153-526: The Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania ( Lithuanian : Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija ) defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania . The first constitution of the contemporary republic was enacted on 1 August 1922. The current constitution was adopted in a referendum on 25 October 1992. The first attempt to codify the laws of Grand Duchy of Lithuania took
306-554: A constitutional monarchy , with close ties to Germany . In a changing environment, the council chose to adopt the constitutional act without specifying the form of government or the head of state, leaving the decisions to the Constituent Assembly (Steigiamasis Seimas) . On 4 April 1919, the State Council adopted modified Fundamental Principles of Temporary Constitution. The modifications were mainly notable for
459-586: A parliamentary system , while the alternative proposal suggested a presidential model. The final document represented a compromise between a purely parliamentary system and a presidential one . The new constitution was approved by the Supreme Council in October 1992 and submitted to popular vote. The constitution was approved in a referendum on 25 October 1992 . Seventy-five per cent of those voting (57% of all eligible voters) voted in favor of adopting
612-493: 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
765-652: 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
918-400: A commission tasked to prepare a draft constitution. The resulting proposal was approved by the Supreme Council on 21 April 1992, and presented to the public. An alternative draft constitution was prepared by a coalition led by Sąjūdis . The main difference between the two proposals was the balance between the various branches of government. The proposal approved by the Supreme Council envisioned
1071-400: A few minutes for him to be overcome by the smoke. Julius tried to return into the burning building to save his father but was forced out by the smoke and fire. Smetona was found lying on the kitchen floor on the second floor of Julius' flat. He was not burned. Firefighters took Smetona outside and he was rushed to hospital by ambulance. He died before arriving. The official record said that
1224-722: A handful who refused were prohibited from attending any other school. The students sent petitions to Pope Leo XIII and Ivan Delyanov , Minister of National Education . Smetona and two others, Jurgis Šlapelis [ lt ] and Petras Vaiciuška , managed to secure an audience with Delyanov, who allowed the Lithuanians to pray in Latin and the expelled students to continue their education. Smetona did not return to Jelgava and finished up at Gymnasium No. 9 in Saint Petersburg . Upon graduation in 1897, Smetona entered
1377-433: A history of Lithuania and on his memoirs. As Smetona was busy on his writing, he paid little attention to the fact that the heating system in his son's house needed repair and was becoming dangerous. On 28 October 1943, Smetona wrote: The night before yesterday coal fumes made me dizzy. I could not think clearly. Now I have completely recovered. On 9 January 1944, a fire broke out in the house. Smetona's son Julius noticed
1530-959: A history of Lithuania by Maironis . After graduating in 1893, according to his family's wishes, he passed his entrance examinations for the Samogitian Diocesan Seminary in Kaunas . However, he felt no great calling for priesthood and enrolled at the Jelgava Gymnasium in Latvia . This was a cultural hub of the Lithuanian National Revival and attracted many future leaders in Lithuanian culture and politics, including Juozas Tūbelis and Vladas Mironas who later became Smetona's political companions. In particular, Lithuanian language and culture
1683-492: A local man led Smetona, his bodyguard and adjutant across the shallow Liepona stream. With Smetona already on the other side, his family managed to convince border guards to let them through at about 6 am. On the German side, Smetona was met by Heinz Gräfe [ de ] , a Gestapo officer. Via Königsberg , the refugees were moved to a hunting lodge near the Święcajty [ pl ] (Schwenzait) lake in
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#17328014297111836-412: A period of decline due to increasingly dysfunctional internal politics. In a belated attempt to rectify the situation, a constitution was adopted on May 3, 1791 – one of the oldest codified national constitutions in the world. The new constitution abolished the liberum veto and banned the szlachta's confederations, features that had crippled decision making the state. The constitution also provided for
1989-586: A prominent ideologist of Lithuanian nationalism and the movement for national revival. Smetona was born on 10 August [ O.S. 28 July] 1874 in the village of Užulėnis , Kovno Governorate , Russian Empire , to a family of farmers, Jonas Smetona and Julijona Kartanaitė – former serfs of the Taujėnai Manor , which belonged to the Radziwiłł family . Researcher Kazimieras Gasparavičius has traced Smetona's patrilineal ancestry to Laurentijus who
2142-516: 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
2295-500: 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
2448-497: A separation of powers among legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, established "popular sovereignty" and extended political rights to the bourgeoisie. The peasantry saw their rights increased but it fell short of abolishing serfdom, which was reconfirmed. Religious tolerance was preserved, although the status of the Catholic faith was recognized. Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations of 22 October 1791 accompanied
2601-627: 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
