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122-608: The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania ( Lithuanian : Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija , abbr. LSDP ) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania . Founded as an underground Marxist organisation in 1896, it is the oldest extant party in Lithuania . During the time of the Soviet Union , the party went into exile, emerging once again after the end of communist rule in 1989. The party led

244-493: A Lithuanian peasant. — Antoine Meillet Among Indo-European languages, Lithuanian is conservative in its grammar and phonology, retaining archaic features otherwise found only in ancient languages such as Sanskrit (particularly its early form, Vedic Sanskrit ) or Ancient Greek . Thus, it is an important source for the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language despite its late attestation (with

366-652: A Proto-Balto-Slavic stage, from which the Baltic languages retain exclusive and non-exclusive lexical, morphological, phonological and accentual isoglosses in common with the Slavic languages , which represent their closest living Indo-European relatives. Moreover, with Lithuanian being so archaic in phonology, Slavic words can often be deduced from Lithuanian by regular sound laws ; for example, Lith. vilkas and Polish wilk ← PBSl. *wilkás (cf. PSl. *vьlkъ ) ← PIE *wĺ̥kʷos , all meaning " wolf ". Initially, Lithuanian

488-539: A government in the unicameral Seimas , Lithuania's parliament from 2001 to 2008 and from 2012 to 2016. It has been the ruling party of Lithuania since 2024 . The party is a member of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Progressive Alliance , and Socialist International . Initial discussions about forming a Marxist political party in Lithuania began early in 1895, with a number of informal gatherings bringing together social democrats of various stripes resulting in

610-590: A million inhabitants of Lithuania of non-Lithuanian background speak Lithuanian daily as a second language. Lithuanian is closely related to neighbouring Latvian , though the two languages are not mutually intelligible. It is written in a Latin script . In some respects, some linguists consider it to be the most conservative of the existing Indo-European languages , retaining features of the Proto-Indo-European language that had disappeared through development from other descendant languages . Anyone wishing to hear how Indo-Europeans spoke should come and listen to

732-651: A place in the opposition until 2001, when the collapse of the ruling coalition between Liberals and New Union allowed ex-President Algirdas Brazauskas to form a government with New Union. In 2001, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania merged. The merged party kept the Social Democratic name, but was dominated by former Democratic Labour Party members (ex-Communists). After

854-426: A preparatory conference in the summer of that year. Differences in objectives became clear between ethnic Jews and ethnic Lithuanians and Poles , with the former seeing themselves essentially as Russian Marxists while the latter two groups harboured both revolutionary and national aspirations. Moreover, the ethnic Poles and Lithuanians saw themselves divided over the question of alliance with non-Marxist liberals. As

976-543: A rather academic agenda geared toward cultural issues for the assembly; this initial agenda was vetoed by the delegates. They adopted a new schedule that was more political and highlighted two main goals: holding hearings on the current situation in Lithuania, and deciding which political demands should be submitted to the Tsarist authorities. A major portion of the first day's proceedings was devoted to reports presented by delegates from rural areas. The content of these reports

1098-516: A result of a decrease in the usage of spoken Lithuanian in the eastern part of Lithuania proper, in the 19th century, it was suggested to create a standardized Lithuanian based on the Samogitian dialect. Nevertheless, it was not accomplished because everyone offered their Samogitian subdialects and the Eastern and Western Aukštaitians offered their Aukštaitian subdialects. In the second half of

1220-481: A result, not one but three Marxist political organisations would emerge in Lithuania between 1895 and 1897. The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP) was founded on 1 May (19 April O.S.) 1896 at a secret congress held in an apartment in Vilnius . Among the 13 delegates were Andrius Domaševičius and Alfonsas Moravskis —a pair of intellectuals regarded as the central organisers of the new political entity—and

1342-627: A single language. At a minimum, transitional dialects existed until the 14th or 15th century and perhaps as late as the 17th century. The German Livonian Brothers of the Sword occupied the western part of the Daugava basin, which resulted in colonization of the territory of modern Latvia (at the time it was called Terra Mariana ) by Germans and had a significant influence on the language's independent development due to Germanisation (see also: Baltic Germans and Baltic German nobility ). There

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1464-651: A single sound, the velar fricative [ x ] , while dz and dž are pronounced like straightforward combinations of their component letters (sounds): Dz dz [ dz ] (dzė), Dž dž [ dʒ ] (džė), Ch ch [ x ] (cha). The distinctive Lithuanian letter Ė was used for the first time in the Daniel Klein 's Grammatica Litvanica and firmly established itself in Lithuanian since then. However, linguist August Schleicher used Ë (with two points above it) instead of Ė for expressing

1586-878: Is a translation dating from about 1503–1525 of the Lord's Prayer , the Hail Mary , and the Nicene Creed written in the Southern Aukštaitian dialect. On 8 January 1547 the first Lithuanian book was printed – the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas . At the royal courts in Vilnius of Sigismund II Augustus , the last Grand Duke of Lithuania prior to the Union of Lublin , both Polish and Lithuanian were spoken equally widely. In 1552 Sigismund II Augustus ordered that orders of

1708-442: Is augmented by the fact that Proto-Balto-Slavic is easily reconstructible with important proofs in historic prosody. The alleged (or certain, as certain as historical linguistics can be) similarities due to contact are seen in such phenomena as the existence of definite adjectives formed by the addition of an inflected pronoun (descended from the same Proto-Indo-European pronoun), which exist in both Baltic and Slavic yet nowhere else in

1830-549: Is divided into West, North and South; Aukštaitian into West (Suvalkiečiai), South ( Dzūkian ) and East. Lithuanian uses the Latin script supplemented with diacritics . It has 32 letters . In the collation order, y follows immediately after į (called i nosinė ), because both y and į represent the same long vowel [ iː ] : In addition, the following digraphs are used, but are treated as sequences of two letters for collation purposes. The digraph ch represents

