War, Revolution and Nation-Making in Lithuania, 1914-1923

On September 26, 2018, the National Library of Lithuania hosted a book presentation. The book, War, Revolution and Nation-Making in Lithuania, 1914-1923 by Tomas Balkelis was published by Oxford University Press in 2018.

The book analyzes one of the most important periods in Lithuanian history. The author explores how the Lithuanian state was created and shaped by the Great War and its aftermath. In doing so, he approaches the Lithuanian conflict through the lens of real people, such as refugees, veterans, volunteers, peasant conscripts, POWs, and paramilitary fighters. The book also shows the impact the war had on the Lithuanian nation, not simply during the war, but for decades after the conflict subsided and addresses a crucial formative period in the history of the Baltic region, using Lithuania as a lens through which to view the larger East European landscape.

Dr. Tomas Balkelis defended his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto in 2004. For several years, he worked at the University of Manchester, University of Nottingham, University of Dublin and Vilnius University. In 2015-2016, he was a visiting researcher at Stanford University (US). Currently, Dr. Balkelis works at the Institute of Lithuanian History. His first book, The Making of Modern Lithuania (Routledge, 2009) argued that, contrary to contemporary Lithuanian nationalist rhetoric, Lithuanian nationalism was modern and socially constructed in the period from the emergence of the Lithuanian national movement in the late nineteenth century to the birth of an independent state in 1918.

Balkelis’s book presentation

Photo credit: National Library of Lithuania