Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis

Archbishop Mečislovas Reinys is one of the most outstanding personalities of the 20th century. He was a professor, minister of foreign affairs, priest and martyr. Throughout his life, Reinys tried to spread the truths of the faith. The quest to protect both Lithuania and the whole of Western Europe from the collapse of civilisation after the loss of its Christian foundations led Reinys to the martyr’s crown. Although the articles published in the newspaper Naujoji Lietuva between 1940 and 1944 were rather conservative, they emphasise the tragedy of a society that has lost God as a landmark and a foundation. Reinys not only warned about the imminent catastrophe of Western Europe losing the basis of its civilisation, God and Christian values, but also called primarily for a cultural-ideological struggle using all possible weapons, because matter without spirit leads to destruction. It should be stated that Reinys’ written legacy is not collected and systematised today, and his articles published between 1940 and 1944 in the daily Naujoji Lietuva especially lack a detailed and critical scientific approach. In this article, I do not aim to critically assess Reinys’ statements, but look at them with an apologetic eye in order to analyse and actualise the main topic: the fight against godlessness. The first part of the article discusses the historical context that undoubtedly influenced the publication of these articles. The second part of the article examines the content of the articles published in the daily Naujoji Lietuva.

Many changes took place in the upper echelons of Lithuanian society at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries: a divide began to emerge between the conservative aristocracy and the supporters of Enlightenment ideas. The latter sought reforms, the independence of the state and progress in society. The former did not support the changes, and sought to preserve the former structure of society, often seeking the support of politicians in the Russian Empire. It is important to study not only the actions of the elite of that period in the field of politics, but also their households and lifestyles. The paper explains what can be learnt about factors that may have influenced the health of Ludwik Skumin Tyszkiewicz (1751–1808), one of the most prominent Lithuanian political figures at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. The main character in the article is regarded in historiography as a noble with conservative views, who focused on the accumulation of material goods. The paper investigates what is known about the health problems of the count. It also explains what products were used in his kitchen, and what the stresses were in his life that could have affected his health. The circumstances of his death and funeral are also mentioned.

The rebellion that broke out in the Northwest Province (Severo-Zapadnyi Krai) of the Russian Empire in January 1863 and spread over the former lands of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations is not a new topic for historians. The involvement of women in the insurrection of 1863 has also been studied for a long time, with the first research appearing even before the Second World War. So far, Polish, Belarusian, and to some extent Lithuanian, researchers have raised questions about the forms and methods of women’s protests in this insurrection, and the changes in their social role, and analysed women’s memories and images of women. This article is the first to address memoirs of the January insurrection written by women from the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania who observed the events of the insurrection in these lands. The women’s memoirs are analysed here as a whole, in order to reveal some common features. In contrast to previous studies that have looked at women’s memoirs of the rebellion in order to answer questions about the course of the rebellion, the theme of deportations, or women’s ability to balance social activities and family responsibilities during the insurrection, this paper raises the more general question of what women did and did not write about in their memoirs about the insurrection between 1863 and 1864, and why.

The proclamation to the Polish nation on 14 (1) August 1914 signed by Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich has interested more than one researcher. Researchers from Russia and other countries routinely refer to the document in their analysis of the Polish question. However, the proclamation itself has not been an object of research for a long time, although the circumstances of its appearance, its content, and its multiple political consequences might contribute not only to an analysis of the Polish question, but also, in a more general sense, to studies of the national question in the Russian Empire. The paper deals with the history of the proclamation to the Polish nation, the reasons for its appearance, and the characteristics of the text. It analyses the issue of its authorship, and the impact of the proclamation on general public feeling, and also discusses the consideration of the Polish question in the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire during the First World War.