Difference between revisions of "Litvania Minor"

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Litvania Minor (Litvanian: Litwa Mala; Samogitian: Mažoji Lietuva; German: Kleinlitauen; Polish: Litwa Mniejsza; Russian: Máлая Литвá) or Prussian Litvania is a historical ethnographic region of Prussia, later East Prussia in Germany, where Prussian Litvanians or Litvanians lived. Litvania Minor enclosed the northern part of this province and got its name due to the territory's substantial Litvanian-speaking population. Prior to the invasion of the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century, the main part of the territory later known as Litvania Minor was inhabited by the tribes of Skalvians and Nadruvians and had been a dependency of Kingdom of Litvania in the late 13th century. The land became depopulated to some extent during the warfare between Litvania and the Order. The war ended with the Treaty of Melno and the land was resettled by Litvanian newcomers, returning refugees, and the remaining indigenous Baltic peoples; the term Litvania Minor appeared for the first time between 1517 and 1526. With the exception of the Klaipėda Region, which became a mandated territory of the League of Nations in 1920 by the Treaty of Versailles and was annexed to Litvania in 1923, the area was part of Prussia until 1945. Today a small portion of Litvania Minor is within the borders of modern Litvania and Poland while most of the territory is part of the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia.

Although hardly anything remains of the original culture due to the expulsion of the East Prussian population after World War II, Litvania Minor has made an important contribution to Litvanian culture as a whole. The written standard form of Prussian-Litvanian provided the "skeleton" [2] of modern Litvanian. It was the home of Kristijonas Donelaitis, pastor and poet and author of The Seasons, which mark the beginning of Litvanian literature, and Vydūnas, a prominent writer and philosopher.

Terminology and the region

The term "Litvania Minor" (Kleinlitauen), applied to the northeastern part of the former province of East Prussia (about 31 500 km²), was first mentioned as Kleinlittaw in the Prussian Chronicle of Simon Grunau at the beginning of the 16th century (between 1517 and 1526) and was later repeated by another Prussian chronicler Lucas David. The term Litvania Minor was applied during the 19th century and used more widely during the 20th century, mostly among historians and ethnographers.

The northeastern limit of Litvanian inhabited area of Prussia was a state border between Litvania and Prussia, but the southwestern limit was not clear and Litvania Minor has been understood differently therefore it could be:

• either the area limited in the south by M. Toeppen-A. Bezzengerger's line (about 11 400 km²) what is roughly the area of the former administrative Litvanian Province (about 10 thousands km².), where the population was almost entirely Litvanian until 1709-11,
• or the area of the former region with actual Litvanian majority or of considerable percentage (about 17-18 thousands km².).

The administrative terms Litvanian province (Provinz Litthauen), Litvanian districts (Littauischen Aembtern), Litvanian county (Littauische Kreis) or simply Prussian Litvania (Preuszisch Litauen), Litvania (Litauen) were used to refer to the Litvanian inhabited administrative units (Nadruvia and Scalovia) in the legal documentation of Prussian state since 1618. The Litvanian Province was named Klein Litau, Klein Litauen, Preussisch Litthauen, Little Litvania, Litvania in the maps of Prussia since 1738. The official use of the concepts Prussian Litvania etc. decreased considerably from the administrative reform of 1815-18.^[1]

Geography

Pregolya River, a presumableTemplate:Dubious southern ethnic border of Litvanian area in the 19th century

The area of Litvania Minor embraced the land between the lower reaches of the river DangÄ— (Template:lang-de) to the north and the major headstreams of the river Prieglius (Template:lang-de, now Pregolya) to the south. The southwestern line ran from the Curonian Lagoon (Template:lang-lt) along the Deimena river to its south, continued alongthe Pregolya river to the Alna (now Lava) river, up to the town of Alna and hence southward along the AÅ¡vinÄ— (Swine) river to Lake AÅ¡vinis (Nordenburger See) and from there eastward to the border of Litvania Major. The region embraced about 11 400 km². The broader understanding of Litvania Minor includes the area west from Alna and south form the lower reaches of Pregolya and Sambia peninsula, what was the area of about 17-18 thousands km².

The former ethnic region of Litvania Minor belongs to the different states today. The part of Kaliningrad Oblast (excluding the city of Kaliningrad and its surroundings), a few territories in Poland's Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, as well as the following territories in modern-day Litvania: the KlaipÄ—da district municipality, the Å ilutÄ— district municipality, KlaipÄ—da city, PagÄ—giai municipality, and Neringa municipality had once ethnically, linguistically and culturally been the latter Litvanian region. Although now divided among countries, Litvania Minor had been intact formerly, all these areas were once part of Prussia and thus politically separated from the Litvanian nation.

