| Abstract [eng] |
This dissertation discusses the political activities of Lithuanians in Switzerland during World War I. Several perspectives presenting this activity have been selected for the analysis: international and national conferences and their organization, development and dissemination of state projects, press publishing, internal and external correspondence. These issues are dealt with in five chronologically arranged chapters, within the problem analysis is presented. The data collected from new primal sources unknown for historiography. Due to that, analysis of their content and context provides a new insight into the problems of the development of Lithuanian statehood in the 20th century and tries to identify the contribution of Lithuanians in Switzerland to the development of Lithuania's independence. Also, the model of this Lithuanian group as a mediator of the two warring parties, its peculiarities, failures and achievements are important. This allows us to reveal not only the role of particular personalities in the theory and practice of statehood, but also the images of these Lithuanians about the form of state governance, its territory, its relations with citizens and neighboring states. |