1952-585: Is known for making antisemitic statements, and his party's inclusion sparked backlash from Lithuanian civil society groups, as well as from lawmakers and ambassadors abroad, including US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Ben Cardin , German MPs Roderich Kiesewetter and Michael Roth , Polish senator Michał Kamiński , and the Israeli embassy. Roth, the chair of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee and member of

2074-637: Is known that Jogaila , being ethnic Lithuanian by the male-line , himself knew and spoke Lithuanian with Vytautas the Great , his cousin from the Gediminids dynasty. During the Christianization of Samogitia none of the clergy, who arrived to Samogitia with Jogaila, were able to communicate with the natives, therefore Jogaila himself taught the Samogitians about Catholicism ; thus he

2196-498: Is largely phonemic, i.e., one letter usually corresponds to a single phoneme (sound). There are a few exceptions: for example, the letter i represents either the vowel [ ɪ ] , as in English sit , or is silent and merely indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized . The latter is largely the case when i occurs after a consonant and is followed by a back or a central vowel , except in some borrowed words (e.g.,

2318-454: The 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état . The authoritarian regime of Antanas Smetona banned all political parties in 1936. During the Soviet occupation era, no democratically constituted political parties existed within Lithuania. Therefore, between 1945 and the 1989 restoration of independence, the party was assembled and worked covertly in exile. In 1989, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania

2440-708: The Compendium Grammaticae Lithvanicae singled out that the Lithuanians of the Vilnius Region ( Latin : in tractu Vilnensi ) tend to speak harshly, almost like Austrians , Bavarians and others speak German in Germany . Due to the historical circumstances of Lithuania , Lithuanian-speaking territory was divided into Lithuania proper and Lithuania Minor , therefore, in the 16th–17th centuries, three regional variants of

2562-682: The European Union , while at the same time opposing European austerity policies. Several of the party's former leaders and members of the Seimas left the party in 2017 and 2018, including two former Prime Ministers, Gediminas Kirkilas and Algirdas Butkevičius . Most of them then established the Social Democratic Labour Party, later renamed to the Lithuanian Regions Party . However, this renewal

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2684-764: The Galindai ( Γαλίνδαι ) and Sudinoi ( Σουδινοί ), in the 2nd century AD. Lithuanian originated from the Eastern Baltic subgroup and remained nearly unchanged until c.   1 AD, however in c.   500 AD the language of the northern part of Eastern Balts was influenced by the Finnic languages , which fueled the development of changes from the language of the Southern Balts (see: Latgalian , which developed into Latvian , and extinct Curonian , Semigallian , and Selonian ). The language of Southern Balts

2806-582: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1/3 residents in Lithuania proper and up to 1/2 residents in Samogitia ) and 53% of residents in Lithuania Minor (more than 90% of the deceased were Prussian Lithuanians ). Since the 19th century to 1925 the amount of Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania Minor (excluding Klaipėda Region ) decreased from 139,000 to 8,000 due to Germanisation and colonization . As

2928-604: The Homeland Union and progressive economic proposals over social justice and social reforms. 5 of 13 of the party's members of the Seimas voted against a proposed same-sex partnership law in 2021, even though the party's program was in favor of same-sex partnerships. The Left Alliance was founded in 2022 in response to the Social Democrats' alleged betrayal of left-wing values. The party supports lowering voting age to 16 in local elections. In early 1990s,

3050-469: The Homeland Union -led government. On 7 March 2009, the party's congress elected a new leader, Algirdas Butkevičius . He was the party's candidate at the 2009 Lithuanian presidential election , coming in second place with 11.83% of the vote. At the 2012 parliamentary elections , the party took 38 seats and became the largest party in Parliament (although it lost in popular vote). Butkevičius became

3172-811: The January Uprising , Mikhail Muravyov , the Russian Governor General of Lithuania , banned the language in education and publishing and barred use of the Latin alphabet altogether, although books continued to be printed in Lithuanian across the border in East Prussia and in the United States . Brought into the country by book smugglers (Lithuanian: knygnešiai ) despite the threat of long prison sentences, they helped fuel growing nationalist sentiment that finally led to

3294-551: The Lithuanian Christian Democrats and by Vilniaus žinios , a moderate newspaper owned by Petras Vileišis . Vilniaus žinios was the first legal Lithuanian-language daily newspaper to appear after the Lithuanian press ban was lifted on May 7, 1904; it was quite popular and its circulation soon reached 6,000 copies. On October 31 (October 18 O.S.), 1905 a fifteen-member organizational committee, chairman Jonas Basanavičius and secretary Jonas Kriaučiūnas,

3416-754: The Lithuanian National Revival , and a sense of the Lithuanian national identity continued to grow. The first Lithuanian political parties, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and Lithuanian Democratic Party , included goals of political autonomy for Lithuania within the Russian Empire in their basic program. After the events of Bloody Sunday in January 1905 sparked a revolution in Russia, Tsar Nicholas II

3538-587: The Lithuanian nobility to participate in the social-political life of the state. In 1599, Mikalojus Daukša published his Postil and in its prefaces he expressed that the Lithuanian language situation had improved and thanked bishop Merkelis Giedraitis for his works. In 1776–1790 about 1,000 copies of the first Catholic primer in Lithuanian – Mokslas skaitymo rašto lietuviško – were issued annually, and it continued to be published until 1864. Over 15,000 copies appeared in total. In 1864, following

3660-588: The Magistrate of Vilnius be announced in Lithuanian, Polish, and Ruthenian. The same requirement was valid for the Magistrate of Kaunas . In the 16th century, following the decline of Ruthenian usage in favor of Polish in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Lithuanian language strengthened its positions in Lithuania due to reforms in religious matters and judicial reforms which allowed lower levels of