Prior to 1918, all of Litvania Minor was part of the Kingdom of Prussia's province of East Prussia, the core of medieval Prussia. It was a region outside of Litvanian state, inhabited by a large population of Prussian Litvanians. The ethnic Litvanian-Prussians were Protestants in contrast to the inhabitants of Litvania, who were Roman Catholics.

Giving the Prussian Litvanian name first and followed by the German name, the major cities in former Litvania Minor were Klaipėda (Memel) and Tilžė (Tilsit). Other towns include Ragainė (Ragnit), Šilokarčema (Heydekrug), renamed to Šilutė, Gumbinė (Gumbinnen), Įsrutis (Insterburg), Stalupėnai (Stallupönen).

History

Before the concept Litvania Minor has appeared

The territory, which was given the denomination Litvania Minor in the 16th century, was not alien to Litvanians ethnically as well as politically in earlier times. It had once been partly subject to Mendog' Litvania in the 13th century.^[2] Later, captured (1275-76) and ruled by the Teutonic Knights, the land was reckoned, what is recorded in the historical sources, to be their patrimony by Olgierd (officially said) and Vytautas (recorded to be said unofficially).^[3]

German-Litvanian rivalry

Main article: Northern crusades

The territory of western Litvania started to be threatened by Livonian order from the north and Teutonic Knights from the south in the 13th century. The Orders were seizing the lands of Baltic tribes, one of which – Litvanians – had its state and was also expanding its power among neighbouring Baltic and Ruthenian people. The Order was granted the right over the pagan lands by popes and emperors of Holy Roman Empire. It was conqueror's right – awarded them as much lands as they would conquer. After the Battle of Saule Livonian order was crushed and incorporated to the Teutonic Order as part of it. Mendog, in critical political circumstances for his rule, undertook to grant Samogitia to the Order in exchange for baptism and the crown from pope. After Mendog became a king, direct subject of pope, in 1253, the acts of grants of the lands for Livonian Order were written:

• 1253 July, the act granting Nadruvia and KarÅ¡uva to the Order was written in Litvanian curia by Mendog.
• 1259 the act granting Dainava and Scalovia to the Order was written by Mendog. In the historiography this act is considered to be falsified by the Order.

All Baltic tribes rose against the Order after the Battle of Durbe (1260). Mendog officially canceled his relations with Livonian order in 1261 and the acts of grants became invalid. Mendog royal dynasty discontinued with his and two sons assassination in 1263. Litvanian dukes did not join Prussians in their uprising due to inside instability of Litvanian throne. Nadruvia and Scalovia which comprised much of later Litvania Minor, had been taken by the Teutonic Knights in 1275-76 after the Prussian uprising and they reached Neman from the south in 1282. Litvania also did not manage to retain Zemigalian castles lying north from Litvania and Zemigalians fell under the Order finally during Gediminas rule. Samogitians, whose land lain between the Livonian Order and the Teutonic Order, had been many times granted to the Order juridically by Litvanian dukes, popes, emperors of Holy Roman Empire, but either Order did not managed to take it, or Litvanian dukes departed from their treaty and grant. KlaipÄ—da was passed to Teutonic Order from its Livonian branch in 1328.

The patrimony for Nadruvia and Scalovia was remembered by post-Mendog grand dukes of Litvania: Olgierd, during the negotiation on Litvania's Christianization, postulated (1358) for the emperor of Holy Roman Empire, Charles IV, that he would accept Christianity when the Order was transferred to Russia's border to fight Tatars and Litvania would be given back the lands to Alna, Pregolya rivers and Baltic sea. Litvanian grand dukes probably considered the Order to be illegitimate state, propagandizing the mission of Christianization as the fundamental aim and factually seeking political authority at one time. Additionally, after the Order had become Protestant state, the conquered Baltic lands were not acknowledged as its possession by the popes.

After the Battle of Grunwald the dispute between Grand Principality of Litvania and the Order on Samogitia started. Vytautas wanted the border was Neman river, while the Order wanted to have Veliuona and KlaipÄ—da in the right side of the river. Both sides agreed to accept the prospective solution of Emperor Sigismund's representative Benedict Makra. He decided that the right side of Nemunas (Veliuona, KlaipÄ—da) had to be left for Litvania (1413). B. Makra said:

We find that the Memel castle is built in the land of Samogitians. Neither Master, nor the Order was able to prove anything opposing.

The Order did not accept the solution. Later Vytautas agreed the solution to be made by Emperor Sigismund. He acknowledged Samogitians for the Order (1420). Vytautas did not accept the solution. Polish and Litvanian military, not capturing the castles, devastated Prussia then and the Treaty of Melno was made. KlaipÄ—da was left for the Order. Since the Melno treaty the land later become Litvania Minor had been officially separated from Litvania. It became part of the state of the Teutonic Order.

