Įtampos, baimės, neapykantos pulsas : Lietuvos respublika lenkiškoje Vilniaus spaudoje (1922-1923)

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century, some Polish speaking intellectuals identified themselves with the historical Lithuania. This article discusses their reaction to the decision of the Parliament in Vilnius in 1922 to incorporate Central Lithuania into Poland. Particularly interesting in this context is how the population of the entity which had only short ly before been called "Central Lithuania" felt about the "other" Lithuania. This other part - the Lithuanian Republic - was usually referred to as "Kaunas' Lithuania" in the Polish-language press. For this analysis the content of three Polish newspapers was examined: the conservative "Slowo" and the nationalist democratic "Dziennik Wilenski", both dailies, and the bimonthly "Przegląd Wilenski", which took a Krajowcy (Landespatriotismus) standpoint. Most of the information the reader of those papers received about the Lithuanian Republic appeared in short purportedly message-like articles in the dailies. They referred mainly to the political life of Lithuania: changes among cabinet minister, speeches of politicians as well as foreign policy. Besides, especially in "Slowo", a considerable amount of information was given about the economy of the area, going as much into detail as the price of grain in Kaunas or Klaipėda. It appears that the main purpose of some of the messages was to present Lithuania in a bad light. Others concentrated entirely on the Polish community in Lithuania, their life and persecution they experienced. The overall impression the reader of these articles must have received was that Lithuania was ridden by chaos. It is also noticeable that there is almost no reference to cultural affairs in Lithuania. The dailies also tried to bring across a similar message in their longer articles. With reference to the geopolitical situation, it was often claimed that Lithuania was a bridge between the Soviets and the Germans. Furthermore, it was suggested that Lithuanian politicians were merely puppets controlled by the enemies of Poland. This was under lined by the insinuation that Lithuania was simply too small, given the size of its population, to be entitled to exist as a normal state. Consequently the nigh end of the Lithuanian state was repeat edly hinted at in the dailies. Such a negative approach was highly criticized by "Przegląd Wilenski", which blamed Polish officials and the press alike for the sour relationship between the two nations. It was the only newspaper which did not question the will and ability of the post-war Lithuanian state to act on its own in international politics. "Przegląd Wilenski" was in fact the only paper still upholding the idea of the citizenship of the historical Lithuania and there fore was sympathetic towards the country bearing "Lithuania" in its name. The daily newspapers, despite supporting opposite ends in the political spectrum of the time, were very alike in their depreciating attitudes towards the Lithuanian Republic.