Lietuvių konferencijos Lozanoje 1916 m. – kokia ateitis Lietuvai buvo planuojama?

LTŠiame straipsnyje analizuojamos dvi lietuvių konferencijos Šveicarijoje, surengtos 1916 m. birželį—liepą, bei po jų išleisti dokumentai. Tai buvo svarbus etapas lietuvių politinėje komunikacijoje - tarptautinėje erdvėje tikėtasi sulaukti lietuvių teisių kurti nepriklausomą valstybę palaikymo. Konferencijos Lozanoje taip pat buvo galimybė susitikti atstovams iš įvairių emigracijos centrų ir Lietuvos, proga pasidalinti Lietuvos valstybingumo atkūrimo projektais. Kilus idėjai suvienyti politinį lietuvių veikimą užsienyje, Lietuvių tautos taryba Šveicarijoje buvo pertvarkyta į Aukščiausiąją lietuvių tautos tarybą, kurią turėjo sudaryti visų kraštų atstovai. Po šių konferencijų taip pat buvo priimtas Lietuvos atkūrimo memorandumas, kuriame Lietuva numatyta kaip Vokietijos imperijai artima monarchija. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Moderni Lietuva; Valstybės idėja; Politinė vaizduotė; Pirmasis pasaulinis karas, 1914-1918 (Didysis karas; World War I); Šveicarija; Emigrantai (Diaspora); Nepriklausomybė; Konstitucinė monarchija; Modern Lithuania; Idea of statehood; Political imagination; First World War; Switzerland; Emigrants; Independence; Constitutional monarchy.

ENThis article is dedicated to the topic of Lithuanian emigrants in Switzerland and their activities in the spring of 1916. Juozas Gabrys and his colleagues had a vision to create an organization unifying all Lithuanian intellectuals concerned with political matters. Although documents with the signature of the Lithuanian National Council had been delivered to various institutions since the autumn of 1915, the real model of this organization and its relationship with other Lithuanian organizations were not confirmed until the conferences held in Lausanne in June and July оП916. During the first Lausanne conference, Lithuanian representatives, among other issues, released a number of resolutions, including the protest against the atrocities of the German army in Lithuania, reorganization of Lithuanian Information Bureau, separation of Lithuanian ecclesiastical province from Poland, and re-establishment of Vilnius University. Juozas Gabrys tried to hide anti-German attitudes of his colleagues, so he manipulated the information of the common decisions where the differences between private and public versions of the texts could be traced. At the end of June, Lithuanians in Switzerland organized another meeting with Lithuanian representatives from Vilnius and the United States of America. The event known as The Second Lithuanian Conference of Lausanne continued dealing with the issues of the first conference. Besides, among the key subjects in the discussions was Lithuania’s independence, and the participants exchanged their views of the concept and means of achieving it. Lithuanians from Vilnius advocated for a more conservative way, including the autonomy first and independence later. Juozas Gabrys and Lithuanians from the U.S. supported the view of the independent Lithuania as the constitutional monarchy within the German Empire or even an independent republic.After the Lausanne conferences, Lithuanians in Switzerland initiated the project dedicated to the future of Lithuania, which corresponded with their concept of the state. This project depicted Lithuania as a powerful ancient state, which was capable of regaining sovereignty and becoming independent from its neighbours once again. Due to the fact, the resolutions of the Conference of Bern and the Conference of the Hague were recorded in the texts and stated complete separation from the Russian Empire with no intentions of creating a common state with Poland. The new Lithuania was projected as the constitutional monarchy under the protectorate of the German Empire. This state should have been situated in the Germany administrated Ober-Ost territory and should have included Courland and Lithuania Minor. This kind of project was in agreement with Germany’s plans of Mitteleuropa and integrity of the occupied territories. [From the publication]