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Copyright of Politologija is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Socialinių Mokslų Studijos is the property of Mykolas Romeris University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Lituanistica is the property of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this article is to convey a couple of messages. First of all, it aims to present a short overview of the historical role of Lithuanian emigrants in the period of the re-establishment of Lithuania as an independent state in the international arena. The principal issue which so far has been insufficiently addressed by both historians and political scientists, and which should be the constant focus of Lithuanian foreign policy-makers, is the current situation of the Lithuanian diaspora in Western countries, the emigrants' position in respect to their homeland, and their eventual behaviour in the performance of the diplomacy mission at the community level. Taking into account the traditional examples identified by historians of the political behaviour of Lithuanians world-wide, and by analysing political trends in the USA, Great Britain, and other countries that had accepted immigrants from Lithuania, it is possible to paint a clearer picture of the expectations resulting from the relationship between the diaspora and the interests of Lithuania's foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A document found in the Lithuanian Central State Archive's Foreign Ministry section entitled "Secret meeting of January 10, 1940, on Lithuanian-American matters" throws light on problems then existing in the Lithuanian community of North America. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the current situation of North American Lithuanian life; to get a handle on problems associated with the Lithuanian emigrants' loss of national identity; and to look for ways to induce the emigrants to return to Lithuania in the hope that they would bring back their accumulated capital as well. The crucial fact emphasized at the meeting was that the Lithuanians living in North America were nearing the brink of complete de-Lithuanianization, and that this was one of the most important reasons why the government had to pay more attention to solving this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article once more returns to the reflections of Šalkauskis' idea of the synthesis of East and West. In contemporary discussions as well as in Šalkauskis' times there is much confrontation about this idea, sometimes even not being aware of it. The article reviews the genesis and background of this idea, Šalkauskis' arguments and answers to the critics. Also the question how the contemporary, in many aspects - postcolonial, and for Lithuania - postsoviet, context of mobilization might impact upon consideration of such ideas. Is it possible to have any vision of Lithuania nowadays? And if not the one of Šalkauskis, then - what kind of it? No, there is no need to close Lithuania. But there is need to understand that there is no sense to conceive any other vision of Lithuania separate from the vision of Europe. But in this vision Lithuania might have its unique mission. Therefore there is sufficient evidence that in this vision of Europe Lithuania as integral part of it might be most clearly understood as synthesis of Eastern and Western parts of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Canadian Lithuanian Community (CLC) began its activities in 1952 as an organisation joining together Lithuanians living in Canada. The fact that its work was based on the Lithuanian Charter and the temporary bylaws of the World Lithuanian Community suggested that the CLC would be oriented toward cultural and educational activities. But it soon became clear that the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service and the Supreme Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania would not be able to fulfil the tasks they had set for themselves in Canada without the assistance of the CLC. Therefore, on January 11, 1954, the Political Committee of of the CLC Executive held its first meeting. These leaders thought that the Lithuanian General Consulate in Toronto had insufficient opportunities available for action in Canadian political life. This realization that the Honorary Consul General could not exercise a leadership position with respect to Lithuanian political activities in Canada hastened the formation of an appropriate structure that began to exert centralized pressure on Canadian government officials on behalf of the Lithuanian cause of freedom. In this paper we will trace the political activities of the CLC from the establishment of the Political Committee up to the re-establishment of Lithuanian independence. In this process two stages may provisionally be distinguished. During the first stage (1954-1969) the vision of CLC's political activity began to take shape, whereas during the second (1970-1990) it was being implemented in response to changes in the international situation. Upon the establishment of contacts with the highest officials of the Canadian government mutually beneficial results were ultimately achieved. Finally, we will provide support for the following conclusions. Until the early 1970s, despite the World Lithuanian Community's clearly stated goals, the members of CLC worked within the framework of Canada's "silent diplomacy" But the opportunity provided by the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe for making human rights an important foreign policy priority enabled the Lithuanians to publicize the Lithuanian cause on an international level. The CLC National Council, wielding information from the other side of the Iron Curtain, maintained constant contacts with members of the Canadian government and officials of the Foreign Affairs Department. The establishment of the "Crisis Centre" was a one of the most successful political initiatives of the CLC throughout the Cold War period. The advice given to External Affairs minister Joe Clark in forming Canada's policy vis-à-vis the Soviet Union was the result of the "Crisis Centre" experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the end of the 19th century until our own day the inhabitants of Lithuania left their homeland in three major waves of emigration. Different waves meant different identities. The issue of how representatives of different emigration waves communicated with each other has not yet received much investigation in Lithuanian historiography. This paper discusses only one fragment of a broader theme: the relations among Lithuanian Catholics of different waves during the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Lithuanian Catholics from the so-called "greenhorn" and "DP" waves ended up in the same place at the same time. In constructing their Lithuanian-American Catholic identity these people gave their language and their faith unequal value: the "greenhorns" gave priority to their Catholic religion, whereas the "DPs" emphasized their Lithuanian language. In this way, language