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This paper aims to find out the rhetoric of Lithuanian presidential candidates during the 2009, 2014 and 2019 election campaigns with respect to Russia and its threat to Lithuania’s national security, as well as how candidates’ rhetoric changed when comparing these three election campaigns. The 2009, 2014 and 2019 elections as the research object were chosen because the 2009 and 2014 elections were held just a few months after the beginning of the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 and the annexation of Crimea and the beginning of the war in Donbas in 2014, while the 2019 Lithuanian presidential election took place amidst the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In order to answer the research question, an analysis of candidates’ election programs and speeches during televised debates broadcasted by the Lithuanian National Broadcaster before all three elections, was performed. Comparative analysis of the election campaigns has shown that there was a significant shift in candidates’ rhetoric regarding Russia, Lithuania’s bilateral relations with Russia, and the assessment of the threat posed by Russia to Lithuania’s national security when comparing the 2009, 2014 and 2019 presidential elections. In 2014 and 2019, unlike in 2009, the majority of candidates began to refer to Russia as an aggressor country that posed a security threat to Lithuania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between Buddhism and the state in Buryatia, historically and today. Buryatia is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious republic in the Russian Federation. It is argued in this paper that the case of Buryatia shows how the state and religion not only exert a mutual influence on each other, but their entanglement runs deeper. The article argues that these spheres shape each other, at times competing, and at other times coexisting in synergy. This detailed exploration of Buryat Buddhism, historically and today, aims to contribute to our understanding of Buddhism and the state, and also to our understanding of contemporary Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty seven percent of the repertoire of Lithuanian literature published in Lithuania Minor in the period 1808-1941 consists of religious literature. The publishing of this literature was promoted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Pietistic religious movement which originated in the 18th century. The Kaunas Country Public Library preserves a collection of Lithuanian hymnals published in Lithuania Minor in the years 1850-1936. The collection consists of 142 hymnals which make 34.7% of the hymnals published in the years 1808-1936. It contains rare editions: 4 uniques, 11 curios, 15 especially rare hymnals. An important part of the cultural heritage of the books that reflect the manners and religious practices of people in this region is binding of hymnals, super-ex-libris and provenances. Wafers, stamps and vignettes - promotional marks of book binders -- allow identifying the authors of hymnals and super-ex-librises; 74 books are signed with various marks. There are 73 personal names among the marks of the hymnal collection. The major part of the provenances consists of marks of property (58), promotional marks of book binders (14), stamps (10), super-ex-librises (9), exlibrises (1) and marginalia (17). The property records and marginalia perpetuated names and place-names, dates connected to the book owners and their relatives, fragments of favorite religious texts and records of important life events. It is a sign of the extinct culture of Lithuania Minor, which remained on the pages of the publications. The books of Lithuania Minor are rare because of the historical and political circumstances of the region, a decay of low-quality paper used in the 19th and the first part of the 20th century, and small book editions. Due to the small number of extant copies and the provenances they contain, the collection is an important part of Lithuania Minor printing and cultural heritage, which complements Lithuanian national bibliography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the sources of the Lithuanian sociology in the Russian Empire in the first decade of the 20th century. It surveys the history of the emergence of sociology discipline in St. Petersburg's Roman Catholic Spiritual Academy, where a number of Lithuanian studied, and the focus is on the academic activities and social thought of J. Matulaitis in 1907-1909. J. Matulaitis is known as the renovator or the founder of monasteries and as Bishop of Vilnius. In 1987, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II. This study aims to analyze, on the basis of the chronicle of Academy, articles on social issues in the magazine "Draugija" in 1909, memories of students and letters of G. Matulaitis, his contribution to the science of sociology. The author of the article claims that the department of Sociology at the Academy of St. Petersburg was the first in the Russian Empire. It was founded by the initiative of Lithuanian students and professors, and its establishment in 1907 predated the department of sociology of the Private Institute of Psycho neurology dated to 1911 (first mentioned in historical researches of Russian scientists). The first professor of Sociology in the Academy was a Lithuanian, i. e. J. Matulaitis. His lectures on sociology made a significant impact on the development of social sciences in Lithuania. The professors of the Academy J. Matulaitis, P. Bucys, Maironis, and others organized the Lithuanian social courses to the public in Kaunas in 1909, and such sociologists as S. Sulte, K. Saulys, K. Paltarokas, who delivered lectures, became well-known specialists in this sphere. In spite of J. Matulaitis' obvious contribution to the evolution of Lithuanian sociology, he was not a sociologist. His insights and interdisciplinary knowledge helped him to create a new science, the so-called Christian Social Teaching. The thought and the attitudes of J. Matulaitis got ahead of the Pope's thought even a few decades and are relevant to the present day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses how imperial memory is presented in textbooks addressed to the secondary schools of the Russian Federation. During the last decade our Eastern neighbour tends to actualize the issues dealing with the heritage of the Tsarist and Soviet empire as well as pro-imperial discourse. The textbook "History of Western Russia" was chosen for the reason that it reflects history teaching tendencies in general and contemporary history teaching in particular in Russia. The article reviews the usage and explanation of the concept "Western Russia" in the context of the theory of "western borderlands of the empire". Basically, Russia's imperial experience is estimated positively; moreover, the issue of the empire's past remains a politically sensitive question today. Therefore, this textbook, in fact, is a collection of methodological, or