page_title: Tautiška giesmė
section_title: 1944–1950
hierarchical_section_title: Tautiška giesmė / History / Usage in the Lithuanian SSR / 1944–1950
caption_attribution_description: English: A list of the songs to be played at the 1946 Lithuanian Song Festival. Obtained from the Music Departement of the Book Fund.
context_page_description: "Tautiška giesmė" is the national anthem of Lithuania, also known by its opening words "Lietuva, Tėvyne mūsų" and as "Lietuvos himnas". The music and lyrics were written in 1898 by Vincas Kudirka, when Lithuania was still part of the Russian Empire. The fifty-word poem was a condensation of Kudirka's conceptions of the Lithuanian state, the Lithuanian people, and their past. Shortly before his death in 1899, the anthem was performed for Lithuanians living in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
  The first public Lithuanian performance of the anthem took place in Vilnius in 1905, and it became the official national anthem in 1919, a year after Lithuania declared its independence.
  "Tautiška giesmė" was reinstated in 1989 shortly before the reestablishment of Lithuanian independence and confirmed in the National Anthem Act. It was automatically included as the national anthem in 1992, when the new Constitution was ratified after independence from the Soviet Union was achieved. The status of "Tautiška giesmė" as the national anthem of Lithuania was further confirmed in 1999 with the passage of a national law stating that.
context_section_description: The issue about the anthem was raised again after the re-occupation of the Baltic States, after Lithuania re-joined the USSR as the Lithuanian SSR. A new anthem of the USSR was made, and the lyrics of the anthem were translated to the languages of the USSR republics. The original plan was to use the translated anthem as the temporary anthem, until a new, more socialist anthem was made.
  During the translation process, Antanas Venclova as the translator, have some worries on the lyrics. The lyrics mentioned Великая Русь (English: Great Russia), which he translated to Didžiosios Rusios. He feared that the part of the lyrics would be badly accepted in Lithuania, because the lyrics shows superiority of the Russian nation in Lithuania, and the spirit of the national revival that passed away after the occupation of Lithuania. The translation of the anthem itself was submitted on 5 January 1944. The translation of the anthem was approved on 7 January 1944.
  In 26 January 1944, on the session of the Supreme Council of the USSR, the council adopted a resolution about the rights of all of the Soviet republics to hold their national military formations and Foreign Affairs Commissariat. The resolution was an attempt was made for the image of the USSR as the Soviet republics have an independent statehood. By doing so, the Soviet Union seeks to create a single place for each of the Soviet republics in the UN. Even before the session, Justas Paleckis proposed to the USSR Commissioner for Foreign Affairs of the People's Commissars, Vyacheslav Molotov, to consider whether the Soviet republics are allowed to have their own anthems. Molotov reported that the Politburo had decided to offer the Soviet republics to create their own anthems.
  With the offer from the USSR government, the question of the Lithuanian anthem was re-discussed. The first proposal of the anthem was the song "Mes su Stalinu" (English: We are with Stalin), which was proposed by G. Alexandrov to  K. Preikšui. Other proposals proposed by G. Alexandrov was Tautiška giesmė, and other popular songs, including a poem by Petras Vaičiūnas "Ei, pasauli, mes be Vilniaus nenurimsime".
  On 1 June 1944 the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania prepared a draft resolution of the national anthem of Lithuania: "At the present political situation, it is expedient to use the national anthem of Lithuania, in the Lithuanian SSR, to use its popularity and the opportunity to turn it into a weapon of strengthening the Soviet power to create a national anthem of the Lithuanian SSR..."
  The main points of the decree was as followed :
  To allow the performance of music and text of the old Lithuanian national anthem, Tautiška giesmė, created in the end the 19th century by Vincas Kudirka as the National Anthem of the Lithuanian SSR
  To delay the question about the creation of the anthem of the Lithuanian until the time when it will be possible to attract all creative forces of the nation, and to create a hymn that reflects a new era in the life of the Lithuanian nation and the changes of the country's economy, culture and people's minds.
  In the same draft resolution, it was envisaged that the lyrics and the melody of the Tautiška giesmė will be approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
  The question of the creation of a new anthem of the Lithuanian SSR returned a year later. From 28 until 29 September 1945, the issue was held at the meeting of the Lithuanian Communist Party Central Committee Bureau. in the meeting, it was decided that a new anthem of the Lithuanian SSR was needed to reflect the socio-political change in Lithuania. A commission was organized to make the new national anthem of the Lithuanian SSR.
  The committee consisted of K. Preikšas as the chairman, Justas Paleckis, Juozas Banaitis, Juozas Žiugžda, and the honored artists in the Lithuanian SSR, Professor Juozas Gruodis, K. Korsak, and V. Niunka. The lyrics and the melody of the national anthem of the Lithuanian SSR should be submitted no late
caption: A list of the songs to be played at the 1946 Lithuanian Song Festival in the Lithuanian SSR. Tautiška giesmė is played after the anthem of the Soviet Union.
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