http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/255972,polish-president-leads-lithuanian-independence-day-celebrations.html

Darius Udrys is a rather controversial figure and think of him what
you may but this video montage and excellent soundtrack he put
together highlighting Lithuania’s modern history is quite good.

In English:

http://blip.tv/file/1772859

In Lithuanian:

http://blip.tv/file/1770829

This is a Latvian identity safe video montage. It doesnt go back to the many decades of northern European dominance by the Lithuanian Grand Duchy where we gleefully chased our Broliai Latviai into the trees.

Vidas

Wahabist et al.,

“This is a Latvian identity safe video montage. It doesnt go back to the many decades of northern European dominance by the Lithuanian Grand Duchy where we gleefully chased our Broliai Latviai into the trees.”

I would like to hear more about the last King of Lithuania.  The one from the last century.

Visu labu,

Yes Bruno ! Arguably we had three Kings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Lithuania

Occupation causes one to consider really silly things at times, no ?

Vidas

Always a day late… Happy Independence Day! 

Question - which would you say Liths recognize more… the traditional ID, or the more recent one?

I too am late, but Happy belated Lithuanian Independence Day!

Irena

anita - 17 February 2009 09:03 AM

Always a day late… Happy Independence Day! 

Question - which would you say Liths recognize more… the traditional ID, or the more recent one?

Lithuanians greet any event that gives them a day off from work with equal appreciation and much toasting.

March 11th is, I guess, appreciated by Lithuanians in Lithuania to a higher degree - with several obvious factors in play ie recent history and the independence movement was something that involved real sacrifice by them or people they know.

February 16th I’d say is celebrated more in the US and with the post WW2 diaspora in general. That interwar period of independence is a real memory for them and it was their memory of a free Lithuania. For many - todays Lithuania is foreign to the point of being practically unrecognizable.

Vidas

Labas dienas vidas!

Thanks for posting the link. I loved it! There is one detail I would like to discuss with you, but I am in a rush at the moment. I’ll get back to it later.

I will spend a week in Vilnius this summer (business meeting), so I look forward to getting to know your capital a little bit better. I have been there before, but only for a very short weekend.

Pierre

PS: Happy belated Independence Day!

If there’s anything I can help you with Pierre - please don’t hesitate to ask.

Vidas

Vidas,

I was fascinated to learn that the Soviets used Vilnius as a bargaining chip to get Lithuanians to agree to the “mutual assistance” plan in 1939. I can only imagine how seductive this offer must have been for the Lithuanian leadership at the time. I would be curious to know more about how Lithuanians reacted to the offer, how easier - or perhaps even harder - it was for them to come to terms with this soviet negotiating tactic. I know that for Estonians and Latvians, agreeing to the “mutual assistance” plans was a result of more or less direct ultimatums. I wonder if Lithuanians saw it that way as well.

Pierre

To better appreciate how attractive the Vilnius offer was to the Lithuanian spirit - understand that Lithuania just prior to the soviet offer had suffered through the Polish ultimatum and the German seizure of Klaipeda.

The political party of Smetona and the ruling party coming up to wartime was the Tautininkai - a party that would be described as right of center and quite nationalistic. Vilnius, once occupied by the Poles, arguably triggered the rise of the Tautininkai as the Polish occupation was universally objected to and the Tautininkai pushed for action to regain Vilnius territory. Lithuania looked for a partner to join against the Polish occupation of Vilnius but never found one willing to commit to fighting Poland militarily. The Tautininkai were likely unrealistic in hoping they could find another nation to act as their own military muscle against Poland - but the public responded to it and the Tautininkai became the dominant political party throughout the interwar period.

When you travel to Vilnius - you can take a short trip outside of town to Kernave, which was one of the original seats of Lithuanian government in the 13th century. It’s in a stunningly beautiful valley…In the courtyard of the Church of Kernave is a statue of the symbol of the City of Vilnius - an Iron Wolf. On the base of the statue is the rally cry of many Lithuanians during the Polish occupation of Vilnius - “Without Vilnius - we will not rest”.

To better answer your question, below is a link to a Lituanus translation of the memoirs of Lithuania’s Foreign Minister at the time - Juozas Urbsys. He was called to Moscow by Molotov to discuss the status of Vilnius. As Urbsys describes, Molotov and Stalin used that invitation to introduce the preliminary points of their ultimatum.

http://www.lituanus.org/1989/89_2_03.htm

Vidas

Thank you, Vidas!

Interesting reading for the weekend.

Pierre

You can depend on Poles to screw things up.  Their occupation of Vilnius threw a monkey wrench in East European negotiations for a united front against Russia and Germany.

A few hundred years Poland committed an even worse blunder.  To wrest Livonia from Sweden, it entered in an alliance with Russia.  In the end, Poland not only lost Livonia to Russia, it also weakened itself in the war, so found itself carved up among Prussia, Austria and Russia.

It is said that in the Kingdom of the Blind, the one-eyed man is King.

In Lithuania, the land of the Witless, it is a Half-Wit who becomes king!

/R

I am sorry I am late in this post but my mothers funeral, my wife’s aunts funeral, my mother in law having a stroke, My visit to California for my grandsons birthday and planning a vacation to Ireland this summer has discombobulated me so I am late.
I have kept up on all posts but have not the interest to answer until now.
Vidas, I do wish a happy birthday to Lithuania but I do not forget history. 
FYOP stated:
  I was fascinated to learn that the Soviets used Vilnius as a bargaining chip to get Lithuanians to agree to the “mutual assistance” plan in 1939.
This plan helped doom Latvia’s war plan if invaded by Russia. If you go to the Latvian War Museum in Riga you can see the prepared plans of defense which would open a line of retreat through Lithuania to Germany which the allowance of Russian troops on its territory by Lithuania stopped the plan.
Would there have been the 1940 deportations if the Latvians retreated through Lithuania to Germany?
Sorry Vidas but your president ran as a coward but the Latvian president seeing the encirclement ordered the soldiers to stand down to avoid bloodshed and died for this.
AND I would be the first on this site to let people know that more Lithuanians served the Reich than Latvians and have a more bloodier history towards the minorities.
I think if I read further into history, I would find the Polish version quit interesting.
Happy history Vidas

Courlander,

I am sorry to hear of your family’s troubles. You have my condolences…

“This plan helped doom Latvia’s war plan if invaded by Russia. If you go to the Latvian War Museum in Riga you can see the prepared plans of defense which would open a line of retreat through Lithuania to Germany which the allowance of Russian troops on its territory by Lithuania stopped the plan. Would there have been the 1940 deportations if the Latvians retreated through Lithuania to Germany?”

Considering that Latvia signed the “mutual assistance” agreement 5 days before Lithuania, your argument is rather weak.

“AND I would be the first on this site to let people know that more Lithuanians served the Reich than Latvians and have a more bloodier history towards the minorities.”

“Let he who has not sinned…”

Pierre