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Lithuania declared independence at the advent of the Russian Revolution and the end of World War I. The Bolshviks attempted to reimpose Russian control, but as a result of the Civil War was unable to do so. As a result, Lithunia and the other Baltic states achieved their independence. The Versailles Peace Conference adopted the principle of self-determination and 12 new states, including Lithuania, were recognized. The new Lithuanian state was primarily the Tsarist Grand Duchy. Like the rest of the Baltics, Luthuania was poor, badly in debt, and devestted by the War and post-War fighting. The League of Nations Council offered to recognize the Baltics if they guaranteed minority rights (1921). [Peters] As a result of a League of Nations referendem, Memel was transferred from German East Prussia to Lithuania. Lithuania and Poland were once part of an important medieval power. Thus the border areas there was considerable population mixing. The illdefined post-War border with Poland resulted in conflict with the new independent Polish state. The Poles seized Vilnus. We do not have much information on education in Lithuania during this period. For the first time there was an educational ststem based on national culture. Language was at the heart of this. Now Lithuanian children could study in their own language and Latin alphabet at all levels. The Cyrillic alphabet was dropped. There were informal 'schools of the hearth' in the villages taught in Lituanian to resist Tsarist Rusification. Tsarist officialks had made some concessions on language as a result of the 1905 Revolution.
Now Lithuanian was the official language. Independence fostered the development of a Lithuanian press, literature, music, arts, and theater. A national education system with Lithuanian as the language of instruction. The network of primary and secondary schools was established. Both primary and secondary schools were expanded along with tertiary institutions.
There may have been separate schools for the major minorities such as the Germans, Poles, and Jews. The minorities, especially Germans and Jews were heavily represented in the cities. Lithuanians were the bulk of the rural population. This demographic pattern began to shift in the inter-War era as a result of a range of government policies. Lithuanian society at the time of independence was basically agricultural. Some 80 percen of ethnic Lituanians lived in rural areas. City populations were mostly Germans, Jews, Poles, and Russians. The Roman Catholic Church was a strong cultural force in addition to the mational revival. There was a substantial population increase, over 20 percent in the inter-War era. The most notable impact was a significant change in urban areas with Lituanians becoming the majority for the first time. All of this of course affected the schools. We know there were separate Jewish schools and most Jewish children attended these schools. There was also the issue of the ethnic Lithuanians living in Poland.
Peters, Putin R. "Baltic state diplomacy and the League ofNations minorities system," in J. Hidenand A. Loit, The Baltic in International Relations between the Two World wars (Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis: 1988), pp. 281-302.
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