O litovskoi politike vo vremia Pervoi mirovoi voiny: territorial'no-geopoliticheskii aspekt | On Lithuanian Policy in the Years of the First World War: a Territorial-Geopolitical Aspect

Abstract

The paper discusses the territorial-geopolitical aspect of the Lithuanian policy during the FirstWorld War, which is still not sufficiently studied or properly understood. It concerns the strategicline proposed by members of Lithuania’s conservative elite. The visible side of the linewas a game of orientations: first pro-Russian, then pro-German. However, these orientationswere based on an ethnographic principle, which created preconditions for the practical developmentof the Lithuanian nation. On the other hand, the ethnographic principle was relatedto the idea of national self-determination, raised by the democratic thought, which paved theway for Lithuanian national statehood. Therefore, the strategic line offered by some of theLithuanian elite went beyond party ideology and became national. Key Words: ethnographic territory, the Nemunas basin, Suwalki Gubernia, Vilnius, geopolitical ally DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/ahuk.v31i0.1203