3782-611: The Polish and Lithuanian Uprising of 1863 , the Tsarist regime had banned publication of all newspapers which used the Latin alphabet , a measure which amounted to a de facto ban of the entire Lithuanian press. This proscription extended for the rest of the 19th Century; in 1898 of 18 newspapers appearing in Lithuanian, 11 were published by Lithuanians in emigration in America and the other 7 were published in East Prussia. The LSDP

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3904-633: The Russian and Ukrainian territory. Hydronyms and archaeology analysis show that the Slavs started migrating to the Baltic areas east and north-east directions in the 6–7th centuries, before then, the Baltic and Slavic boundary was south of the Pripyat River . In the 1960s, Vladimir Toporov and Vyacheslav Ivanov made the following conclusions about the relationship between the Baltic and Slavic languages: These scholars' theses do not contradict

4026-693: The Russian Empire since the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century. After the unsuccessful uprising of 1863 , Lithuania was subjected to Russification policies: the Lithuanian press ban was initiated, schools were required to teach in the Russian language, Roman Catholics could not hold positions in government institutions and could own only limited amounts of land, and political rights were restricted. However, these measures had limited effects on

4148-522: The Social Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania . After this split, the party lost a lot of support, but in 2019 it partly recovered. At the 2020 parliamentary elections , the party achieved worse results than expected. Due to this, Gintautas Paluckas received criticism from party's board and resigned in 2021. After a leadership election , Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (between 2002 and 2006 she was New Union (Social Liberals) member)

4270-547: The Social Democratic Party of Germany , commented that "an alliance with an anti-semitic party is incompatible with [Social Democratic] values", and urged the LSDP to reconsider their choice if they desired to remain within the Party of European Socialists . LSDP is generally described as a centre-left party. Historically, the party was criticized for lacking commitment to social democracy . According to political scientist Ainė Ramonaitė  [ lt ] , "before their split,

4392-768: The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR restored Lithuanian as the official language of Lithuania, under from the popular pro-independence movement Sąjūdis . On 11 March 1990, the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania was passed. Lithuanian was recognized as sole official language of Lithuania in the Provisional Basic Law (Lithuanian: Laikinasis Pagrindinis Įstatymas ) and

4514-413: The United States , Uruguay , and Spain . 2,955,200 people in Lithuania (including 3,460 Tatars ), or about 86% of the 2015 population, are native Lithuanian speakers; most Lithuanian inhabitants of other nationalities also speak Lithuanian to some extent. The total worldwide Lithuanian-speaking population is about 3,200,000. Lithuanian is the state language of Lithuania and an official language of

4636-597: The comparative method . Lithuanian is spoken mainly in Lithuania . It is also spoken by ethnic Lithuanians living in today's Belarus , Latvia , Poland , and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, as well as by sizable emigrant communities in Argentina , Australia , Brazil , Canada , Denmark , Estonia , France , Germany , Iceland , Ireland , Norway , Russia , Sweden , the United Kingdom ,

4758-637: The industrialization in the Soviet Union ). Russian consequently came into use in state institutions: the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania (there were 80% Russians among the 22,000 Communist Party members in the Lithuanian SSR in 1948), radio and television (61–74% of broadcasts were in Russian in 1970). Lithuanians passively resisted Russification and continued to use their own language. On 18 November 1988,

4880-468: The presidium of the Seimas. Jonas Basanavičius, officially nonpartisan, was elected as the chairman and Steponas Kairys , leader of the Social Democrats , was chosen as vice-chairman. Other members were Antanas Smetona , priest Pranciškus Būčys , and Juozas Stankūnas; the secretaries were Liudas Gira , Pranas Klimaitis , and Juozas Gabrys-Paršaitis . The organizational committee proposed

5002-473: The prime minister , forming a coalition government with the Labour Party , Order and Justice and Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance . At the 2016 parliamentary elections , the party took 21 seats and formed a coalition with Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union . In 2017, the Social Democratic Party withdraw from coalition. In 2018, some party members left and formed

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5124-467: The 13th–16th centuries under the influence of Curonian . Lithuanian dialects are closely connected with ethnographical regions of Lithuania . Even nowadays Aukštaitians and Samogitians can have considerable difficulties understanding each other if they speak with their dialects and not standard Lithuanian, which is mandatory to learn in the Lithuanian education system. Dialects are divided into subdialects. Both dialects have three subdialects. Samogitian

5246-581: The 141 seats in the Seimas (other 11 seats were won by the New Union), but managed to stay at the helm of successive coalition governments, including the minority government between 2006 and 2008 . During the minority government, party's parliamentary group became the largest one in parliament, mainly due to defections from the Labour Party and the New Union (Social Liberals). Brazauskas resigned as

5368-581: The 18th century, was successful due to many publications and research. In contrast, the development of Lithuanian in Lithuania proper was obstructed due to the Polonization of the Lithuanian nobility , especially in the 18th century, and it was being influenced by the Samogitian dialect. The Lithuanian-speaking population was also dramatically decreased by the Great Northern War plague outbreak in 1700–1721 which killed 49% of residents in

5490-432: The 19th century, when the Lithuanian National Revival intensified, and the preparations to publish a Lithuanian periodical press were taking place, the mostly south-western Aukštaitian revival writers did not use the 19th-century Lithuanian of Lithuania Minor as it was largely Germanized . Instead, they used a more pure Lithuanian language which has been described by August Schleicher and Friedrich Kurschat and this way

5612-464: The Baltic and Slavic languages closeness and from a historical perspective, specify the Baltic-Slavic languages' evolution. So, there are at least six points of view on the relationships between the Baltic and Slavic. However, as for the hypotheses related to the "Balto-Slavic problem", it is noted that they are more focused on personal theoretical constructions and deviate to some extent from

5734-466: The Baltic languages form their own distinct branch of the family of Indo-European languages , and Endzelīns thought that the similarity between Baltic and Slavic was explicable through language contact. There is also an opinion that suggests the union of Baltic and Slavic languages into a distinct sub-family of Balto-Slavic languages amongst the Indo-European family of languages. Such an opinion

