Lietuvos istorijos metraštis /The Yearbook of Lithuanian History

Based on Russian archival materials and other sources, the article reveals and analyses the political and social-economic aspects of the Soviet land reform of 1944–1948, examines statistical quantitative indicators. It seeks to reinterpret and reassess the objectives, the course, and the consequences of the land reform and to show how the socio-economic structure of the rural society was being changed and what it became. The results of the study suggest that it is reasonable to conclude that after the reform, Lithuania was dominated by small rather than medium-sized farms as claimed by Soviet historiography and the Soviet authorities. This was the result of a targeted and ollectivisation-oriented policy of the leadership of the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and not the result of land shortage. The land reform can be seen as a social revolution, which led to radical qualitative socio-economic changes in the countryside, but the political goal of winning over a larger part of the peasantry to their side was not achieved.

The article analyses the founding, functions, and activities of the Bureau of Lithuanian Studies and its subdivision, the Museum of the Red Terror, which worked during the German occupation of Lithuania (1941–1944) and is fragmentarily represented in historiography. The institution discussed performed three functions: archival, by collecting and accumulating materials about the first Soviet occupation in Lithuania; research, by analysing and publishing the collected material in its publication; and, finally, the museum function, by organising an exhibition and developing the idea of the Museum of Red Terror. The article states that during the entire period of occupation, the smooth functioning of the Bureau of Lithuanian Studies and the Museum of Red Terror subordinated to it was determined by the activities carried out by both institutions, which were favourable to both Lithuanian and German interests.

The article addresses the issue of how, following the manifest of 17 October 1905 of the Russian emperor Nikolai II, which declared the freedom of expression, the top authorities of Vilnius approached the influence of the periodical press on the spread of ideas and opinions and formation of respective attitudes, and to what extent they aimed (or did not aim) to restrict that influence.

The article examines the changes in the development and residential infrastructure of Vilnius between 1875 and 1939. It will complement the research on the development of the city’s sanitary infrastructure, expand and enrich the research on the development and transformation

The Battle of Jurbarkas of 1698 was the first significant battle of the civil war in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century. The army loyal to the republicans and the detachments hired by the nobles of some districts fought against the part of the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania loyal to the Sapieha, and the Tatars. The Sapieha won the battle, but after this victory the republicans became even more active.

The article presents a unique copy of the 1601 edition of Hierosolymitana peregrinatio (‘The Journey to Jerusalem’) by Nicholas Christopher Radziwiłł the Orphan currently preserved at the library of the Lithuanian Institute of History in Vilnius. Specific corrections left in margine prove the proofreading nature of this copy. It is asserted that the second Latin edition of the ‘Journey’ printed in Antwerp by the Plantin printing house in 1614 was prepared and published on the basis of the aforementioned copy. Unpublished letters stored in the archival collections of the Plantin-Moretus Museum reveal a completely unknown history of the printing process of the second Latin edition of the ‘Journey’. All these letters are published in the appendix to the article in their original language (Latin) with comments and translation into Lithuanian.

The first synods of the diocese of Vilnius mentioned in surviving sources are connected with bishops John of the Lithuanian Dukes (1519–1536), Paulius Alšėniškis (1536– 1555), and Valerijonas Protasevičius-Šuškovskis (1556–1579). A synod is a gathering of diocesan clergy in a central place, where the bishop, prelates, canons, and the whole diocesan clergy discuss current affairs concerning clerical discipline, the need to collect funds for the needs of Church and State, and matters of Church organisation. The miscreance of local clergy and lay folk, especially in matters concerning landed property are judged. On the other hand, a visitation involves the bishop sending out from the centre officials, connected with his archdeacon to assess the material and spiritual condition of parishes. Such means of diocesan administration are important expressions of ecclesiastical and social development. It is worthwhile examining the functioning of synods and their aims in Lithuania during the first half of the sixteenth century, including their ceremonies and organisation within the wider social context.