2754-592: 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
2907-473: Is directly elected by the people for a term of five years and a maximum of two consecutive terms. The president is not, strictly speaking, the sole chief of the executive branch or the chief administrator. The Lithuanians borrowed the French model of the presidency , then adapted it to their needs. Candidates must be at least forty years old. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must win more than half of
3060-878: 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
3213-699: 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 a million inhabitants of Lithuania of non-Lithuanian background speak Lithuanian daily as
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#17328014297113366-442: 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
3519-549: 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
3672-522: Is elected for four years. Candidates for the legislature must be at least twenty-five years old. Members of the Seimas may serve as prime ministers or Cabinet members, but they may not hold any other position in either central or local government or in private enterprises or organizations. The parliament must approve the prime minister and the cabinet, composed by the ministers — and also the prime minister, as well as their government programme. It also may force
3825-469: Is forbidden in peacetime. The parliament of Lithuania is a unicameral legislature called the Seimas . The Seimas consists of 141 members, seventy elected from party lists on the basis of proportional representation and seventy-one from single-member districts. To be seated in the Seimas on the basis of proportional representation, a party must receive at least 5 per cent of the votes cast. The legislature
3978-637: 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
4131-498: 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.,
4284-588: Is the head of state. The president also selects the prime minister and names the Cabinet on his or her advice (the prime minister and their Cabinet are subject to approval by the Seimas), approves ministerial candidates, and appoints the commander-in-chief of the armed forces — with parliament's consent. The President resolves basic foreign policy issues and can confer military and diplomatic ranks, appoint diplomats without legislative approval, and issue decrees subject to
4437-658: The Serpa Pinto , arriving in Rio de Janeiro on 14 February. He was met by local officials and Lithuanian emigrants, and had a meeting with Getúlio Vargas , the president of Brazil. Smetona departed Brazil on 26 February. On 9 or 10 March 1941, Smetona and his wife arrived in New York on the SS Argentina . He was greeted by about 30 American journalists and photographers as well as Lithuanian-American representatives. He
4590-699: The Church of St. Raphael the Archangel in Vilnius. From his very first days in Vilnius, Smetona became involved in the activities of various Lithuanian nationalist groups, and joined the Lithuanian Democratic Party , which he represented in the Great Seimas of Vilnius . He was later elected to its Presidium . In 1904 and 1907, he was on the staff of the Lithuanian newspaper, Vilniaus žinios (The Vilnius News). In 1905–1906, he edited
4743-648: 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
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4896-764: 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
5049-582: 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
5202-759: 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
5355-569: The Klaipėda Revolt of January 1923, in the Memelland , which had been separated from Germany, he was made commissioner there on 20 February, but, due to disagreements with Prime Minister Ernestas Galvanauskas , he resigned from his post. In November 1923, authorities imprisoned Smetona for several days for publishing an article by Augustinas Voldemaras in Vairas . Between 1923 and 1927, he
5508-613: The Lithuanian Diplomatic Service , ambassadors and diplomats who continued to represent pre-occupation Lithuania . They hoped to establish a government-in-exile via the National Committee chaired by former prime minister Ernestas Galvanauskas . Smetona saw no need for such a committee and criticized the choice of Galvanauskas. The diplomats were not receptive to Smetona – he had no funds, authority or political influence. Nevertheless, Smetona signed
5661-721: The Lithuanian Society for the Relief of War Sufferers . In the summer of 1916, Antanas Smetona, together with other Lithuanians from Vilnius, presented a memorandum to the German Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Front , in which they demanded the right of the Lithuanian nation to have an independent State. On 6 September 1917, he started printing the newspaper, Lietuvos Aidas (Lithuania's Echo), working as its publisher and its editor-in-chief. In
5814-587: 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
5967-588: 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
6120-598: The Masurian Lake District . On 17 August, Smetona received permission to relocate to Berlin, where he settled on the Rankestraße [ de ] . There, he was carefully supervised and allowed to communicate only with Lithuanian representative, Kazys Škirpa . The Germans did not allow him to make any political moves so as not to upset the Soviet Union. It was clear that Smetona's presence
6273-633: 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
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6426-500: The Scandinavian countries, soliciting loans for the cause of Lithuanian independence. On 4 April 1919, the State Council of Lithuania elected Smetona the first president of the Republic of Lithuania. On 19 April 1920, the Constituent Assembly elected Aleksandras Stulginskis President. Not re-elected to Seimas, from 1921 to 1924, he edited several periodicals, including Lietuvos balsas , Lietuviškas balsas and Vairas . After
6579-768: 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
6732-413: 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
6885-653: 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 ,
7038-444: 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,
7191-399: The legal continuity of the interwar-period Republic of Lithuania. On the same day, the 1938 Constitution of Lithuania was restored for a brief period, but subsequently suspended and replaced with the Provisional Basic Law. The Provisional Basic Law established a framework for the new state, guaranteeing democratic rights and establishing rules of democratic process. However, the government
7344-467: 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
7497-453: 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
7650-425: The 1928 document, and declared that the state was the foundation of existence of its citizens and not the other way round. The constitution did away with the separation of powers, stating that state power was "undividable" and led by the President, with the Seimas, Government and courts subordinate to him. In 1940, Lithuania was invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union . Ironically, the constitution of 1938 assisted
7803-432: 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
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#17328014297117956-401: 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
8109-403: 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
8262-462: 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
8415-407: The Court of Appeals. However, the parliament's consent is not required for the appointment or transfer of judges in local, district, and special courts. The Constitutional Court checks both the legislative and the executive branches of government by ruling on whether their legislation and/or actions are constitutional. The court consists of nine justices appointed by the legislature, three each from
8568-487: 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
8721-422: 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
8874-507: The Evangelist . Bishop Edward F. Hoban officiated. Smetona was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland . His wife Sofija died in Cleveland on 28 December 1968. The couple were survived by their daughter, Marija Danutė Smetonaitė (1905–1992), son Julius Rimgaudas Smetona (1913–1974) and Julius' sons, Anthony Algirdas Smetona (1939–2012), Juozas Smetona (1940–1996) and Vytautas Julius Smetona (born 1955). In 1975, Smetona's remains were moved from Cleveland's Knollwood Cemetery mausoleum to
9027-506: The German government and actively repressed suspected communists. For example, in 1934, the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania approved an order to the counties commandants to "severely punish all those who insult the German Government in any way, as well as those who deliberately agitate against Lithuanian Jews; to suppress the activity of all those Jewish organizations which appear to be under Communist cover or succumb to Communist influence". "The Poles stole Lithuanian history, now
9180-498: 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
9333-420: The Lithuanian Learned Society, the Vilniaus aušra (The Dawn of Vilnius), and Rytas (The Morning) education societies, the Rūta Art Society and many other societies, and taught the Lithuanian language at Vilnius schools. In 1914, he started publishing Vairas (The Rudder), a new bi-weekly magazine. During the First World War , he was the first vice-chairman, and later chairman, of the Central Committee of
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#17328014297119486-436: 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
9639-406: 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
9792-459: 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
9945-402: The President. A presidential veto can be overridden, but only by an absolute majority of the Seimas' membership. The President can also dissolve the Parliament if it refuses to approve the government's budget within sixty days or if it directly votes no confidence in the government. However, the next elected Parliament may retaliate by calling for an earlier presidential election. The president
10098-422: The Republic of Lithuania , which decides on the constitutionality of acts of the Seimas, the President, and the Government , is an institution of the judiciary, completely independent from other courts. The Office of the Procurator General is an autonomous institution of the judiciary. Creation of special courts, such as administrative or family courts, is allowed, although establishing courts with "special powers"
10251-444: The Republic of Lithuania into an authoritarian state headed by Antanas Smetona as the President. The constitution of 1922 was disregarded as early as 12 April 1927, when the President dissolved the Seimas without announcing a new election. A constitutional reform was proposed, strengthening the authority of the President and weakening the parliament. A new constitution was proclaimed by Smetona in May 1928 without any attempt to follow
10404-483: The Republic of Lithuania on membership of the Republic of Lithuania in the European Union", which recognises Lithuania as a member of the European Union . Fundamental human rights and democratic values , including freedom of "thought, faith, and conscience," are enshrined in the constitution, which also guarantees the status of legal person to religious denominations and allows religious teaching in public schools. In addition to personal, political, and religious rights,
