Dreaming and selling a nation: Lithuanian propaganda and crowdfunding, 1900–1923

In light of the contemporary expansion of “nation branding” – a promotional industry specializing in the business of national identity – this thesis revisits the early twentieth century that saw a simultaneous rise of the nation state and PR. The study deals with the Lithuanian experience in selling the nation by exploring propaganda and fundraising campaigns that were organized from the initial phase of the national movement until the final settlement of borders of post-First World War “new Europe”. It primarily focuses on Lithuanian diaspora since émigrés were the first to engage in the promotion of the nation to the outside world. Simultaneously, Lithuanian activists sought to open the hearts and purses of their own ethnic communities for the national cause. Crowdfunding among immigrants and imperial minorities provided financial resources for propaganda as well as political legitimation. Furthermore, the Lithuanian case study serves as an entry point to the circles of “oppressed peoples” to explore the instances of their rivalry and collaboration. The thesis also looks into their complex relationship with two liberating agendas – nationalism and socialism. The historiography of the national question in East Central Europe suffers from teleology and exceptionalism, characteristic to national histories. Conversely, narratives adopting the standpoint of dominant cultures tend to omit the agency of smaller nationalities. The findings of this study contribute to challenging these perceptions by exposing historical contingency, transnational trajectories and encounters, transfers of knowledge and practises as well as diversity of people and places that were involved in dreaming and selling a nation.
Doctorat en Histoire, histoire de l'art et archéologie
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished