Socialdemocrats Steponas Kairys and Mykolas Biržiška in the Work of the Counsil of Lithuania: Relation With the Acceptance of the Act of the 16th of February

Abstract

In the article there is discussed relation of socialdemocrats Steponas Kairys and Mykolas Biržiška with the acceptance of the historic Act of restoration of Independence of Lithuania in 1918, February 16.

In the one of the divisions of the article there is analysed a question if we can call S. Kairys and M. Biržiška as socialdemocrats after the 11th of December, 1917 because M. Biržiška seceded from LSDP and S. Kairys was exluded from the party accordind to some communistic istoriography. After analysing this question we can state that S. Kairys after the 11th of December 1917, not only remained the member of LSDP, but was one of the prime leaders of the party and M. Biržiška, despite his secession from LSDP, worked as a nonparty socialdemocrat.

Summarising the work of socialdemocrats who were selected to the Counsil of Lithuania, we can apparently state that they together with the leftists J. Vileišis and S. Narutavičius were very criticaly minded vis-a-vis the decision of the Lithuania Counsil in December 11, 1917. Also they were strictest contradictors of the annexational plans of germans. S. Kairys and M. Biržiška played a big role in the process of acceptance of the historic Act of Independence of the state of Lithuania on the 16th of February, 1918. Many authors, who has been writing abaut the acceptance of the act, indicated leftists of Lithuania Counsil as main authors of the act.