10557-423: The Russians are trying to steal it, we have to catch those thieves by the hand and show them in a real light to the entire world." — Antanas Smetona. Smetona was a leader of the 1926 coup d'état that deposed President Kazys Grinius . He once again became president on 19 December that year (two others briefly held the office during the coup, which began on 17 December, before Smetona was formally restored to
10710-520: The Soviet Union in 1990, it has taken the position that Merkys' takeover of the presidency was illegal and unconstitutional, since Smetona never formally resigned. Lithuania thus does not recognize Merkys or Paleckis as legitimate presidents, and contends that all subsequent actions leading up to the Soviet annexation were ipso facto void. "I do not want to bolshevize Lithuania with my own hands." — Antanas Smetona, about his motives to leave Lithuania when his request for military resistance against
10863-402: The Soviets in legitimizing their actions by concentrating the power in the hands of the President, the post that was de facto taken over by Justas Paleckis . In 1940 and 1978, new constitutions of Lithuanian SSR were adopted, based on the Soviet constitutions of 1936 and 1977 , respectively. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union, emphasizing restoration and
11016-599: The Soviets was rejected as impossible. On the morning of 15 June, just after the government decided to accept the Soviet ultimatum, Smetona made hasty preparations to flee the country. He was accompanied by his wife, his son and daughter and their spouses and children, Kazys Musteikis , former minister of defense, and two presidential adjutants. Smetona departed Kaunas at about 3 pm that day. They stopped in Kybartai on
11169-644: The State". The provisions also disallow division of Lithuanian territory into any "state derivatives" — a reference to territorial autonomy as a solution to ethnic minority problems in the country. Article 150 of the constitution incorporates a constitutional act "On the Non-Alignment of the Republic of Lithuania with Post-Soviet Eastern Alliances", effectively prohibiting the membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States and similar structures. The very same article includes "The Constitutional Act of
11322-818: 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
11475-511: 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
11628-464: 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
11781-435: 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
11934-464: The border with Nazi Germany. Smetona and Musteikis attempted to summon the 9th Infantry Regiment from Marijampolė to protect them and to offer at least symbolic resistance to the Red Army , but the regiment was stopped by a delegation sent from Kaunas to retrieve the president. Smetona decided to cross the border without delay, but Lithuanian border guards would not allow him to pass. Around midnight,
12087-470: The budget, to the President when the parliament was not in session. The Seimas would not reconvene until 1936. The constitution of 1928 was never submitted for approval to the nation. Instead, the government started working on a new constitution, approved by the newly assembled Seimas in 1938 (opposition was not allowed to stand for election). The constitution retained the overall authoritarian character of
12240-658: 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
12393-464: The constitution circumscribe the ability of the Seimas to control the Government, especially the budget. Article 64 specifies the times of parliamentary sessions. Although extension is possible, ordinarily the legislature cannot sit longer than seven months and three days, divided into two sessions. The budget submitted by the Government can be increased by the legislature only if the latter indicates
12546-453: The constitution secures social rights. As already noted, these include free medical care, old-age pensions, unemployment compensation, and support for families and children. The power to govern is divided between the legislative and executive branches, with an independent judiciary acting as interpreter of the constitution and of the branches' jurisdictions, as well as arbiter of conflicts between them. The constitution clearly acknowledges
12699-581: The constitution, affirming the unity and indivisibility of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania within a single state and their equal representation in state-governing bodies. The 1791 document remained in force for less than 19 months; after a brief war with Russia , it was annulled by the Grodno Sejm on 23 November 1793. By 1795, the Commonwealth was partitioned between Russian Empire , Kingdom of Prussia and Habsburg Austria , with most of
12852-498: The constitution. Before leaving the presidential palace , Smetona said: "I do not want to make Lithuania a bolshevik country with my own hands." He believed that by leaving the country, he would be in a position to do more for the country by leading a government in exile rather than become a Soviet puppet. He firstly fled to Germany with his family. Shortly afterwards, the Smetonas fled to Switzerland . A day after Smetona left
13005-408: The country, Merkys announced that he had deposed him and was now president himself. Two days later, Merkys was pressured into appointing the more pliant Justas Paleckis as prime minister and resigning. Paleckis then became acting president, and was used as a puppet to oversee the final stages of Lithuania's incorporation into the Soviet Union a month later. Since Lithuania declared independence from
