Litvinism

, the main foundation of the Litvin identity, at its greatest extent from the 13th to 15th centuries.]]
**Litvinism** (; ) is a pseudohistorical branch of nationalism, and political current in Belarus, which bases the history of its state on the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and denies that ethnic Lithuanians were the ruling or dominant group in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, portraying the state as primarily Slavic or Belarusian. According to this branch of Belarusian nationalism, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania  was a Slavic or Belarusian state, the medieval Lithuanians were Belarusians,  and modern Lithuania is a consequence of a falsification of history. On the other hand, some Russian Litvinists refer to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a Slavic Russian state.

Litvinism's claims that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a "Belarusian state" and that the Belarusians have "historical rights" to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius were expressed by interwar period Belarusians, Belarusian communists, Moreover, some Belarusians claim that the history of "" is based on the "twisted real history of Belarus (historical Litva)", The usage of the word "Letuva" when referring to modern Lithuania in Belarusian language was also criticized among Belarusians themselves who deemed it "unacceptable" and "monstrous" and stressed that in the early 1990s there was an agreement between Belarusian and Lithuanian intellectuals to stop using terms  and  in Belarusian publications. In 2024, a dozen of Belarusian organizations in Lithuania signed a declaration with which they distanced themselves from the ideology of Litvinism and denied any territorial claims to Lithuania. and affiliation with the Republic of Belarus,

## History 
, the founder of Litvinism]]
According to the Lithuanian author Tomas Baranauskas, who claims to have coined the term, Furthermore, his contemporary, the Polish-speaking pseudo-historian, poet  propagated the thesis that Lithuania was Slavic before the creation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Official historical science and the ideology of the Russian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries, in order to justify (legitimize) the possession of the lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the so-called "Northwestern provinces"), sought to maximize and overemphasize the role of the "Russian/Ruthenian" population (In the Russian language, the terms “Russian” and “Ruthenian” are denoted by the same word, which creates confusion that is convenient for the Russian authorities) and Orthodoxy in the process of formation, character, and history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Russian historians (Nikolai Dashkevich, Fedor Leontovich, Volodymyr Antonovych, Matvei Lyubavsky, Ivan Lappo, Aleksandr Presnyakov, and others) designated the state in their works with the neologism "Lithuanian-Ruthenian State" or "Lithuanian-Ruthenian Principality".

From the early 20th century, ideologues of the Belarusian national-democratic and socialist movements, many of whom became historians, were shaped largely by the educational background of Russian universities and thus the propaganda contained within the Russian historiographical tradition. For example, Mitrofan Dovnar-Zapolsky was a student of Volodymyr Antonovych, and Uladzimir Picheta was a student of Matvei Lyubavsky. While Vaclaŭ Lastoŭski in his essay "Short History of Belarus" (1910) calls the Grand Duchy of Lithuania the "Lithuanian-Ruthenian State" in the vein of the Russian tradition (only occasionally using definitions like "Lithuanian-Belarusian boyars, ambassadors"), figures of the Belarusian national-democratic and socialist movements soon began to use a new term—"Lithuanian-Belarusian Principality". For example, Yanka Kupala in his article "Do we have the right to renounce our native language?"'(newspaper *Nasha Niva*, No. 15, 1914) uses the term "Lithuanian-Belarusian Principality" to designate the medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1919, historians Mitrofan Dovnar-Zapolsky ("Foundations of the Statehood of Belarus", 1919), Usievalad Ihnatoŭski ("Short Essays on the History of Belarus", 1919), and Aliaksandr Ćvikievič ("Belarus. Political Essay", 1919) published their landmark works using the terms "Lithuanian-Belarusian Principality", "Lithuanian-Belarusian State", and "Grand Duchy of Lithuania-Belarus". In 1919, in the newspaper *Belarus* (No. 33, 1919), Yanka Kupala published his article "Independence", where he twice uses the term "Grand Lithuanian-Belarusian Principality" regarding the medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

, which is a Belarusian vernacular, and identified himself as a Litvin, not a Belarusian, but was very positive towards the Belarusian movements. In contrary, Żeligowski referred to the Baltic-Lithuanians only as Samogitians and personally staunchly denied their right to use the ethnonym "Lithuanians". Subsequently, being in exile in 1943 following the invasion of Poland, Żeligowski wrote: "Why did we, the eternal inhabitants of Lithuania, have to avoid that dear name for us, and other people who have nothing in common with Lithuania shamelessly call themselves Lithuanians?" and criticized the world-wide politicians and scientists whose point of view did not match with his. However, experts say that Litvinism is not widespread as it is marginal and sometimes associated with pro-Russian ideas.

