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The Portrait of the Protests of Vytautas Magnus University Students (1922–1939): Conflicts and Clashes

2015; Carlos III University of Madrid; Volume: 18; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.20318/cian.2016.2901

1988-8503

Saulius Kaubrys,

Polish Historical and Cultural Studies

Characteristic features of the students’ activities of the only university in the inter-war Lithuania – Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas – dealt with in the article were the expression of student protests and discontent as a result of the twists and turns in the domestic and foreign politics of the country and the internal problems of the University. The forms and substance of the collective behaviour of the active and eager academic youth pointed to the presence of unresolved urgent matters both inside and outside the University. The students’ political demonstrations of 1926 and 1938 were the direct response of young people to the political tensions in the country. It is noteworthy that the political opposition was also engaged in fuelling youth resistance by making use of student organisations, shielded by the autonomy of the University, as tools in their fight against the ruling majority. The political landscape was diverse with Catholic, nationalist and socialist segments there, thus the animosity ranging from usual routine friction between groups to serious conflicts crossing the University boundaries. The patriotically-minded students were particularly sensitive to the insinuations by Poland and Germany, the countries hostile to Lithuania, and considered them as insults to the national dignity and peaceful stance of Lithuania. Lithuania being a young national state reborn in 1918, the vices of its society (outbreaks of nationalism) engulfed the young generation, including students; the notorious case of “Jewish corpses” at the University represented the tendency described above. Several amended versions of the University Statute provoked students into expressing their discontent with the internal matters of the University, into protection of freedoms and active selfdefence. The protests under consideration ranged from accidental to consistent, while substance-wise they ranged from political to internal-institutional. Keywords: political demonstrations, the Seimas (the Lithuanian Parliament), the 1926 coup d’etat, Vytautas Magnus University, the Senate, left-wing students, student corporations, autonomy, collective self-defence. Resumen: Los rasgos y caracteristicas de la actividad y de la protesta estudiantil de la unica universidad lituana en el periodo de entreguerras -la Universidad Vytautas Magnus de Kaunas – son estudiados en este articulo como expresion del descontento antela situacion interior y exterior del pais y de los problemas internos de la propia Universidad. Las formas que adopto el comportamiento colectivo de la juventud academica senalaron la presencia de asuntos urgentes sin resolver, tanto dentro como fuera de la Universidad. Es de destacar que la oposicion politica tambien estaba comprometida en el fomento de la resistencia a la juventud, haciendo uso de las organizaciones estudiantiles, protegidas por la autonomia universitaria, como herramientas de lucha contra la mayoria gobernante. El panorama politico era muy diverso con segmentos catolicos, nacionalistas y socialistas, entre otros. Los estudiantes mas patrioticamente sensibles consideraban cualquier insinuacion de Polonia o de Alemania -los paises hostiles a Lituania- como insultos a la dignidad nacional y la postura pacifica de Lituania. Aun siendo un estado nacional joven –Lituania habia renacido en 1918- ya arrastraba ciertos vicios –como los brotes nacionalistas- que afectaron a las nuevas generaciones, tambien a los estudiantes, siendo el caso mas notorio en la universidad el llamado caso de los “cadaveres judios”. Las variadas modificaciones del Estatuto de la Universidad llevaron a los estudiantes a expresar su descontento tratando de proteger sus libertades. Las protestas que aqui estudiamos van desde las mas accidentales con el argumento constante de su implicacion en los asuntos internos de la politica universitaria. Palabras clave : manifestaciones politicas, Parlamento lituano, golpe de estado de 1926. Universidad Vytautas Magnus, Senado, estudiantes de izquierdas, corporaciones estudiantiles, autonomia, autodefensa colectiva.