Ethnic history of the Vilnius region
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Following is a list of censuses that have been taken in the city of Vilnius/Vilna/Wilno/Wilna and its region since 1897. The list is incomplete. Data are at times fragmentary.
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[edit] Ethnic and national background
Following the decline of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in late 18th century, the state had been divided among its neighbours in what is known as the partitions of Poland. Most of the lands that formerly constituted the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were annexed by the Russian Empire. While initially the lands around the city of Vilna (Vilnius) had a certain local autonomy, with local nobility holding the same offices as prior to the partitions, after several secessionist revolts against the Russian Empire, the Imperial government started to pursue a policy of both political and cultural assimilation of the newly-acquired lands (Russification). Following the failed November Uprising all traces of former Polish-Lithuanian statehood (like the Third Statute of Lithuania and Congress Poland) started to be replaced with their Russian counterparts, from the currency and units of measurement, to offices of local administration. The failed January Uprising of 1864 further aggravated the situation, as the Russian authorities decided to pursue the policies of forcibly imposed Russification. The discrimination of local inhabitants included restrictions and outright bans on usage of Polish, Lithuanian (see Lithuanian press ban), Belorussian and Ukrainian (see Valuyev circular) languages.[1][2] This has however not stopped the Polonization effort undertaken by the Polish patriotic leadership of the Vilna educational district even within the Russian Empire.[3][4]
Despite that, the pre-19th century cultural and ethnic pattern of the area was largely preserved. In the process of the pre-nineteenth century voluntary[citation needed] Polonization, much of the local nobility, boyars and gentry of Ruthenian and Lithuanian origin adopted Polish language and culture. This was also true to the representatives of the then-nascent class of bourgeoisie and the Catholic and Uniate clergy. At the same time, the lower strata of the society (notably the peasants) formed a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural mixture of Poles, Lithuanians, Jews and Ruthenians, as well as a small yet notable population of immigrants from all parts of Europe, from Italy to Scotland and from the Low Countries to Germany.
The national composition of the latter area is difficult to measure as censuses from that time and place are often unreliable.[citation needed]
In the middle of the 19th century, Lithuanian speakers constituted more than a half of all the population in the entire Vilna Governorate, including Vilna. In Lithuanian areas of the region (that is without southeast margins of Vilna Governorate and Vilna with its surroundings as a linguistic enclave) according to M. Lebedkin there were 71% of Lithuanians here,[citation needed] to A. Koreva — 67%,[citation needed] to D. Erkert — 66%[citation needed]. 18% of Poles were found by official statistics in all the Vilna Governorate (including Vilna) then.[citation needed]
The data from different times shows the changes in languages. The Lithuanian speaking area was constantly on the decline, while Belarusian speaking area pro rata was on the increase. In the parishes to the southeast from Vilnius Belarusian positions as a language of junior generation started to strengthen at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century.[5] The 20th century marks a sudden increase of Polish speaking people and pro rata decrease of Belarusian speakers. Lithuanian speaking islands remained in Dzyatlava, Lasduny, Gervyaty etc. [1], [2]
Since the first contact in the 9th century the Slavic (Ruthenian, later Belarusian) speaking areas have always bordered the vicinity of eastern Lithuania. During the rule of the Russian tsars, the use of the Lithuanian language was as follows:
- The Lingua franca remained Polish as it had been in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Though by the middle of 17th century most of the Lithuanian nobility had started to speak Polish political elite of Grand Duchy of Lithuania continued to be self-dependent. No career could have been made without Polish by then. With passing time and changing circumstances Lithuanian, Ruthenian and [Polish nobility merged politically and started to consider themselves to be citizens of one common state. For example an important person on the topic Józef Piłsudski‘s father and mother by paternal line belonged to respectively Samogitian descent Giniotai (sg. Giniotas; Polish Ginet) and Bilevičiai (sg. Bilevičius; Polish Billewicz< *Bilius) families[6]. The surname Piłsudski is of toponymic origin.