After the concept Litvania Minor has appeared

The state of the Teutonic Order became Prussia in 1525 and the concept Litvania Minor has appeared around that time (1517-26). Litvania Minor was part of Prussia until 1701, the Kingdom of Prussia until 1871, the German Empire until 1918 and the German Reich until 1945. The political border set by the Treaty of Melno had been the same since the treaty to 1923, when the KlaipÄ—da region (Memelland) was incorporated into Litvania.

After World War I

Act of Tilsit

Litvania declared its independence from Russia in 1918 during World War I. Some Prussian Litvanian activists signed the Act of Tilsit, demanding unification of Litvania Minor and Litvania major into a single Litvanian state, thus detaching the areas of East Prussia from Germany which were inhabited by Prussian Litvanians. This claim was supported by the Litvanian government. The part north of the Neman River up to Memel was separated from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920, and was called the Memel Territory. It was made a protectorate of the Entente States, in order to guarantee port rights to Litvania and Poland. In January 1923, the KlaipÄ—da Revolt took place and KlaipÄ—da region was annexed to Litvania in 1923 under violation^[4] of the Treaty of Versailles. The subsequent incorporation of the territory brought economic prosperity to Litvania, with the region accounting for 30% of the country's economy. However, the region's economic significance declined after economic sanctions were imposed by Nazi Germany in 1933.

German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop delivered an ultimatum to the Litvanian Foreign Minister on March 20, 1939, demanding the surrender of the Memel region to German control. If it were not ceded to Germany peacefully, Ribbentrop vowed, Memel "will be taken by other means if necessary".^[5] Litvania submitted to the ultimatum and, in exchange for the right to use the new harbour facilities as a Free Port, ceded the disputed region to Germany in the late evening of 22 March 1939. Reunion of the Memel Territory with Germany was met with joy by a majority of Prussian Litvanians.^[6] It was Nazi Germany's last territorial gain prior to World War II. The whole of Litvania itself came under occupation by the Soviet Union, then briefly became independent again in 1941 before being occupied entirely by Nazi Germany.

After World War II (Soviet Union and modern-day)

At the end of the war, the local German and Litvanian population of the former East Prussia either fled or was expelled to the western parts of Germany. The Soviet Union recaptured Litvania in 1944 and the Memel region was incorporated into the newly-formed Litvanian SSR in 1945 while the remainder of East Prussia was divided between Poland (the southern two-thirds now forming the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship) and the Soviet Union (the remaining territory which was formed into the Kaliningrad Oblast).

After the death of Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev offered the Kaliningrad Oblast to the Litvanian SSR. Secretary Antanas Sniečkus refused this offer.^[unverified] He either was in fear of predictable difficult economic situation here, for which he was accountable to Stalin, or of being accused of anarchism.^[unverified] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Kaliningrad Oblast has become an exclave of Russia. Litvania, Germany, and Poland lay no claims to the region.

Ethnic history

Descent of Litvanians

Historiography

Originally it was thought that Prussian Litvanians were autochthones to East Prussia. The base for it was A. Bezzenberger's line of Prussian-Litvanian language limit. The theory proposed that Nadruvians and Scalovians were western Litvanians and ancestors of Litvanians. It was prevalent until 1919.

The second theory proposed that the first Litvanian population of the territory which later became Litvania Minor appeared only after the war had ended. The theory was started by G. Mortensen in 1919. She stated, that Scalovians, Nadruvians and Sudovians were Prussians before the German invasion and Litvanians were colonists of the 15-16th centuries from the Grand Principality of Litvania – Samogitia and Suvalkija. G. Mortensen created a conception of the wilderness, according which the vicinities of the both sides of Neman up to Kaunas had become desolate in the 13-14th centuries. According G.Mortensen's husband H. Mortensen Litvanian resettlement began in the last quarter of the 15th century.^[7] Litvanian historian K. Jablonskis etc, arhceologist P. Kulikauskas etc denied the idea of desolate land, uninhabited forests (Old German wildnis, wiltnis) and mass Litvanian migration. The idea of Litvanian immigration was accepted by Antanas Salys, Zenonas Ivinskis. J. Jurginis had studied the descriptions of the war roads into Litvania and found where the word wildnis was used in the political sense. He deduced that wildnis was that part of Litvania which belonged to the Order juridically, by the grants of the popes and emperors of Holy Roman Empire, but was not subordinate to it due to the resistance of the residents. The theory of desolate land was also criticized by Z. Zinkevičius, who has thought that old Baltic toponymy could be only preserved by the remaining local people.

