Soviet Vilnius: Ideology and the formation of identity

Abstract

This article analyses the importance of historical narratives, myths and symbols in the process of the formation of the Soviet identity of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Throughout the Soviet period Vilnius was one of the Soviet capitals where the regime made every effort to modify the identity of the city in compliance with the prevailing Soviet ideology: to establish the ideological centre of the country, to shape the city so that it would meet the needs of the new 'Soviet citizen' and to alter its historical identity - erase the old historic sites, historical memory and form the new identity of the city. The most obvious manifestations of 'rewritten' history can be observed in the physical shape of the city - its architectural/urban development, changes of street names and the erection of new Soviet monuments. The said tangible signs and symbols of authority as well as the intangible ones - new historic narrative of the Soviet city, myths about its having a revolutionary past, the Great Patriotic War and the idea of progress were aimed at the legitimation of the regime, the formation of the citizenry's new identity and social indoctrination.