Academic literature on the topic 'Lithuania – Intellectual life'

CONTENTS I. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONSJoanna Korzeniewska-Berczyńska (Poland). The Communicational Aspect of Polish Political Discourse...11Oleg N. Grinbaum (Russia). The Plot Heralds or Harmony and Metaphor in the Development of the Novel Evgenij Onegin by Pushkin...20Virginija Jurėnienė (Lithuania). Lithuanian Women’s Aspirations for Presidency ... 34 II. FACTS AND REFLECTIONSIosif Sternin (Russia). The Basic Types of Speech Cultures in Modern Society ...44Hanna Mijas (Poland). A New Approach to Translating Culture in Subtitling ...53Audronė Rimkutė (Lithuania). Cultural Industries and Cultural Policy: Traditional Relation and New Challenges ...62Pavel Solovyov (Belarus). Language Picture of the World in Adjectival Figurative Comparisons ...76Natalia V. Kovtun (Russia). Russia of the “Post Square” Epoch. (On the Issue of Poetics in the Novel Kish by T. Tolstoy) ...85Izolda Gabrielė Geniušienė (Lithuania). Indeterminacy and the Search for Meaning in Geoffrey Hill’s Poetry ...99Jerzy Szczepański (Poland). The Poet and the Period – Some Aspects of the Life and Work of Franciszek Karpiński (1741–1825) ...109Natalia V. Yudina (Russia). On the Reflection of the Ethnic Stereotypes in the Mirror of the Russian Language ...121Michał Łuczyński (Poland). Czech in the Pole’s Eyes – About the Reconstruction of the Stereotype ...134Liudmila Arcimavičienė (Lithuania). ECONOMY Metaphors: What Associated Conceptions Underlie Lithuanian Business? ...143Dorota Połowniak-Wawrzonek (Poland). Interpretation of THE METAPHOR PROCESSES RELATED TO HUMAN ORGANISM AS (ARMED) FIGHT, which Appears in Modern Polish Phraseology ...154Daiva Aliūkaitė (Lithuania). Perceptual Analysis of the Dialectal Discourse: Mental Map ...164Indrė Brokartaitė-Pladienė (Lithuania). Rendering German Coinages in the Newspaper „Naujasis Tilžės Keleivis“ (1924–1940) ... 180Jūratė Čirūnaitė (Lithuania). Names of the Volyne Nobility in the 16th Century ...192Danutė Balšaitytė (Lithuania). Vowel [ы] in Russian Speech of Lithuanians ...202 III. OPINIONOlga V. Zernetskaja (Ukraine). Global Satellite News Networks: The Beginning of the 21st Century ...210 IV. OUR TRANSLATIONS Brigitte Peucker (USA). The Castrato’s Voice: Fassbinder’s In a Year of Thirteen Moons. Translated by Natalija Arlauskaitė ...220 V. SCIENTIFIC LIFE CHRONICLEConferences, eventsAnatolij Kruglashov (Ukraine, Lithuania). Ukraine-Belarus-Poland-Lithuania: Recultivation of the Intellectual Space ...230Viktorija Makarova (Lithuania). Patrick Seriot’s Lectures in Vilnius ...238Books reviewsGabija Bankauskaitė-Sereikienė (Lithuania). Tekstai ir kontekstai: transformacijų sklaida. 1 volume. 2008...241Saulutė Juzelėnienė, Daiva Aliūkaitė (Lithuania). Tekstai ir kontekstai: transformacijų sklaida. 2 volume. 2008...244Oleg Perov (Lithuania). Lithuanian non Lithuanian – Evgenij Shkliar. ЛАВРИНЕЦ, Павел, 2008. Евгений Шкляр. Жизненный путь скитальца ...246Skirmantė Biržietienė (Lithuania). BANKAUSKAITĖ-SEREIKIENĖ, Gabija, 2008. Oratorystės menas. Mokomoji knyga humanitarinių ir socialinių mokslų studentams ...250Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty of Humanities: journal of scientific lifeJūratė Svičiulienė (Lithuania). Cultural Industries: Challenges and Perspectives ...253Daiva Aliūkaitė, Jadvyga Krūminienė (Lithuania). “Texts and Contexts: Interactive Perspectives“ or the Days of the Humanities at VU KHF ...255Vytautė Pasvenskienė (Lithuania). TEXT Interface ...258Daiva Aliūkaitė, Gabija Bankauskaitė-Sereikienė (Lithuania). Seminars on Literature and Linguistics at VU KHF ...261Letters to the Editorial Board ...265 Announce...266 VI. REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLICATION...268VII. OUR AUTHORS...276

