Press release, 28 June 2013

On 4 July 2013, at 12.40 p.m. the Seimas Exhibition Gallery will host the opening of the exhibition marking the start of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and showing the links between Lithuania and Europe as well as key moments in the development of the state, starting with the first mention of Lithuania in written sources in 1009 and ending with Lithuania’s accession to the European Union in 2004. The introduction to the exhibition will be made by Vydas Gedvilas, Speaker of the Seimas.

The exhibition has been arranged in cooperation with Dr Rimantas Miknys, Prof. Zigmantas Kiaupa and Dr Algimantas Kasparavičius, historians at the Lithuanian Institute of History. The exhibition features historical documents from the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Vilnius University Library, the National Museum of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Art Museum, the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, the Archive of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian State Central Archives, the Lithuanian State Historical Archives, the Lithuanian State Modern Archives, and the Lithuanian news agency ELTA.

“The word Europe is an ancient geographical term referring to one of the three oldest continents in addition to Asia and Africa. It is also a geographical, cultural, ideological and political concept that is constantly changing. In terms of its identity, the European community is primarily bound together by universal values, shared culture and religion. Nowadays, geography no longer gives grounds for defining the European identity, since Europe is not merely an area between the Atlantic and the Urals. The European community is now first and foremost delineated by a specific political structure: democratic organisation, human rights, the market economy, liberal policies, and a specific lifestyle,” reads the introduction to the exhibition.

“There is no doubt that Lithuania was and still is part of Europe as a geographical and cultural area. When looked at through the principles of political culture, shared ideals and political organisation, Lithuania’s relationship with Europe appears to have been slightly complicated, especially in certain historical periods. It is no coincidence that public and political discourse in Lithuania at the end of the 20^th century and the beginning of the 21^st century was often marked by metaphors such as “we are coming home to Europe” and “we are going to Europe”. Naturally, we wonder about when and how “we were”; when, why and from where “we returned”; and how and why “we are going”, Dr Rimantas Miknys, Director of the Lithuanian Institute of History, explains the idea behind the exhibition.

As stated by Prof. Zigmantas Kiaupa, who has presented an overview of key moments in the establishment and development of the state, the year 1009 marks the establishment of relationships between Lithuania and the rest of Europe as it is the year that saw the first official record of the country’s name, Litua, in written sources. Still pagan Lithuanian tribes built their state in the first half of the 13^th century and expanded it to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by annexing vast Ruthenian Orthodox lands and by offering armed rather than verbal resistance to the Christianity being brought into their lands. By accepting Christianity from the Roman Catholic Church in 1387, Lithuania joined the European family of countries and nations. Lithuania entered the family and stayed there, although fate sought to push it away from Western culture. It remained in the European family of nations even though the family itself passed through a number of troubles and turning points. Lithuania opened up to the spiritual and political culture of Western Christianity and lived at the same pace of cultural changes as the whole of Europe did.

In 1569–1795, public life in Lithuania was connected with Poland as both countries formed a multinational and multireligious union, the Commonwealth of the Two Nations. Both countries, Lithuania, Poland and their political nations, were an example of peaceful and productive coexistence. However, in the mid 17^th century the Commonwealth of the Two Nations was hit by a string of disasters creating confusion in domestic life, and at the end of the 18^th century it fell victim to aggression by its three neighbours: Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Independence could not be preserved, however. In 1795 Lithuania was occupied by the Russian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ceased to exist. Though the 120 years spent as part of the Russian Empire was not a period of stagnation and advances took place, it was at the same time a period of continuous resistance against the Russian government. Resistance took the shape of gatherings of Vilnius University students that prompted the tsarist authorities to close the University in 1832, of the uprisings in 1830–1831 and 1863–1864 that were led by noblemen, and of the liberation movement of the modern Lithuanian nation connecting all social strata.

“The turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries saw the birth of a modern Lithuanian nation. The national elite came to the fore. The ethno-political emancipation of Lithuanians and the results of the Great War allowed the restoration of the nation-state of Lithuania on 16 February 1918. During the interwar period, the Republic of Lithuania was an integral part of the political system of Europe and belonged to the map of Europe: it was actively involved in the League of Nations and supported its pacifist policy of collective security, beginning in 1934 contributed to the Baltic Concord’s efforts to strengthen stability in the region, and was one of the first countries in Europe to resist Nazi policy, ideology and propaganda with legal measures in 1934–1935. National statehood was not even broken by the Soviet occupation and annexation in the summer of 1940: the Lithuanian diplomatic service in exile remained active until the restoration of independence on 11 March 1990 and represented the legal continuity of the state of Lithuania on the international stage. Following the restoration of independence, Lithuania made rapid political progress and on 1 May 2004 it became a Member State of the European Union,” says Dr Algimantas Kasparavičius introducing the contemporary development of the state.

Visitors to the Exhibition Gallery are invited to see the exposition during the open hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays.

Lina Žilytė, Public Relations Unit, tel. +370 5 239 6875, e-mail: [email protected]