The Lithuanian patriotic movement and independence in 1918
ENLithuanian independence in 1918 arose from many factors: Lithuanian national organizations, the growth of literacy and self-consciousness among Lithuanians before the war, and World War I itself. As late as 1850, the idea of an independent Lithuania must have seemed utterly impossible to all but a very few visionaries. Even in 1905, when the “Great Seimas (Diet)” in Vilnius demanded cultural autonomy within the Russian Empire, actual independence was not on the table. Without the work of thousands of national activists, teachers, priests, and booksellers, there would have been no self-conscious Lithuanian nation to demand an independent state. The tragedies of the war, however, accelerated the process of nation building and with the collapse of the tsarist empire and the weakening of Germany, there opened up a political space in which Lithuanian national patriots could seize the moment and achieve independence. [From the publication]
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