Adam Mickiewicz University The paper aims at introducing the results of research on the cultures and languages of the aboriginal peoples of the island of Sakhalin, the Lower Amur Region (Priamurye), and northern Japan (Ainu, Nivhgu, Uilta, Ulcha, and Nanai) conducted at the turn of the 19th and 20th century by Polish political exile Bronisław (Ginet) Piłsudski (1866–1918) and at presenting his ties with Lithuania: he used to introduce himself as Samogitian and Lithuanian (besides Polish―here the so-called nested ethnic identity is involved) and especially towards the end of his life emphasised this identity by inserting the name of his Lithuanian ancestors before his Polish family name. His seemingly long-forgotten legacy is now brought back to the attention of specialists with the appearance of the consecutive volumes of his Collected Works. The argumentation and conclusion of this Vilnius University anniversary article is that Piłsudski belongs to the same degree to the history of Oriental studies in both Lithuania and Poland and that both countries involved can only be proud of such a figure in the annals of their intellectual heritage.

The school plays an important role in preparation of persons with mild intellectual disability to adult's life. A person who starts his/ her independent life, usually experiences a shift in three general roles at work, in recreational activity and in socialization. An in-depth interview was conducted among persons with mild intellectual disability at the age of 18-33 in Lithuania and Italy in 2012-2013, in order to reveal the structure of takeover of life roles and the significance to success related to the participation in labour market. The successful structure of takeover of life roles among persons with mild intellectual disability along with the prerequisites for its formation and the significance to occupational integration are analysed in the current article. The article emphasizes the importance of prevocational education in formation of skills with regard to takeover of life roles.

Tadas Daugirdas actively participated in the National revival culture but later was forgotten. His work covered several areas of cultural and intellectual life including painting, archaeology, ethnology, museology, and publicist writing. Daugirdas contributed significantly to the creation of the national flag of Lithuania. The fourteen years, from 1877 to 1891, he spent in Warsaw had the great influence on his worldview. Living in Warsaw he maintained close relationship with such people as artist and art critic Stanisław Witkiewicz, doctor and ethnologist Władysław Matlakowski, archaeologists Adam Honory Kirkor, Dmitrij Samokvasov, and Gotfryd Ossowski; he also corresponded with Mečislovas Davainis-Silvestraitis on the issues of Lithuanianism. The Warsaw period determined his future activities which he developed after his return to Lithuania. He came to Warsaw as a painter and returned to his parents’ manor in Lithuania as an archaeologist and a promoter of folk art.

The Museum of Antiquities and Interim Commission of Archaeology in Vilnius which was the most significant educative scientific and cultural centre of that time both in Vilnius and Lithuania was founded in 1855 and was active for nearly a decade. The members of the Commission initiated and organized the research of the region in the fields of archaeology, history, and natural sciences. The Commission engaged an active part of the educated Lithuanian society in collecting the heritage of local history. Historical sources and scientific studies were also published by the Commission. The meetings of the Commission were held once a month, where past activities, current issues, and future plans were discussed as well as scientific reports were presented to the attendance. Extraordinary meetings were organized for the exceptional occasions, too. The minutes of the meetings of the Interim Commission of Archaeology in Vilnius are the source, which reflects comprehensively the activity of this public organization and its diverse character. The minutes also reflect the relationship between the Commission and the Tsarist administration: the flexibility in seeking suitable conditions for its activity, and the usage of the so-called Aesopian language in actualizing the history and the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The minutes reflect amply the scientific, cultural, and intellectual life of the then Lithuania. The publication presents the translated minutes of the meetings of the Interim Commission of Archaeology in Vilnius of the first three years of its activity.

