Politinių veiksnių realijos ir marginalijos : lenkų klausimas Lietuvių išeivijoje

Abstract

The main focus of this article is the intersection of two especially important research trends concerned with modern history of Lithuania. The first trend is identi- fied as the subject matter of Lithuanian-Polish rela- tions, to which Lithuanian historians have dedicated great efforts. The second aspect deals with the prob- lem of links between political activities of Lithuanians in emigration after the Second World War, on the one hand, and individual factors of the process, on the other. The examination of this second trend in our academic historiography is just beginning. There is no specific research carried out with re- spect to Polish-Lithuanian relations in emigration ei- ther, even though the events after 1990 and the posi- tive evolution of political collaboration between the neighbouring nations should tempt a historian or a political scientist to take interest in the factors that determined these changes, or to look for some signs of the continuity of the processes involved. The relations between the Diplomatic Service of Lithuania (LDT) and the Supreme Committee for Lib- eration of Lithuania (VLIK), alongside with the resist- ential activities of emigre are some of the problems that have already attracted historians' attention. Set- ting out to examine a possible influence of "the Polish question" on the relationship between the LDT and VLIK, we cannot expect to come up with an elaborate and final answer in just one article. The available sources and research tools are not adequate at the moment. (Note, that Lithuanian abbreviations for the two bodies are used in the article due to their wider application in Lithuanian contexts). On the other hand, it should be clearly understood that in the context of the overall relations between the VLIK and LDT "the Polish question" is almost marginal, i.e. it was just a minor detail in a general flow of competition for influence, authority and power. Thus, our purpose in writing this article was to raise ques- tions that will be taken up by more extensive future studies rather that give final answers. The working hypothesis was the statement that the behaviour of S.Lozoraitis (Senior) and the activities of the LDT in- fluenced by his attitudes depended on the evaluation of the position taken by the First Republic regard to Poland. The position of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs S.Lozoraitis, who looked at Poles favourably as eventual allies against Soviet Russia and Germany, had stamped the long-term activity of LTD, including S.Lozoraitis' actions in the '90s. During the long post-war decades, in the attacks of Lithuanian press in exile one could notice the presen- tation of S.Lozoraitis as the architect of modus vivendi with Poland. In the context of the Exile it was consid- ered a negative property. However, the research shows that both among the activists of VLIK (V.Sidzikauskas) and among the members of LDT (J.Šaulys) there were more Polish-oriented people who were inclined to look not only for cohesion between Lithuanian and Polish emigratory layers, but also for future models of good neighbourhood with Poland. S.Lozoraitis' posi- tion was strictly based on the principles of diplomatic and international law. He and the people from his milieu were confident in asserting that there was no question of Vilnius for the Lithuanians. On the other hand, the attitudes of the members from this wing reflected the tactics of avoidance to use ethnographic arguments, which, according to them, only harmed the Lithuanian cause if raised in discussions with the Poles and an international community; this stance re- minds of the ethno-political position taken by "krajo- vcai" from Vilnius (the followers of the tradition of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) and by Mykolas Riomeris. This position was at the heart of the concept which viewed the restoration of the independent Lithuanian State as the successor of the traditions of Grand Duchy of Lithuania even prior to its emergence in 1918. Thus, the historiographical claims that the conflict between VLIK and LDT, headed by S.Lozoraitis, were conditioned by a mere contention for influence and power are only partially corroborated. Since the ac- tions on the part of the VLIK were not determined by the formulations of the LTD regarding "the Polish question", the negative disposition of the LTD towards the international activity of the VLIK must have re- sulted from another possible method of resolving the question.