13158-648: The danger of concentration of power in a single person or institution. The legislature has regained its old name, Seimas , which was used in the interwar years . The executive consists of a president and a prime minister with a cabinet , known as the Government (executive only; Lithuanian: Vyriausybė ). The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court and subordinate courts (the Court of Appeals , district courts , and local courts). The Constitutional Court of
13311-503: The document, with a turnout of 75.3%. The Constitution of 1992 reflects the combined influence of the institutions and experiences of Western democracies as well as the Lithuanian tradition. Introductory provisions of the document (Chapter I) contain the fundamental principles of the State, placing high value on democracy, but also asserting the collective and individual right of defence against attempts by force to encroach upon "independence, territorial integrity, or constitutional order of
13464-509: 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,
13617-544: 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
13770-466: The faculty of law of the University of Saint Petersburg . He was more interested in history and languages, but knew that as a Catholic his choices were limited to priest, lawyer, or doctor if he wanted to work in Lithuania. Saint Petersburg, with a direct railway connection to Lithuania, was becoming a Lithuanian cultural center. Smetona joined and chaired a secret Lithuanian student organization. He
13923-551: The fire was caused by an overheated furnace. Some believe, however, that due to Smetona's continued political activities, the fire was started by the Russian Intelligence Service (called the NKGB at the time). With no evidence turning up in the subsequent years to substantiate that claim, it is, however, doubtful. On 13 January, the funeral of President Smetona took place at Cleveland's Cathedral of St. John
14076-446: The fire while on the first floor. Above him, in the attic suite, Smetona and his wife Sofija spotted the smoke seeping in under the door. Sofija opened the door and she and Smetona began descending the stairs. Smetona, apparently decided that he could not go outside without a coat – he was recovering from the flu and was to give a talk in the coming weeks – and without saying anything to his wife, returned to get his fur coat. It took just
14229-432: 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
14382-641: The first issue of the newspaper, Smetona wrote that the most important goal of the Lithuanian nation was the re-establishment of an independent Lithuanian state. Between 18 and 22 September 1917, he participated in the Lithuanian Conference in Vilnius, and was elected chairman (1917–1919) of the Council of Lithuania (later Council of the State ). On 16 February 1918, Antanas Smetona signed the Act of Independence of Lithuania . Between December 1918 and March 1919, he lived primarily in Germany and
14535-651: The form of Statutes of Lithuania , with the First Statute in power in 1529. The document, written in Ruthenian language , fulfilled the role of the supreme law of the land, even including provisions that no other law could contradict it. In the 18th century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , a federal entity consisting of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , faced
14688-426: 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
14841-615: The fourth class of gymnasium. In summer 1891, he attempted to gain admission to the Liepāja Gymnasium as his brother Motiejus worked in a factory in Liepāja . He was refused and instead applied to the Palanga Pro-Gymnasium, which had no age restrictions. Smetona was an exemplary student (one of the top two students) and received a tuition waiver. As a superintendent of a student dormitory, he also received free housing and
14994-477: The government's resignation by rejecting twice in sequence its programme or by voting, in a secret ballot, to express its lack of confidence in the government. The powers of the legislature are checked by a number of devices: first, by certain constitutional limitations; second, by the president as defined under the constitution; and third, by the Constitutional Court. Articles 64, 131, and 132 of
15147-419: 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
15300-616: 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
15453-415: The initiative for making laws is not limited to the legislature but also belongs to the citizens, who can force the legislature to consider a law by submitting a petition with 50,000 signatures. The powers of the legislature are further checked by those of the president , who may veto legislation, both ordinary and constitutional, passed by the legislature. Laws are not promulgated without the signature of
15606-608: The introduction of the office of the President, in place of the Presidium of the Council. Once assembled, the Constituent Assembly adopted another temporary constitutional act on 10 June 1920, confirming Lithuania as a parliamentary republic and providing the framework and limits to its own powers. The first permanent constitution the Republic of Lithuania was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 1 August 1922. It
15759-470: The lands of the Grand Duchy under the Russian rule. During the closing stages of World War I , Lithuania declared independence on 16 February 1918. Three separate temporary constitutions were enacted on 2 November 1918, 4 April 1919 and 10 June 1920. On 2 November 1918, the State Council adopted a constitutional act. At the time, it was still constrained by the decision of 11 July 1918, declaring Lithuania