Straipsnyje analizuojamos lietuviškąjį pasaulį praturtinusio įžymaus reiškinio – profesionaliosios filosofijos radimosi Lietuvoje aplinkybės. Šiam reiškiniui pradžią davė 1507 m. atsiradusios filosofijos ir teologijos studijos Vilniaus dominikonų mokykloje. Čia puoselėta vėlyvoji viduramžių filosofija tegalėjo būti tomistinė. Tik neaišku, kokio pobūdžio ją įtvirtino Vilniuje – ar tomizmo pagrindu naujų paieškų, ar tomizmo konservavimo dvasia. Mokyklinė filosofija Lietuvoje formavo nemaža naudingų intelektualinių nuostatų. Iki įkuriant Vilniaus universitetą 1579 m., užsienio universitetus ir Vilniaus dominikonų mokyklą baigusieji Lietuvoje sudarė būrį tų asmenų, kurie pajėgė rimtai aptarti scholastikos rudens – vėlyvosios viduramžių filosofijos – problemas, taip pat Renesanso humanistų pažiūras. Pagrindiniai žodžiai: dominikonai, partikuliarinė mokykla, vėlyvoji viduramžių filosofija, tomizmas, scholastika.The Rise of Philosophy in Lithuania Romanas Plečkaitis SummaryThe first Lithuanians to be introduced to philosophy were young members of the gentry who studied in European universities at the end of the 14th century. The recently baptized Lithuania strove to adopt Western culture and to present itself as a Western state. At the end of the 14th century, Vilnius Cathedral School was founded. The elements of logic were probably taught there. The growth of the political and economic power of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania brought about the need for higher education. The need was significantly increased by the growing activity of various religious orders. In 1507, the Dominicans started teaching philosophy and theology to their novicies in Vilnius. They were able to teach late me dieval philosophy in its thomistic interpretation. We can regard 1507 as the year Lithuania benefited from a new phenomenon, professional philosophy, and the Dominicans as its initiators. The Dominicans and later the Jesuits, Franciscans, Bernardines, Carmelites, Trinitarians and other monastic orders enriched intellectual life in Lithuania by teaching philosophy in their schools. The most important event in the development of philosophy in Lithuania was the foundation of Vilnius University in 1579. The disciplines usual to second level scholastics were taught in its philosophy department. Keywords: dominicans, particular school, late medieval philosophy, tomism, scholastics.y: Calibri, sans-serif;">

One of the most significant changes in Polish historical studies after 1989 has been the increased interest in restoring the memory about the multicultural traditions of the Former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The liberation of Poland from Russian influence and the independence of Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus have opened a new chapter not only in the political history of Europe and the world, but also in research on the cultural heritage of these nations. Today, it is possible to ask questions about the common heritage of Ruthenians and Poles, on top of their distinctiveness, autonomy and independence. Today, it is possible to objectively assess the originality of the Orthodox culture in the Commonwealth, in addition to its dependence on other Orthodox intellectual centers as well as models of Western civilization. Researchers from Poland and abroad, young scientists and experienced specialists, representatives of the academia, the socalled academic social environment and independent researchers have been helping us in the search for answers to these difficult questions for years. We believe that the thus formed broad and international team of scholars representing various scientific disciplines and methods, confessional and cultural traditions, and having different professional and life experiences, is able to fully recreate the obliterated pages of common history of the now separate nations: Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.

Ričardas Gavelis’s (1950–2002) prose contains many cultural references, including the names of famous European writers, thinkers and philosophers, such as Camus, Kafka, Beckett, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, or Orwell. Characters of Gavelis’s novels think about these authors, discuss their texts and ideas with others, but also write letters to them, contact them telepathically or even… physically. A few Lithuanian authors’ names can be found there as well. Hence, the aim of this article is to have a closer look at those names and the context in which they appear. I am going to analyze first three novels written by Gavelis: “Vilnius Poker” (Vilniaus Pokeris, 1989), “Memoirs of a Life Cut Short” (Jauno žmogaus memuarai, 1991) and “Vilnius Jazz” (Vilniaus džiazas, 1993), as they depict the same literary vision. Lithuanian authors that are mentioned in these novels include, among others, such significant figures of Lithuanian culture as Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas (in “Memoirs of a Life Cut Short”), a writer, a poet, and a university professor, or Justinas Marcinkevičius, considered to be „the only one real Lithuanian poet” (in “Vilnius Poker”). The characters of Gavelis’s novels criticize Lithuanian literature for propagating the stereotype of the „Lithuanian spirit” – lyrical, sentimental, experiencing deep emotions but not thinking, soft, introvert and passive, hermetic and closed in its own circle. The authors such as Camus, Kafka, Orwell, Beckett, Russell, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Ortega y Gasset – thinkers, innovators, precursors – add the European context to this picture. Their presence shows us what Gavelis’s characters (and probably Gavelis himself) require from literature. The model claimed as typical for Lithuania does not cover their intellectual needs. It is also considered dangerous because it creates a picture of Lithuanian mentality as soft, submissive and easy to control.