5856-523: The Constitution of 1992, written during the Lithuanian constitutional referendum . Lithuanian is one of two living Baltic languages , along with Latvian , and they constitute the eastern branch of Baltic languages family. An earlier Baltic language, Old Prussian , was extinct by the 18th century; the other Western Baltic languages, Curonian and Sudovian , became extinct earlier. Some theories, such as that of Jānis Endzelīns , considered that

5978-487: The European Union . In the Compendium Grammaticae Lithvanicae , published in 1673, three dialects of Lithuanian are distinguished: Samogitian dialect ( Latin : Samogitiae ) of Samogitia , Royal Lithuania ( Latin : Lithvaniae Regalis ) and Ducal Lithuania ( Latin : Lithvaniae Ducalis ). Ducal Lithuanian is described as pure ( Latin : Pura ), half-Samogitian ( Latin : SemiSamogitizans ) and having elements of Curonian ( Latin : Curonizans ). Authors of

6100-422: The European languages of the participants in the Council of Constance in 1414–1418. From the middle of the 15th century, the legend spread about the Roman origin of the Lithuanian nobility (from the Palemon lineage ), and the closeness of the Lithuanian language and Latin, thus this let some intellectuals in the mid-16th century to advocate for replacement of Ruthenian with Latin, as they considered Latin as

6222-498: The Indo-European family (languages such as Albanian and the Germanic languages developed definite adjectives independently), and that is not reconstructible for Proto-Balto-Slavic, meaning that they most probably developed through language contact. The Baltic hydronyms area stretches from the Vistula River in the west to the east of Moscow and from the Baltic Sea in the north to the south of Kyiv . Vladimir Toporov and Oleg Trubachyov (1961, 1962) studied Baltic hydronyms in

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6344-465: The Labour Code in 2016 which strengthened the position of employers in workplace relations. In 2017, after Gintautas Paluckas was elected as the party's chairman, LSDP declared a renewal of its ideology and values, reforming closer to a Western social democratic party. It introduced a new program, in which it affirmed commitment to progressive taxation , encouragement of worker cooperatives , women's rights and LGBT rights , and support for NATO and

6466-407: The Lithuanian National Democratic Party (Lithuanian: Tautiškoji lietuvių demokratų partija ), the first nationalistic party in Lithuania. The plan for autonomy was not accomplished at this time, but the Seimas was an important development in the Lithuanian bid for independence. It consolidated efforts, spearheaded the organization of political parties, strengthened national conscience, and energized

6588-446: The Lithuanian language, and stopped paying taxes . While the first Russian responses were disorganized and confused, the authorities soon marshaled their armed forces and returned the situation back to normal. The process was relatively peaceful; there were only a few clashes between armed groups of peasants and Tsarist military forces. Unlike in neighboring Latvia or Estonia , peasants did not rise against their landlords. A number of

6710-401: The Lithuanian language, the introduction of the Lithuanian language to government institutions, and the attachment of the Suwałki Governorate not to Poland but to autonomous Lithuania. Many of these demands were echoed by the Seimas. Those parts of the memorandum that demanded Lithuanian autonomy and protested the possible attachment of Suwałki Governorate to autonomous Poland were reprinted in

6832-539: The Lithuanian nation without waiting for the Seimas' resolutions. On December 4 (November 21 O.S.), about 2,000 people arrived in Vilnius; half of them were officially elected as delegates by their local communities. Because no standard elections procedures were offered, the process of selecting the representatives varied greatly. Despite irregularities, it was the first election in the history of Lithuania. People from Aukštaitija were most active, while participation from Samogitia and Suvalkija somewhat lacked. Some of

6954-483: The Poles, Jews, Russians, and other groups in those areas were merely invaders, who had arrived in the recent past. Belarusians were called "Slavinized Lithuanians". The last point in the memorandum, asking that the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania not be disregarded in the Tsar's documents, also drew criticism. Other points demanded Lithuanian autonomy, equal rights to all nationalities and social classes, full political and religious freedom, free universal education in

7076-436: The Polish Ł for the first sound and regular L (without a following i) for the second: łupa , lutas . During the Lithuanian National Revival in the 19th century the Polish Ł was abolished, while digraphs sz , cz (that are also common in the Polish orthography ) were replaced with š and č from the Czech orthography because formally they were shorter. Nevertheless, another argument to abolish sz and cz

7198-406: The Polish courtiers. Casimir IV Jagiellon's son Saint Casimir , who was subsequently announced as patron saint of Lithuania, was a polyglot and among other languages knew Lithuanian. Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon also could understand and speak Lithuanian as multiple Lithuanian priests served in his royal chapel and he also maintained a Lithuanian court. In 1501, Erazm Ciołek , a priest of

7320-459: The Polish dialect in the Vilnius Region and in the northeastern areas in general are very interesting variant of the Polish language as this dialect developed in a foreign territory which was mostly inhabited by the Lithuanians who were Belarusized (mostly) or Polonized, and to prove this Otrębski provided examples of Lithuanianisms in the Tutejszy language . In 2015, Polish linguist Mirosław Jankowiak  [ pl ] attested that many of

7442-429: The Russian army, and organizing factory worker strikes. The delegates, who were mostly small farmers, also discussed land reform, demanding that all land would be confiscated from large landlords and distributed to those who actually cultivated it. However, no conclusions in that area were reached as there was a perception that any resolution on land reform would encourage the peasants to rise against their landlords as it

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7564-477: The Russian constitutional system. Heated discussions continued on the means to achieve this transformation. Some argued for armed resistance, but were reminded that the previous uprisings in November 1831 and January 1863 had failed. Others suggested peaceful and passive resistance : refusing to pay taxes, boycotting products from monopolistic companies (mostly those selling alcoholic beverages), not allowing children to attend Russian schools, evading drafts into

