Preparations
Historians disagree about who initiated the idea of organizing a national assembly. Some credit Jonas Basanavičius, while others argue for Jonas Kriaučiūnas. The organizational activities were largely taken on by the Lithuanian Christian Democrats and by Vilniaus žinios, a moderate newspaper owned by Petras Vileišis. Vilniaus žinios was the first legal Lithuanian-language daily newspaper to appear after the Lithuanian press ban was lifted on May 7, 1904; it was quite popular and its circulation soon reached 6,000 copies. On October 31 (October 18 O.S.), 1905 a fifteen-member organizational committee, chairman Jonas Basanavičius and secretary Jonas Kriaučiūnas, was given the task of convening the assembly. They published an appeal or a manifest to the Lithuanian people on November 11 (October 29 O.S.) in Vilniaus žinios. The appeal, signed by the chairman and the secretary, aroused much interest in the public. Invitations were extended to all persons who would be elected as representatives by their communities at volosts, and to all other educated people interested in the future of the Lithuanian state. At the end of the appeal there was an eight-point agenda to be discussed at the Seimas. It did not include the question of Lithuanian autonomy.
On November 15 (November 2 O.S.), a controversial memorandum was adopted by the organizational committee and sent to Sergei Witte, Prime Minister of the Russian Empire. It was signed by only four people: Jonas Basanavičius, who was the primary author, Donatas Malinauskas, Juozapas Ambraziejus, and Mečislovas Davainis-Silvestraitis. It consisted of an introduction, which briefly summarized the history of Lithuania, and ten points of demands and declarations. The first point was the most controversial: it declared that Kovno, Grodno, Vilna, Suwałki Governorates and parts of Courland Governorate were historically Lithuanian and that the Poles, Jews, Russians, and other groups in those areas were merely invaders, who had arrived in the recent past. Belarusians were called "Slavinized Lithuanians." The last point in the memorandum, asking that the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania not be disregarded in the Tsar's documents, also drew criticism. Other points demanded Lithuanian autonomy, equal rights to all nationalities and social classes, full political and religious freedom, free universal education in the Lithuanian language, the introduction of the Lithuanian language to government institutions, and the attachment of the Suwałki Governorate not to Poland but to autonomous Lithuania. Many of these demands were echoed by the Seimas.
Those parts of the memorandum that demanded Lithuanian autonomy and protested the possible attachment of Suwałki Governorate to autonomous Poland were reprinted in the Russian publication Pravitel'stvennyi Vestnik on November 23 (November 10 O.S.). The Russian government sought to demonstrate that granting autonomy to both Poland and Lithuania would be complicated, and would probably exacerbate national conflicts. On November 26 (November 13 O.S.) the memorandum was also reprinted in Vilniaus žinios. It was heavily criticized by non-Lithuanians for its position on minorities and by Lithuanians for making demands on behalf of the Lithuanian nation without waiting for the Seimas' resolutions.
On December 4 (November 21 O.S.), about 2,000 people arrived in Vilnius; half of them were officially elected as delegates by their local communities. Because no standard elections procedures were offered, the process of selecting the representatives varied greatly. Despite irregularities, it was the first election in the history of Lithuania. People from Aukštaitija were most active, while participation from Samogitia and Suvalkija somewhat lacked. Some of the delegates came from areas that are now part of Poland and Latvia, as well as from areas that were then within the lands of the German Empire (Lithuania Minor). As a result a wide variety of communities, political groups, government layers, social classes, and organizations were represented. This parliament may have been the first in Europe to include women—there were seven female delegates.
Read more about this topic: Great Seimas Of Vilnius
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—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)