Gyvenimas prie valstybių sienos

LTTyrimų tikslas – pasinaudojus istoriniais šaltiniais ir istoriografija pateikti Melno taikos sudarytos sienos atkarpos istorinę raidą ir išlikusį istorinės sienos paveldą. Uždaviniai: iš sukauptos istoriografijos aptarti pasienio gyvenimo ypatumus, istorinius įvykius, socialinę aplinką; supažindinti su sienos atkarpa, einančia Tauragės, Jurbarko ir Pagėgių žemėse, kultūros paveldu; kai kuriose temose nesiekti gilesnio istorinio tyrimo. Metodai ir metodologija: Susidūrus su skirtingo pobūdžio, informatyvumo ir patikimumo šaltiniais teko derinti metodus; tiriant ir vertinant pasienio paveldą taikyti naratyviniai ir ikonografiniai metodai. Raktiniai žodžiai: dykros, Melno taikos siena, valstybės siena, sienos ženklinimas, kontrabanda. [Iš leidinio]

ENOf all the sections of former Lithuania’s border, one that existed for a longest time and separated Lithuania from other states was the boundary fixed in 1422 by the Treaty of Melno. One boundary section, from the Nemunas River to the Baltic Sea, is of special interest. It had been marked at the beginning of the 15th century not only by wars, but also by diplomatic achievements of Vytautas the Grand Duke of Lithuania, when a common denominator between the peace and protracted war had been found. The victory at the Battle of Grünwald did not lead to a peaceful life. A decade of fighting and diplomacy were still needed. The German Order and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) prepared a project for the delimitation of the borders of these states, which made the basis of the Melno Treaty signed on September 27, 1422. In accordance to the Treaty, Lithuania regained Samogitia, but the lower reaches of the mouth of the Nemunas River and Klaipėda remained under Prussian and later German rule until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. As agreed by the Melno Treaty, the establishment of the border between the Order and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania gave a new concept of the territory of the state with the adjustment of the border. Up to the end of the 16th century, the border was marked by such natural signs as hills, signs in trees, ditches and roads. Often the border went along clear natural boundaries, such as the rivers of Jūra, Šventoji and Sartė. The written sources of that time did not mention special border signs, they appear only later. The border marking formed a separate system of sections. Already at the turn of the 17th century, separate sections had been marked by earth beds (landmarks) and ditches, and from the middle of the 19th century, marking by ditches and poles began.Before Lithuania became a state, protection of dukes was a duty of leičiai (distinct social group). The services of leičiai for the ruler included breeding riding horses, acting as journey and/or war-like servants. They provided economic, military, police, border guard, customs services and belonged to the earliest Lithuanian tribal elite. At the beginning of the 16th century, there were customs offices throughout the GDL, at the border with Prussia the most important offices were in Jurbarkas and Tauragė. The largest area at the border made so-called Wilderness that was more densely populated after the border had been fixed. The border divided not only the states but also the Protestant and Catholic parts of Europe. The border that existed for five centuries has left its own marks, a unique cultural heritage reflected in ethno-culture and material cultural heritage. A thin constantly changing stratum of population was forming at the border. During wars the population was declining, but after them, people were moving here from other areas. The border lost most of its population during World War II. According to the Agreement of Germany with the Soviet Union signed on January 10, 1941 the ethnic Germans who lived in Lituania moved to Germany. In 1944, part of Klaipėda region’s population left for the West, others were deported or otherwise evicted from their lands by the Soviet Union. The abandoned settlements were populated by Lithuanians from remote areas.After the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the border stated by the Melno Treaty was shared by Prussia and Russian Empire. These states controlled the border protection and the trade through it. Prussia (later Germany) based this protection on army and civil servants living in the border area. Civil servants were also appointed on a rotating basis from Germany. Lithuanians living in the border area and having contacts with the other side of the border were thought to be less loyal and, thus, would not result proper control of the transborder trade. To protect the border, the Tsarist Russia authorities assigned large armed troops assisted by excise guard formed in 1862. Such border protection was necessary for the organised smuggling that appeared in the 19th century due to different prices and production of goods on different sides of the border. Lithuanian books carried by booksellers from Prussia during the press ban in 1864–1904 also contributed to the border violations. After 1940 occupation, the Soviet army took over the Lithuanian-German border. It paid special attention to its protection and enforced the border but did not complete all the planned work. The part of the border that had existed for centuries marked in the forests remained in Tauragė region. This is a valuable historical monument of the 15th-20th centuries with the border installations built under supervision in 1908–1912 of the special Prussian-Russian Commission for Border Marking. The remaining part of the state border runs through the lands of Jurbarkas, Tauragė district and Pagėgiai municipality. [From the publication p. 2731]

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