7686-473: The Russian publication Pravitel'stvennyi Vestnik on November 23 (November 10 O.S.). The Russian government sought to demonstrate that granting autonomy to both Poland and Lithuania would be complicated, and would probably exacerbate national conflicts. On November 26 (November 13 O.S.) the memorandum was also reprinted in Vilniaus žinios . It was heavily criticized by non-Lithuanians for its position on minorities and by Lithuanians for making demands on behalf of

7808-474: The Social Democrats never managed to be a left-wing party. Although they said they were, their policies were right-wing, even the vocabulary was closer to the right." During the Eleventh Seimas from 2012 to 2016, when the party played a leading role in the Butkevičius Cabinet , it was criticized by left-wing intellectuals such as Andrius Bielskis and Arkadijus Vinokuras for lacking allegiance to left-wing ideas and for its neoliberal policies, such as reforms to

7930-644: The Vilnius Cathedral, explained to the Pope that the Lithuanians preserve their language and ensure respect to it ( Linguam propriam observant ), but they also use the Ruthenian language for simplicity reasons because it is spoken by almost half of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A note written by Sigismund von Herberstein in the first half of the 16th century states that, in an ocean of Ruthenian in this part of Europe, there were two non-Ruthenian regions: Lithuania and Samogitia where its inhabitants spoke their own language, but many Ruthenians were also living among them. The earliest surviving written Lithuanian text

8052-447: The Vilnius Region's inhabitants who declare Polish nationality speak a Belarusian dialect which they call mowa prosta (' simple speech '). Currently, Lithuanian is divided into two dialects: Aukštaitian (Highland Lithuanian), and Samogitian (Lowland Lithuanian). There are significant differences between standard Lithuanian and Samogitian and these are often described as separate languages. The modern Samogitian dialect formed in

8174-464: The Vilnius Region, especially when Vilnius Voivode Ludwik Bociański issued a secret memorandum of 11 February 1936 which stated the measures for suppressing the Lithuanians in the region. Some Lithuanian historians, like Antanas Tyla  [ lt ] and Ereminas Gintautas, consider these Polish policies as amounting to an " ethnocide of Lithuanians". Between 1862 and 1944, the Lithuanian schools were completely banned in Lithuania Minor and

8296-435: The acquirement of a foreign speech." Lithuanian was studied by several linguists such as Franz Bopp , August Schleicher , Adalbert Bezzenberger , Louis Hjelmslev , Ferdinand de Saussure , Winfred P. Lehmann and Vladimir Toporov , Jan Safarewicz, and others. By studying place names of Lithuanian origin, linguist Jan Safarewicz  [ pl ] concluded that the eastern boundaries of Lithuanian used to be in

8418-497: The campaign, she declined the role after the election, leading instead to the nomination of deputy chair Gintautas Paluckas. This unexpected change in leadership was criticized by the LSDP's potential coalition partners. After the election, further controversy arose when the Social Democrats invited the newly created nationalist party Dawn of Nemunas to join the ruling coalition, along with the Union of Democrats "For Lithuania" . The founder of Dawn of Nemunas, Remigijus Žemaitaitis ,

8540-405: The chairman of the party on 19 May 2007 and was replaced by Gediminas Kirkilas . At the 2008 elections the party won 11.73% of the national vote and 25 seats in the Seimas , five more than in the previous elections. However, its coalition partners, the Labour Party , the New Union (Social Liberals) and the Lithuanian Peasants Popular Union, fared poorly and the party ended up in opposition to

8662-607: The common language emerged. Lithuanians in Lithuania Minor spoke Western Aukštaitian dialect with specifics of Įsrutis and Ragainė environs (e.g. works of Martynas Mažvydas , Jonas Bretkūnas , Jonas Rėza , and Daniel Klein 's Grammatica Litvanica ). The other two regional variants of the common language were formed in Lithuania proper: middle, which was based on the specifics of the Duchy of Samogitia (e.g. works of Mikalojus Daukša , Merkelis Petkevičius , Steponas Jaugelis‑Telega , Samuelis Boguslavas Chylinskis , and Mikołaj Rej 's Lithuanian postil ), and eastern, based on

8784-508: The country to avoid being swept up in the Okhrana's dragnet. With the party leadership jailed or chased from the country, the LSDP very nearly ceased to exist as the 19th century drew to a close. From 1900 to 1902 the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania began to tentatively rise from the ashes behind a new crop of young revolutionaries. Chief among these were a pair of Lithuanian students in Vilnius, Vladas Sirutavičius and Steponas Kairys. It

8906-574: The delegates came from areas that are now part of Poland and Latvia , as well as from areas that were then within the lands of the German Empire ( Lithuania Minor ). As a result, a wide variety of communities, political groups, government layers, social classes, and organizations were represented. This parliament may have been the first in Europe to include women—there were seven female delegates. It took two hours of intense discussion to elect

9028-419: The demands of the delegates were much more radical than were expected. Most demanded autonomy in ethnographic Lithuanian lands along with any border areas that would decide to join. The region would be governed by a democratically elected seimas in Vilnius and bound by federal ties with neighboring lands. The "ethnographic Lithuanian lands" at issue were not clearly defined, but resistance to tsarist authorities

9150-561: The earliest texts dating only to c.  1500 AD , whereas Ancient Greek was first written down about three thousand years earlier in c.   1450 BC). According to hydronyms of Baltic origin, the Baltic languages were spoken in a large area east of the Baltic Sea , and in c.   1000 BC it had two linguistic units: western and eastern. The Greek geographer Ptolemy had already written of two Baltic tribe/nations by name,

9272-544: The eastern Prussian Lithuanians ' dialect spoken in Lithuania Minor . These dialects had preserved archaic phonetics mostly intact due to the influence of the neighbouring Old Prussian , while other dialects had experienced different phonetic shifts . Lithuanian became the official language of the country following the restoration of Lithuania's statehood in 1918. The 1922 Constitution of Lithuania (the first permanent Lithuanian constitution ) recognized it as

