Abstract
Evolving threats to national security have resulted in the adoption of comprehensive (total) defence concepts by a number of small and medium states. Civil resistance constitutes a considerable part of such concepts, complementing military defence. The historical experience of Lithuania proved the value of nonviolent resistance between 1988 and 1991 for regaining independence, and defending it in January 1991. The aim of this article is to analyse the role of non-violent civil resistance in the national defence system, based on the experience of 13 January 1991 in Lithuania and develop further discussion about the concept of civil resistance. The methodological approach of the article is based on historical and theoretical analysis. This allows the experience of Lithuania to be assessed on the basis of Lithuanian National Security and Defence Strategy and scientific research. Lithuanian non-violent civil resistance in 1988–1991 was successful in terms of strategy, leadership, organisation, planning, non-violence priorities and the number of citizens involved. The leaders of the movement were able to mobilise people into a widespread movement based on their moral authority and value orientations, strongly appealing to different groups in society. Lithuania’s independence was achieved with minimal human sacrifice, preserving the country’s resources and infrastructure. This experience of non-violent civil resistance came to be used by modern state institutions to create strategic documents of the state. In the current situation, it is necessary to focus not only on the knowledge required for state defence and civil resistance, but also on its moral aspects such as values, ethical behaviour, civic and human maturity.
Highlights
13th January 1991 is a date that every Lithuanian knows, young and old, by those who remember the events of that bloody night and those who were not even born
The tragic events of 13 January 1991 in Lithuania showed the moral power of the people who were ready to stand up to military power for the freedom and sovereignty of the state
This case was the most dramatic in Lithuania’s struggle for independence between 1988 and 1991, yet it did not force the leaders of the Lithuanian independence movement to change either their strategy or their methods, which were based on the concept of non-violent civil resistance
Summary
13th January 1991 is a date that every Lithuanian knows, young and old, by those who remember the events of that bloody night and those who were not even born. Thousands of people stood around the parliament building trying to defend this building, the Lithuanian government and the independence of their state In his memoirs, one of the defenders remembers what was going on at the Supreme Council of Lithuania that night (Kavarskas, 2006):. Positive public opinion (in the country, within the USSR, and around the world) increased further following the incident on 13 January, when the Soviet army used military force against unarmed citizens who tried to protect the most important state buildings – the parliament, the TV tower and the Lithuanian Television and Radio Committee. Such actions consolidated the society in non-collaboration and non-participation with pro-Soviet aggressors, while using the power of the people and the moral priority of non-violent resistance against the National Salvation Committee, which carried out a coup but did not achieve a victory
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