Klaipėdos universitetas

In the evaluation of the goals of the countries that fought in the First World War, one of the most persistent stereotypes testifies to the particular aggressiveness of the Kaiser’s Germany, and its exclusive role in the outbreak of the war. This opinion is directly related to Lithuania, when it comes to the expansionist approach of Germany with respect to the western border zones of the Russian Empire. The paper looks for the origins of these historiographic stereotypes, by analysing how the goals of Germany in the First World War were presented in Soviet historiography, and, in a broader sense, in socialist bloc historiography; and how Lithuanian historiography in the period of restored independence has been impacted by the approaches of foreign researchers. After looking at studies of recent resonant historiographic trends with respect to the military aims of the Kaiser’s Germany, and their traces in the Lithuanian study of history, the author makes an attempt to verify the validity of the statement about ‘German expansionism’ as regards Lithuania and the neighbouring region in the initial period of the war, which has been little explored in Lithuania.

This paper, extensively employs articles and studies by Lithuanian historians of the period that are regarded as a heritage of Lithuanian historiography, examines the national ideas and concepts of Lithuanian historians and concentrates on Lithuanian-Polish discussion on questions such as: How they understood nationalism? How they analysed and evaluated political programs for the re-establishment of statehood of Lithuania, i.e. for political autonomy of Lithuania and for Polish-Lithuanian federal state? What kind of arguments they used against the Polish territorial claims toward Vilnius and its district? What are the main features of Klimas’ concept of nationalism?