9394-432: The first consonant in lūpa [ˈ ɫ ûːpɐ] , "lip", is a velarized dental lateral approximant ; on the other hand, the first consonant in liūtas [ˈ lʲ uːt̪ɐs̪] , "lion", is a palatalized alveolar lateral approximant ; both consonants are followed by the same vowel, the long [ uː ] , and no [ ɪ ] can be pronounced in liūtas ). Due to Polish influence , the Lithuanian alphabet included sz , cz and

9516-426: The formation of standard Lithuanian. The conventions of written Lithuanian had been evolving during the 19th century, but Jablonskis, in the introduction to his Lietuviškos kalbos gramatika , was the first to formulate and expound the essential principles that were so indispensable to its later development. His proposal for Standard Lithuanian was based on his native Western Aukštaitian dialect with some features of

9638-499: The former Communist Party of Lithuania (which had broken away from Moscow in 1989) began. Members of the party opposing the merger left to establish "Social democracy 2000" (later renamed " Social Democratic Union of Lithuania "). The SDPL-LDDP coalition won 51 of the 141 seats in the elections in 2000 (with 19 going to the Social Democrats). However, despite success in the elections, the coalition parties had to settle for

9760-411: The future President of Lithuania, Kazys Grinius , as well as a number of worker activists. Also in attendance as a representative of the radical youth movement was an 18-year-old ethnic Pole named Felix Dzerzhinsky , later the head of the Soviet secret police . As Lithuania was then part of the Russian Empire , the LSDP was inevitably an illegal organisation, meeting in secret and seeking to bring about

9882-412: The future of the Lithuanian state. At the end of the appeal there was an eight-point agenda to be discussed at the Seimas. It did not include the question of Lithuanian autonomy. On November 15 (November 2 O.S.), a controversial memorandum was adopted by the organizational committee and sent to Sergei Witte , Prime Minister of the Russian Empire. It was signed by only four people: Jonas Basanavičius, who

10004-419: The highest population literacy rates: Vilna Governorate (in 1897 ~23.6–50% Lithuanian of whom 37% were literate), Kovno Governorate (in 1897 66% Lithuanian of whom 55.3% were literate), Suwałki Governorate (in 1897 in counties of the governorate where Lithuanian population was dominant, 76,6% of males and 50,2% of females were literate). Jonas Jablonskis (1860–1930) made significant contributions to

10126-556: The independent Republic of Lithuania to the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union . Soviet authorities introduced Lithuanian– Russian bilingualism, and Russian, as the de facto official language of the USSR, took precedence and the use of Lithuanian was reduced in a process of Russification. Many Russian-speaking workers and teachers migrated to the Lithuanian SSR (fueled by

10248-794: The language was almost completely eliminated there. The Baltic-origin place names retained their basis for centuries in Prussia but were Germanized (e.g. Tilžė – Tilsit , Labguva – Labiau , Vėluva – Wehliau , etc.); however, after the annexation of the Königsberg region into the Russian SFSR , they were changed completely, regardless of previous tradition (e.g. Tilsit – Sovetsk , Labiau – Polesk , Wehliau – Znamensk , etc.). The Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940 , German occupation in 1941 , and eventually Soviet re-occupation in 1944 , reduced

10370-650: The legal basis for the assembly in Vilnius. The October Manifesto also announced the intent to hold elections to the Russian Parliament ( Duma ), and the Lithuanian organizers used this as an official pretext for the Seimas: they claimed that the Lithuanians needed to prepare themselves for this election. Historians disagree about who initiated the idea of organizing a national assembly. Some credit Jonas Basanavičius , while others argue for Jonas Kriaučiūnas . The organizational activities were largely taken on by

10492-889: The lifting of the ban in 1904. According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897 (at the height of the Lithuanian press ban), 53.5% of Lithuanians (10 years and older) were literate, while the average of the Russian Empire was only 24–27.7% (in the European part of Russia the average was 30%, in Poland – 40.7%). In the Russian Empire Lithuanian children were mostly educated by their parents or in secret schools by "daractors" in native Lithuanian language, while only 6.9% attended Russian state schools due to resistance to Russification . Russian governorates with significant Lithuanian populations had one of

10614-428: The merger, Algirdas Brazauskas was elected leader of the Social Democratic Party. By the beginning of 2004 negotiations between the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania and various other parties to form electoral coalition. They managed to form electoral coalition called "Working for Lithuania" with their coalition partners, New Union. At the 2004 legislative elections , the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania won 20 of

10736-479: The most prominent activists of this movement were arrested and sent to Siberia . The Lithuanian Democratic Party and Ernestas Galvanauskas used the Seimas as an opportunity to organize the Peasant Union , which largely represented the interests of large and mid-size farmers. The Union helped spread the influence of the Seimas into the countryside. A few days after the Seimas, Jonas Basanavičius founded

10858-500: The native language of Lithuanians. Initially, Latin and Church Slavonic were the main written ( chancellery ) languages of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but in the late 17th century – 18th century Church Slavonic was replaced with Polish. Nevertheless, Lithuanian was a spoken language of the medieval Lithuanian rulers from the Gediminids dynasty and its cadet branches: Kęstutaičiai and Jagiellonian dynasties . It

10980-504: The party had between 3 and 5 per cent support nationally. It got most support from areas with light industry (e. g. Marijampolė , Vilkaviškis , Miklusėnai ). By the end of decade, LSDP increased their support in Radviliškis District Municipality (probably, at expense of Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (LDDP)). After merger of these two parties, LSDP gained support from most supporters of LDDP. In early 2010s,

11102-524: The party lost support due to deindustrialisation, rise of public election committees and Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (e. g. in Kaunas by 2011 got over 12 per cent of votes, but in 2019 the party received just over 3 per cent of the votes). Social Democratic Party of Lithuania won 17 seats in the 2016 election, but the party split in October 2017. 9 members of the party were subsequently removed from

