Dienoraštis, 1915-1918 m. Kn. 3, 1917 m. rugpjūčio 27 d. - 1918 m. spalio 31 d.

LTTrečioji, paskutinė, XX a. pradžios Vilniaus visuomenės veikėjo, inžinieriaus ir kooperatininko rugpjūčio 27 – 1918 m. spalio 31 d. laikotarpį, kuriam autorius skyrė paskutiniuosius du – aštuntąjį ir devintąjį – savo dienoraščio sąsiuvinius. Šiuo įvykių kupinu ir ypač dramatišku baigiamuoju Pirmojo pasaulinio karo periodu dienoraščio autorius daugiausia dėmesio skyrė tarptautiniams reikalams, nulėmusiems Vilniaus ir viso Lietuvos krašto likimą. Vilnietiškos karo metų buities, gyvensenos aprašymai, dominavę ankstesniuose dienoraščio sąsiuviniuose, šįkart užleidžia vietą politikos aktualijoms. Fiksuodamas lietuvių etnopolitinio judėjimo žingsnius, darytus žengiant keliu į Vasario 16-osios akto paskelbimą ir po jo, dienoraščio autorius kartu išryškina kitų Vilniaus tautybių reakcijas į lietuvių veiklą. Šie įrašai priskirtini prie originaliausios ir vertingiausios A. Szklenniko dienoraščio pateikiamos informacijos, nes ši tema iki šiol, daugiausia dėl autentiškų šaltinių trūkumo, menkai tenušviesta istoriografijoje. [Anotacija knygoje]

ENThe third and the last book accommodating the personal journal of the prominent Vilnius public figure, engineer and member of the cooperative movement Aleksandr Szklennik written in 1915-1918 covers the period from 27 August 1917 to 31 October 1918. It contains two last note-books of the manuscript journal - the eighth covers the stretch from 27 August 1917 to 19 January 1918 and the ninth is an account of the period from 20 January 1918 to 31 October 1918. During the particularly dynamic and eventful last months of World War One the author of the journal first and foremost focused his attention on the international affairs that had an effect and sealed the fate of Vilnius and the rest of Lithuania. As for the presentation of local Vilnius-related affairs in the journal, again it is obvious that the recording and descriptions of everyday life and lifestyle in Vilnius in the years of WWI leave room for local political issues. The said spirit is fully understandable given the fact that during this period Vilnius became an important centre of the political movements of former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) nations and laid claims to regaining the status of the capital city. According to the entries in Szklennik’s journal, at the end of the summer of 1917, the repercussions of the February Revolution in Russia, which reached Vilnius via different information channels but mostly through the press, had the greatest influence on the political consciousness and orientation of Vilnius citizens who at that time still lived under the German occupation. As the initial revolution-related euphoria subsided, the destructive impact of anarchy and political upheaval on the Russian society were becoming more and more obvious. In September 1917, the inability of the new Russian government to defend Riga from an assault of the local German forces caused great disappointment among the pro-Russian citizens and significantly reduced their ranks.High hopes of the Polish society of Vilnius associated with the strengthening statehood aspirations of ethnic Poland also had faded: although statehood restoration related work in Warsaw continued, it was Germans who dictated its tone and pace and Germans did not wish to hear much about any kinds of Warsaw’s claims to former GDL lands where they themselves had plans to settle. With regard to Lithuania, Germans continued to consistently follow the principles of the so-called „Lithuanian“ policy framed during the Bad Kreuznach meeting of 23 April 1917 which stipulated that the representatives of the occupied region rather than the Germans had to speak in favour of joining the German Empire. The idea of the Lithuanian National Council was in the air in the political circles. However, the rights ofthe planned Council were rather vague as its members would have been subordinate to the military government. The German military administration in Lithuania only fancied a supporting rather than advisory body consisting of local citizens, preferably ethnic Lithuanians. Finally, the political authorities in Berlin persuaded the military to concede and let Lithuanians elect their Council, thus on 18 September 1917 the renowned Vilnius Conference took place. Lithuanian political preparations came into Szklennik’s attention as he recorded the events in Vilnius. It is not surprising that being a representative of the Polish culture the author of the journal as if took the role of an outside observer with regard to the Lithuanian gathering and judged on the phenomenon in the context of more or less understandable anti-Polish German „great policy“ rather than the deep aspirations of ethnic Lithuanians. At the same time it must be acknowledged that modern historians find this point of view not only intriguingly interesting but also facilitating a more comprehensive understanding of the context of those times.On the pages of his journal the author highlights the reactions of Vilnius citizens of other nationalities towards the political steps taken by Lithuanians. Thus Szklennik suggests that representatives of the Belarusian and Polish communities in Vilnius allegedly expressed their wishes to hold their own conferences and further entries in his journal inform the reader about the progress and results of such initiatives. Records on this topic probably constitute the most original and valuable information in Szklennik’s journal as due to the lack of authentic sources the aspects he dwelled on have so far been poorly researched in historiography. As of the beginning of November 1917, Vilnius public and the author of the diary were for the most part gripped by the new developments in Russia, at first the Bolshevik take over with the new untraditional type of government and then the Bolshevik peace initiative in response to German wishes. It became more and more obvious that the situation was about to change radically in German-occupied Vilnius and the rest of the country. In December, the German and Bolshevik peace talks began in Brest and the statements and initiatives voiced in their course time and again surprised and confused not only seasoned politicians but also common information users. As the future ofthe German-occupied territories was directly discussed during the talks, the citizens of Vilnius, Szklennik among them, on the edge of their seats absorbed the news and commentaries from Brest - the whole flow of information which, judging from the present-day perspective, clearly contained a great deal of fake news and disinformation. [...]. [From the publication]