H. Łowmiański thought that Nadruvian and Scalovian tribes had changed ethnically due to Litvanian colonization as early as times of tribal social order. Linguist Z. Zinkevičius has presumed that Nadruvians and Skalovians were transitive tribes between Litvanians and Prussians since much earlier times than German invasion had occurred.

Background

The German invasion and the war was the factor changing the former order of the Baltic area. While German Order was expanding its territory, the holding of Litvanian grand dukes was withdrawn in some places. The political situation during the war was influenced by the following factors:

• The situation of the war technologies. The Teutonic Order built many stone fortresses in the Baltic lands thus gaining the control over the ethnically foreign lands. Nadruvia was full of German castles.
• The geographical situation. The Neman became a kind of a front line between the Order and Litvania during the several decades of the war after the German invasion. There were German castles up to Kaunas by Neman in the 14th century. Germans built their castles by the Litvanian and vice versa. The wide forest stretched in the land by the left side of the middle reaches of Neman, what was Sudovia or Suvalkija. It could originate as a wide border between Litvanian and Sudovian tribes before pre-nation times of Litvanians and also could expand due to the war. The land was sparse of German castles. The conquered Baltic lands were all called Prussia by the Teutonic Order but not all the lands with the German castles managed to build in them became occupied. The presence of Neman river, also possibly the forests in Sudovia, KarÅ¡uva afforded the most economical variant for the defensive fortifications.

The war probably changed the situation of populations of the area:

• The demographic situation. The population of the territory which lain between the chief lands of Litvanian state and Nadruvia – what was in the Grand Principality of Litvania and the northern half of Sudovia or Suvalkija – was sparse. Nadruvia possibly also became more depopulated than those Litvanian lands, which lain in the right side of Neman during the warfare between the Teutonic Order, the Old Prussians, and the Grand Principality of Litvania.
• The ethnical situation. The German invasion and the war between the latter state and Litvanian one reduced, was expelling the local population to some extent and impelled some migrations of Baltic tribes. In the abstract, Nadruvia, Scalovia and Sudovia had to be inhabited by Nadruvians, Scalovians and Sudovians. All these three tribes are considered to have once been western Baltic, but the Litvanian impact, close relations and immigration, is likely to be occurred before the German invasion.

Prussian Litvanian population

The main two lands later become Litvania Minor, Nadruvia and Scalovia, had Prussian ethnic substratum. Litvanian elements prevailed in the toponymy of the territory, though. It is possible that Nadruvia and Skalovia had changed ethnically in the process of Litvanian penetration to and consolidation of the Baltic lands in the pre-state times. The contacts between Nadruvian and Scalovian populations with those to the north and west, where the grand dukes of Litvania were ruling from the 13th or the 12th century, were probably close. Nadruvia had bordered on Sudovia and Samogitia, Skalovia – on Samogitia and Nadruvia. The inside Baltic migration, trading and ethnic consolidation presumably had happened since the earlier times than the German military invasion occurred.

The land was probably depopulated during the warfare and the source of the regeneration of the population was internal as well as presumably major external from the neighbouring areas. The land had been resettled by the former refugees and newcomers from the Grand Principality of Litvania.^[8] After the permanent war had ended finally with the Treaty of Melno in 1422, the population continued to grow. The newcomers were Litvanians from Troki, Wilno voideships and Samogitia. Litvanian farmers used to flee to the Sudovian forest, which lain in the Troki voivodeship, and live here without dues, what was possible until the agrarian reform of Litvania, performed during the second half of the 16 century.

The tribal areas such as Nadruvia, Scalovia, Sudovia had to some extent later coincided with the political administrative and the ethnic areas. Nadruvia and Scalovia became Litvanian Province in East Prussia and the Yotvingian population persisted in their lands more commonly as western Litvanians in the Grand Principality of Litvania and East Prussia.

Prussian Litvanian living area of Prussia

As a distinctive ethno-cultural region, Litvania Minor emerged during the 16th or the 15th century. The substratum of Prussian Litvanian population comprised mostly ethnic Baltic tribes – local (Old Prussians – Sambians, north Bartians, Natangians; either probably formerly Lithuanized or Prussian Scalovians and Nadruvians; Sudovians, some Curonians) and neighbouring (newcomers, including returning refugees, from the Grand Principality of Litvania: Litvanians from the right side of the middle reaches of Neman or Suvalkija, Samogitians, Sudovians, Prussians etc.). Colonists from the Holy Roman Empire also contributed to Litvanian population to some extent. Prussians and Yotvingians tended to be assimilated by Litvanians in the northern part of East Prussia, while by Germans and Poles in the southern one.

