National Minorities Issues between the Two World Wars

Abstract

The focus on the inter-war period is important for two reasons. First, the newly independent Lithuania claims to be continuing the democratic tradition from the inter-war period. We need to evaluate this alleged democratic tradition in terms of its approach towards national minorities. Second, we need to understand the important role which not only democratic tradition but also national rhetoric had in influencing what happened in Lithuania in the inter-war period. These objectives are particularly important because the inter-war period has great emotional significance in contemporary Lithuania and plays a crucial part in national history. Memory of this period does not only entail perceiving it as a golden age but also has its territorial dimension of where the boundaries of a Lithuanian state are.