Res Humanitariae

The article discusses the beginning, assumptions and dispersion of the historical reenactment movement in the world. National peculiarities of the phenomenon are highlighted by presenting the preconditions for and circumstances of the historical reconstruction movement in Lithuania. Features of the phenomenon are analysed in the formation of the first historical reconstruction clubs and the first festivals. The basis for this work is fieldwork material collected during 2015–2018, in the form of surveys and interviews with respondents. The data was processed by applying historical comparative and analytical methods. According to the data, the beginning of the historical reenactment movement in Lithuania started in the 1980s. This was influenced by Lithuania’s restitution of its statehood in the 1990s after Soviet suppression, and the desire to properly present the long history of the state. The folklore movement that started around the 1970s was still in existence, and influenced the start of the historical reenactment movement. The media (especially the Internet) and relations with foreign clubs (in Latvia, Poland, Estonia, Belarus and Russia) increased the development and popularity of movement. The analysis of the data has indicated the following main historical reenactment periods: the Balts, the Middle Ages, the Napoleonic era, the First and the Second World War, and the resistance. In the reenactment of general themes (such as Medieval), the local, regional and national history and artefacts are employed. The period of the Balts and Baltic tribes (Yotvingians, Curonians), the period of the creation and prosperity of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the partisan resistance, are themes by which the historical reenactment movement stands out.