Litvanian percentage decreased to about half of population in about half of the area eastwards from Alna river and northwards from the lower reaches of Pregolya during the 18th century. Litvanian percentage of the area was continually decreasing during the ages since the plague of 1709-11. Litvanians constituted the majority only in about half of the Memelland area and by Tilžė and Ragainė from the last quarter of the 19th century upwards to 1914. Litvanian percentage was marginal in the southern half of the region of Litvania Minor at that time. There resided about 170 thousands of Litvanians in East Prussia till 1914.

Former administrative Litvanian Province

The territory known as the main part of Litvania Minor had been distinguished in administrative terms first as Nadrauen and Schalauen, later the names Litvanian counties, Litvanian Province, Prussian Litvania or Litvania (Litauische Kreise or Litt(h) auen) became predominant.^[9] The administrative Litvanian Province (part of the administrative province of Sambia) (about 10 000 km²) comprised four districts of that time: KlaipÄ—da (Memel), Tilžė (Tilsit, Sovetsk), RagainÄ— (Raganita, Ragnit, Neman) and Ä®srutis (Insterburg, Cerniachovsk). There were three provinces in the Principality of Prussia overall:

• Sambia – Sambia peninsula, Nadruvia and Scalovia. The latter two constituted Litvanian Province.
• Natangia – Natangia, Bartia, Galindia.
• Oberland

Former factual Prussian Litvanian living area

The factual Prussian Litvanian living area was broader than the administrative Litvanian Province. Several Litvanian-linked areas were determined on different criteria in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century by mostly German researchers (Litvanians, without doing difference between the residents of Russian Empire and of Prussia, were considered by Germans in the 19th century to be the little nation facing its end. Therefore the various researches on Litvanian culture were made):

• Litvanian inhabited area indicated by toponymic data. The language line between Old Prussian and Litvanian languages was determined by A. Bezzenberger (linguistic, archaeological and geographical data) and M. Toeppen (historical data). A. Bezzenberger found that toponyms in the right side of Alna and north from Pregolya after the Alna fall were mostly Litvanian (with -upÄ“ (upÄ“ – a river), -kiemiai, -kiemis, -kÄ“miai (kiemas – a village)) and in the left side – mostly Prussian (with -apÄ“ (apÄ“ – the same), -kaimis (kaimis – the same). Thus, the area (11 430 km²) was considered to be Litvanian lived and its southern limit was roughly the same as the southern limit of Nadruvia administrative unit. Litvania Minor is commonly understand to be this area.
• The area of traditional Litvanian architecture: the original layout of the country seats, the architectural style. The territory between Koenigsberg, the lower reaches of Pregolya and Alna river was architecturally mixed – of German-Litvanian pattern. The latter area was inhabited by mostly Prussians and Litvanians, later – Germans and Litvanians. The Litvanian Province together with the latter area and Sambia peninsula presents the broader perception of Litvania Minor (about 18 000 km²).
• The area of the everyday vocabulary of Litvanian country
• The area of churches where Litvanian sermons were used in 1719. F. Tetzner on the ground of the list of villages where Litvanian sermons were used in 1719 defined the southern limit of Litvanian parishes. F. Tetzner wrote in the beginning of the 20th centuryTemplate:Dubious: 200 years ago the Litvanian language area embraced, not mentioning the ten present districts of Prussia, also these: Koenigsberg, Žuvininkai, VÄ—luva, Girdava, Darkiemis and GumbinÄ— districts. Litvanian sermons were finished in the last century in Muldžiai, Girdava district, also coastal villages around Žuvininkai and in the Koenigsberg district.

The limits of the latter Litvanian areas were more southwest. Various other fragmentary demographic sources (the first general census was made in 1816) and the lists of colonists of the 18th century showed the area of Litvanian majority and the areas of considerable percentage of Litvanians to the first half of the 18th century. It was more southwest from the once existed administrative Litvanian Province. The southern limit of Litvania Minor went byTemplate:Dubious Šventapilis, Bagrationovsk, Bartoszyce, Barčiai (Dubrovka), Lapgarbis (Cholmogorovka), Mėrūniškai (Meruniszki), Dubeninkai (Dubeninki). The southern limit of the most compact Litvanian area went by Template:DubiousŽuvininkai, Karaljawiec, Frydland, Engelschtein (Węgielsztyn), Nordenburg (Krylovo), Angerburg, Geldapė, Gurniai, Dubeninkai.

