„Vienui vieni“: šaulių rengimas partizaniniam karui 1924–1940 m. Lietuvoje
“All Alone”: Riflemen Training for the Guerrilla Warfare in Lithuania in 1924–1940

Summary/Abstract: In the interwar period the Lithuanian Army faced the dilemma of how to secure military safety of a small and relatively weak country in relation to eventual enemies. The solution was prompted by the experience of the fights for independence against the Soviet army, the Bermontians and Poland, when the Lithuanian Army was actively supported by guerrilla forces – riflemen. Following the cessation of active clashes between the Polish and Lithuanian forces alongside the demarcation line and the demobilisation of the Lithuanian Army, in 1924 The Trimitas, semi-official newspaper of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, launched a series of writings on the feasibility of the guerrilla action in a would-be war. Subsequently, the claim that Lithuanian fighters might be left “all alone” in the event of war gained currency. The said phrase is commonly used in the contemporary public discourse in Lithuania to describe the post-war guerrilla war in 1944–1953. Having reviewed approximately 90 % of the issues of The Trimitas published in 1924–1940, it has been concluded that 54.3 % of the issues dealt with the guerrilla subject. The Kardas, another publication dedicated to the military community, referred to the topic of the guerilla warfare in 32 % of the issues, which saw the light over the period 1925–1940. Statistical analysis of the military periodicals has shown that the dissemination of the conception of guerrilla warfare reached its peak in around 1929–1930 and after 1934. The first case should be attributed to the escalation of the conflict between Lithuania and Poland developing in the League of Nations, while the second case refers to the deterioration of Lithuanian-German relations and to the overall increasing menace of war. When making riflemen ready for the future war, the interwar propaganda actively employed historical images both dating back to the struggle for independence and to earlier periods, including guerrilla wars of the military forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th and 14th centuries, the 19th century Spanish resistance to the army of the First French Empire, etc. In addition to historical narratives promoting guerrilla warfare, creating and maintaining the image of a guerrilla warrior as a defender of Homeland, The Trimitas used fictional prose and poetry works. It is understandable that guerrilla fighters, in contrast to soldiers of regular forces, had to be highly motivated fighters in order to resolve to continue resistance even after the loss of connection with their authorities. Therefore, it is natural that the Lithuanian military authorities launched an active patriotic propaganda, and in the early 1930s an idea of sušaulinimas (turning into riflemen) of the nation was proposed, which implied: 1) involving as many Lithuanians into the activities of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, 2) military training of the entire population, and 3) patriotic education...

• Details
• Contents