Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1918-03-08

q It's Independence Oh huSSld, has
q history that for hundreds of
~ years was intertwined with that
of Poland. with which it long main
tanned a loose sort of union. At the
time of the ACKNOWLEDGMENT of Po-
land it went for the most part to Rus
STA. Lithuania now comprises the Rus
sian "governments'' of Kovno, wilma,
Grodno, Vitebsk, Minsk, Mogilev, and
Suwalki (the last part of Russian
Poland) This territory is almost en-
tirely occupied just now by the Ger
mans, who swept over it in their cam
paign of 1915 against ths Russians.
In the heydey of the Lithuanians the
dOminiOns of their princes extended,
however, far beyond the limits of to-
day, reaching even the shores of the
Black sea, and embracing districts now
included in Ukraine, Poland, and 9TH
er parts Of Russia.
A most interesting point about the
claims of those who have brought
about the Lithuanian declaration of
independence is that, in their extreme
form, they contemplate not only the
separation of Lithuania from Russia
but also the incorporation into the new
state of German territory which CEN
turtles ago formed part of Lithuania.
This district includes the important
city of Koenigsberg, in what is now
East Prussia, as well as Tilsit and 9TH
er towns. If this district should form
part of the new Lithuania, and If an
independent Poland should have free
access to the sea after the war through
the seaport of Danzig, formerly Polish
and now German, there would be a
small wedge of German territory, iso-
lated from the rest Of the empire, be-
tween Polish Danzig and Lithuanian
Koenigsberg. The Lithuanians re-en-
force their claims to Koenigsberg and
other cities now under German or Rus
sian. rule by pointing to the fact that
they have names for them in the Lith-
uanian language which the cities bore
in the old days before they were seized
by Teutons or Slavs.
Once a Great Principaiity.
The Lithuanian nation in the fourth
century of our era was living along
the coast of the Baltic sea between
Riga and Koenigsberg.
From the tenth to the sixteenth cen
fury the Lithuanian principally ex-
tended from the Baltic to the Black
sea. In that territory were White
Russians and Ukrainians or Little Rus
slams. White Russians are mostly Of
Lithuanian stock. Whoever goes from
Lithuania to White Russia soon no
tees that the same types, customs and
festivities exist there. The language
of White Russia is % per cent Lithu-
anian, and the attitude of the people
toward the Lithuanians is very
friendly.
The Lithuanians are Indo-Aryans,
fair, light-haired. blue-eyed, tall, and
strong. They are in no way related
to the Slav or Teuton. They are said
to have crossed from Asia TO Europe
about 1000 B. c. They settled along
the Black sea. near the mouth Of the
Danube. Gradually they were driven
by other races until they came to the
shores of the Baltic. where they final
~ settled. Here Lithuanians grew and
prospered. They were peaceful folk,
never fighting unless attacked, busy
with agricultural pursuits, and few
with hunting and fishing. AS nation
they were prevented from going into
manufacturing or into commerce by
physical surroundings, but some of the
more venturesome made trips to Ro-
man territory with cargoes of amber
and various products of their country.
The language of the Lithuanians has
been preserved TO this day. Some even
say that il is the oldest language I'm
USE 1t closely resembles the Sanskrit
and. in many cases of research work.
is the key 10 1t.
Beat Germans and MongoIs.
The Lithuanians lived in clans until
the thirteenth century, when. because
OF national danger, they banded togeth-
er. They chose Ringaudas as the first
grand duke of Lithuania, and he soon