Lietuvos Šaulių Sąjungos pasirengimas ginkluotai gynybai ir 1941 metų birželio sukilėlių veikla: Telšių apskrities atvejo analizė

Šio darbo tikslas – ištirti Lietuvos šaulių sąjungos III Telšių rinktinės kultūrinę veiklą ir karinį pasirengimą ginant Lietuvos teritoriją. Darbo chronologinė struktūra apima laikotarpį nuo 1935 iki 1940 m., kai LŠS tapo pavaldi Lietuvos kariuomenei ir buvo pradėtas jos organizavimo procesas. Iki šiol LŠS buvo tiriama bendrai kaip organizacija, tačiau atskirų LŠS komandų temos buvo mažai tyrinėtos. Todėl darbe bandoma aptarti LŠS kultūrinę ir karinę veiklą III Telšių šaulių būryje.

aim of this work is to research the cultural activities of Lithuanian Riflemen's Union III Telšiai Detachment and their military preparation in defense of Lithuanian territory. The chronological framework of the paper covers the period from 1935 to 1940, when the LRU became subordinate to the Lithuanian Armed Forces, and the process of its organization was started. So far, the LRU has been studied jointly as an organization, but the topics of the individual LRU teams have been little studied. Therefore, the work attempts to discuss the cultural and military activities of the LRU in the III Telšiai Riflemen Detachment. After the battles of independence until 1935. Lithuanian Riflemen Union and Armed Forces reforms, the organization was more focused towards cultural activities: it promoted the sportiness of the society, nationality, and education. The cultural activities of riflemen had to help unite the sense of patriotism and communality of the riflemen and the Lithuanian society. III Telšiai Detachment Riflemen prepared performer troupe, orchestras, chorus. Riflemen's artistic groups participated in local festivals, where there was a good deal of popularity for riflemen's ideas, as there were many people gathering and there were few competitors in these activities. After the army and LRU reform in 1935, the organization became subordinate to the Commander of the Armed Forces. This demonstrated the purpose and the conversion of the LRU organization to military support. Before the reform, the militaristic training of riflemen's was based on sport. The riflemens were trained in a variety of sports competitions and games which improved their physical abilities. Sports tasks have been identified with military training tasks such as riding, sport shooting, running, grenade throwing and there were less real combat actions. Since 1935 LRU members started to train more actively for military training. The rifleman's were trained to perform partisan combat activities in the intended rifleman's team operation area, that was called territorial defense. It was a combat tactic based on the fact that the local rifleman's team had to maintain its area of activity for as long as possible by blocking the movement of enemy military units, and the rifleman's had to act on the back of the enemy. In order for this tactic to work, needed not only the moral determination of the rifleman's, but also the need for public support, the armament and the establishment of appropriate plans. Before the occupation of Lithuania, the rifleman's of the III Telšiai team were fully equipped, according to the command plans of the LRU. Already in the autumn of 1940, secret anti-Soviet resistance groups and organizations began to form in Lithuania. 1940 October 9 the Lithuanian Activist Front-LAF was established in Kaunas with the aim of coordinating the anti-Soviet resistance. The beginning of the June uprising coincided with the beginning of the USSR-German war in 1941. June 22. The universality and mass of the uprising is shown by the actions of the rebels throughout Lithuania. People who had heard nothing about the LAF and the underground also joined the anti-Soviet resistance. The June uprising took place against the USSR occupying power and its retreating army. At the same time, the uprising had to show Germany that Lithuanians had liberated themselves from the USSR.