Lithuanization
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Lithuanization (or Lithuanianization) is a process of
cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...
, where Lithuanian culture or its
language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
is voluntarily or forcibly adopted.


History

The Lithuanian annexation of
Ruthenia ''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...
n lands between the 13th and 15th centuries was accompanied by some Lithuanization. A large part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania 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, ...
remained Ruthenian; 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 The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert Huds ...
. After the military and diplomatic expansion of the duchy into Ruthenian (
Kievan Rus' Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,. * was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
) lands, local leaders retained autonomy which limited the amalgamation of cultures. When some localities received appointed
Gediminids The House of Gediminas (), or simply the Gediminids, were a dynasty of monarchs in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. A cadet branch of this family, known as the Jagiellonian dynasty, reigned also in th ...
(rulers), the
Lithuanian nobility The Lithuanian nobility () or ''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 (including during period of foreign r ...
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'', but still spoke Ruthenian."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 urikidline 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"
Nikolay Kostomarov, ''Russian History in Biographies of its main figures'', section
Knyaz Kostantin Konstantinovich Ostrozhsky
' ( Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski)
The Lithuanian nobility became largely Ruthenian,"Within the ithuanianGrand 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 The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
.
and the nobility of ethnic Lithuania and
Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...
continued to use their native Lithuanian. It adapted
Old Church Slavonic Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic ( ) is the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language and the oldest extant written Slavonic language attested in literary sources. It belongs to the South Slavic languages, South Slavic subgroup of the ...
and (later) Ruthenian, and acquired main-chancery-language status in local matters and relations with other Orthodox principalities as a ''
lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...
''; Latin was used in relations with Western Europe. It was gradually reversed by the
Polonization Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...
of Lithuania beginning in the 15th century and the 19th- and early-20th-century Russification of the former
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
. Kevin O'Connor, ''The History of the Baltic States'', Greenwood Press,
Google Print, p.58
/ref> A notable example of Lithuanization was the 19th-century replacement of Jews (many
Lithuanian Jews {{Jews and Judaism sidebar , Population Litvaks ({{Langx, yi, ליטװאַקעס) or Lita'im ({{Langx, he, לִיטָאִים) are Jews who historically resided in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuan ...
, but also
Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...
), until then the largest ethnic group in
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
's major towns, with ethnic Lithuanians migrating from the countryside. Lithuanization was primarily
demographic Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analy ...
, rather than institutionalized. When Lithuania became an independent state after
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, its government institutionalized Lithuanization.


Interbellum

Republic of Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

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). 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. After World War I, the Council of Lithuania (the government's legislative branch) was expanded to include Jewish and Belarusian representatives. The first Lithuanian governments included ministries for Jewish and Belarusian affairs; 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. 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 Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
and
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
groups their autonomy was terminated in 1924. The Jews were increasingly marginalized and alienated by the "Lithuania for Lithuanians" policy. As Lithuania established its independence and its nationalistic attitudes strengthened, the state sought to increase the use of Lithuanian in public life. Among the government's measures was a forced Lithuanization of non-Lithuanian names. 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. In 1931, partially due to consolidation, the number of schools decreased to 115 and remained stable until 1940.


Education

At the beginning of 1920, Lithuania had 20 Polish-language schools for
Poles in Lithuania The Poles in Lithuania (, ), also called Lithuanian Poles, estimated at 183,000 people in the 2021 Lithuanian census or 6.5% of Lithuania's total population, are the country's largest ethnic minority. During the Polish–Lithuanian union, the ...
. The number increased to 30 in 1923, but fell to 24 in 1926. 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. After the party lost control, the number of schools increased to 91. Soon after the 1926 coup d'état, nationalists led by
Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual, journalist and politician. He served as the first president of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and later as the authoritarian head of state from 1926 until the Occu ...
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. In 1936, a law was passed which allowed a student to attend Polish school only if both parents were Poles. This resulted in unaccredited schools, which numbered over 40 in 1935 and were largely sponsored by Pochodnia. A similar situation developed concerning German schools in the
Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region () or Memel Territory ( or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when, as Memelland, it was put under the administr ...
. 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". 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.


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 The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
were confiscated as well, including the Kruonis Orthodox church. Thirteen Orthodox churches were demolished. 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. 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. 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. Anti-Polish propaganda was sponsored by the government; during the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...
, caricatures and propaganda were published attacking Poles and depicting them as criminals or vagabonds.


Surnames

During the interwar, discussions started about returning to native Lithuanian surnames, as opposed to
Germanization Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people, and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nati ...
and Slavicisation (which included both Russification and
Polonization Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...
). These talks resulted in a draft law to this end, which was submitted to the
Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...
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. Common approaches were to cut out the Slavic part of the suffix, e.g., "" from "" (equivalent of Polish Kuncewicz) or replace a Slavic suffix with the matching Lithuanian one: Antanaitis from Antanavičius (Polish: Antonowicz).


Modern Lithuania

In modern Lithuania, which has been independent since the
dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
, Lithuanization is not an official state policy. It is advocated by groups such as Vilnija, however, whose activities create tension in Polish-Lithuanian relations.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
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. Lithuanization promoted the cooperation of Polish and Russian minorities, who support the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania. 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 Šalčininkai District Municipality () is one of 60 district municipalities in Lithuania. The municipality is part of the Vilnius County and is located in southeastern Lithuania, next to the Belarus–Lithuania border. The south-eastern border ...
(where Poles constituted 77.8% of the population in 2011) €30 for each day of delay, and in January 2014 ordered him to pay a fine of over €12,500. Liucyna Kotlovska from
Vilnius District Municipality Vilnius District Municipality () is one of the 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It surrounds the capital city of Vilnius on three sides. The municipality is also bordered by Trakai District Municipality, Trakai district and Elektr ...
was fined about €1,738. 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 The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) is a multilateral treaty of the Council of Europe aimed at protecting the minority rights, rights of minorities. It came into effect in 1998 and by 2009 it had been ratif ...
. A Polish-Lithuanian woman protested when her last name (Wardyn) was Lithuanized to Vardyn. In 2014,
Šalčininkai District Municipality Šalčininkai District Municipality () is one of 60 district municipalities in Lithuania. The municipality is part of the Vilnius County and is located in southeastern Lithuania, next to the Belarus–Lithuania border. The south-eastern border ...
administrative director Boleslav Daškevič was fined about €12,500 for failing to execute a court ruling to remove Polish
traffic sign Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of or above roads to give instructions or provide information to road users. The earliest signs were simple wooden or stone milestones. Later, signs with directional arms were introduc ...
s. Polish and Russian schools went on strike in September 2015, organised by the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania.


See also

* Ethnographic Lithuania *
Lithuania proper Lithuania proper refers to a region that existed within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania where the Lithuanian language was spoken. The primary meaning is identical to the Duchy of Lithuania, a land around which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania evolved. T ...
* Republic of Central Lithuania


Notes and references

{{Cultural assimilation, sp=ize Cultural assimilation Cultural history of Lithuania History of Lithuania (1918–1940) History of the Lithuanian language Social history of Poland Social history of Ukraine Social history of Belarus