Tarp nacionalinio identiteto ir demokratijos : krikščionių demokratų santykiai su tautininkais 1918-1920 metais

Abstract

Every political party reflects specific needs of society, and performs a specific function in public life. The social development of a nation depends on political parties, therefore studies of ideology and aspirations of these parties facilitate research of the nation’s social development, aspirations and culture. There are few studies on Lithuanian political parties in to historiography of Lithuania. This article focuses on the relationship between Tautininkai and a party of Christian Democrats, i.e. between two conservative parties. The two parties cooperated and dominated political life of the country since the establishment of the Lithuanian State on till the Constituent Assembly in the spring of 1920. The collaboration of the parties has led to a relative internal stability and created a legitimate perspective of the new Lithuanian state acting as a neutral buffer among Great Powers. When in spring 1920 Lithuanian Christian Democrats radically turned to the as-called ’’democracy”, tension with the Polish part of the Vilnius area increased. Lithuania has been increasingly influenced by Soviet Russia, which has affected the loss of Vilnius. It is possible to say that the coalition of Christian Democrats and Liaudininkai enforced the relations with the Lithuanian-speaking peasantry, and in this sense Lithuanian statehood has found its expression through national self-determination. However, the problem was that neither Christian Democrats, nor Liaudininkai, nor Lithuanian peasantry could ignore the idea of Vilnius as the basis of Lithuanian national identity. In my opinion, this article has confirmed the assumption that the coalition of Tautininkai and Christian Democrats consolidated Lithuanian statehood both internally and internationally.