Lietuvos aidas (literally: Echo of Lithuania) is a daily newspaper in Lithuania. It was established on September 6, 1917, by Antanas Smetona, and became the semi-official voice of the newly formed Lithuanian government. When the government evacuated from Vilnius to the temporary capital, Kaunas, it ceased publication. The newspaper was revived in 1928 as the newspaper of the Lithuanian government and became the most popular newspaper in Lithuania. At its peak, it published three daily editions with combined circulation of 90,000 copies. World War II disrupted its publication. In 1990, after Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union, the newspaper once again became the official newspaper of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania. At the end of 1992, its circulation reached 103,000 copies. However, it was soon privatized and faced shrinking readership, financial difficulties, and other controversies. In April 2006, bankruptcy proceedings were initiated by the State Tax Inspectorate when its tax debts reached more than 4 million litas. The company was liquidated in 2015, but the newspaper continues to be published by a non-profit organization (viešoji įstaiga).
History
1917–1918
The newspaper was established on September 6, 1917, when Lithuania was occupied by the German Empire. At the time it was the only Lithuanian-language newspaper in Vilnius (Lietuvos ūkininkas was discontinued at the start of the war). The German authorities loosened their control and granted some rights to the local population as World War I drew to a close. An openly pursued goal of annexation gave way to a more guarded policy after Germany perceived that a public relations backlash might occur: the Central Powers realized that the Allies could use this annexation in their propaganda and in the upcoming peace negotiations. During this time, Lithuanians assembled the Vilnius Conference and elected the 20-member Council of Lithuania, which was entrusted with the declaration of Lithuania's independence.
When Antanas Smetona, the newspaper's founder, became the chairman of the council, Lietuvos aidas became the official newspaper of the Council on September 21, 1917. It was important for the council to inform the Lithuanian people about its struggles and progress and developments on the war front, and to report other political news. Among its goals was the unification of all Lithuanians, irrespective of their political beliefs, in order to declare and establish an independent Lithuania. The newspaper was censored by the Germans and was required to issue German translations. The German issue was titled Litauische Echo. At first the newspaper was published three times a week; after October 1, 1918, it was published daily, except for Mondays. The circulation in 1918 reached some 20,000 copies.
The newspaper usually consisted of about four to six pages. It published official declarations, decisions, and similar documents. Among the most famous issues is that of February 19, 1918, when the entire front page was dedicated to the Act of Independence of Lithuania. Although the majority of that issue was confiscated, the newspaper's editor, Petras Klimas, succeeding in hiding about 60 copies. In addition to political news, Lietuvos aidas also published poems and other literary works. It featured a special supplement, Liuosoji valanda (The Free Hour), dedicated to art. Another supplement, Mūsų ūkis (Our Farm), published articles on farming and agriculture.
Antanas Smetona remained as the editor in chief, but the actual editing was performed by Petras Klimas, Liudas Noreika, and others. Its authors included Mykolas Biržiška, Petras Klimas, Aleksandras Stulginskis, Jurgis Šaulys, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, Juozas Tūbelis. As Bolshevik forces took over Vilnius, the government had to abandon the city and the newspaper discontinued its operations on December 31, 1918, after publishing 214 issues. After the interim government was established in Kaunas, Lietuvos aidas was replaced by Lietuva (Lithuania) as the official newspaper of the Lithuanian government.