15912-794: 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
16065-536: The legislature's right to later overturn a decree by legislative action. Generally, the president has greater power in foreign policy than domestic policy. Finally, the president has considerable powers to influence the judicial branch. The president has the right to nominate (and the Seimas to approve the nomination of) three justices to the Constitutional Court and all justices to the Supreme Court. The president also appoints, with legislative approval, judges of
16218-952: 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
16371-556: The loss of Memel that members of the Lithuanian political opposition were appointed to his cabinet to try recovering credibility and domestic stability. Smetona's government was cautious about industrialisation, as its support base lay in the dominant rural population. As dictator, Smetona did nothing to encourage direct foreign investment, which remained extremely limited throughout his time in office. Nonetheless, during Smetona's dictatorship, Lithuania did advance economically: industrial output – mainly directed to domestic demand – when he
16524-408: The nation. In 1938, a third constitution was enacted that retained the general authoritarian character of the 1928 document, and declared that political power in the state was "indivisible." The regime repeatedly arrested and imprisoned members of the already-banned Communist Party – as with almost all interwar European dictatorships, the claimed threat of Communism was the source of its legitimacy and
16677-500: 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
16830-544: The nominees of the president, the parliamentary chairman, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The president nominates the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court. Cases for consideration by the Constitutional Court, however, may be brought only by one-fifth of the membership of the Seimas, the ordinary courts, or the President of the Republic. Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( endonym : lietuvių kalba , pronounced [lʲiəˈtʊvʲuː kɐɫˈbɐ] )
16983-436: The participants of anti-Jewish physical attacks or smashing of Jews windows (the culprits were punished with fines , imprisoned or even sent to hard labor prisons). Moreover, the Government of Lithuania also did not tolerate anti-Jewish attacks and severely punished their participants, especially activists. Consequently, Jews were widely sympathetic towards Smetona and his rule. However, his regime did not tolerate insults of
17136-462: The presidency). He designated Augustinas Voldemaras as prime minister. One year later, he dissolved parliament and on 15 May 1928, with the approval of the government, he promulgated a new constitution with more extensive presidential powers. In 1929, he removed Voldemaras and assumed dictatorial powers. He was re-elected president in 1931 and 1938, both times as the sole candidate. He remained in office until 15 June 1940. Smetona's constitution vested
17289-454: The president with both executive and legislative powers when the Seimas was not in session. The Seimas was not reconvened until the 1936 Lithuanian parliamentary election ; for the next decade, Smetona ruled by decree, without a parliament, making his regime on paper one of the most arbitrary in the world. Even when the Seimas was reconvened, it was composed entirely of Smetona's adherents; Smetona thus effectively retained all governing power in
17442-503: The procedure for changing the Constitution established in the 1922 document (which would have required the assent of the Seimas). Instead, the constitution was presented as a "proposal" to the nation, to be approved within 10 years, although this provision was not considered meaningful. The constitution maintained a parliament, but assigned all of its functions, such as enacting laws, ratifying treaties, as well as drafting and executing
17595-748: The regime executed the original leadership five days after coming to power. However, despite propaganda that Communists were a "non-Lithuanian force invading the country", they continued to operate underground with growing membership and it is known today that their leaders were ethnically Lithuanian. In 1935, Smetona suffered a blow when farmers in south-east Lithuania organised a strike and refused to sell their products. Reprisals led to five deaths and 456 farmers being arrested. This exacerbated long-standing tensions within his regime between hardliners arguing for more rigid authoritarian control over Lithuanian life, and moderates who wanted liberalisation. These difficulties, however, were already becoming overshadowed by
17748-679: The regime. Lithuania was occupied by the Soviets in 1940 as a consequence of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. After the USSR presented an ultimatum to Lithuania in June of that year, Smetona proposed armed resistance against the Soviets. but most of the government and army commanders believed that the country was not capable of effective resistance with Soviet troops stationed inside Lithuania . On 15 June, Smetona turned his presidential duties over to Prime Minister Antanas Merkys on an interim basis, according to
17901-547: 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
18054-801: 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
18207-636: The so-called Kybartai Act – a backdated document supposedly written in Kybartai before his exile. The Act dismissed Antanas Merkys and appointed Stasys Lozoraitis as both prime minister and acting president. This controversial document was never used in practice. Smetona departed Bern for Lisbon in January 1941. He stayed in Monte Estoril at the Pensão Zenith . He left for Brazil aboard