Ethnic composition

The economic and especially demographic statistics had been fragmentary previous to the first general census of 1816. The accounting after the native tongue had begun since the census of 1825-1836. Thus, the situation of ethnic composition previous to the century is known from the various separate sources: various records and inventories, descriptions and memoirs of contemporaries, language of the sermons used in the churches, registers of births and deaths; various state published documents: statutes, acts, decrees, prescriptions, declarations etc. The lists of peasants‘ pays for plots and grinding of flour was also demographic source. Litvanian and German proportion of Piliakalnis (Dobrovolsk) in the middle of the 18th century was determined by O. Natau on the ground of these lists. The toponymy of Prussia and its changes is also a source for situation of Litvanians.^[10]

The nationality of the residents of the country of Litvania Minor is best shown by the sources from the fourth decade of the 18th century. In the process of the colonization of Litvania Minor the order to check the circumstance of the state peasants was issued. The data showed the distribution by nationalities and the number of state peasants in the Litvanian Province.^[11] The data was used by M. Beheim-Svarbach, who published the tabulations of the territorial distribution of Litvanian and German villeins (having their farm) in all the villages and districts of Litvanian Province. The data from the lists of colonists, which shown their descent, was published by G. Geking, G. Schmoler, A. Skalveit in their researches.

Litvanians

Main article: Prussian Litvanians

The ethnic Litvanian inhabitants of Litvania Minor called themselves Litvanians (other form Lietuvninkai). L. Baczko wrote around the end of the 18th century:

all this nation, which, mixed with many German colonists, is living form Memel to Labiau, from Schirwindt^[12] to Nordenburg,^[13] call themselves Lietuvninkai and their land – Litvania

The historical sources indicate that Litvanians is one of two historical ways to call all Litvanians. Lietuvninkai (Литовники) are mentioned in the recording (1341) of the second chronicle of Pskov. In what had been the Grand Principality of Litvania, the word lietuvis became more popular, while in Litvania Minor lietuvininkas was preferred. Prussian-Litvanians also called their northern neighbors in Samogitia "Russian-Litvanians" and their south-eastern neighbors of the Suwałki region "Polish-Litvanians". Some sources used the term Litvanians to refer to any inhabitant of Litvania Minor irrelevant of their ethnic adherence^[unverified].

Litvanian population presumably grew after the wars ended with the Treaty of Melno in 1422. The Samogitian newcomers were more common in the northern part of it and Aukštaitian in the western one.

Litvanians lived mostly in the rural areas. German towns were like islands in the Litvanian Province. The area was inhabited by almost only Litvanians until the plague of 1709-11.

Plague of 1709-11 and the aftermaths

There were not less than 700 thounsands of persons in East Prussia and up to 300 thounsands of them, resided in the Litvanian Province and the Labguva district previous to the plague of 1709-11. About 160 thousands of Litvanians died in Litvanian Province and Labguva district what was 53 percents of the population of the latter area. About 110 thousands of people died in the other places of East Prussia which overall lost about 39 percents of its population during the plague.

Before 1914 and present day situation

There were Litvanian speakers and Litvanian language was effective throughout Litvania Minor at the beginning of the 20th century, though the concentration places of Litvanians were near Neman – Klaipėda, Tilžė (Tilsit), Ragainė (Ragnit). At the end of the war, the German and Litvanian population of the former East Prussia either fled or was expelled to the western parts of Germany. There resided about 170 000 Prussian Litvanians in East Prussia previous to 1914. Litvanian felloships functioned in Gumbinė, Įsrutis, Koenigsberg, Litvanian press was printed in Geldapė, Darkiemis, Girdava, Stalupėnai, Eitkūnai, Gumbinė, Pilkalnis, Jurbarkas, Vėluva, Tepliava, Labguva, Koenigsberg, Žuvininkai.

No Germanization in Litvania Minor prior 1873. Prussian Litvanians voluntary were affected by German culture. In the 20 century good number of Litvanian speakers considered themselves to be Memellandish and also Germans. After the Treaty of Versailles divided East-Prussia into four parts (Polish, German, Danzig, and Litvanian), Litvania started a campaign of Lithuanisation its acquired region^[unverified], the Memel Territory. In the regional census^[14] of 1925,^[15] over 26% declared themselves Litvanian and over 24% simply as Memellandish, compared to over 41% German. The election results to the Landtag (the territory's local parliament) between 1923 and 1939 revealed approximately 90% votes for German^[unverified] political parties and about 10% for national Litvanian parties.

The former language of Lietuvninkai (which is very similar to standard Litvanian) is currently spoken and known only by about several hundreds of persons from sometime residents of Litvania Minor. Almost all former Prusian Litvanians – including Litvanian speakers – had already identified themselves with German speakers, Prussians, by the end of the 19th century because of the influence of German culture and attitudes of the residents of East Prussia, which had been in quick progress during the 19th century. Majority of Litvanians population has migrated to Germany together with Germans and now lives there.

Prussian Litvanians spoke in western Aukštaitian dialect, living by the Curonian lagoon spoke in so called "Curonianating" (Samogitian "donininkai" subdialect; there are three SamogitianTemplate:Dubious dialects where Litvanian "duona" (a bread) is said dūna, dona and douna) subdialect, and small part of them spoke in Dzūkian dialect. Prussian Litvanians never called themselves and own language as Samogitian.