- Lithuanian was considered as an inferior, pagan language by the Polish clergy and Russian officials. This idea was constantly reinforced and conveyed to the common people.
- Catholicism (with the Polish clergy dominating) naturally was a symbol of resistance. By the end of 19th century polonisation started to be harshened by the local Church. Since Polish was considered the language of Catholicism by the clergy a good number of Lithuanian speakers of this area declared themselves as Poles during the censuses. By doing so, they felt they were emphasising that they were Catholics.[citation needed]
- Belarusians were able to understand both the Tsar's officials and the Polish speaking priests. These languages are akin to each other. Thus, many peasants adopted Belarusian and spoke in two or three languages. Their children did not need to speak Lithuanian any longer.
A considerable number of Lithuanians began to speak Belarusian containing many substratical relics of Lithuanian and mixed with Lithuanianisms, Polonicisms and became tuteishi ("the locals"). They did not assign themselves to any nation. These people said they were speaking po prostu ("the common language, the language of the simple people").[citation needed]
People who spoke po prostu were considered to be Poles by various governments. The polonization, exercised by clergy, spreading from estates and schools and later implemented by the Polish government was uncompromising. About 100–200 thousands colonists from Poland were brought in to form a mass of officers. Many Lithuanian schools were closed. In 1938, the Polish administration left only two Lithuanian primary schools and one gymnasium (the Gymnasium of Vytautas Didysis) in the entire area.[7]
The soviets at the beginning stopped the polonization. But they soon restored it. The Poles were protected by the local governments of the area. Lithuanians had been replaced in public functions by Poles and Russians.[citation needed] This coincided to soviet politics of denationalization and gave them expectancies to play a card of national tensions.
During this long period of foreign rule, many people of the region became indoctrinated with negative attitudes towards the Lithuanian language and to be ashamed of their descent and in spite of speaking po prostu, to consider themselves to be Poles.[citation needed]
[edit] Censuses
[edit] Russian census of 1897
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City of Vilna
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Vilna Governorate
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In 1897 the first Russian Empire Census was held. The territory covered by the tables included large parts of today's Belarus, that is the voblasts of Hrodna, Vitebsk and Minsk. Its results are currently criticised with respect to the issue of ethnic composition, because the ethnicity was defined by language spoken. In many cases the reported language of choice was defined by general background (education, occupation), rather than ethnicity. Some results are also thought as skewed due to the facts that pidgin speakers were assigned to nationalities arbitrarily and the Russian military garrisons were counted in as permanent inhabitants of the area. Some historians point out the fact that the Russification policies and persecution of ethnic minorities in Russia were added to the notion to subscribe Belarusians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians and Poles to the category of Russians[10][11][9].
[edit] 1916 German census
As a result of World War I, almost all of the territory encompassing the present borders of modern Lithuania and Poland were occupied by the German Army. On March 9, 1916, the German military authorities organised a census to determine the ethnic composition of their newly-conquered territories[12]. This census is currently the only census organised before 1991 that is accepted by both Polish and Lithuanian historians.[citation needed] However, many Belarusian historians note that the Belarusian minority is not noted among the inhabitants of the city.
A similar census was organised for all of the territory of German-occupied Lithuania and the northern border of the territory was more or less correspondent to that of present-day Lithuania, however it's southern border was expanded greatly and ended near Brest-Litovsk, and included the city of Białystok (see Southern Lithuania).
[edit] 1921 Polish census
After the Polish-Bolshevik War and the Treaty of Riga, the eastern Polish border was almost established. In 1921 the first Polish all-national census was held on all territory under Polish control. However, the territory of Central Lithuania, seized by the forces of General Lucjan Żeligowski in the effect of a staged mutiny in 1920 was outside of the Polish borders and it was not until March 22, 1922, when the short-lived state, considered to be a puppet state of Poland by Lithuanians, was incorporated into Poland.