18360-499: 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
18513-400: The sources of financing for additional expenditures. If the budget is not approved before the start of the budget year, proposed expenditures cannot be higher than those of the previous year. Finally, the legislature is not entrusted with making decisions concerning the basic characteristics of Lithuanian statehood and democracy. These are left to the citizens by means of referendum. Similarly,
18666-695: 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
18819-544: The threat of Nazi Germany. Smetona's regime was the first in Europe to put Nazis on trial: as early as 8 February 1934, action was taken against Nazis in the Memel region , which was autonomous within Lithuania. The Smetona regime trial of Ernst Neumann and Freiherr von Sass (July 1934 to March 1935) was the first attempt anywhere to bring Nazis to justice, and saw 76 Hitlerites imprisoned and four sentenced to death – though this
18972-417: The total votes cast, with 50 per cent of the electorate participating. If fewer than 50 percent of the electorate turns out, a candidate can win in the first round with a plurality if he or she wins at least one-third of the total vote. If the first round does not produce a president, a second round is held within two weeks between the two top candidates, in which a plurality is sufficient to win. The president
19125-617: The weekly Lietuvos ūkininkas (The Lithuanian Farmer). In 1907, Smetona and the Rev. Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas established a venture to print the newspaper Viltis (The Hope), and started publishing and circulating it. In Viltis , Smetona advocated national unity. He was also one of the incorporators of the Aušra (Dawn) company for the publishing of Lithuanian books, a member of the Lithuanian Mutual Aid Society of Vilnius ,
19278-411: 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
19431-462: 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,
19584-431: 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
19737-519: Was a Lithuanian intellectual, journalist and politician who served as the first president of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 as a de facto dictator until the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940. Referred to as the "Leader of the Nation" during his presidency, Smetona is recognised as one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World War I and World War II , and
19890-415: Was a democratic constitution and resembled contemporary Western European constitutions, enshrining the main rights and freedom of the people, political freedoms, political pluralism and a mechanism for democratic elections. The constitution envisioned a strong parliament ( the Seimas ) and a politically weakened president as the head of state. A coup on 17 December 1926 started the process of transforming
20043-454: Was a transitional system, as the Provisional Basic Law did not reflect the changing economic and social relations and the evolving demands of the society and the state. Also over one-third of the Law was amended in a period of two years. Over the next two years, work on a new constitution was done, with independent drafts prepared in 1990 and 1991. At the end of 1991, the Supreme Council established
20196-480: 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
20349-614: Was able to support himself by providing private lessons. Three other future signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania attended the Pro-Gymnasium at the same time: Steponas Kairys , Jurgis Šaulys , and Kazimieras Steponas Šaulys . As Palanga was close to East Prussia , it was easier to obtain Lithuanian literature, which was banned by the Tsarist authorities . Smetona began reading Lithuanian periodicals and books, including
20502-683: Was an assistant professor at the University of Lithuania – at first in the chair of art theory and history and later at the department of philosophy. He lectured on ethics, ancient philosophy and Lithuanian linguistics. In 1932, he was awarded an honorary Ph.D. at the Vytautas Magnus University . Smetona participated in the activity of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union that had staged the Klaipėda Revolt, which gave him greater name-recognition. More than once, he
20655-402: Was born around 1695 and lived near Raguva . Smetona was the eighth of nine children. His parents were hardworking people who managed to double their inherited 5 hectares (12 acres). His father was literate and Smetona learned to read at home. Smetona's father died in 1885 when Smetona was only 11 years old and, despite financial difficulties, a year later Smetona – the only of his siblings –
20808-500: 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
20961-468: Was commuted to life imprisonment. By 1938, however, Memel was becoming a difficult issue for a regime spending a quarter of its budget on defence and expensive army modernisation, and the Nazis were able to win 26 of 29 seats in elections. The following year, Smetona surrendered Memel to Hitler and declared a state of emergency – he never lost his distaste for Hitler and Nazism, having been so discredited by
21114-814: Was elected to its central board. Between 1924 and 1940, he was the vice-chairman of the board of the International Bank. Smetona was known for his tolerant stance towards Jews and his radical opponents nicknamed him as "Jewish King". Under Smetona's rule in Lithuania, not a single anti-Jewish law was passed and high-ranking Lithuanian officials, including ministers, did not publicly say anti-Jewish statements. Smetona considered Jews not as foreigners, but as Lithuanian citizens of foreign nationality and himself acted against antisemitic acts with his statements which were later followed by actions of governmental institutions (e.g. censorship). The Lithuanian courts, war commandants, Lithuanian Police Force severely punished
