
per cent in around 1980. This was also the case in Klaipėda. Thus,
in the Soviet era, cities were inhabited by Lithuanians more abundantly than ever before. What is more, they changed the focus from
agriculture to technologies and exact sciences. Institutes of chemistry, physics, semi-conductors and other exact sciences were established, higher schools of technologies were founded, and radio
and machinery plants were constructed. Visaginas Nuclear Power
Plant could be considered to be a symbol marking the end of this
process.
Such industrialisation and urbanisation of the society was accompanied by sovietisation and Russification of culture. Homo sovieticus could be considered to be a consequence of sovietisation.
Lithuanians got used to stealing from their places of work because
they were not punished for that, they learnt to simulate work because salaries did not depend on their performance (salaries were
equal for everybody), they learnt to drink because they saw no sense
in working more and putting an effort, etc. To put it briefly, degradation of the society was taking place and its consequences are
felt even today. On the other hand, the Soviet authorities promoted
Russification. Although in daily life and at school one could study
and communicate in Lithuanian, higher education and technologies were available in the Russian language. It slowed the development of the Lithuanian terminology and language at the same time.
Nevertheless, the Soviet system had certain advantages – everybody
had a job and a salary, and a dwelling was guaranteed. There were
50
Changes in the Second Half of the 20th Century. Sovietisation
neither very poor nor very wealthy people. Everyone had the same
opportunities to study or pursue career.
As to the second half of the 20th century, it is very important to
highlight that Lithuanian culture was divided into two parts in this
era. A part of it was developing in Soviet Lithuania, the other one –
in exile. The centre of the latter was the USA with the most numerous Lithuanian migrants, political in particular. Both groups were
isolated from each other; they barely interacted due to an iron curtain created by the Cold War. Despite this, people in exile being far
away from Lithuania created a very viable product, i. e. published
the most famous intellectual magazine of all times Metmenys (editor V. Kavolis), the largest Lithuanian encyclopaedia of all times (in
Boston), numerous periodical publications, organised conferences
and discussions about the future of Lithuania. Upon restoration of
Lithuania’s independence in 1990, some of these emigrant figures
returned to Lithuania and left a remarkable footprint. They were
the initiators of the restoration of Vytautas Magnus University and
its first rectors; a large part of teachers were from their circle as well.
President of Lithuania V. Adamkus, having spent even two terms in
this position, is a great example of this “alternative culture”. J. Mekas and J. Mačiūnas, pioneers of the Fluxus Artistic Movement, did
not come back to Lithuania for good, yet they became famous all
over the world. These are only several examples from many Lithuanians who created in exile in the USA and who, although not as
numerous as the ones who remained in the native country, created
more liberal and open culture of Lithuania.
Mandatory literature:
• Romuald Misiunas and Rein Taagepera, The Baltic States:
Years of Dependence 1940–1990, The Apgogee of Stagnation
1980–1986, 272–302.
51
History of Lithuanian Culture
Additional literature:
• Lietuva 1940–1990, Vilnius 2005.
• Katherine B. Eaton, Daily Life in the Soviet Union, Greenwood Press 2004.
Questions:
1. Why were 1980–1986 called the apogee of stagnation?
2. How did demography, culture and Russification correlate
and influence each other in 1980–1986?
3. What was the economy and standard of living in Lithuania in
1980–1986? Why were people dissatisfied with the economic
situation at the time although the Soviet Union was among
the most powerful countries in the world?
4. How did the Soviet authorities change the Lithuanian society
and culture? What major transformations took place?
5. What was the political, economic and social development
like in the context of Latvia and Estonia at the apogee of
stagnation? Has Lithuania managed to achieve the economic
level of its northern neighbours compared to the interwar
period?