Because of that, the census of September 20, 1921 covered only parts of the future Wilno Voivodship area, that is the communes of Brasław, Duniłowicze, Dzisna and Wilejka[14]. The remaining part of the territory of Central Lithuania (that is the communes of Wilno, Oszmiana, Święciany and Troki) was covered by the additional census organised there in 1923. The tables on the right give the combined numbers for the area of Wilno Voivodship (Administrative Area of Wilno), taken during both the 1921 and 1923 censuses.
[edit] Polish census of 1931
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Wilno Voivodship
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The 1931 census was the first Polish census to measure the population of whole Wilno and Wilno Voivodship at once. It was organised on December 9, 1931 by the Main Statistical Office of Poland and was widely considered impartial at the time it was taken. However, in 1931 the question of nationality was replaced by two separate questions of religion worshipped and the language spoken at home. The numbers listed in the tables on the right give the overview of the language criterion. Because of that, it is sometimes argued that the "language question" was introduced to diminish the number of Jews, who were in large part Polonized and spoke Polish language rather than Yiddish or Hebrew. At the same time, Lithuanian authorities often argued that the large majority of Polish-speaking people were in fact Polonized Lithuanians. However, there are no proofs for such stance.
[edit] Lithuanian census of 1939
In December of 1939, shortly after their take-over of the area, the Lithuanian authorities organized a new census in the area. However, the census is often criticized by Polish statisticians, as skewed, intending to prove the historical and moral rights of Lithuania to the disputed area, rather than to determine the factual composition[16].
[edit] German-Lithuanian census of 1942
After the outbreak of the German-Soviet War in 1941, the area of former Central Lithuania was quickly seized by the Wehrmacht. On May 27, 1942 a new census was organised by the German authorities and the local Lithuanian collaborators[17]. The details of the methodology used are unknown and the results of the census are commonly believed to be an outcome of the racial theories and beliefs of those who organised the census rather than the actual ethnic and national composition of the area[17]. Among the most notable features is a complete lack of data on the Jewish inhabitants of the area (see Paneriai for explanation) and a much lowered number of Poles, as compared to all the earlier censuses[18][19].
[edit] Soviet census of 1959
Presents results of two mass migrations to Poland and the growth of the city due to industrial development and the Soviet Union policy.
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Vilnius region
Source: |
[edit] Soviet census of January 1989
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City of Vilnius
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Vilnius region
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258,000 Poles in Lithuania, including 63.5% in the Vilnius rayon (currently Vilnius district municipality, excluding the city of Vilnius itself) and 79.5% in the rayon of Šalčininkai (currently known as Šalčininkai district municipality).
[edit] Lithuanian census of 2001
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Vilnius city municipality
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Vilnius district municipality
Source: 2001 Lithuanian census[citation needed] |
[edit] Jews of Vilnius
Jews of Wilno had their own complex identity, and labels of Polish Jews, Lithuanian Jews or Russian Jews are all applicable only in part.[22]
[edit] The situation today
Today, the Po prostu (poorly spoken Polish) dialect is the native language for Poles in Šalčininkai district and in some territories of Vilnius district, its speakers consider themselves to be Poles and believe po prostu language to be purely Polish[23]. Po prostu and its speakers, tuteishians ("the locals") identity are considered by some to be of a low worth and shameful in comparison with "prestigious" Polish language and identity. This came in the aftermath of politics and the situation when Polish language was identified as the only language of Catholicism in the area by the Polish priests and Polonised szlachta. "Po prostu" translates as "Simple Language", the extended name — "Simplified version of Polish". Polish was a difficult language to learn for some of the Lithuanian peasants in the region because Lithuanian that they presumably spoke is a very different Baltic Language and "Simple — Basic Language" was maximum what local population could learn of Polish. On the other hand, Ruthenian, being a Slavic language, was similar to Polish. Linguistically, "Po prostu" it is regarded as a dialect of Polish. The grammar and a clear majority of words of this language are Polish, though it contains a share number of Lithuanian too. Pronunciation clearly resembles Polish rather than any other language. It clearly belongs to the Western Slavic language group. The population has extremely strong Polish identity (including those of "the locals" who live in the other part of Vilnius region that was occupied by Soviet Union and passed on to Belarus) and sometimes is angered when Lithuanians suggest that they are just pure Lithuanians who did not learn Polish well enough. However, some of the locals admit their Lithuanian background.
