Lietuvos valstybingumo branda ir trapumas (1918-1940 m.)

• Kaubrys, Saulius, sudarymas [com]
• Vyšniauskas, Arūnas, sudarymas, redagavimas [com, edt]

LTStraipsnių rinkinys atspindi dvylikos autorių ilgamečių tyrimų rezultatus. Daugumoje straipsnių yra naudojama nauja, iki šiol neskelbta medžiaga iš Lietuvos ir užsienio archyvų, o visi autoriai vienaip ar kitaip faktus, įvykius ir procesus konceptualizuoja naujoviškai, juos traktuodami platesniame tarptautiniame kontekste. Ypatingas dėmesys skiriamas XX a. ketvirto dešimtmečio padėčiai, kai atrodė, kad Lietuvos ir kitų Baltijos šalių ekonomikoje, švietime ir kultūroje bei daugelyje valstybinio gyvenimo sričių pasiekta didelė pažanga, tačiau kartu kilo naujų grėsmių valstybinės nepriklausomybės likimui. Kartu su knyga pateikiamas kartografinis priedas - Stalino ir Ribentropo 1939 m. rugsėjo 28 d. pasirašyto Lenkiją padalijusio žemėlapio sumažinta autentiška archyvinė kopija.

ENThe Maturity and Fragility of Lithuania’s Statehood (1918-1940) - this is how the title of the book translates into English. The introductory article focuses on the circumstances of the conception and appearance of this collection of articles. And although the topics discussed by the various authors chronologically fall between 1918 and 1940, their thematic overlap is only partial. However, all the articles, in one way or other, are centred around the issues of Lithuanian independence in the period between the two world wars. To some extent these issues are still relevant to the Republic of Lithuania today. Problems such as foreign policy, international security, territorial integrity and the military capacity of the country’s armed forces have not lost their significance. These are complemented with articles devoted to the solution of the problems of unemployment, historical memory, Lithuanian emigrees, and the situation of ethnic minorities. The authors of the majority of the articles are Lithuanian researchers: Dr. Arūnas Vyšniauskas (scientific editor), Dr. Algimantas Kasparavičius, Prof. dr. Vygantas Vareikis, Dr. Vilma Bukaitė, Dr. Vytautas Jokubauskas, PhD student Gražina Sviderskytė, Dr. Norbertas Černiauskas, Prof, dr. Juozas Skirius and Prof. dr. Zenonas Butkus. The latter discusses the reaction of the Baltic states to German policy after Hitler’s accession to power in 1933, focusing on the policy of the neighbouring Latvia and Estonia.The collection includes three articles by colleagues from other countries, namely, Dr. Magnus Ilmjärv (Estonia), Dr. Eriks Jekabsons (Latvia), and Prof, dr. Victor Karady (Hungary). Their contributions deal with Lithuania’s interwar, international situation from the perspective of researchers in Tallinn, Riga and Budapest. At the end of the book the reader will find an important cartographic historical document, a German map from 1939 that graphically shows the partition of occupied Poland. This map bears the signatures of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Joachim von Ribbentrop, authorised by Adolf Hitler to sign on behalf of Germany, and Josif Stalin, the supreme Soviet leader, who signed on behalf of the USSR. The original map is kept in Berlin, Germany, in the Political Archive of the Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt - Politisches Archiv). Its reproduction in full size is published for research purposes for the first time. We are grateful to this institution for their permission to publish it in this book. The research was funded by a grant (No. LIT-9-16) from the Research Council of Lithuania. The coordinator of the project is Dr. Arūnas Vyšniauskas, chief researcher, the Department of the History of Modern Times, Faculty of History, Vilnius University.