Lithuania and Russia in 1918—1924 in the Eyes of a By-Stander: the Reflections of Mykolas Römeris

Abstract

In this article, the author seeks to explain how the events of the revolution of 1917 in Russian changed the views of some Lithuanian public figures and politicians on the possibility of restoration and development of the Lithuanian statehood. As the main historical source for studding this problem the author uses the Diary of the well-known Lithuanian and Polish lawyer, politician, one of the theorist of the Polish and Lithuanian statehood before the WW1 Michal Römer (1880—1945). The scientific value of this source is that its content reflects of the social position and ideas of national states of Römer as a person who found himself at the crossroads of historical tradition and modernism and tried to comprehend the "great world events" taking place around him. The analisys of the Diary’ content allows us to conclude that Römer’s attitude to the events of the Russian revolution were changing during the years 1917—1919 from very positive till negative. According to the records of 1917, Römer he sympathized with the revolutionary events and first of all with the events of October, 1917 and the first decrees of bolshevik government. His sympathies could be understood as he had shared the ideas of social justice and democracy already in his youth. The most positivly he accepted the Declaration of the rights of peoples Russia and the Decree on Land. Still as the revolution developed, Römer became increasingly aware of the threat both to self-determination of the Polish and the Lithuanian peoples and to the restoration of their statehoods. So, his hopes to create conditions for self-determination of peoples “in a revolutionary way” decreased. In his Diary, Römer emphasized “the connections of bolsheviks’ aspirations to the world-wide proletarian revolution with the imperialist nature of Bisantian Russia” and in this context he analyzed the possibility to develop attitudes between Lithuania an Soviet Russia/USSR. At the same time, found out also positive moments in those connections and he appreciated highly the peace treaty of July 12, 1920 between Soviet Russia and Lithuania.