### Language 
The Belarusian historian Jan Lyalevich, who self-identifies as Litvin, cited medieval Muscovite sources referring to the "Old Belarusian" language as the "Lithuanian language".

Some Litvin activists are reported to teach their children altered forms of the Belarusian language considered more traditional and de-russified, or asking that their passport states their Litvin ethnicity. Moreover, Syrokomla described his experience talking with a Lithuanian villager near Kernavė as follows: " . " (). According to the Belarusian Litvinists, the Republic of Lithuania without the Vilnius Region is Samogitia and according to them the name of Lithuania was historically used for the entire state or exclusively Belarusian territories by clearly separating Baltic Samogitia during the existence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until 1795 when it was partitioned together with Poland and subsequently annexed by the Russian Empire. The Belarusian Litvinists claim that the Belarusian lands were the core and the main part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

 in 1918, which includes Vilnius, Smolensk, Białystok, Daugavpils, Bryansk, etc.]]
On 20 February 1918, the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic formed a government, announced the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 9 March 1918, and on 25 March 1918 declared its independence, but these were mostly symbolic acts, as the state's development was restricted by the Bolsheviks, Germans, and later Poles. In 1918, the Republic of Lithuania was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of the Belarusian Democratic Republic; however, the Belarusian territories were captured by the Red Army in December 1918 and the Belarusian government in exile moved to the Lithuanian temporary capital Kaunas, while Jazep Varonka became a minister of the Lithuanian Ministry for Belarusian Affairs. During the Genoa Conference in 1922 Vaclau Lastouski, a Prime Minister of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, and Alaksandar Ćvikievič, a Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, recognized the Republic of Lithuania's rights to the Vilnius Region, but this was evaluated negatively by other members of the Belarusian Rada and Vaclau Lastouski resigned.

### In Lithuania 
 of Pietro Vesconte, 1321. The inscription reads: '''' – pagan Lithuanians]]
's Chronicle (1321), preserved in the Vatican Library]]

 where Kernavė is marked as "" (). This historical map denies the myth of Belarusian historiography which claims that Novogrudok was the first capital of Lithuania. In 1952–1953, Lithuanian Americans newspaper *Draugas* and Lithuanian Brazilians journal *Mūsų Lietuva* published articles why the Belarusians are embezzling Lithuania and concluded that it is because their leaders for a long-time were and still are under the influence of Russian Marxism–Leninism which further developed the Russian imperialism theory about Lithuania as "Russian land" which was "recovered" by Catherine the Great in 1795. In 1955, Lithuanian professor Mykolas Biržiška gave a lecture in Los Angeles during which he drew attention that some Belarusians have intensified propaganda where they claimed that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, its rulers, coat of arms, culture, and language were Belarusian and criticized such Belarusians theories. In 1996, Lithuanian historian Edvardas Gudavičius criticized Mikola Yermalovich's theories by providing scientific counterarguments. Furthermore, Lithuanian scientists deny that Novogrudok anytime in its history was the capital of Lithuania and tractate it is as a "parasitic myth" in Belarusian historiography.

According to Lithuanian scientist Zigmas Zinkevičius, some Belarusian nationalists present the Belarusians' historical affiliation with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in an anti-historical way because they claim that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was created by the Slavic Litvins (who according to them are the current Belarusians ancestors), while they describe the current Lithuanians as "lietuvisai" who according to them were previously called Samogitians (not "") and did not participate in the creation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Zinkevičius also explained that the most reliable theory how the name "White Ruthenia" was established is that the White Lands ("") or White Ruthenia ("") did not pay tribute to the Lithuanian Dukes, unlike the Black Lands ("") or Black Ruthenia ("") which had to pay tribute, while the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was created by the Lithuanian-speakers.

