Rašytojai Lietuvos komunistų partijos XX suvažiavime / Writers at the 20th Congress of the Lithuanian Communist Party

Abstract

The article discusses the general situation of the Lithuanian Communist Party (LKP) in the Soviet period, analyses the motives which determined the entry of Lithuanian writers into the party and the approach of communist writers towards the party during the period of the National Revival with a special focus on the role of communist writers at the 20 th Congress of the LKP which took place on 19–23 December 1989 and in which the party split into an independent LKP and a pro-Soviet LKP-CPSU, which remained a part of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Keywords: Lithuanian Communist Party (LKP), Central Committee (CC), Writers’ Union (WU), National Revival, government, Reform Movement of Lithuania Sąjūdis. Summary After living through a complicated period during the National Revival, at the 20th Congress of the Lithuanian Communist Party (LKP) held at the end of 1989 the LKP split into two parts: an independent LKP and a Moscow-dependent LKP. It was the moment which meant that Mikhail Gorbachev lost its main pillar – the support of the already independent LKP leader Algirdas Brazauskas (he was one of the most popular politicians among Lithuanian residents at that time) and the party under his leadership; the Kremlin had to rely on a small group of local communists which had not yet broken their ties with the CPSU but was not really popular in the Lithuanian society. On the scale of the Soviet Union the separation of the LKP was an unprecedented event in the whole USSR (a good example is contagious; it could have given rise to a fear that other union communist parties could have followed in the footsteps of Lithuania); it was a certain misdemeanour in the CPSU. The research revealed that the rapid Lithuanization of the LKP during the post-Stalin era was determined by a number of motives the main of which was the adjustment of its members to the Soviet system which enabled the communists to survive and opened the ways for active work in their own favour and often in favour of the Lithuanian nation. Whereas there was a number of Lithuanian patriots among the communists, including writers, in the face of the changing political circumstances they did not only choose to serve their nation and got involved in the processes of reform movement which began during the Lithuanian National Revival period but were also among the initiators of the reforms implemented at that time and the leaders of reform driving organisations (Writers’ Union) and the Reform Movement of Lithuania Sąjūdis. The membership in the communist party had a certain advantage over others as it protected its members from the potential repressions of the government during the National Revival. The active position expressed by the leaders in favour of the party renewal and their contribution to the drafting of documents of the independent LKP prompt a conclusion about an important role undertaken by the writers in preparing the soil for the emergence of the independent LKP even before the 20 th party congress. The 20th Congress of the LKP was attended by ten writers – delegates some of whom took the leading positions in the Reform Movement of Lithuania Sąjūdis: Vytautas Bubnys, member of the Sąjūdis Seimas’Council; Romas Gudaitis, secretary of the party organisation of the Writers’ Union, member of the Sąjūdis Seimas’Council, the USSR People’s deputy; Mykolas Karciauskas; Aleksandras-Raimondas Kasauskas; Kostas Kaukas; Alfonsas Maldonis; Justinas Marcinkevicius, member of the Sąjūdis Seimas’Council, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR (1985–1990), USSR People’s deputy; Vytautas Martinkus, chairman of the Board of the Writers’ Union (WU); Vytautas Petkevicius, member of the Sąjūdis Seimas’Council; Valentinas Sventickas, secretary of the Board of the Writers’ Union. The election of writers into the majority of commissions during the 20th Congress of the LKP, chairmanship in the event, participation in discussions, voting in favour of establishment of the independent LKP, election of several writers to the leadership of the new independent LKP enable us to speak about their substantial contribution to the process of democratization of the communist party. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15823/istorija.2015.14