Du karo istorijos šaltiniai iš Lietuvos tarpukariu

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Šaltiniai; Tarpukaris; Lietuvos kariuomenės kariniai veiksmai; Lietuvos kariuomenės operacijų planai; Sources; Interwar; Military activities of the Lithuanian army; Operation plans of the Lithuanian army.

ENWe hereby draw readers' attention to two historical sources related to the military history of Lithuania in the interwar period. The first document is a brief overview of the military activities of the Lithuanian armed forces that took place in Lithuania in 1919-1923, prepared in 1926. Based on 1927 data (and subsequently improved) in the struggle against three enemies (the Red Army, the Polish armed forces, and the Western Volunteer Army), the Lithuanian armed forces and the Lietuvos šaulių sąjunga (Lithuanian Riflemen's Union) suffered 6,167 casualties in 1919-1923. These included 221 officers, 223 non-commissioned officers, 5,282 privates, and 441 riflemen. Unlike in Estonia and Latvia, no detailed study on the course and the results of these armed conflicts was published in the interwar period in Lithuania, although research was conducted on the issue, and in 1937 the army even commissioned a history of the war of independence for Reserve General Kazys Ladiga. We present a chronological list of the military events of 1919-1923 in Lithuania that was prepared for internal military use for several reasons. First, we are trying to address a problem that historians have so far gone no further into than developing a description of the events. At the same time, we ask what the armed struggle for Lithuanian statehood should be called, and how long it lasted. The terms 'independence wad, 'struggle for independence' and 'wars of independence’ were used simultaneously and synonymously in the interwar period. But none of these terms is used in the published document from 1926. The document is also interesting because its unknown author extends the description of the fighting of 1919-1920, when the most intense battles with the Red Army, the West Russian Volunteer Army and the Polish forces took place, until 1923.Thus, he adds to the previous period the phase of collisions between Lithuanian and Polish paramilitary formations, and armies in the neutral, demilitarised zone. But maybe the war had not finished at all? After all, during the interwar period, Lithuania was at least de jure in a state of war with Poland for two decades, especially since it applied martial law (for internal reasons) (or almost all of this time. Regardless of how we deal with the issues of dating and naming the war of independence, it is clear that neither in 1920 nor in 1923 was the struggle for the desired borders complete. This is evident from the second source, the Lithuanian Armed Forces Operation Plan No 3 'L' (for Lenkija, Poland), approved in 1937. At that time, the Lithuanian armed forces had two more plans at their disposal: No 1 V (for Vokietija, Germany) and No 2 V+L’ (Germany+Poland). The document is interesting and valuable for three reasons. Firstly, it allows us to determine what operational ideas the Lithuanian armed forces had developed in the event of a war with Poland. The plan was approved in 1937, so it is likely that the Lithuanian army would have applied it in March 1938, if the government had ignored Poland's ultimatum and the latter had decided to resort to military force. Secondly, the document reveals the operational concepts of the Lithuanian armed forces, and their general attitude towards warfare in the late 1930s, a period when there were already quite a few senior officers in the Lithuanian armed forces who had studied in West European (mainly French, Belgian and Czechoslovakian) military academies. Thirdly, the document may be a source for analysing why Lithuania did not resist the 1940 Soviet occupation. In the event of an eventual conflict with the Soviet Union, another operational plan had to be carried out, namely Operation Plan 'R'.We know that it was prepared in 1939, but the document itself has not yet been found. However, from information about its preparation, it is clear that Operation Plan 'R' was a slightly modified version of the 'L' plan. So, until the 'R' plan is found, it is logical to refer to the 'L' plan and/or other documents in order to understand its content. [From the publication]

• Lietuvos kariuomenės lygmens ryšių vienetai 1935-1940 m / Edvardas Vasiliauskas. Karo archyvas. 2022, 37, p. 91-157.
• The Protracted war after the First World War: the case of interwar Lithuania / Vytautas Jokubauskas. Vēsture: avoti un cilvēki 2021, 24, p. 93-101.
• Žemaitijos-Kuršo karinis gynybinis placdarmas: XX a. pirmosios pusės patirtys / Vytautas Jokubauskas, Nedas Ignatavičius, Titas Tamkvaitis. Istorija. 2021, Nr. 121, p. 94-142.
• Територіальна оборона у Литві в кінці 30-х років XX століття / Йокубаускас В. Військово-науковий вісник. 2020, 33, p. 140-159.
• У пошуках союзників: українська тематика у військовій періодиці Литви 1920-1940 років / Йокубаускас В., Петрик А. М. Військово-науковий вісник. 2021, 35, p. 142-169.