Lithuania

 

 

  

                                                                                                 CULTURE                                                                                          

The Lithuanian cross

 

 

       The Balts’ ancestors arrived at the Baltic Sea around the 12th century B.C. and probably then they still constituted, together with the Slovians’ ancestors, one ethnic community that did not split into two groups until the 5th century B.C. After temporary joining of two Lithuanian tribes by Mendoga (1253), only Giedymin (1315-1341) managed to unite the Grand Duchy of Lithuania permanently. Since the end of the 12th century the Lithuanian dukes, seizing an opportunity of the period of regional disintegration in Rus, joined new Ruthenian duchies such as Witebsk (1318), Kijov (1330), Pinsk (before 1340) and Smolensk (1386) to Lithuania as a result of conquests and dynastic marriages.                                                                                                                

      In the middle of the 15th century the border of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania moved closer to Moscow (about 130 km). Moscow Kreml was besieged twice by The Lithuanian army (1368 and 1370) and yet Witold’s plans (1392-1430) to subdue the whole Rus and to defeat the Golden Horde resulted in the defeat in the battle of Worskl (1399). The wars with Russia were fought (with breaks) until the partitions of the Republic of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795). As a result of these wars Lithuania was incorporated into the Russian Empire. The threat of the Order of Teutonic Knights led to breaking off and renewing personal unions between Poland and Lithuania. In the face of Moscow aggression and striving Lithuanian-Rus boyars to gain freedom the Polish nobility enjoyed resulted in forming federation in 1569 and creating the Republic of Both Nations. On the strength of the first union with Poland (Krewo, 1385), the ruler of Lithuania, Jagiello, accepted Christianity along with the whole Grand Duchy of Lithuania.                                               

        The Lithuanian and the Duchy of Rus territories came within the orbit of Western culture as a result of the union with Poland. Christianity saved the Lithuanians from Rusification, but at the same time enabled Polonization. In 1696 Polish replaced Old Russian as the official language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the defeat of the uprising in 1840 in Lithuania, the Russian law was introduced and since 1864 Russian became the lecture language in schools and the state language of the administration. After the 1905 revolution, Lithuanian was allowed in the primary schools and in local governments where it competed with Polish. The 1905 Revolution was not so violent as the revolution in Estonia and Latvia and finished sooner. Since 1915 Lithuania was occupied by the German army.

            On February 16, 1918, after pertractations with the Germans which turned into a fiasco the Independent Country of Lithuania was proclaimed. According to the Ribbentropp – Molotov Pact (August 23, 1939) Lithuania was initially assigned to the German sphere of influence, but due to supplementary agreements (September 28 and October 5)it was transferred to the Soviets except for Suvalki region in the south of the River Szeszupa, which went to the Germans. In 1940 the Lithuanian Russian Republic, which was incorporated into the USSR, was proclaimed. In March 1990, the Parliament consisting mainly of the members of Sajudisu proclaimed the independence of the Republic of Lithuania. In 1991 most countries of the world recognised the independence of Lithuania.

                

 

TRADITIONS

 Traditional wedding ceremonies were very common. The matchmaker “piszlis” and the bellman, announcing the wedding, played the special role. In the traditional rituals, the feasts with people in a disguise for “Generous Days” (the time between Christmas and the Feast of the Three Wise Men) with folk plays on June 24 played an important role. The Lithuanian folklore is very rich. It includes various songs ritual, family and patriotic-war songs, stories, folk tales with the relics of the ancient myths.

 

The Lithuanian cross

 

LITHUANIAN ATTIRE 
The traditional attire of Lithuanian women consisted of a shirt, a skirt, an apron, a pinafore and a belt – a colourful woven sash (for folk costumes). Young girls wore “galionas” – a headdress or a garland with ribbons on their heads. Married women wore turbans – “napitki”. The attire was lavishly decorated with embroidery. The outwear consisted of peasant’s homespun coats or sheepskin jackets. The man’s attire lost its national uniqueness earlier than the woman’s attire. It consisted of a linen shirt, linen, cloth or woollen trousers, a waistcoat, a kind of linen or cloth long-sleeved loose tunic and a felt hat. Peasant’s homespun coats, woollen overcoats or sheepskin coats tanned white were worn in winter. The traditional footwear consisted of soft shoes made of bast, leather, or straw. In Western regions of Lithuania wooden bootees “klumpes” were worn. However, on Sundays and holidays leather shoes were worn.

The Lithuanian cross

  

source text:       http://www.glos.wschod.org/585/bialorus.shtml
                         http://www.pk.org.pl/ppk/00/ppk.asp?dzial=16&artykul=Adomas_Varnas
                       Publikacja Urzędu Komitetu Integracji Europejskiej Państwa Zjednoczonej Europy LITWA s.5-7