According to Lithuanian scientists, part of the ethnic eastern and southeastern Lithuanian territories, which historically used to be part of the Lithuania proper (considered as a state founding Baltic-origin core of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by Lithuanian scientists), were Slavicized in the 16th–19th centuries through Belarusization, Russification, and Polonization, therefore they are no longer dominated by Lithuanians or Lithuanian-speakers (e.g. Lida, Kreva, Ashmyany, Smarhon, Vidzy, Braslaw). In the 1338 Peace and Trade Agreement, concluded between Gediminids Gediminas, Algirdas, Narimantas and the Livonian Order, there is a clear distinction between the Lithuanians and the Rus' people [&nbsp;Ruthenians&nbsp;] as well as Lithuania from Rus' [&nbsp;Ruthenia&nbsp;] as these were recorded as separate entities. Furthermore, a relevant historical source illustrating Lithuania in the 15th century is Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas the Great's 11 March 1420 letter to Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, in which he wrote that Samogitia is the same land of Lithuania and that Lithuanians in Aukštaitija and Samogitians (who also call themselves only as Lithuanians) are the same people with one language. In 1501, Erazm Ciołek, a priest of the Vilnius Cathedral, explained to the Pope that the Lithuanians preserve their language and ensure respect to it (), but they also use the Ruthenian language for simplicity reasons because it is spoken by almost half of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The exact territory of Lithuania proper is known since the 1566 reform of the administrative divisions of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and it was constituted of the Vilnius Voivodeship and Trakai Voivodeship (included Grodno County in 1413–1793), however, the Lithuanians themselves also considered the Duchy of Samogitia as part of Lithuania proper, while other six voivodeships (out of nine voivodeships since 1569) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were called "Lithuanian Ruthenia" (''''). Moreover, the importance of Lithuanian language for Lithuanian-speaking population within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth also remained in the later years as during the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794 Tadeusz Kościuszko's appeals were written in Lithuanian and Polish languages. In the first half of the 20th century, despite the restoration of Lithuanian statehood in 1918, a part of historical Lithuania proper, including the cities of Grodno, Lida, Braslaw, Kreva, Ashmyany and their surroundings, became a part of Poland and later a part of the Byelorussian SSR, and in the late 20th century (1989) only 7606 people in the Byelorussian SSR considered themselves Lithuanians. Lithuanian monarch Gediminas in the 14th century titled himself in Latin letter to Pope John XXII as "" (which literally translates to English as "Gediminas, by the grace of God, King of the Lithuanians and many Ruthenians"), his son Algirdas after becoming the Lithuanian monarch appeared as "" () in the Livonian Chronicles, and Algirdas' son Jogaila, being a Lithuanian monarch since 1377, used a seal in 1377–1386 with a Latin gothic minuscule "" (which literally translates to English as "Jogaila, by the Grace of God, King in Lithuania"), while the name of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Lithuanian language publications even in the mid-17th century was still written "", etc. Furthermore, Lithuanian () ethnicity consists not only of Samogitians (), but also of Aukštaitians (the largest Lithuanian ethnic group) and the region of Aukštaitija is known in the written sources since the late 13th century when Peter of Dusburg described it as "" (), while some German sources also titled Lithuanian monarch Gediminas as "" (). The patrilineal descendants of Gediminas from the Gediminids dynasty had continuously ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the death of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572.

According to Lithuanian sources, the name of Vilnius is of Lithuanian-origin and it comes from a Vilnia River which flows through the city and historically was an important element of the Vilnius Castle Complex's defensive system. The hydronym "Vilnia" is linked with the Lithuanian words "", "" (), while the Lithuanian verb "" in English means "to wave [water]". The name of the city "Vilnius" was established in the ~15th-century when in the Lithuanian language it replaced form "Vilnia" and form "Vilnius" is used in the 17th-century Lithuanian language written sources, however form "Vilna" remained in Latin texts.

The Act of Independence of Lithuania, signed by the Council of Lithuania on February 16, 1918, proclaimed that "the Council of Lithuania, as the sole representative of the Lithuanian nation, based on the recognized right to national self-determination, and on the Vilnius Conference's resolution of September 18–23, 1917, proclaims the restoration of the independent state of Lithuania, founded on democratic principles, with Vilnius as its capital, and declares the termination of all state ties which formerly bound this State to other nations". In the preamble of the most recent Constitution of Lithuania, adopted during the 1992 Lithuanian constitutional referendum, the continuity of Lithuanian statehood is also stressed with the words "the Lithuanian Nation, having created the State of Lithuania many centuries ago, having based its legal foundations on the Lithuanian Statutes and the Constitutions of the Republic of Lithuania, having for centuries staunchly defended its freedom and independence, having preserved its spirit, native language, writing, and customs, embodying the innate right of the human being and the Nation to live and create freely in the land of their fathers and forefathers – in the independent State of Lithuania, fostering national concord in the land of Lithuania, striving for an open, just, and harmonious civil society and a State under the rule of law, by the will of the citizens of the reborn State of Lithuania, adopts and proclaims this Constitution".

According to Lithuanian historian Artūras Dubonis, the theories of Mikola Yermalovich and Alexander Kravtsevich have nothing in common with the science of history, distort the past of the Lithuanian nation and are politically motivated to strengthen the Belarusians' self-awareness and their statehood.