11224-573: The party. Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( endonym : lietuvių kalba , pronounced [lʲiəˈtʊvʲuː kɐɫˈbɐ] ) is an East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family . It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of the official languages of the European Union . There are approximately 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 1 million speakers elsewhere. Around half

11346-449: The people. The Seimas, unlike the 1917 Vilnius Conference , did not attempt to elect an institution that could carry out these resolutions and act as a Lithuanian government. After the Seimas, rural areas were left on their own without central guidance. After the resolution was adopted by the Seimas, near midnight, Jonas Basanavičius read aloud his proposal to include an attachment condemning Polish ecclesiastical authorities for suppressing

11468-624: The resolution for distribution. After the assembly, notorious for its loud, lengthy and intense debates, the delegates returned to their communities and started to carry out its resolutions. The old Russian administrations were replaced in 125 out of the 280 volosts (82 in Kaunas, 33 in Suvalkai, and 10 in Vilnius Governorates). These communities elected their own representatives, organized their own schools where classes were taught in

11590-705: The revolutionary overthrow of the Tsarist regime. The LSDP was a dual language organisation, publishing its illegal newspapers both in Lithuanian and Polish . Newspapers were published abroad, printed in East Prussia (or sometimes Switzerland or France ) and smuggled across the border. Technical assistance was occasionally provided by the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania party, headed by Julian Marchlewski . This smuggling of Lithuanian newspapers had historical antecedents. Following

11712-547: The same. In the Grammatica Litvanica Klein also established the letter W for marking the sound [v], the use of which was later abolished in Lithuanian (it was replaced with V , notably by authors of the Varpas newspaper). The usage of V instead of W especially increased since the early 20th century, likely considerably influenced by Lithuanian press and schools. The Lithuanian writing system

11834-801: The shape of zigzags through Grodno , Shchuchyn , Lida , Valozhyn , Svir , and Braslaw . Such eastern boundaries partly coincide with the spread of Catholic and Orthodox faith, and should have existed at the time of the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387 and later. Safarewicz's eastern boundaries were moved even further to the south and east by other scholars (e.g. Mikalay Biryla  [ be ] , Petras Gaučas  [ lt ] , Jerzy Ochmański  [ pl ] , Aleksandras Vanagas , Zigmas Zinkevičius , and others). Proto-Balto-Slavic branched off directly from Proto-Indo-European, then sub-branched into Proto-Baltic and Proto-Slavic . Proto-Baltic branched off into Proto-West Baltic and Proto-East Baltic. The Baltic languages passed through

11956-499: The sole official language of the state and mandated its use throughout the state. The improvement of education system during the interwar period resulted in 92% of literacy rate of the population in Lithuania in 1939 (those still illiterate were mostly elderly). Following the Żeligowski's Mutiny in 1920, Vilnius Region was detached from Lithuania and was eventually annexed by Poland in 1922. This resulted in repressions of Lithuanians and mass-closure of Lithuanian language schools in

12078-641: The specifics of Eastern Aukštaitians, living in Vilnius and its region (e.g. works of Konstantinas Sirvydas , Jonas Jaknavičius , and Robert Bellarmine 's catechism ). In Vilnius University , there are preserved texts written in the Lithuanian language of the Vilnius area, a dialect of Eastern Aukštaitian, which was spoken in a territory located south-eastwards from Vilnius: the sources are preserved in works of graduates from Stanislovas Rapolionis -based Lithuanian language schools, graduate Martynas Mažvydas and Rapalionis relative Abraomas Kulvietis . The development of Lithuanian in Lithuania Minor, especially in

12200-400: The use of the Lithuanian language in churches within the diocese of Vilnius . The church matters had not been discussed during the sessions, but the majority agreed to the proposal by a show of hands. Because the attachment was not fully discussed, Social Democrats did not consider it officially adopted. During the night from December 5 to December 6, Petras Vileišis printed 36,000 copies of

12322-411: The writings has survived. The first recorded Lithuanian word, reported to have been said on 24 December 1207 from the chronicle of Henry of Latvia , was Ba , an interjection of a Lithuanian raider after he found no loot to pillage in a Livonian church. Although no writings in Lithuanian have survived from the 15th century or earlier, Lithuanian ( Latin : Lingwa Lietowia ) was mentioned as one of

12444-462: The written language of Lithuania Minor was transferred to resurgent Lithuania. The most famous standardizer of the Lithuanian, Jonas Jablonskis , established the south-western Aukštaitian dialect, including the Eastern dialect of Lithuania Minor, as the basis of standardized Lithuanian in the 20th century, which led to him being nicknamed the father of standardized Lithuanian. According to Polish professor Jan Otrębski 's article published in 1931,

12566-431: Was a spoken language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Duchy of Prussia , while the beginning of Lithuanian writing is possibly associated with the introduction of Christianity in Lithuania when Mindaugas was baptized and crowned King of Lithuania in 1250–1251. It is believed that prayers were translated into the local dialect of Lithuanian by Franciscan monks during the baptism of Mindaugas, however none of

12688-480: Was able to communicate in the Samogitian dialect of Lithuanian. Soon afterwards Vytautas the Great wrote in his 11 March 1420 letter to Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor , that Lithuanian and Samogitian are the same language. The use of Lithuanian continued at the Lithuanian royal court after the deaths of Vytautas the Great (1430) and Jogaila (1434). For example, since the young Grand Duke Casimir IV Jagiellon

12810-422: Was also criticized as incomplete and straddling the fence between progressiveness and the party's previous non-ideological populism . After Paluckas' resignation, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė was elected as LSDP's new chairman. The party's program was retained, and conservative former party members such as Artūras Skardžius were not accepted back into the party. However, the party has since focused most on criticism of