21267-866: Was escorted to The Pierre hotel, where an evening function with about 400 guests was held on 13 March. Since Smetona was a private individual in the United States, the gathering did not include any members of U.S. organizations. They lived temporarily at the Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C. , but their relationship with representative Povilas Žadeikis was tense. Smetona then lived in Pittsburgh and Chicago before settling in Cleveland in May 1942 with his son's family. While in exile, he began work on
21420-472: 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
21573-468: 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
21726-637: Was imprisoned in Vyborg Castle , but managed to secure acquittal and graduate that spring. After his graduation from university in 1902, he moved to Vilnius and worked at the Vilnius Land Bank until 1915. He became an active participant in Lithuanian cultural life and, up until becoming president in December 1926, devoted substantial amounts of time and effort to the Lithuanian press. Two years later, he married Sofija Chodakauskaitė in
21879-527: Was insufficient for Lithuanian needs and in summer 1900 Jonas Jablonskis set to work on his Lithuanian grammar. He was assisted by Avižonis, Žemaitė , and Smetona, though Smetona mostly edited works of Bishop Motiejus Valančius . The grammar was published in 1901 and became a fundamental work in establishing the standard Lithuanian language. In early 1902, the police began investigating a network of Lithuanian book smugglers and raided Smetona's room where they found several prohibited Lithuanian publications. He
22032-463: Was later succeeded by Steponas Kairys . He also joined a Lithuanian choir led by Česlovas Sasnauskas , organist at the Church of St. Catherine . Smetona was exposed to socialist ideas and even read Marx's Capital , but resolutely rejected them. He was expelled from the university, imprisoned for two weeks, and deported to Vilnius for participating in the February 1899 student protests . It
22185-463: 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
22338-521: Was not desirable. On 4 September, Smetona officially petitioned the Embassy of the United States in Berlin for U.S. visas. The request was granted, but only on condition that while Smetona was in the U.S., he would not be considered the leader or representative of any state or government. It was a humiliating condition, but Smetona accepted it and left for Bern, Switzerland on 18 September. Musteikis stayed in Berlin. In Bern, Smetona met with members of
22491-731: Was openly promoted by the linguist, Jonas Jablonskis , teacher of Greek, with whom Smetona developed a close professional relationship. Jablonskis visited Smetona's native village collecting data on Lithuanian dialects. Smetona met his future wife, Sofija Chodakauskaitė , through Jablonskis who recommended him as tutor for her brother. In autumn 1896, the administration of the Jelgava Gymnasium forced Lithuanian students to recite their prayers in Russian while Latvian and German students were allowed to use their native languages. Smetona and other students refused and were expelled. Most later agreed to pray in Russian and were re-admitted, but
22644-454: Was overthrown by the Soviet invasion was twice what it had been before the coup that brought him to power, and the country's transport network had been greatly improved by the construction of railways from Šiauliai to Klaipėda and from Kaunas to the south and north-east. In contrast, Smetona was more generous in support for the agricultural sector, which at the time provided almost all of Lithuania's exports despite occasionally protesting against
22797-585: Was sent to the primary school in Taujėnai where instruction was in Russian due to the Lithuanian press ban . This was his dying father's request. His mother hoped that Smetona would become a priest. After graduation in 1889, Smetona wanted to continue his education, but gymnasiums admitted pupils only up to the age of 12 and he was already 15 years old. Therefore, he was forced to study privately in Ukmergė in order to catch up and be able to pass examinations to enter
22950-460: Was structured similarly to its Soviet predecessor: legislative and executive functions were combined under the parliament ( Supreme Council , Lithuanian : Aukščiausioji Taryba ), and the judiciary branch was not independent. The government functions were performed by the presidium of the Supreme Council and the chairman of the presidium became the chairman of the parliament and the Head of State. It
23103-531: Was the first time Smetona visited the city, the historical capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , and it left a deep impression on him. A month later, he was allowed to return to the university. In 1898, Smetona and his roommate, Vladas Sirutavičius [ lt ] , using a mimeograph , printed about 100 copies of a brief Lithuanian grammar written by Petras Avižonis based on the German-language writings of Friedrich Kurschat . This grammar
23256-500: 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. Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona ( Lithuanian: [ɐnˈtǎːnɐs sʲmʲɛtoːˈnɐ] ; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944)
23409-677: 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
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