Training Lithuanian military officers in the Interwar period (1919-1940)

Šiame straipsnyje, remiantis archyvine medžiaga, literatūros šaltiniais, taikant istorinį, chronologinį tyrimo metodus, tiriama ir vertinama tarpukario (1919–1940 m.) Lietuvos kariuomenės karininkų rengimo ir jų kvalifikacijos kėlimo sistema (Pirmojo Lietuvos Prezidento karo mokykla, Karo aviacijos mokykla, Aspirantų tarnyba, Vytauto Didžiojo karininkų kursai, Aukštieji karo technikos karininkų kursai, Vytauto Didžiojo aukštoji karo mokykla, įvairūs ilgalaikiai ir trumpalaikiai kursai, Lietuvos kariuomenės karininkų studijos užsienyje ir kt.).The emerging armed forces of the newly independent Lithuania were in great need of well-trained, patriotic, and highly qualified officers. During Lithuania’s independence battles against the Bolsheviks, it was decided to establish a military school in Kaunas as a matter of urgency. On 25 January 1919, an officer by the name of Jonas Galvydis-Bykauskas, who had extensive military experience and who had led a regiment in the army of czarist Russia, was appointed head of the military school. The date of his appointment is the actual day of the establishment of the Military School. The activities of the newly established military school had expanded, and it quickly became a strong and reliable pillar in terms of learning the elements of formation, as well as in improving the training and certification of soldiers. On 6 July 1919 the first group of officers graduated: eighty-nine lieutenants (then called karuzas) and seven non-commissioned officers all earned the rank of officer in various military units. After graduating from military school, the first Lithuanian officers went to the front in July 1919. The establishment of the military school had important ideological significance. The first graduate officers strengthened already-formed military units, and expanded them into larger units, as well as compensating for losses suffered in battle. Until 1940 and the Soviet occupation, the military school prepared and awarded diplomas to twenty groups of students which were now ready for active military service: covering a total of 1,905 fully trained officers. In peacetime, the military school prepared and awarded diplomas to a sufficient number of officers as was necessary for the Lithuanian Armed Forces. From 1926, the training of reserve officers started at the military school, and the service of aspirants was established. Until 1940 and the Soviet occupation, the military school prepared and awarded diplomas to fourteen groups of aspirants, covering a total of 2,585 reserve officers who were now classed as being fully trained. In this way, Lithuania’s defence potential was strengthened. The officers of the not-yet-fully-developed Lithuanian Armed Forces were very unequally prepared. In order to standardise the military and general education of officers, on 13 April 1921 the Higher Officers Courses were established, which became the norm until they were withdrawn from their initial activities around 1930-1933. On 15 July 1923, by the order of the president of the republic of Lithuania, the courses were renamed: for seven years they were referred to as the Higher Officers Courses of Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania; in 1930 - the year of Vytautas the Great - they were named the Vytautas the Great Officers Courses. The courses provided officers with specific theoretical and practical knowledge, broadened their general and tactical horizons, and encouraged officers to keep learning and training. On 1 January 1924, the Higher Military Equipment Officers Courses were established, with these eventually being merged with the Higher Officers Courses on 5 September 1926. They trained skilled pioneers as well as railway, communications, and transportation officers. However, the general level of training for officers was not very high, so Lithuania simply had to train its senior officers abroad. Until 1931, there was no higher military education institution in Lithuania, and therefore officers who needed specific training or who sought to acquire a rarer military qualification were sent to foreign intendant, military equipment, naval, and cavalry schools. However, even following the establishment of a higher military education school in 1931 (in the form of the General Staff Division), contacts with foreign schools were not broken off. Foreign military and special schools trained specialists for the Lithuanian Armed Forces, who applied their knowledge upon their return to Lithuania. However, studying in foreign military schools posed a number of problems. When such a situation arose, it was decided to establish a higher military education institution in Lithuania. Therefore, in 1931, the General Staff Division was established within the Vytautas the Great Officers Courses, with a programme which was equivalent to those of the academies of the general staffs of other countries. On 10 December 1938 the president of the republic of Lithuania, Antanas Smetona, promulgated a law which had been passed by the Seimas, according to which the Vytautas the Great Officers Courses were now to be known as the Vytautas the Great Higher Military School, the aim of which was to provide officers with the knowledge they needed of higher military science, while also serving to develop and improve military science and apply its results to the conditions and needs of the country. The beginnings of this school also saw the beginning of the development of new military doctrines for Lithuania. Therefore, despite the extremely difficult internal and external conditions in independent Lithuania, the country managed to create a perfect and effectively-functioning system of training and retraining for officers of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, which ensured the training of officers at all levels and formed a well-educated and experienced group of officers, one which had previously been destroyed by Soviet occupation