even ideological, patterns which is adapted to the above mentioned issues and which is extensively applied to the process of history teaching; it could be even stated that it is supplemented by the postulates of the tsarist historiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article researches how prehistory period ethnical and social processes are presented in the latest history textbook on Kaliningrad region history. The textbook is for the fifth-sixth grade pupils of Russian schools and is entitled History of Western Russia. The author G. Kretinin deliberates on the validity of ethnical processes on the basis of the investigations carried out by Russian, Polish and Lithuanian archeologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses how contemporary Russian radical authors (Dugin, Panarin, Kalashnikov, Kaliuzhnyj) characterize public discussions and official representations of Russian history. Their criticism is levelled at the so-called "pro-Western" and "anti-patriotic" visions of "Russia's glorious past". In other words, the field of historical studies is seen as the propaganda battleground, and the control over the images of the past means the effective management of mass consciousness. As far as Russia is concerned, history and its teaching traditionally were defined as objects of censorious state control. Such a tradition can be traced back to the end of the 18"' and the beginning of the 19" centuries. Especially brutal forms of censorship were implemented by the Soviet regime, when history was exploited as one of indoctrination tools and means to veil the crimes of the Soviet totalitarianism. Censorship was officially abolished after the fall of the Soviet regime. However, the decade of provisory "freedom" is coming to the end now. During the Putin's regime history studies at universities and other educational institutions (secondary schools included) became the object of growing criticism as "too liberal" or even "anti-Russian". On the one hand, Russian radical authors welcome the initiatives of the ruling regime "to make improvements in this highly important sphere". On the other hand, they voice the opinion that as "pro-Western menace" still exists, it is necessary to tighten control and restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article surveys the historiography of the 1944-1953 Lithuanian partisan movement, which strived to restore the independent state of Lithuania; it also aims to summarise the results of the research concerning this movement, its problems, development, and tendencies. The historiography of 1944-1953 resistance movement could be divided into two major periods. 1) the Soviet historiography till June, 1988, when the national reform movement Sajūdis was formed in Lithuania and 2) historiography of national rebirth and the independent state of Lithuania (June 1998-2004). The historiography of the resistance movement also evolved independently in foreign countries (where Lithuanians lived in emigration) before and after the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania. Researches of emigrant historians could be distinguished as a separate part of the resistance movement historiography. The Soviet historiography fulfilled certain political and ideological tasks, i.e. to defame freedom fighters and discredit the resistance movement. Lithuania's post-war history was viewed from the point of view of the Marxist class struggle theory. Therefore, freedom fighters were treated as cruel bandits, Nazi collaborators; milder terms used to describe them were capitalists and kulaks trying to restore the bourgeoisie system. This biased selection of historical facts, even their falsification, became an inalienable feature of the historical methodology of the Soviet period. Objective research of the resistance movement was impossible under the total state control and censorship. During the years of independence (1991-2004), the historiography of the resistance movement developed very rapidly. Numerous researches, which were of empirical and descriptive character, marked a new stage in Lithuania's present day history though they lacked synthetic studies with a strong theoretical background. Historiography of the independent Lithuanian period follows two directions: heroic-romantic and critical, which is dominant at the moment. Heroic-romantic approach adheres to the apologetic attitude towards the resistance movement. Researchers often idealized freedom fighters and schematically interpreted painful and complicated events, omitted some facts of underground activities sometimes even resorting to the characteristics of the Soviet methodology. Despite these shortcomings, adherents to the heroic-romantic approach to historiography revealed many important facts and documents, objectively investigated certain concrete problems and published important works. Studies of critical historiography, however, are not so numerous; nevertheless, they play an important role in the development and alternating tendencies of Lithuania's present day history encouraging academic disputes, critical thinking or re-evaluation of well known facts. So far, the history of the resistance movement is not fully and critically revealed. Some problems such as periodization, reasons, which gave rise to the resistance movement, its scope, collaboration, freedom fighters' repressions against those who collaborated with the Soviet power, and others are not explored enough and need further investigations. The post-war resistance movement, due to its complexity and numerous sources, will remain actual and acute for a long time. On the other hand, researches of the resistance movement at this moment progressed far enough to be summarized into one fundamental monograph with a critical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patriotic education is and remains a crucial problem in the countries which regained their independence or recently emerged as independent states after the collapse of the Soviet empire. The rejection of the idea of the Soviet patriotism left a lacuna in this sphere; the most conspicuous consequence is an increasing number of young people who leave their native country and settle in foreign countries. To strengthen ties with young people, many countries especially contemporary Russia, try to publish works dealing with historical issues. Therefore, the article aims to investigate the situation of patriotic education in Russia in terms of contemporary Russian history textbooks. A huge amount of science, science popular and pseudohistorical literature is dedicated to patriotic education in Russia. Though their authors made attempts to rewrite Russian history from ancient times till present days, the contemporary history textbooks follow the traditional ideology of the Soviet period. These textbooks do not present results of present day researches; the authors do not escalate those topics of Russian history which would stimulate the country's youth to be proud of their history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]