CONTINUITY OF THE STATE: Independence Code in the Act of 11 March

The exhibition entitled Continuity of the State: Independence Code in the Act of 11 March tells the story of the restoration of independence of the State of Lithuania and testifies to the continuity of the statehood. This year, we will mark a number of important anniversaries, including the 30th anniversary of the restoration of Lithuania’s independence and the Centenary of the Republic of Lithuania. This has prompted the organisers of the exhibition to display the documents of the State of Lithuania encoded in the Act of 11 March and to disclose what could be referred to as the legal code of Independence of the Act of 11 March.

       While celebrating the events important for the statehood of Lithuania, we usually delve into history. What we often lack is a glance in retrospect, a search for future prospects, and an act of forging a connection between the historical narratives encoded in the national celebrations. Perhaps that is why 15 May 1920 has disappeared from collective memory. On that very day, the Constituent Seimas approved the Act of Independence of Lithuania of 16 February 1918 and, for the first time in Lithuania’s history, established the State of Lithuania as a democratic Republic, the centenary of which we will mark this year. After 50 years of occupation, the Supreme Council –Reconstituent Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania re-established democracy and the parliamentary republic as the fundamental values of the State of Lithuania.