<p><em>Creation without disassembling, using wisely, responsible planing and estimation longer-term consequences giving priority to the person, respecting his/her individuality, diversity - this is a new approach and sustainable society features.</em> <em>Quality of life include all aspects of the way we live our lives. They allow us to fulfil our needs and aspiration</em>s<em>. On the basis of results of the research EU policy materials and Lithuania and Latvia ways of realization these laws in the regional policy, that all global methods and wellbeing development actions have a direct impact for people with intellectual disabilitiess and influentto expanding possibilities self-expression, activating self-action, stimulating self-conception. Creatiwity –the way and possibility in empowering these people socialization and self – realizing. The researches in this field would answer to the questons: possible to optimize the quality of life for people with intellectual deseases in their abilities limited space.</em></p>

The intellectual legacy of Marija Gimbutas – scholar, theoretician and practical archeologist, an active, versatile and sensitive personality – has been hitherto little investigated, including in particular her Lithuanian studies. The article focuses on the relationship that Marija Gimbutas had with her family, especially highlighting her connection with her mother – Veronika Janulaitytė-Alseikienė.Gimbutas’ mother Veronika Janulaitytė-Alseikienė (1883–1971) was among the very few Lithuanian women of the peasant descent that managed to obtain the university education at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. In 1908, she defended her doctoral thesis in medicine in Berlin. However, due to various circumstances, including nostalgia for her homeland, she discontinued her scholarly work in Germany, returning to the Russian Empire of that time. After the WWI, together with her husband Danielius Alseika (doctor, politician and editor of numerous Lithuanian publications) Veronika established the first Lithuanian hospital in Vilnius, engaging in the medical, social and educational activities. Marija Gimbutas’ parents were a rather different personalities. Her father was an idealist ardently pursuing his social and political ideas, while her mother was a rational and practical woman, who took care of maintaining the hospital, social welfare and family matters. Since early childhood, Marija’s mother enfolded her daughter with her care, attempting to provide her with everything that she considered valuable, and devoting special attention to her education. Gimbutas’ cousin, professor Meilė Lukšienė has described her mother as a “silent soul”, since she could not fully realize her talents, but devoted all her energy to enable her daughter to do so. It is obvious that Marija inherited most of her character features from her mother, including courage, determination, inexhaustible energy,industriousness, and vitality.In spite of the passionate care that she received from her mother, in her childhood and youth Marija regarded her father as her personal ideal and as an example to follow. She considered her rational and pragmatic mother as a given, as someone providing her with good living conditions, and directed her admiration and love to her father. She felt inspired by Danielius Alseika’s ideals, his broad humanitarian worldview, his articles on the Lithuanian culture and his devoted work as editor and publisher of the Lithuanian books. She regarded her father as an embodiment of human creativity. However, he died when Marija was just fifteen years old. It took her considerable time afterwards to fully appreciate her mother’s love, her dedicated care of the children, and her hard work to ensure family’s welfare and security. The author of the article assumes that the active, vital and creative energy, which Marija saw embodied in her father’s image and political activities, subsequently inspired her impressive theory of the Indo-Europeans spreading across the whole of Europe. And only later, her down-to-earth side of life became more visible, manifesting in her theory of matristic culture of the ancient Europe.Marija Gimbutas fully and consciously appreciated her connection with her mother only after she got married and had her daughter Danutė born in 1943. Unfortunately, the development of this connection was suspended because of the necessity for her to flee from Lithuania, which was occupied by the Soviet troops in 1944. Further on, Marija’s connection with her mother and other female members of her family (her aunt Julija Matjošaitienė and her cousin Meilė Matjošaitytė-Lukšienė) was maintained from emigration. The first letter from Marija reached Lithuania only after seven years following her departure, and regular correspondence could be established only after Stalin’s death. However, when acquiring this possibility, Marija corresponded very actively: she has written over 400 letters and over 200 postcards to her mother.Another way of maintaining connection with her family was sending packages. Ample gifts were shipped from America to Lithuania; however, Marija received equally dear presents from Lithuania in return. Veronika Alseikienė saw sending gifts as an expression of her love to her daughter, as means of creating the Lithuanian atmosphere in Marija’s home and supporting her Lithuanian cultural activities in America. For Marija, things that she received were primarily means of connection with her mother.Only in the summer of 1960, there finally was hope of meeting in person. Although possibilities of visiting the Soviet Union from the USA were severely restricted, Marija Gimbutas managed to visit her mother at least seven times. These short encounters allowed her to establish a closer connection, and during long times of separation to envision her mother’s home in Kaunas.Anyway, Marija Gimbutas had a special talent of feeling her loved ones in spite of the distance that separated them. She has described her extraordinary state of mind and her telepathic ability of seeing and feeling her mother, who was hospitalized after a surgery at that time. She experienced a deep feeling of connection also on the day of her mother’s funeral, having a vision of her mother finally being able to visit her daughter’s home in Topanga – at least after her death. For Gimbutas, considerations of life and death were not merely academic studies of the ancient European religion, but constituted an inherent part of her personality. She discussed the indestructible nature of the vital energy, and the human ability to feel close proximity with the deceased, who never left us completely. The religious images and phenomena that she examined were her reality.In her letters to her mother, Gimbutas repeatedly used words like life, living, enliven, strength, vigor, indicating that she gained strength and energy from this connection. In one case, she even described the tree of life when discussing folk art ornaments on an item that she had received from her mother.The women that surrounded Marija Gimbutas from her early childhood, the connection with her mother that she maintained even in emigration, the female solidarity and spiritual community that she had with her aunt Julija Matjošaitienė and her cousin Meilė Lukšienė constituted sources of vital energy for Marija Gimbutas that supported not only herself, but also her theory of the goddesses’ civilization. The example and authority of her mother and other female relatives enabled Marija to see and recognize in her archeological findings the active and creative female side, creating prerequisites of looking for the female goddesses in the global archeological Paleolithic and Neolithic cultures. Marija Gimbutas could have hardly developed enough courage to establish women as creators of the European civilization, were it not for the strong, brave and active women that surrounded her form her childhood and presented powerful examples for her to follow.