In 2013, Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence stated that the Belarusians attempt to present Lithuanian monarchs as Belarusians in an information warfare part of Russian attempts to discredit Lithuania's efforts to restore its independence.

In 2014, Lithuanian historian Alfredas Bumblauskas claimed that the relations with the Belarusians should be reconsidered (e.g. by establishing counterpropaganda institutions) because the Belarusians spread heritage propaganda and have appropriated the history of Lithuania. Furthermore, Bumblauskas said that to him the imperialistic-minded Belarusians remind Adolf Hitler's aspirations in the Sudetenland. The VSD also stated that the Litvinists are against the governments of Belarus and Russia and do not support narrative that Russians and Belarusians are "one people", thus part of the Litvinists departed to EU countries amid repressions against them.

According to Lithuanian politician Vytautas Sinica, Litvinism is especially characteristic of the opponents of Alexander Lukashenko's rule and the denial of Lithuanian historical statehood by them is a serious issue, which is incompatible with the national security of Lithuania, therefore he suggested to inquire Belarusians, who want to live in Lithuania, who founded the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Vilnius. According to Sinica, Belarus was highly sovietized during the Soviet period and currently it lacks national identity, thus attempting to solve this issue the theory of Litvinism is employed and is becoming more popular.

In September 2023, members of the Seimas unanimously voted for the proposed amendment to the Lithuanian Law on the State Flag and other flags which consist of the permission to raise the historical flag of Lithuania (with *Vytis*) at border checkpoints and encourages residents to raise it near their homes during historical Lithuanian public holidays, while the initiator of the changes, Andrius Kupčinskas, pointed out Litvinism from the Belarusian side as one of the reasons for these changes.

On 2 October 2023 a discussion was held in Seimas Palace with Lithuanian, Polish, Belarusian scientists, writers and politicians about the origin of Litvinism, its influence and challenges in Belarusians and Lithuanians relations. One of the members of the Lithuanian coalition government, Liberals' Movement, announced that the purpose of the discussion in Seimas Palace was searching for ways to stop the radical Litvinism ideology. Soon afterwards, also in October 2023, a video was published online where three armed men standing in front of the Belarusian white-red-white flags issued threats to Lithuanian politicians, demanded to stop persecuting Belarusians and explained that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a Belarusian, not a Lithuanian state.

In July 2024 a dozen of Belarusian organizations which are operating in Lithuania (e.g. public organization Dapamoga, Belarusian Council for Culture, public organization Litvinai, etc.) signed a declaration with which they distanced themselves from the ideology of Litvinism and denied any territorial claims to Lithuania.

### By international sources 
 with an area (marked in greenish-yellow) where in 1827 the Lithuanian language was still dominant]]
Litvinism is not supported by notable information sources such as Encyclopædia Britannica, which states that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was exclusively created by Lithuanians, that Lithuania in the past ruled territories of present-day Belarus and that the Belarusians had no state and no national symbols until 1918. Notable historians such as Arnold J. Toynbee and Timothy D. Snyder also support the approach that the Lithuanians (Balts) conquered/gathered Ruthenian territories, incorporating them into their state.

Multiple international scientists made conclusions that the Lithuanian-speaking territory was larger in the past. A note written by Sigismund von Herberstein in the first half of the 16th century states that, in an ocean of Ruthenian in this part of Europe, there were two non-Ruthenian regions: Lithuania and Samogitia where its inhabitants spoke their own language, but many Ruthenians were also living among them. By studying place names of Lithuanian origin, linguist  concluded that the eastern boundaries of the Lithuanian language used to be in the shape of zigzags through Grodno, Shchuchyn, Lida, Valozhyn, Svir, and Braslaw. Such eastern boundaries partly coincide with the spread of Catholic and Orthodox faith, and should have existed at the time of the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387 and later. Moreover, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, during this epoch of Lithuanian domination, the Belarusian language and nationality began to take shape. In 2015, Polish linguist  attested that many of the Vilnius Region's inhabitants who declare Polish nationality speak a Belarusian dialect which they call *mowa prosta* ('simple speech').

In 2023, Crimean Tatar journalist Ayder Muzhdabaev criticized Zianon Pazniak, Litvinists, their claims to Lithuania's history and capital Vilnius and concluded that such Litvinists should be deported from Lithuania with wolf's tickets.

## See also
* Coat of arms of Lithuania

## Notes
## References
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### Bibliography
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