JAV lietuvių ir Lietuvos valdžios santykiai po 1926 metų gruodžio 17-osios
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
LT |
| Date | Volume | Issue | Start Page | End Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 75 | 3 | 17 | 24 |
Perversmas Lietuvoje smarkiai paveikė JAV lietuvius. Gyvendami demokratinėje aplinkoje jie neįsivaizdavo diktatūros valdymo. Aštriausi kritikai, be išeivijos komunistinio sparno, buvo JAV lietuviai socialistai ir sandariedai. Vėliau ir katalikai. Perversmas pagilino ir taip jau susiskaldžiusią JAV lietuvių visuomenę; nesutarimai dėl to, kokių pozicijų laikytis A. Smetonos valdymo atžvilgiu, vyko ir srovių viduje. Naujai tautininkų vyriausybei iškilo sunkus uždavinys - ne tik atkurti pašlijusius ir gerokai atšalusius santykius su JAV lietuviais, netik neutralizuoti gana priešišką išeivijos poziciją, bet ir palenkti juos į savo pusę. Norint užtikrinti jų materialinę ir politinę paramą ateityje, reikėjo iš esmės naujos politikos užsienio lietuvių atžvilgiu. Tautininkų vyriausybės nutarimai 1927-1929 metais priimant išeivijai palankius sprendimus (nekilnojamojo turto įsigijimo palengvinimas, pilietybės klausimas, emigracijos sutvarkymas, išeivijos spaudos įsileidimas į Lietuvą, Lietuvos pasiuntinybės Vašingtone veiklos pratęsimas ir kt.), nuolatiniai raginimai JAV lietuviams bendradarbiauti ekonomikos srityje, lankytis Tėvynėje ir pan., švelnino išeivijos kritiką Lietuvos vyriausybės atžvilgiu, dėjo pagrindus galimam naudingam bendradarbiavimui. Prezidento A. Smetonos valdymas nebuvo visiškai priimtinas išeivijai, todėl ir prezidento režimo kritika neišnyko iki pat Lietuvos valstybės katastrofos 1940 m.
In addition, the economic crisis of 1929-1932 in the USA also helped to improve the relationship between the Lithuanians in emigration and their Motherland as well as to adopt a more favourable attitude towards Lithuania as some emigrants started contemplating the idea of re-emigration, the transfer and investment of their capital in Lithuania or the search for some profitable and acceptable activities in their native country. However, as President Smetona's government was not completely acceptable to the emigre Lithuanian community, the criticism of President's regime remained rather strong till the tragic events of 1940.
The author of the article, on the basis of copious emigre press sources and archival documents, aims to evaluate Lithuanian emigres in the USA (including nationalists, Catholics, socialists and communists) attitude towards the new Lithuanian Nationalist government; an attempt is also made to discuss the Government's decisions which were supposed to influence the emigre Lithuanian community and to deflect their criticism. The coup d'etat in Lithuania shocked Lithuanians in the USA as they, living in a democratic society, could not imagine dictatorship in their native country. The fiercest critics in emigration alongside the communist wing were socialists and sandarieciai; later, they were joined by Catholics. As Lithuanian emigres in the USA were not united, the coup deepened disagreements both between and within political groups and factions as regards their political stance on Smetona's government. Therefore, the Nationalist party had to cope with some challenging tasks, i. e. to re-establish broken and fragile relations with the emigre Lithuanian community, neutralize their hostile attitude and, what is more, to win over their confidence and favour. Thus in 1927-1929 the Nationalist party accepted political decisions profitable for the emigre Lithuanian community, e. g. facilitated conditions for the obtaining immovable property, dealt with the issues of citizenship and emigration, allowed the emigre press to appear in Lithuania, prolonged the activities of the Lithuanian legation in Washington, etc. The encouragement to cooperate in the economic sphere or to visit Lithuania smoothed the way for a possible useful cooperation and reduced the Government's criticism on the part of the Lithuanians emigres.