Previous conferences
2018
Academic conference „Karas ir visuomenė"
Date: September 7th-9th 2018
Description: 2018 commemorates the centennial anniversary of the Lithuanian state. But 1918 is also important as the year that the Lithuanian Army was re-established, and the Red Army invaded the country. Thus began the period of existential struggle that ended in 1920 near Širvintos and Giedraičiai, and in 1923 with the annex of the Klaipėda region.
The conference is intended to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the modern statehood and the modern Lithuanian Army, however, in terms of its presentation topics the conference covers a much wider chronological period: from the Baltic tribes to information warfare.
History of warfare is more than the analysis of battles, and much more than the analyses of armies and wars. Warfare historians often focus on wars and analysing the actions of armies, their provisions, movements, strategies and tactics. But the most essential thing is the effect that those wars and armies have on societies, how these preocesses have affected the societal shifts, what experiences and stereotypes they shape, what effects remain for decades after the war. We hope that the conference “Karas ir visuomenė” will help to take a deeper plunge into this wide field of research, the organizers emphasize.
This is not the first conference in Nida focusing on the history of warfare and organized by the Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology of the University of Klaipėda along with the Thomas Mann Cultural Center and sponsored by the Neringa City Municipality and Neringos muziejai.
On September 16–17, 2016 the conference „Teisė sukilti“ took place in Nida, on January 9-20, 2017 the academic conference „Lietuviai Didžiajame kare ir Didysis karas Lietuvoje“ took place at the Thomas Mann Memorial Museum in Nida.
This year, the conference is partly sponsored by the Lithuanian Council of Culture, which has provided financial support for the activities of the Thomas Mann Cultural Center. Under auspicious circumstances, the organizers expect that the warfare historians will again gather in Nida to discuss the current affairs especially related to the freedom fighting history and the Independence fights of 1919-1920 to commemorate their centennial the next year.
Organizers: Thomas Mann Cultural Center, Thomo Manno kultūros centras, Baltic Region History and Archaeology of the University of Klaipėda
Partners: Neringa City Municipality, Neringos muziejai Sponsors: Lithuanian Council of Culture
Download the conference program here.
2017
International academic conference „Remembrance of the First World War in interwar Europe. In seach for new analystical categories“
Date: September 21-24, 2017
Description: The event was intended to bring together the researchers who study the impact of WWI on interwar European societies and to discuss the understanding of the role of this war, which today still often is too superficial. So far, the research has indicated that in one part of Europe WWI was “remembered” during the interwar period, and in the other – meaning first of all Central and Eastern Europe, including Lithuania – it was supposedly “forgotten”. However, the most recent case studies from Soviet Russia, Estonia, Lithuania provide major corrections to such a thesis. The analysis of solely the Lithuanian data suggests that during the interwar period, the Lithuanian experiences of the war years were reflected in a great number of memoirs and works of fiction. There were a few memorials built and works of visual arts created to commemorate them. Like elsewhere, the veterans of the Great War and those whose health suffered because of it struggled for their social welfare. Finally, the idea of collecting all the possible information of the Lithuanian contribution to the Great War and expressing this contribution not only in writing, but also in a national monument grew ever more pertinent. This impetus was cut short only by the WWII, which eventually threw the experiences of WWI into oblivion. These results from Lithuanian studies raised the question of whether “remembering” and “forgetting” are still relevant categories at all to understand the multifaceted impact of WWI on the interwar European societies. Such questions are to be discussed at the conference, which is expected to rethink the understanding of the impact of the Great War on the interwar European societies, to define and newly conceptualize these implications. Provided it is particularly relevant to such post-imperial societies as Lithuania, the organizers prioritized the Central and East European regin in selecting the applications of participants. Project manager (contact person): dr. Lina Motuzienė
Organizatoriai: Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology of the University of Klaipėda, Neringos muziejai, Thomas Mann Cultural Center, Goethe Institute in Lithuania, German Historical Institute Warsaw.
Download the conference program here.
Academic conference „Lietuviai Didžiajame kare ir Didysis karas Lietuvoje“
Date: January 19-20, 2017
Description: In his multi-volume work devoted to WWI The World Crisis, 1923–1931 Winston Churchill only discussed the European Easter front in the last, the fifth, volume. The author called it “the unknown war”, as if regretful of the way the Westerners emphasize primarily those events of the Great War in which they themselves took part. However, in contemporary Lithuania, the situation was hardly different. A decade or more after the peace treaty the people also remembered the Great War not as a global event, which happened on several theaters throughout the world, bus as a phenomenon that was relevant to them in one way or another. The Lithuanian experiences of the war years were reflected in a great number of memoirs and works of fiction. There were a few memorials built and works of visual arts created to commemorate them. Like elsewhere, the veterans of the Great War and those whose health suffered because of it struggled for their social welfare. Finally, the idea of collecting all the possible information of the Lithuanian contribution to the Great War and expressing this contribution not only in writing, but also in a national monument grew ever more pertinent. This impetus was cut short only by the WWII, which eventually threw the experiences of WWI into oblivion. The conference „Lietuviai Didžiajame kare ir Didysis karas Lietuvoje“ is dedicated to the evaluation and a symbolic continuation of the road traveled during the interwar period. The presentations of the event focus on two questions: 1) The experience of the residents of Lithuania who participated in WWI and 2) The imprints that the war left, as they are revealed in social relationships, culture and arts in the interwar Lithuania. Vasilijus Safronovas
Organizers: Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology of the University of Klaipėda, Neringos muziejai, Thomas Mann Cultural Center
Download the conference program here.
2016
Academic workshop „Teisė sukilti“
Date: September 16-17, 2016
Description: There were three main reasons to organize the workshop „Teisė sukilti“. First, the fact that military coups and armed rebellions are still on the agenda in the 21 st century. Just a few examples: the military coup in Egypt in 2013; the failed coup in the NATO member Turkey in 2016, rebellions and troubles in the Arab countries, that have become a problem for the whole world and especially for Europe. In 2011, the civilian protests in Syria grew into a prolonged armed conflict which destabilizes the situation in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Second, there is a need to reconsider the experience of armed struggle for independence in the context of the centennial of re-establishing the Lithuanian statehood in order to identify the reasons of wins and losses, to understand the borderline between the legitimate and the illegitimate use of military force, to study how such practices may be applied for destabilization of states or for defense of national interests.
Third, there is a need to discuss the issues of military history and to involve a wide circle of scholars and other interested persons in such discussions. Such discussion has become particularly relevant in the recent years, as the Klaipėda, Vytautas Magnus and Vilnius Universities have seen an expansion in the number of doctoral students whose research topics are related to military (warfare) history.
The academic workshop „Teisė sukilti“ features speakers (historians and philosophers) from Lithuania and Poland who will analyze the historical experiences, causes, courses, impacts and legitimacy of armed rebellions and other military coups. Vytautas Jokubauskas
Organizers: Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology of the University of Klaipėda, Thomas Mann Cultural Center
Partners: Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, Neringa City Municipality, Neringos muziejai, Lithuanian National Defense Volunteer Forces
Download the program of the workshop here.