Defence date: 19 September 2017
Examining Board: Professor Pavel Kolář, European University Institute; Professor Ann Thomson, European University Institute; Associate Professor Kateryna Dysa, National University of 'Kyiv-Mohyla Academy'; Dr. Bernhard Struck, University of St Andrews
This thesis explores how the szlachta and residents of the geographically, socially, and politically distinctive regions of Volhynia and Podole reflected on and made representations of the Enlightenment in the 1790s – 1860s. By focusing primarily on the memoirs of the local actors in Volhynia and Podole, this dissertation addresses the ways they experienced and responded to changes in social practices and intellectual communication within their local context and environment. The chapters of this dissertation tackle issues such as education, reading habits, the practice of translation, scientific exploration, emancipation, toleration, and the role of religion in society. By building on these topics, this thesis argues for the importance of peripheral areas in order to uncover the geographical diversity of the Enlightenment. It also contributes to the discussions on cultural superiority/inferiority that were prevalent during the age of Enlightenment, and elucidates the new vocabulary that the residents adopted in their works between the 1790s and 1860s. By focusing on the narratives offered by the landed nobility and residents, this study makes a case for the transfer of ideas and their cultural (dis)placement. The ambition of this work is to trace the full spectrum of changes that occurred within this provincial community, in order to provide a fresh perspective on blending and transformation of ideas in a specific context. Simultaneously, the local actors’ works are also examined as indicators of identity formation in the face of foreign imperial domination.

This chapter addresses the position of Jews in Lithuania between the two world wars. Although the history of inter-war Lithuania reveals many political failures, it is clear that, even during the authoritarian period, civil society continued to develop. Illiteracy was largely eradicated and impressive advances were made in social and intellectual life. In addition, land reform created a prosperous farming community whose products made up the bulk of the country's exports. The first years of Lithuanian independence were marked by a far-reaching experiment in Jewish autonomy. The experiment attracted wide attention across the Jewish world and was taken as a model by some Jewish politicians in Poland. Jewish autonomy also seemed to be in the interests of Lithuanians. The bulk of the Lithuanian lands remained largely agricultural until the First World War. Relations between Jews, who were the principal intermediaries between the town and manor and the countryside, and the mainly peasant Lithuanians took the form of a hostile symbiosis. This relationship was largely peaceful, and anti-Jewish violence was rare, although, as elsewhere, the relationship was marked by mutual contempt.