At the end 20th century some Belarusian right wing nationalists claimed that "the locals" were indeed Belarusians and "Simple language" was a simplified version of Belarusian and not of Polish. "The locals" rejected this theory and tension occurred after Belarusian extremists who had a strong representation in Belarusian administration began advocating occupation and annexation of Vilnius, Daugavpils etc. regions, based on this theory. It was immediately embraced by a large proportion of Lithuanian linguists in their attempt to indignate local Poles, because Belarusian identity was viewed as even more shameful rather than the tuteishian one. The Belarusian language is very similar to Russian, and some even regard it as a dialect of Russian. Belarusian was born at the end of 19th century when Russian speakers[dubious ] in the territories of modern day Belarus were subject to substantial Polish influence. The main difference between Belarusian and Russian is that it contains a big number of Polish words and a slight Polish impact on pronunciation is felt. Therefore it is easy to make controversial statements regarding the language and identity of "the locals".
[edit] Notes and references
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- In-line:
- ^ Aviel Roshwald, Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, Russia and the Middle East, 1914–1923, Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0415178932, Google Print, p.24
- ^ Anna Geifman, Russia Under the Last Tsar: Opposition and Subversion, 1894–1917, Blackwell Publishing, 1999, ISBN 1557869952, Google Print, p.116
- ^ Tomas Venclova, Four Centuries of Enlightment. A Historic View of the University of Vilnius, 1579–1979, Lituanus, Volume 27, No.1 — Summer 1981
- ^ Rev. Stasys Yla, The Clash of Nationalities at the University of Vilnius, Lituanus, Volume 27, No.1 — Summer 1981
- ^ Petras Gaučas: Lietuvių-gudų kalbų paribio etnolingvistinė situacija 1795-1914 m. [Ethnolinguistical situation of Lithuanian-Belarusian languages' boundary in 1795–1914 m.] in: Lietuvos rytai; straipsnių rinkinys [the east of Lithuania; the collection of articles], p. 49. Vilnius 1993. ISBN 9986-09-002-4
- ^ The genealogical tree of Józef Klemens (Ziuk) Piłsudski
- ^ Zigmas Zinkevičius. Pietryčių Lietuva nuo seniausių laikų iki mūsų dienų [Southeastern Lithuania since ancient times to nowadays]. Lietuvos rytai, straipsnių rinkinys [the East of Lithuania, the collection of articles], p. 22. ISBN 9986-09-002-4
- ^ (Russian) Demoscope.
- ^ a b (Polish) Piotr Łossowski, Konflikt polsko-litewski 1918-1920 (The Polish-Lithuanian Conflict, 1918–1920), Warsaw, Książka i Wiedza, 1995, ISBN 8305127699, pp. 11.
- ^ (Lithuanian) Egidijus Aleksandravičius; Antanas Kulakauskas (1996). Carų valdžioje: Lietuva XIX amžiuje (Lithuania under the reign of Czars in XIX. century). Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 253–255.
- ^ (Polish) various authors (2002). in Wiesław Łagodziński: 213 lat spisów ludności w Polsce 1789-2002. Główny Urząd Statystyczny, Warsaw.
- ^ a b c (Polish) Michał Eustachy Brensztejn (1919). Spisy ludności m. Wilna za okupacji niemieckiej od. 1 listopada 1915 r.. Biblioteka Delegacji Rad Polskich Litwy i Białej Rusi, Warsaw.
- ^ (Polish) Ludwik Krzywicki (1922). "Rozbiór krytyczny wyników spisu z dnia 30 IX 1921 r.". Miesięcznik Statystyczny V (6).
- ^ (Polish) Ludwik Krzywicki (1922). "Organizacja pierwszego spisu ludności w Polsce". Miesięcznik Statystyczny V (6).
