Lithuania at the beginning of the 20th century as designed by Kazys Grinius

Straipsnyje, pasitelkus distinkciją tarp pilietinės ir tautinės visuomenės / valstybės modelio, analizuojamos lietuvių visuomenės veikėjo Kazio Griniaus politinės pažiūros XX a. pradžioje. Tyrime daugiausia remtasi vienalaikiais šaltiniais (periodine spauda, Lietuvių (Lietuvos) demokratų partijos programomis). Straipsnyje teigiama, kad nors po 1905 m. revoliucijos pasikeitė K. Griniaus bei kitų demokratų retorika, tačiau iš esmės liko nepakitusi orientacija į tautinės valstybės modelį.This article is aimed at debating with the thesis used by several Lithuanian historians which suggests that after the revolution of 1905, Kazys Grinius, being one of the leaders of the Lithuanian Democratic Party (LDP), advocated for the model of the civic rather than ethnic nation. The author of the article, based on the analysis of K. Grinius’ texts published in the early 20th century and the LDP political programs, states that although after 1905 there were certain changes in the rhetoric, the underlying orientation of K. Grinius and the LDP towards the model of the ethnic community and thus nation-state remained unaltered. The author of this article believes that the said position was a result of the belief shared by members of the party that they were supposed to defend the interests of ethnic Lithuanians (peasants). The majority of Lithuanian activists of that time believed that ethnic and social emancipation of the said group was only possible in an nation-state