The 10-year anniversary of the Republic of Lithuania: the State celebration program of 1928 and the monuments of independence

Abstract

The Supreme Committee for the 10-year Anniversary Celebration of the Independence of the Republic of Lithuania was established in 1928. The committee performed its mission making the national rally campaign of the celebration of two state festivals – February 16 and May 15. The organizational skills and experience of Vladas Nagevičius in developing the national important memorial symbols should be noted. He was the chairman of the committee and the director of the Military Museum. The year 1928 evidenced the first manifestation of the global cultural memory in Independent Lithuania. A model of the ceremonial communication of the state festivals was created. It had an important component – a monument – a materialization sign of the memorial. To achieve their objectives, the committee used the periodicals, the Church, radio, artists and, of course, local communities. Dealing with the problems of commemorative monuments – the lack of funding, the risk of cheap monuments, the need to design an exceptional memorial object with national traditions, the committee inspired to introduce the shape of a splendour wooden cross as an identity standard. The Committee and the majority of citizens considered that the traditional monuments of cross-crafting is a successful reflection of the nationhood. The Supreme Committee had an exceptional role in designing the commemorative process in 1928.