geography – History of Šiauliai

The Importance of the City for the Newly Created State

Šiaulių TIC — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 18:22:47 +0000

After the First World War, it did not take long for Šiauliai to stand on its feet, and the city’s inhabitants were among the most active creators of the foundations for the internal life and politics of the new state. Šiauliai self-governance was firm, rallying politicians who well knew their aim and had the vision, such as lawyer Kazimieras Venclauskis who had already acquired considerable experience in self-governance still in the years of occupation and who became the first burgomaster of the city and formed the guidelines for self-governance policy; cultural and social activist Antanas Mikševičius, who chaired the management board of Šiauliai cultural society ‘Varpas’ before the war; economist Jackus Sondeckis, who always remaining loyal to social democratic values, greatly improved the city’s health and social situation and laid down the city’s further development guidelines.

The geographical position of Šiauliai again became the reason for its prosperity. In 1923, when the Republic of Lithuania incorporated Klaipėda area, at last it had a port that could be used for trade; thus, the state had to immediately connect Klaipėda and its port with the rest of Lithuania, and Šiauliai as a connecting point became strategically very important. The railway lines were soon built from Šiauliai to Telšiai, and later, via the later, to Kretinga and Klaipėda. Šiauliai tradesmen turned towards Klaipėda through which the relationships with foreign traders were established and there was no need to use the services of Riga port as before.

The improving economic situation boosted the rapid growth of the city. Soon, nearby former settlements were connected, such as the territories of Ginkūnai, Aleksandrija and Gubernija manors, previously ruled by counts the Zubovai, increasing the area of the city more than twice. The residents, who were hiding abroad and in the depth of Russia from the horrors of war, returned. The national composition of the townsmen changed considerably. Still in 1909, the population census data showed that more than half of the townsmen were Jews, while the Russian community was only slightly smaller than that of Lithuanians, but the population census of 1923 showed that the Jewish community declined by half, while Russian representatives almost disappeared. At that time, Lithuanians made up two thirds of the city’s population.

Before the war, Šiauliai was famous for a large group of intellectuals who actively fostered cultural, educational and public activities. Even Kaunas, which at that time did not rally such a large group of enlightened persons, could envy the number and personalities of Šiauliai intellectuals. Unfortunately, Šiauliai did not manage to retain these people during the interwar period. They were tempted to move to the temporary capital to form the core of the professors of the newly established University of Lithuania (the future Vytautas Magnus University) and contribute to the creation of the administrative apparatus of the state. These were such prominent public figures and educators as Jonas Šliūpas, Mykolas and Vaclovas Biržiškos, Kazys and Stasys Šalkauskai, Kipras Bielinis, Rapolas Skipitis, and Vladas Požela. Even after such intellectuals’ loss, Šiauliai managed to preserve part of the intelligentsia, which, led by burgomaster J. Sondeckis and lawyer K. Vencliauskis, even having lost its former associates (most of them, like the ones who left, were social democrats and left-wing representatives), significantly contributed to the restoration of the city, which achieved its prosperity in fourth decade of the 20^th century, under the rule of strong burgomasters J. Sondeckis and Juozas Valančius. Under the rule of the latter, in 1931-1938, nice modernist buildings arose, the infrastructure of the city – sanitation, telecommunications and electricity networks – was developed.

Foto 1
Foto 2

Foto 1

Pocių namai. Pastato antrame aukšte buvo įsikūręs Piliečių klubas.

Foto 2

Venclauskių namai.

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The City, Sinking in Flames of War

Šiaulių TIC — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 18:09:14 +0000

During World War I, Šiauliai became a strategically important point, crossed by the main railway lines, making it the venue of fierce clashes. It is one of the cities of Lithuania that suffered most during the war. As the Russian Empire Army was retreating and leaving the land of Lithuania, the German Army, entering the city, robbed, devastated and set it on fire. The fire was so large that, according to the regional press of that time, the sea of flames was illuminating the city all night. The raging of the German Army ceased only when three quarters of the city’s buildings were destroyed and burned, but the battles for Šiauliai continued. The Russian Army, having returned, being repeatedly defeated and shrinking, again set the city on fire. The local press continued to describe the sad fate of Šiauliai, mentioning that all that remained from the city was a large cemetery, overgrown streets and just 5,000 inhabitants. The network of educational institutions was completely destroyed in the city, there was no library or school (it was allowed to set up only small shelter schools, which also did not last long). In 1917, the gymnasium started functioning in the city again. ‘Varpas’ society, which was closed at the beginning of occupation of the Kaiser’s Germany, after reorganisation called ‘Kanklės’, revived.

Most of the enterprises were no longer able to function because they no longer had materials for manufacturing any production. Only Ch.Frenkelis’s tannery was still functioning until it ran out of its raw materials reserves. Small businesses, which did not stand excessive tax burden, closed.

After the war, in the beginning of January, 1919, being chased by the Bolsheviks Army, the German Army was forced to leave the city but quickly returned again, though only for several months. This time, their consolidation was restrained by representatives of the emerging municipality, led by K. Venclauskis, who had already acquired sufficient political experience and began to decide how the city should be managed and in which direction it should move forward.

As soon as Germans retreated from Šiauliai, local inhabitants immediately received new uninvited guests: the Bermondt’s Army. Their activities in the city were marked by a single feature: permanent robbery of institutions and residents and devastation of the area. Šiauliai municipality responded to them by setting up a temporary partisan headquaters in Šiauliai, which united partisans’ squads, and assisted by the Lithuanian Army, after two months of rampage of the Bermondt’s Army, defeated the intruders. One of the most significant moments of these battles was when the Lithuanian Army, at that time still poorly armed, confiscated the weaponry transported in trains of the Bermondt’s Army and later successfully used it in the war, this way reaching the breakthrough in the battles.

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Degantys Šiauliai.