12932-500: Was caused by independent parallel development, and the Proto-Balto-Slavic language did not exist. An attempt to reconcile the opposing stances was made by Jan Michał Rozwadowski . He proposed that the two language groups were indeed a unity after the division of Indo-European, but also suggested that after the two had divided into separate entities (Baltic and Slavic), they had posterior contact. The genetic kinship view

13054-400: Was elected as the new leader. After election of Blinkevičiūtė, the party's support nearly doubled thanks to her personal popularity. In the 2024 parliamentary elections , the party achieved a "historic victory", finishing in first place with 19.32% of the popular vote and 52 out of 141 seats. While party chair Vilija Blinkevičiūtė had expressed her willingness to serve as prime minister during

13176-472: Was fascination with the Lithuanian people and their language among the late 19th-century researchers, and the philologist Isaac Taylor wrote the following in his The Origin of the Aryans (1892): "Thus it would seem that the Lithuanians have the best claim to represent the primitive Aryan race , as their language exhibits fewer of those phonetic changes, and of those grammatical losses which are consequent on

13298-468: Was first represented by August Schleicher . Some supporters of the Baltic and Slavic languages unity even claim that Proto-Baltic branch did not exist, suggesting that Proto-Balto-Slavic split into three language groups: East Baltic , West Baltic and Proto-Slavic . Antoine Meillet and Jan Baudouin de Courtenay , on the contrary, believed that the similarity between the Slavic and Baltic languages

13420-472: Was forced to make concessions. In April 1905 a decree guaranteed complete freedom of religion, and even allowed religious studies to be conducted in native languages. The most important decree, the October Manifesto , was announced on October 30 (October 17 O.S.), 1905. It guaranteed many political rights, including the right to form political parties and organize convocations . This decree formed

13542-474: Was given the task of convening the assembly. They published an appeal or a manifest to the Lithuanian people on November 11 (October 29 O.S.) in Vilniaus žinios . The appeal, signed by the chairman and the secretary, aroused much interest in the public. Invitations were extended to all persons who would be elected as representatives by their communities at volosts , and to all other educated people interested in

13664-502: Was happening in other parts of the Russian Empire. At the end of the second day, the Seimas adopted a four-paragraph resolution. The first paragraph declared that the Tsarist government was Lithuania's most dangerous enemy. The second paragraph demanded autonomy; the third outlined the means towards this goal that were deemed acceptable. The resistance was to be peaceful and passive. The fourth and final paragraph demanded that children be taught in their native language by teachers chosen by

13786-463: Was less influenced by this process and retained many of its older features, which form Lithuanian. According to glottochronological research, the Eastern Baltic languages split from the Western Baltic ones between c.   400 BC and c.   600 BC. The differentiation between Lithuanian and Latvian started after c.   800 AD; for a long period, they could be considered dialects of

13908-486: Was repetitious and did not carry much weight. The most important question was that of Lithuanian autonomy . There were rumors that some Russian politicians were seriously considering granting autonomy to Poland , and that Polish activists wished to incorporate Lithuanian lands into their autonomous region, calling on the historic tradition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . In light of these rumors,

14030-510: Was restored. Kazimieras Antanavičius was elected to be party's leader. The party had 9 seats in the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas and was not successful in substantially increasing the number in the following elections, with 8 seats won in 1992 and 12 in 1996 . In 1999, the party's congress elected a new leader, Vytenis Andriukaitis and merger negotiations with the Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (LDDP)–the bulk of

14152-408: Was the first Lithuanian political party and one of the major parties who initiated the assembly called Great Seimas of Vilnius in 1905. The party was one of the major political powers during the Lithuanian independence period between 1918 and 1940. Following the election of 1926, the party formed a left-wing coalition government with Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union. This government was dismissed after

14274-429: Was the primary author, Donatas Malinauskas , Juozapas Ambraziejus , and Mečislovas Davainis-Silvestraitis . It consisted of an introduction, which briefly summarized the history of Lithuania , and ten points of demands and declarations. The first point was the most controversial: it declared that Kovno , Grodno , Vilna , Suwałki Governorates and parts of Courland Governorate were historically Lithuanian and that

14396-509: Was to be organized in Kovno , Grodno , and Vilna Governorates ; special attention was given to Suwałki Governorate . The Seimas' resolution, adopted on the second day, explicitly stated that Lithuanians from Suwałki Governorate had decided to join the fight for autonomous Lithuania. This was largely an attempt to prevent the potential Polish autonomous region from claiming Suwałki, then part of Congress Poland , for itself. The election to seimas

14518-425: Was to be universal, equal, direct and secret ; all persons were to be granted suffrage without regard to sex, religion, or nationality. If the election had taken place, it would have been the first in Europe where women were granted an equal right to vote. This demand was far-reaching and required transformation of the empire into a federal state, placing Lithuania on a par with the Grand Duchy of Finland within

14640-422: Was to distinguish Lithuanian from Polish . The new letters š and č were cautiously used in publications intended for more educated readers (e.g. Varpas , Tėvynės sargas , Ūkininkas ), however sz and cz continued to be in use in publications intended for less educated readers as they caused tension in society and prevailed only after 1906. Great Seimas of Vilnius Lithuania had been part of

14762-677: Was underage, the supreme control over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was in the hands of the Lithuanian Council of Lords , presided by Jonas Goštautas , while Casimir IV Jagiellon was taught Lithuanian and customs of Lithuania by appointed court officials. During the Polish szlachta 's envoys visit to Casimir in 1446, they noticed that in Casimir's royal court the Lithuanian-speaking courtiers were mandatory, alongside

14884-535: Was very nearly obliterated at birth by the Okhrana , which over the course of 1897 to 1899 managed to arrest a number of the party's leading activists. Approximately 280 socialist and trade union organisers were apprehended during this period, with subsequent trials leading to the Siberian exile of more than 40 people, including Domaševičius and Dzerzhinsky. Other top leaders, including Moravskis, were forced to flee

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