| Abstract [eng] |
The first and the second women assemblies were a significant social and political event. The importance of the first assembly is evidenced by the participation of the representatives of the created parties in its work as well as their wish to influence further women movement by making it a constituent of the party activity. The first Lithuanian women assembly in 1907 was called Seimas and was compared to the Great Vilnius Seimas of 1905 by the press. The assembly showed that not only women from the intelligentsia and the nobility, but also the working women and farmers understood the position of the woman in society, the importance of the establishment of women organization and women role in the national movement. Though women farmers could not disassociate themselves from their specific concerns and troubles, they still participated in the movement as conscious citizens. The first women assembly was historically significant not only for its organization and the process of growing women awareness but also for the carried decrees. The realization of the assembly decrees took place in stages. The first and the second decrees were carried out after the re-establishment of the state in 1918. However, after the assembly, the members of the elected committee could not agree about the location of the center of the union. Women from Kaunas wanted to establish the center in Kaunas, whereas women from Vilnius did not want to give the union into the hands of Kaunas women, especially as the latter were influenced by the priests. Therefore, they proposed creating the union center in Vilnius. Having shared the duties, the committee presidium started working in Vilnius and the rest of the committee in Kaunas. The clerics who had an explicit aim when assembling the women did not refuse to lead the women movement after the assembly as well. The Kaunas committee part, which remained under their influence, agreed with the idea of establishing a Catholic women... |