This chapter details Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg's experiences during World War I. Weinberg had travelled to Germany for medical treatment during the early stages of the war. He eventually found himself heavily involved within Berlin's Jewish cultural and intellectual life. There, Weinberg grappled with issues surrounding the traditional east European school system, the ḥeder. The ḥeder system invited debates about educational reform within German Orthodox circles. He also had to contend with the efforts to bring German-style Orthodoxy to eastern Europe — a move he was personally against, as he felt it unsuitable for Lithuania. Despite continuing to look toward the East, however, the chapter also shows Weinberg's extended stay in Germany and his increasing engagement with the ideas of the West.

This chapter describes life at the Volozhin yeshiva. It begins with the study and daily routine, which reflected the values and goals of the rashei yeshivah. From there, the chapter turns to the yeshiva's annual cycle, as Volozhin offered a curious combination. There were days that were seen as the beginning of a study period (zeman) but no day that was seen as ending a study period. Sabbaths and festivals were breaks in the daily study routine. Additionally, reading Haskalah literature was never permitted at Volozhin, but it happened none the less. However, the extent of such activity varied in different periods, as did the attitudes towards it. The rashei yeshivah opposed the reading of secular literature, though R. Berlin did not issue an outright ban. Finally, the leisure pursuits that were tolerated at Volozhin were those which combined enjoyment with benefits to health or intellectual development.

The article deals with the philological and historiographical vicissitudes of the names of Ruthenia in early modern Poland-Lithuania. Critically assessing his predecessors’ work, the author distinguishes between the Greek- and Latin-based derivatives as determined by different reflexes of the root vowel in the underlying East Slavic *Rous'; Arabic and Latin German evidence is provided to substantiate this hypothesis. In the Latin nomenclature, the corresponding terms, Russiya (Russia) and Rossiya (Rossia), both reflecting derivations from the underlying East Slavic form, are viewed as complimentary in historically representing the cultural matrices of Slavia Latina (Roman Matrix) and Slavia Orthodoxa (Byzantine Matrix). A special emphasis is placed on the Byzantine coloring of the term Rossia/Rossija which was a result of the philological tradition long cultured in Poland-Lithuania, encompassing Ruthenia. Its confessional (Orthodox) affinity of all the Slavs spread northeast toward Muscovy much later, after the establishment of the Patriarchate of Moscow in 1589. Promoted initially by Orthodox clerical circles in Poland-Lithuania, who built the first intellectual bridges between Ruthenia and Muscovy, the Byzantine matrix included Muscovy by the early 17th century. Deviating compound designations like Λιτβορωσία (1397), Ῥωσοβλαχία (Wallachia), and Moskvorossija (1593) are discussed in the context of a historical shift in the referential meaning of the term Rosia/Rossia in the cultural delineation of Ruthenian lands in the early 17th century when “Kyivan Rωssia” became conceived as part of the Polish Crown rather than of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The study is provided with a table containing forms, which represent two naming paradigm based on a short- and long-vowel reflexes, as found in East and South Slavic, Byzantine, (East) Arabic, Old High German, Latin German, and (Latin) Polish.

During the First World War and its aftermath, the Zionist movement in many regions managed to evolve from relatively small groups, primarily of bourgeois intellectuals, to become a mass movement that in many cases came to dominate Jewish political and social life. This meteoric rise can be attributed to the hard, everyday work of Zionist activists in the communities of East-Central Europe. The introduction identifies the key questions at the heart of this development and anticipates the main problems and themes of the book. In order to situate the events of 1914–20 in a wider regional and historical context, central aspects of Jewish life in East-Central Europe before the outbreak of the First World War are explained. The different legal, economic, and cultural conditions under which the actors of the book lived produced conflicting responses to many of the main challenges posed by modernity—nationalism, antisemitism, economic transformation, and mass migration. One of these responses was Zionism, which from Lithuania to Austria presented itself in many different forms. The introduction discusses the various trends in the Zionist movement, the role of Palestine in activists’ thinking, and their engagement in their local communities––questions that would be central in the years of war and revolution.