Amber Declaration

Amber Declaration
Created7 August 1914
Ratified17 August 1914
Author(s)Jonas Basanavičius, Stasys Šilingas, Donatas Malinauskas
PurposeTo unify Lithuania Minor and Lithuania Proper and to establish autonomy under the Russian Empire

Amber Declaration (Lithuanian: Gintarinė deklaracija), also known as Lithuanian Declaration,[1] is a document signed by the representatives of Lithuanian fellowship in Vilnius, Lithuania, Russian Empire, on 7 August 1914, which sought to unify Lutheran Lithuania Minor and Catholic Lithuania Proper into a single autonomous state under the Russian rule. It was officially ratified on 17 August 1914.[1] The Declaration also emphasized the unique Baltic identity of the Lithuanian nation as well as its old tradition of statehood.[2] The authors of the Declaration are Jonas Basanavičius, Stasys Šilingas and Donatas Malinauskas.[1]

The Declaration is named after the proclamation that compared ethnic Lithuania to an amber necklace, which was torn apart due to Germany's historical Drang nach Osten.[3]

  1. ^ a b c Spečiūnas, Vytautas. "Gintarinė deklaracija". vle.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Lietuvos visuomenė Pirmojo pasaulinio karo pradžioje: įvykiai, draugijos, asmenybės". sena.mab.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 November 2022.
  3. ^ Česlovas, Iškauskas (25 October 2014). "Č. Iškauskas. Skaldyta ir skaldoma Lietuva: kas gresia jos vientisumui?". DELFI (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 1 November 2022.