The Peoples of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
- Holvoet, Axel, vert [trl]
- Potašenko, Grigorijus, red [edt]
LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Tautos; Straipsniai; Žydai; Totoriai; Karaimai; The Grand Duchy of Lithuania; Nations; Articles; Jews; Tatars; Karaims.
ENIt is recognised not only in Lithuanian but also in Polish and Russian historiography that the first Lithuanian State, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which existed from the 13th to the 18th century, was an emanation of the Lithuanian people. On the other hand, it is well known that the Grand Duchy was a multinational, multudenominational and multicultural country. Nowadays the claim is even heard that this diversity gives Lithuania an exceptional position in European history. All the attributes just cited apply to the country's capital Vilnius as well. The idea of a multicultural Grand Duchy and a multicultural Vilnius was renounced in the era of nationalism, which was also the era of occupation of Lithuania (19th-20th centuries). Attempts have been made to find an ideological justification for annexations or for the creation of national states by proposing ethnically 'pur' (Lithuanian, Polish, Russian and nowadays even Belorussian) models of the history of the Grand Duchy, or by describing Lithuania as a battleground of civilisations (Russian, Polish and German). In this way, stereotypes like that of Vilnius as an 'old Polish town' or the Grand Duchy as a 'Russian' or 'White Russian' state were born. These stereotypes, the debates about the 'true nature' of the Grand Duchy, and the above-mentioned claims to Vilnius are still affecting relations between neighbouring countries, and they have left their traces in the national consciousness of the peoples of modern Lithuania (Lithuanians, Poles, Russians and Belorussians). [...]. [Extract, p. 7]
- P. 7-44. The Heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: perspectives of historical consciousness / Alfredas Bumblauskas
- P. 45-56. The Ruthenians / Edvardas Gudavičius
- P. 57-72. The Jews / Jurgita Šiaučiūnaitė-Verbickienė
- P. 73-82. The Tatars / Jurgita Šiaučiūnaitė-Verbickienė
- P. 83-89. The Karaims / Jurgita Šiaučiūnaitė-Verbickienė
- P. 90-100. The Roma / Aušra Simoniukštytė
- P. 101-129. The Russian Old Believers / Grigorijus Potašenko
- P. 130-140. Three hundred years of multiculturalism in Kėdainiai / Rimantas Žirgulis
