Lithuania

Lithuania is a Baltic nation in northeastern Europe. It has a population of about 3.8 million, as well as some significant political, socioeconomic, cultural, and confessional networks and groups.

Veneration of natural phenomena was central to the pagan belief system of prehistoric Balts (2nd–9th centuries B.C.E.). Enduring well into the 14th century, paganism shaped much of the social and economic organization of the people. Among the principal means of subsistence were kin-based farming and pastoralism in village communes. By the 12th century, Lithuanians lived in prestate chiefdoms known for their dynastic rivalries and territorial disputes. Symbolic imagery was displayed on jewelry, clothing, and work implements, as well as rudimentary writing systems reminiscent of Scandinavian runes, which were used as a means for communicating by the early inhabitants of the Baltic lands.

In the 1200s, resistance to Christianizing Teutonic knights united the pagan Balts in a loose confederation. The 13th–14th centuries saw the beginning of Lithuanian statehood and the formation of cities with artisan guilds, merchant networks, and nobility coteries. In the countryside, classes of landowners and serfs began to take shape. As Christianity became more established, the Catholic clergy emerged as a distinct social group. Referents to Lithuania began to appear in maps, letters, and chronicles, which served as principal communication media in the politics, commerce, and religious life of the time. As postal service was not yet available, correspondence was transported by messenger envoys crisscrossing the confederate territory on horseback.

In the 15th–16th centuries, Lithuania is best remembered for its geopolitical alliance with Poland. When the Duchy of Moscovy sought to regain its principalities in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the two allies signed the Treaty of Lublin to reinforce their unity. Lublin also marked the beginning of Polonization, which erased many cultural differences between Polish and Lithuanian elites as the latter embraced Polish culture as more “sophisticated.” Despite the consolidation of the upper classes, the commonwealth remained weak and collapsed in 1795. Consequently, Lithuania became part of tsarist Russia. This period saw the emergence of a more elaborate mail-delivery network with a fleet of postal carriages, maintained and administered by the Polish-Lithuanian state.

As resistance to Russian colonialism intensified in the 19th century, tsarist authorities introduced several policies intended to assimilate Lithuanians into the multiethnic empire. These policies were resisted by the Catholic Church and the middle class emerging from the peasantry (movement Aušra or Dawn). The easing [Page 502]of the tsar's grip in the early 20th century resulted in a proliferation of underground political groups, cultural organizations, and popular publications promoting national self-determination. Changes in communication technology at the time were mobilized to advance the nationalist cause. In 1839, a telegraph connection appeared, and the first telephones began to ring in the second half of the 19th century The October Revolution provided nationalists with an opportunity to claim political sovereignty. In 1918, Lithuania became an independent nation-state.

During the interwar years (1918–40), much of the public discourse in Lithuania was dominated by ideas of catching up with western Europe. The nation's aspirations to align itself with the “modern” West were manifest in domains ranging from the arts (such as the futurist literary movement, Keturi Vejai, or Four Winds) to the economy, where cooperative networks were prominent. Benefiting from tax exemptions and government investment, producer cooperatives (Maistas, Lietukis, Pieno Centras) were significant contributors to the nation's prosperity. Despite some success in creating an inclusive parliamentary democracy, political life was dominated by nationalist Catholic conservatives (Christian Democratic Bloc) and, after 1926, by authoritarian president Antanas Smetona. In addition to the national postal service, the radio and telephone became increasingly available, especially in urban areas, as means of connecting, exchanging information, and socializing.

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