Dausuva
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Dausuva, also known as Atsarginė Lietuva () or Žalioji atžala (), is a geopolitical concept devised in the 20th century by
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n
interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
thinker
Kazys Pakštas Kazys Pakštas (; June 29, 1893 – September 11, 1960) was a Lithuanian political theorist and professor of geography, the pioneer of professional geography in Lithuania.Isokas, Gediminas. ''Kazys Pakštas'' (in Lithuanian)Archived/ref> He is b ...
, which sought to create a Lithuanian
colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...
overseas. It was named after Dausos — a spirit world in Lithuanian mythology.


Events

This semi-independent state was thought to serve as a safe haven for Lithuanians if the Republic of Lithuania would be occupied. Pakštas believed that because of the tensions between
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and Soviet Russia at the time,
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
would eventually be
occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...
by either of them and face
assimilation Assimilation may refer to: Culture *Cultural assimilation, the process whereby a minority group gradually adapts to the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture and customs **Language shift, also known as language assimilation, the progre ...
by force.
“It is obvious to me that one of those countries will occupy Lithuania. And since both of these neighbours are
totalitarian regimes Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
, the wealth and people of Lithuania will be exterminated with brutality, which is unheard of. Not only will they
he people He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
be robbed, but also spiritual fortunes will be destroyed with great rage, and there will be attempts to eliminate every beam of Lithuanian spirituality and creativity” — Kazys Pakštas.
He also feared that the chaotic and non-directional mass
emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
of Lithuanians to the
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
following the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
also posed a great threat to the survival of the nation as they were destined to assimilate with other cultures. Pakštas called for the planning and regulation of this migration with the intent to form a colony where Lithuanians would constitute the majority of the population, thus eliminating the threat of the nation's demise.


Location

In Pakštas' own words, since 1924, "little by little, without haste, he explored the possibilities of establishing a second small, but autonomous, Lithuania somewhere far away from the surplus population who had voluntarily emigrated from Lithuania", and that he had looked at many possibilities:
In 1924, I became interested in the clay soils in
central Quebec Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
, but they were later already settled by the local French. In 1927, I was interested in colonization opportunities in the state of São Paulo,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, but I learnt that Lithuanians would not get
cultural autonomy Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group. Civil-rights movements oft ...
here. In 1930–31, I explored
Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...
in
southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...
, but the political conditions did not seem favorable.
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...
seemed better then, especially in terms of political rights, but large numbers of British colonists were already penetrating it and the better lands were quickly bought up. In 1939–46, I looked at many areas, which include
East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...
(especially
Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...
), the Mingan Territory in
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, the
Peace River The Peace River (french: links=no, rivière de la Paix) is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in th ...
Valley in
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, the Matanuska Valley in
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, the
New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...
in the Pacific, and
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...
in
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. About three years ago I concentrated on British Honduras. I didn't definitively recommend any of those lands, but I did think they were worth exploring for group colonization.
Pakštas was also interested by
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and some
Oceanian Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million as of ...
islands. He also considered
Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada ...
, with its
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
-like climate, worthy of interest. He had even looked at
Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
as a possibility. Efforts to establish a colony in
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
were abandoned due to the unstable political situation there.


British Honduras

It was finally decided in the late 1950s to establish the colony in British Honduras. Meetings to set a land purchase or lease deal with local authorities in the territory were held. However, due to the rise of an independence movement in British Honduras, this location was abandoned as well. In 1958, Pakštas wrote that:
"I consider the most important outcome of my research to be that the British local government in British Honduras, in the person of its governor, assured me that the Lithuanian group would immediately receive cultural autonomy, which we currently do not have either in our old Fatherland or elsewhere in the world."
The idea of creating a Lithuanian hearth in British Honduras did not receive success in the press of Lithuanians that had escaped Soviet occupation. It was also criticized in Soviet-occupied Lithuania by
Soviet propaganda Propaganda in the Soviet Union was the practice of state-directed communication to promote class conflict, internationalism, the goals of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the party itself. The main Soviet censorship body, Glavlit, ...
.


Bahamas

The last considered location for Dausuva were the
Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
, but support for the project was getting weaker and it was never realized.


Plan

Professor Pakštas had even planned the phases in which Dausava would be created: # "Primary school phase" – a village of 25 families with a primary school and a chapel. # When the number of inhabitants would increase to 3,000, then would begin the "progymnasium" phase. As the industry and trade would develop, own newspapers and organizations would be created. # In the "gymnasium" phase, the colony increases to 5,000 inhabitants. Then the cultural autonomy is transferred to the territorial one - the creation of one's own state. The rights would depend on an agreement with the British authorities. # "University" could be reached in about 25 years. The population due to Lithuanian immigrants and natural increase would increase to 60,000. Then it would be possible to have extensive autonomous rights and have a university.


Cultural references

This theory was featured in the three-part play ''Madagascar'', written by Lithuanian
playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
Marius Ivaškevičius. The concept also inspired the making of the 2019
period drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...
film '' Nova Lituania'', created by writer-director Karolis Kaupinis.


References


Sources

* * * * * * * {{Cite news , last=Statinis , first=Gerimantas , date=29 June 2015 , title=Kazys Pakštas: fantazijų profesorius ar genialus geopolitikos strategas? (2) , language=lt , trans-title=Kazys Pakštas: professor of fantasies or a genius geopolitical strategist? (2) , work=Pasaulio Lietuvis , url=https://pasauliolietuvis.lt/kazys-pakstas-fantaziju-profesorius-ar-genialus-geopolitikos-strategas-2/, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160607012658/https://pasauliolietuvis.lt/kazys-pakstas-fantaziju-profesorius-ar-genialus-geopolitikos-strategas-2/, archive-date=7 June 2016, url-status=live History of Lithuania (1918–1940) History of British Honduras Intentional communities