Juozas Gabrys, Karlas Lindhagenas ir lietuvių – švedų ryšiai XX a. pradžioje
Juozas Gabrys’ and Carl Lindhagen’s Contribution to the Lithuanian – Swedish Connections at the Beginning of the 20th Century

Summary/Abstract: With the strengthening of the russification campaign, the news about the Lithuanian national movement spread in Sweden. But it was very fragmentary and not comprehensive. First direct contacts with the Swedish public figures were established by a controversial Lithuanian, Juozas Gabrys, the founder of the “Union des Nationalités”. Gabrys supported the initiatives of Carl Lidhagen, known as a member of the pacifist movement, who emphasized the need to officially and internationally recognize the right of national self-determination. Gabrys invited Carl Lindhagen to cooperate with the “Union des Nationalités”. Carl Lindhagen was a politician – individualist, regarded by many Swedes as an eccentric and utopist. He could have had some influence on the politics of Sweden, but on the whole he was not an influential or important figure in the real political decision making in Sweden. Nevertheless, it is impossible to discard Carl Lindhagen’s contribution to the support for the Lithuanian propaganda campaign in Sweden. Carl Lindhagen helped to create the first Swedish associations to maintain connections with Lithuania, among which was the first Swedish – Lithuanian Society. Relief committee for Lithuania, established in October of 1915, consisted of 11 Swedes, among whom there were no celebrities except for Carl Lindhagen himself and the editor of the pro-German newspaper Verner Söderberg. Nevertheless, this committee was very active rendering financial support to Germany’s occupied Lithuania as well as providing relief for Lithuanian war refugees and prisoners. Carl Lidhagen encouraged and initiated public support actions for the Lithuanian national movement in Sweden in 1915 – 1918. All these people with whom Lithuanians succeeded to establish contacts in Sweden during the First World War period, Carl Lindhagen included, had no real influence on the Swedish political establishment. But public support actions for the rights of different nations, among them Lithuanians, initiated by Swedish enlightened and public figures, established and fortified Swedish – Lithuanian connections.

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