The Restoration of christian democracy in Lithuania, 1989-1990: continuities and ruptures

ENArtūras Svarauskas analyzes the restoration of the Christian Democratic political tradition in Lithuania in 1989–1990 relative to what had existed prior to Lithuania’s capture by the USSR in 1940. In the late 1980s, Lithuanian Christian Democrats acted in an unconventional way relative to their Christian Democratic counterparts across the continent. Namely, they did not participate in public political activities in the name of a party, but instead supported the Lithuanian national movement born in opposition to the USSR, the so-called Sajūdis (Lithuanian for ‘movement’). No prominent political leaders came to the fore in the party. Instead, in a literal sense it became a people’s party after the announcement of independence from the USSR via peaceful negotiation and compromise. This marked a clear difference from the acting and thinking of the interwar period, when Christian Democrats had been one of Lithuania’s dominant political forces. After the declaration of independence in 1991, the Christian Democrats merged with the conservatives.