Interviews with Vytautas Landsbergis
Lithuania
A Brief History
Landsbergis describes his country’s history
Transcript
I was born and grew up in the Republic of Lithuania in 1932. It was the period of restored statehood of Lithuania, when we refer to the ancient kingdom and grand duchy of Lithuania, from 13th to end of 18th century. After that Lithuania was captured and annexed by Tsarist Russia and the Russian empire. And it became self-liberated and due to opportunities at the end of the First World War– due to the famous declaration of self-determination of nations by President Wilson. And as it was implemented in many countries, Lithuania succeeded as well, to proclaim itself a restored independent state in ethnic boundaries, but not in such a great territory as in previous expansions of Lithuania.
And then Lithuania had to defend itself from those greater neighbors, which did not want an independent Lithuania, only their own province. So Lithuania, again, was quite successful to defend itself. It became a member of the League of Nations and an independent European country. Until 1940, when it fell victim to a conspiracy or criminal agreement between Hitler and Stalin. As they began to divide nations among them– this way initiating the Second World War. So I was born in pre-war times, in the first Republic of Lithuania.
I remember still, and I remember it later those times of my childhood, and being a boy and pupil in primary school when– and those events when the Soviet occupation came. The Soviet tanks on the streets of my native town. And oppression, which was felt very real, including the violence and the mass deportations of people, which are known from history. So this sad and sometimes brave history — because it was led by moves of resistance of Lithuanians disagreeing with the occupations, either Soviet or German Nazi. And then again, the Soviets’ reoccupation from 1944. With memory and to wish – it sometimes looked like a dream to be an independent, European, democratic country again. And this was preserved in my family as in many other families of Lithuanians.
Therefore, after I could say the long-standing, armed resistance of Lithuanians in 1945 – 1955. It was a long-standing war, after the war, against Soviet occupation. Finally it was crushed by the much greater prevailing force majeure of Soviets.
About Vytautas Landsbergis
Vytautas Landsbergis was born in Lithuania in 1932 to a family of noted intellectuals. During the Second World War, Lithuania was occupied by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Nazi Germany, and once again by the USSR, which abolished Lithuania’s independence and forcibly annexed it. Landsbergis studied music and pursued a career as an educator, eventually becoming a professor of music history at the Lithuanian Academy of Music. He has written ten books on music and art history, five political books, and a book of poetry.
In 1988, Landsbergis joined other artists and intellectuals in forming the Sajudis movement, which developed to support the restoration of Lithuanian independence from the Soviet Union. He was elected as chairman of the movement. Under his leadership, Sajudis quickly won broad popular support from the Lithuanian population.
In February 1989, Sajudis declared the Soviet occupation illegal and formally proclaimed its goal of restoring independence. Landsbergis was elected as a deputy to the new USSR Congress of People’s Deputies in March 1989. Sajudis won 36 of the 42 seats at stake and used their mandates to lobby for Lithuanian independence.
On August 23, 1989, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet treaty that led to the abolition of the independence of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and their forcible incorporation into the USSR, Landbergis and the leaders of Sajudis joined with their counterpart organizations, the Rahvarinne Popular Front of Estonia and the Popular Front of Latvia, in organizing the Baltic Way demonstration. Over one million people joined hands to form a 600 kilometer long human chain across the three countries. The nonviolent protest drew worldwide attention to the Baltic nations’ quest for freedom and independence.
In the first free Lithuanian elections held in February 1990, Landsbergis was elected to the legislature. When the new legislature convened in March, Landsbergis was elected chairman (speaker) and proclaimed the reestablishment of independence. In 1990 and 1991, he served as chairman of the commission that drafted the new Lithuanian constitution. He also chaired the Lithuanian delegation for negotiations with the USSR, achieving a withdrawal of Soviet military forces from Lithuania and securing widespread international recognition of the restored Lithuanian republic. In 1993, he cofounded the Lithuanian Conservative Party – Homeland Union and was elected party chairman.
From 1992 to 1996, he served as the leader of the opposition in the Seimas, the Lithuanian parliament. After his party won the 1996 elections, he served again as Chairman of the Seimas until 2000. He was an unsuccessful candidate for President in the 1997 elections.
In 2004, he was elected to the European Parliament as Lithuania joined the European Union. He was reelected in 2009.
Landsbergis has received numerous international honors for his artistic and political activities. In 2013, he received the Democracy Service Award from the National Endowment for Democracy’s for his efforts to build a stable democracy in Lithuania and to assist democratic development abroad.