and faith became competing factors in the ethno-religious identity of Lithuanian Catholics living in the United States. These competing groups of Lithuanian-American Catholics also relied on distinct social network models: the "greenhorns" congregated around their parishes; the "DPs" formed Lithuanian communities writ large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to explain the circumstance in which Communist propaganda came to affect the opinions of Lithuanians in Canada during World War II. Although the vast majority of the approximately 8,000 Lithuanians living in Canada at this time centred their activities around Catholic organizations and were not Communists, many of them accepted the Communist incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union and the Communist interpretation of the status of the Displaced Persons. In Canada, as in the United States, members of ethnic minorities from East Europe played a significant part in the development of both the Socialist and the Communist party. Within these parties these ethnic minorities long existed within semi-autonomous language federations and, even when these were closed down by the Communist Party in 1925, party branches still mostly formed on the basis of language and ethnic origin. In this way, Lithuanian Communists, like other ethnic minorities in the party, were able to retain their ethnic identity while taking part in the revolutionary international movement. In Canada, where Lithuanians were so few in number, this ethnic identity helped Lithuanian Communists remain close to their ideological opponents within the Lithuanian community. Lithuanian-Communists were also the only group among interwar Lithuanian Canadians to maintain a Lithuanian newspaper, founded in 1932 as Darbininkų Žodis (The Workers' Word), with the name changed in 1937 to Liaudies Balsas (The People's Voice). During the second world war, this newspaper became a major source of information for Lithuanian Canadians about events in their homeland. Although non-Communist Lithuanians set up their own newspaper in 1940, Nepriklausoma Lietuva (Independent Lithuania) to counter Communist propaganda, their efforts were made difficult by official Canadian support for the USSR from mid-1941 when the USSR became an ally of Canada and other Western powers in the struggle against Hitler. Lithuanian Communists also did their best to convince their fellow countrymen as well as the Canadian government that the Lithuanians in Displaced Persons camps in Germany who refused to return to their homeland were fascists. However, here their campaign was only partially successful. Although many Lithuanian Canadians did believe that Lithuania had joined the Soviet Union freely and that the DPs were a suspect group, they still sponsored relatives from the DP camps to immigrate to Canada. Nearly 20,000 in numbers, the DPs soon dominated Lithuanian organizations and were gradually able to convince the older immigrants that the Communist version of events was false. By the early 1950s, Lithuanian Communists has lost most of their influence within the Lithuanian community in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the current upsurge in emigration discourse in contemporary Lithuania and explains this phenomena by relating it to a society-wide quest for national identity. The author argues that interest in emigration and national identity-building are two inter-connected issues. The article explains that by examining ever-changing attitudes towards emigration one can recognize mirroring patterns in national identity. An example is provided of a rare Soviet propaganda newsreel from 1968 which addressed the issue of the return of Lithuanian emigrants to their homeland: the documentary is analysed here as a narrative which provides an insight into the soul-searching state of Soviet identity in late 1960s. The article concludes with preliminary remarks concerning the impact of Soviet emigration discourse on views on emigration and homeland in post-communist Lithuania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays it is the so-called "New Wave", or economic, emigrants that receive the most attention from politicians, society, and media. The needs of Lithuanians living abroad vary in accordance with country of residence, their own age, and their goals. The Department of National Minorities and Emigration works in cooperation with the government institutions of Lithuania and other states as well as with non-governmental organizations, but its principal partners are the World Lithuanian Community and the individual Lithuanian Communities of each country in which Lithuanians reside. It is precisely these organizations that join together the Lithuanians who do not wish to lose their national (ethnic) identity in their country of emigration. Their members contribute not only to forming the public image of Lithuania, but also to fostering Lithuanian civil society, no matter where they live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author of the article analyses the repatriation of Poles from the then LSSR to Poland in 1944-1947; she also discusses the dynamics and results of this process, its organizers and their roles as well as the attitudes of the USSR and Polish representatives towards repatriation. This repatriation was conducted on the basis of the agreement signed on the 22nd of September 1944, by LSSR and Poland; however, both sides interpreted the agreement differently and had different views about its implementation. The Polish representatives required the repatriation of all Poles and Jews who hold Polish citizenship till September 17th, 1939, as well as that of pro-Polish Tatars and Karaite. They estimated that about 500 thousand people might return to Poland while the Lithuanian government considered the repatriation of only 250 thousand Poles and Jews who had the Polish citizenship till the beginning of the Second World War. Though officially only 171,158 people repatriated to Poland in 1944-1947, real numbers were higher - about 180,000-190,000. Repatriation reached its peak in 1946; about fifty percent of those registered for repatriation left the then LSSR, and the majority were from Vilnius. The consequences of this repatriation could be estimated by several aspects. First of all, it negatively affected Lithuania's ethno-demographic position, as this process created possibilities for the USSR citizens to settle in Lithuania. Thus the expectations of the Soviet Lithuanian government to settle more Lithuanians in Vilnius and its regions failed. Secondly, this repatriation qualitatively and quantitatively influenced the Polish community in Lithuania: the number of Poles decreased, the structure of their social-economic community drastically changed (many representatives of intelligentsia, rich burgers and farmers left for Poland), the process of assimilation and Russification accelerated. In addition, family and cultural-social relations were broken. Those who repatriated to Poland faced adaptation and financial problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]