Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis

The missions of the Republic of Lithuania to the United States of America (the Embassy in Washington, the Consulate-General in New York, and the Consulate in Chicago, as well as two honorary consuls in Los Angeles and Boston) did not cease their activities after the Soviet Union’s aggression against Lithuania in the summer of 1940. In 1937–1971, Petras Povilas Daužvardis worked as consul (later consul-general) in Chicago, in one of the largest Lithuanian communities in the United States. After his death, his widow Juzefa Rauktytė-Daužvardienė took over his diplomatic functions. Her appointment was hardly unexpected: even before she took over the responsibilities of honorary consul-general, local Lithuanians called her an unofficial consular attaché. The article delves into the origins of Rauktytė-Daužvardienė’s accumulation of social capital during the Second World War. This is done by researching her social activities: first of all with the American Red Cross, and in other associations that promoted blood donor activities, relief and civilian charity. Based on the American-Lithuanian press, this biographical sketch aims to show the burden of war assumed by a Lithuanian woman in the USA.

As the First World War drew to an end, a number of political actors in the east Baltic Sea region declared the independence of new states. This independence had to be defended by their governments in armed conflicts. The army loyal to the Lithuanian government was engaged in active hostilities until the end of 1920. So far, the historiography on these military actions has concentrated on the tactical-operational actions of the armies, and biographical studies of their military leaders. The participation of women in the Lithuanian war of independence and violence by combatants against civilians, including women, have been studied in a rather fragmentary way. This article fills this research gap, by analysing the collective initiatives of women that emerged in Lithuanian society between 1918 and 1920 to provide public relief to the Lithuanian armed forces that were engaged in military operations. By perceiving these initiatives as a response to a military threat, the article seeks to identify the internal and external factors that underpinned the determination of women to provide material assistance to the Lithuanian army. By taking a sociological theoretical approach of stimulus-induced social interaction, it provides an analysis of the reasons for the formation and the development of 13 women’s associations, and the nature and the extent of their activities.