Sąjūdis

Sąjūdis (ˈsâːjuːdjɪs, "Movement"), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania (Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis), is a political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on 3 June 1988 as the first opposition party in Soviet Lithuania, and was led by Vytautas Landsbergis. Its goal was to seek the return of independent status for Lithuania. Singing Revolution In the mid-1980s, Lithuania's Communist Party leadership hesitated to embrace Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost. The death of Petras Griškevičius, first secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania, in 1987 was merely followed by the appointment of another rigid communist, Ringaudas Songaila. However, encouraged by the rhetoric of Mikhail Gorbachev, noting the strengthening position of Solidarity in Poland and encouraged by the Pope and the U.S. Government, Baltic independence activists began to hold public demonstrations in Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius. At a meeting at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences on 3 June 1988, communist and non-communist intellectuals formed Sąjūdis Initiative Group (Lithuanian: Sąjūdžio iniciatyvinė grupė) to organise a movement to support Gorbachev's program of glasnost, democratisation, and perestroika. The group composed of 35 members, mostly artists. 17 of the group members were also communist party members. Its goal was to organise the Sąjūdis Reform Movement, which became known subsequently simply as Sąjūdis. On 21 June 1988, the first massive gathering organised by Sąjūdis took place at Soviet Square near Soviet Palace. Three days later gathering took place in Gediminas' Square. There delegates to the 19th All-Union Conference of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were instructed about Sąjūdis goals. About 100,000 people in Vingis Park greeted the delegates when they came back in July. Another massive event took place on 23 August 1988, when about 250,000 people gathered to protest against the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact and its secret protocol.