Kariuomenės paradai Lietuvos kariuomenėje 1918–1940 metais: nuo repeticijos iki tradicijos

The main event of the 2018 centenary celebrations of the Lithuanian Armed Forces was a ceremonial military parade in Vilnius on 24 November. This first parade took place in Kaunas, not on 23 November 1918 when the Ministry of National Defense of Lithuania, led by Prime Minister Augustinas Voldemaras, issued the initial order for the organization of the army. The international political situation at the time had big impact on this. The Lithuanian government realized that they needed a strong and well-armed army because they were facing threads from the east, south and north. Historical research on the parades of the Lithuanian army in the period 1918-1940 is essentially non-existent. Scholars have focused more on the elements of the development of the Lithuanian armed forces in the period between wars, which virtually ignored the significance and importance of the parades. The thesis questions whether the model of a “Lithuanian” parade was established between 1918-1940 and explores what elements were adapted versus uniquely created. European states developed military parade traditions in the 18th century to showcase military strength, a practice adopted by many countries by the 19th century. Unlike other European nations, Lithuania began forming its army only in late 1918, shaping its parade tradition much later. The research focuses on military parades as integral to the development of Lithuanian military culture during the interwar period (1918-1940), a time of establishing the fledgling state and creating a new army primarily tasked with defending and safeguarding the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Master’s thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters, conclusions, a list of references, recommendations, and appendices, with a summary in English. The first chapter delves into the definition of military parades, examining them as purely military events as well as cultural and socio-political phenomena. It discusses the evolution of military parades in Lithuania during the interwar period and the reasons behind these changes. The second chapter focuses on classifying military parades to pinpoint the transition from the Tsarist Russian tradition to a Western one, exploring the potential development of a Lithuanian military parade model. The third chapter explores the main functions of military parades, looking at both internal (army perspective) and external (state perspective) viewpoints as possible solutions. The aim of the master’s thesis is to reveal the structure of the parades of the Lithuanian army in 1918-1940 as one of the traditions of military culture based on archive, periodical and ego documentary sources. The sources are divided into interwar press, memoirs and archival material. The most important empirical material in this study consists of archival documents that reveal the process of organizing parades of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and their significance in the interwar state. The archival documents reveal the hierarchical mechanisms that ensured the order of the parades and their propaganda outcome. The sources mentioned above allowed not only to assess how army parades were presented to the public, but also to compare official orders with the actual nature of public communication. By comparing archival documents with press publications, it is possible to see the differences between the internal approach of the army and the way in which these events were presented to the public. Additional reference was made to visual material (photographs, posters), as well as ego documents of the time, which helped to better understand the perception of army parades in a wider context. The thesis is based on the analysis of scientific literature, the inter-war journalistic press and archival documents. A typology is used to examine the classification of military parades. The method of comparative analysis of archival documents, press and iconographic sources was used to analyze the functions for which military parades were used in the Republic of Lithuania during the interwar period. Conclusions.

1. The concept of the military parade has been analyzed, revealing that this traditional element of military culture has evolved over time and in response to the political context. The analysis of the interwar military statutes suggests that from the very beginning the Lithuanian army undertook a consistent adaptation of parade ceremonies. The “Lithuanian” model of the military parade became a hybrid form, distinguished by the fact that it combined Western military discipline with authentic national content, forming a unique ritual of public performance by the Lithuanian army, which at the same time functioned both as a symbol of the state’s strength and national identity.
2. The system of organizing military parades in interwar Lithuania was significant not only for the internal structure of the army, but also for the representation of the state, ideological consolidation and mobilization of society. In the first stages, features of the legacy of Tsarist Russian military culture are visible, which gradually gave way to Western - especially French, British or German - traditions. The classification of the parades according to the types and internal structure of the army revealed not only the technical and organizational development of the army, but also its cultural and ideological load.
3. During the interwar period, parades held by the Lithuanian Armed Forces fulfilled two roles. Firstly, they were used as a means of representation on the outside. Secondly, they also served an internal function, which was to strengthen the self-concept and organizational identity of the army. On the one hand, military parades shaped the army's public image: the coherence of the formation, neat uniforms and clearly structured commands visually conveyed organization and professionalism. On the other hand, the parade was an educational practice that reinforced discipline, obedience, and collective identity. Parades were also an important means of demonstrating the political stability, sovereignty and national identity of the state. They were a visual reflection of the army’s role as a constitutional power, capable of ensuring public order and the territorial integrity of the state.