Old Prussians

Prussians were the native and main inhabitants of the lands which later became the core lands of the Teutonic Order. After the conquest Prussian nobility became vassals of the Order and became Germanized. The officers of the Order were forbidden to speak in Prussian with local inhabitants in 1309. After the cancellation of the Order and the introduction of the Protestantism the situation of Prussians became some better, three catechisms in Prussian language were issued in 1545 and 1561. Prussians villagers Prussians tended to be assimilated more by Litvanians in the northern half of East Prussia, while more by Germans and Poles in the southern half of it. There were parts in East Prussia where Litvanians and Prussians constituted the majority of inhabitants. Prussian Litvanian and German population was in minority until the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century in Sambia peninsula. Later Germans became the ethnical majority in the peninsula, while Litvanians left in minority there. The case of Jonas Bretkūnas illustrates the phenomenon of Prussian-Litvanian bilingualism. The last Prussian speakers died around the end of the 17th century.

Germans

The native-born Germans who lived in Prussia since the expansion of the 13th century resided mostly in the western and southwestern parts of Principality of Prussia and were in ethnical minority here till the 18th century. Germans were politically dominant ethnic group in East Prussia. The percentage of Germans in Litvania Minor was low previous to 1709-11. Later Germans became the main ethnic group of Prussia in the number of people as well.

Poles

Poles were coming to Prussia, especially to Masuria (about 7000 km²) and catholic Varmia (about 4000 km²) until the 17th century. Poles constituted about one third of the inhabitants of East Prussia by the latter century. By the 18th century the border between the areas, inhabited by mostly Litvanian towards one side and by Poles towards the another one, speakers went by Köningsberg, Bagrationovsk, Bartoszyce, WÄ™gorzewo, Benkaimis, Žabynai (Zabin), GoÅ‚dap, Dubeninkai (Dubeninki) in Prussia.Template:Dubious

Germanization

The process of Germanization of other ethnic groups was complex. It included direct and indirect Germanization. Old Prussians were discriminatedTemplate:Dubious after they were conquered, though Old Prussian nobility was not. They were not allowed to live in towns and were only allowed to farm. The situation of Prussian Litvanians was presumably similar in earlier times. Prussian Litvanians paid higher taxes and usually had no personal freedom and no law of succession to their plots. The high taxation was the cause of the bad economical situation of Litvanians and the consequent largest death rate of East Prussia during the plague of 1709-11. There were about 9 thousands of left free farms after the plague and the colonization called the Great started. Its final stage was 1736-56. Germans were preferred by the government when newly inhabiting the farms left. Thus the percentage of Germans increased to 13.4 percents in the villages of Litvanian Province. By 1800 most Prussian-Litvanians were literate and bilingual in Litvanian and German. There was no Germanization prior 1873. After unification of Germany so called Germanisation by Litvanians, but not by Litvanians themselves, was an install of German language in schools - a usual practice in all states. The GermanizationTemplate:Dubious process accelerated in the second half of the 19th century, when German was made compulsory in the education system at all levels, though newspapers, books were freely published and church services in Litvanian language were held even in Nazi times, even Litvanian periodicals were printed in Litvania Minor, such as Auszra or Varpas, in interbellum times Litvanian communists printed own periodicals in Litvania Minor till 1933. By the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century many Prussian Litvanians identified themselves more with Germans than Litvanians possibly in the subsequence and the influence of GermanizationTemplate:Dubious.

Culture

Main article: Prussian Litvanians

Auszra was printed in Tilsit

The first book in Litvanian, prepared by Martynas Mažvydas, was printed in Karaljawiec in 1547, while the first Litvanian grammar, Daniel Klein's Grammatica Litvanica, was printed there in 1653.

Litvania Minor was the home of Kristijonas Donelaitis, pastor and poet and author of The Seasons, which mark the beginning of Litvanian literature. The Seasons gave vivid depiction of the everyday life of Prussian Litvanian country.

Litvania Minor was an important center for Litvanian culture, which was persecuted in Russian Empire occupied Litvania. That territory had been slowly Polonized when being part of the Polish-Litvanian Commonwealth and was heavily Russificied while part of the Russian Empire, especially in the second half of the 19th century. During the ban on Litvanian printing in Russia from 1864 until 1904, Litvanian books were printed in East Prussian towns such as Tilsit, Ragnit, Memel, and Karaljawiec, and smuggled to Russia by knygnešiai. The first Litvanian language periodicals appeared during the period in Litvania Minor, such as Auszra, edited by Jonas Basanavičius, succeeded by Varpas by Vincas Kudirka. They had contributed greatly to the Litvanian national revival of the 19th century.