- ^ a b (Polish) "Drugi Powszechny Spis Ludności z dnia 9 XII 1931 r." (1939). Statystyka Polski D (34).
- ^ (English) Zakład Wydawnictw Statystycznych (corporate author) (1990). Concise Statistical Year-Book of Poland: September 1939-June 1941. Zakład Wydawnictw Statystycznych. ISBN 83-7027-015-8.
- ^ a b c d (Polish) A. Srebrakowski (1997). Liczba Polaków na Litwie według spisu ludności z 27 maja 1942 roku. Wrocław University, Wrocławskie Studia Wschodnie.
- ^ (Polish) Główny Urząd Statystyczny (corporate author) (1939). Mały rocznik statystyczny 1939. Główny Urząd Statystyczny, Warsaw.
- ^ (Polish) Stanisław Ciesielski; Aleksander Srebrakowski (2000). "Przesiedlenie ludności z Litwy do Polski w latach 1944-1947". Wrocławskie Studia Wschodnie (4): 227–53. ISSN 1429-4168.
- ^ a b (Polish) Professor Piotr Eberhardt. Liczebność i rozmieszczenie ludności polskiej na Litwie (Numbers and distribution of Polish population in Lithuania). Last accessed on 19 January 2006.
- ^ Population by some ethnicities by county and municipality . Data from Statistikos Departamentas, 2001 Population and Housing Census.
- ^ Ezra Mendelsohn, On Modern Jewish Politics, Oxford University Press, 1993, ISBN 0195083199, Google Print, p.8 and Mark Abley, Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages, Houghton Mifflin Books, 2003, ISBN 061823649X, Google Print, p.205
- ^ Lietuvos rytai; straipsnių rinkinys The east of Lithuania; the collection of articles; V. Čekmonas, L. Grumadaitė "Kalbų paplitimas Rytų Lietuvoje" "The distribution of languages in eastern Lithuania"
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- General:
- Tadeusz Rutowski (red.) (1888). Rocznik Statystyki Przemysłu i Handlu Krajowego. Krajowe Biuro Statystyczne, Lwów.
- Józef Kleczyński (1892). Spisy ludności w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Akademia Umiejętności, Kraków.
- Józef Kleczyński (1898). Poszukiwania spisów ludności Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w zbiorach Moskwy, Petersburga i Wilna. Akademia Umiejętności, Kraków.
- Główny Urząd Statystyczny (1930). Pierwsze dziesięciolecie Głównego Urzędu Statystycznego. T. 3, Organizacja i technika opracowania pierwszego polskiego spisu powszechnego z 30 września 1921 roku. Główny Urząd Statystyczny, Warsaw.
- Lietuvos Statistikos Departamentas prie Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybés (1995). Lietuvos Statistikos Metraštis. Lietuvos Statistikos Departamentas prie Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybés. ISSN 1392-026X.
- (red.) Zbigniew Strzelecki, Tadeusz Toczyński, Kazimierz Latuch (2002). Spisy ludności Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1921-2002; wybór pism demografów. Polskie Towarzystwo Demograficzne, Główny Urząd Statystyczny, Warsaw. ISBN 83-901912-9-6.
- Zbigniew Strzelecki (editor) (since 1991). Polish Population Review. Polish Demographic Society, Central Statistical Office. ISSN 0867-7905.
- (1996) Mniejszości w świetle spisów statystycznych XIX-XX w. Instytut Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej, Lublin. ISBN 83-85854-16-9.
[edit] External links
- Theodore R. Weeks, From “Russian” to “Polish”: Vilna-Wilno 1900–1925
- Lithuanian-Belarusian language boundary in the 4th decade of the 19th century
- Lithuanian-Belarusian language boundary in the beginning of the 20th century
- List of the XIXth century Suwałki region family names
- 1921 and 1931 censuses (DOC), HTML
- Repatriation and Resettlement of Ethnic Poles
- std.lt 2001 census (PDF) std.lt In English
- vilniaus-r.lt