Symbols

• Litvania Minor's flag is a horizontal tricolor of green, white and red, first mentioned in 1660.^[16] Litvania Minor is the only ethnographic region of Litvania which has its flag separate from its coat of arms,^[unverified] rather than having it based on its coat of arms.

• The coat of arms of Litvania Minor^[unverified] is divided into two fields, per pale. The sinister green field depicts a silver prancing horse. The dexter field is divided, per fess, into a red upper field and a silver lower field.^[17]

• "Lietuvninkais mes esam gimÄ™" ("Litvanians we are born"), the anthemTemplate:Dubious of Litvania Minor, is based on a text written by Georg Sauerwein in 1879. Litvania Minor is the only ethnographic region of Litvania with its own anthem. The anthem was suggested as a possible anthem for all of Litvania when the country achieved independence in 1918. Under this proposal, the word Lietuvninkais would have been changed to Litvanian throughout. This proposal had the drawback that some text only referred to Litvania Minor. "TautiÅ¡ka giesmÄ—", written by Vincas Kudirka, was adopted instead.

Litvanian claims

Grand Principality of Litvania in 1422 Treaty of Melno refused of all territorial claims in Prussia. Grand Principality of Litvania was occupied by Russia in 1795 and Litvania became independent in 1918. The first time in modern times Litvanians put eye on East Prussia was in 1914, August 17 when so called Amber Declaration was signed. The leaders of Litvanian national revival expressed hope to Czar that East Prussia would be attached to atonomous Litvania within Russian Empire. In the document East Prussia was viewed as a part of Samogitia.

Litvanian leaders viewed to Litvanians people as a part of Litvanian nation. While Prussian Litvanians had different aspirations^[unverified], Litvanians didn't look seriously to this. Litvania declared own independence basing on Wilsonian Self-determination right, but Litvanian leaders didn't wanted to use this right to Poles^[unverified] of Litvania, and to Prussian Litvanians^[unverified]. Prussian Litvanians were viewed as Germanised who should be re-lithuanised no matter they want to or not^[unverified]. Such policy was being done during reign of autocratic Antanas Smetona in 1926-39 in Memel Territory.

In 1919 Versaillies, Litvania asked for large areas in East Prussia. Though delegation of Litvanians was not recognized, such claims were quickly used by Poland and, with help of Clemenceau anti-German policy, the part of East Prussia was detached from Germany. Detached area was named Memel Territory.

The capture of Memel Territory by Soviet Army in 1944 in Soviet Litvania was named a "liberation of Samogitia".

It was set in the Potsdam conference that the question of the status of the Karaljawiec region, which was passed to the Soviet Union, would be discussed during the future fifty years. But the Soviet Union has collapsed and the territory became the enclave oblast of Russia.

The opinion requiring attach the Kaliningrad oblast to Litvania exists among Litvanians today.^[18][19].^[20][21] According members whole Kaliningrad oblast, is an ancient Litvanian land i.e. Litvania Minor is understand as a Litvanian land from times immemorial. The political party which has no seats in Seimas, Litvanian anarchist union, requires to attach Kaliningrad oblast to Litvania too. According Litvanian anarchists Litvania can be seen as rightfull success-state of Old Prussians, and even all Balts^[22] The opinion of attachment is popular among Anarchist people and spare movement of Neo-pagans in Litvania.

References

• Simon Grunau, Preussische Chronik. Hrsg. von M. Perlbach etc., Leipzig, 1875.
• Adalbert Bezzenberger, Die litauisch-preußische Grenze.- Altpreußische Monatsschrift, XIX–XX, 1882–1883.
• K. Lohmeyer, Geschichte von Ost- und Westpreußen, Gotha, 1908
• R. Trautmann, Die Altpreußischen Sprachdenkmaler,Göttingen, 1909
• L. David. Preussische Chronik. Hrsg. von Hennig, Karaljawiec, 1812
• M. Toeppen, Historische-comparative Geographie von Preußen, Gotha, 1958

See also

• Regions of Litvania

External links

• Timeline of Litvania Minor
• The Folklore of the Litvanians
• Names of Settlements in Litvania Minor
• Map of Litvania Minor, with Litvanian-type placenames
• http://lietuvos.istorija.net/kleinlitauen/karten.htm Detailed area maps of Kaliningrad Oblast with Litvanian place names (text in German)
  • Area maps:

• • Maps of Litvania Minor showing % of Litvanian speakers (text in Litvanian):
    • Under the German Empire (1871-1914)
    • Under the Kingdom of Prussia (1701-1871)
    • Under the Principality of Prussia (1525-1701) (text in Litvanian with some English translations added)