Lithuanian National Revival

Due to a long period of common Polish-Lithuanian statehood and nationality, and the Russian Empire's policy of Russification, many of the Lithuanian nobles in the 19th century had become Polonized and the language was generally used only by the poor and by the middle classes; some of the latter tended to use Polish as a status symbol for social advancement.

Lithuanian was generally a spoken language and was not considered prestigious enough for written usage; it was, however, retained by some members of the minor nobility, especially in the Samogitian region.

There were even expectations that the Lithuanian language would become extinct, as the eastern territories within what is modern-day Lithuania and northwestern Belarus became increasingly Slavicized,[1] and many people used Polish or Belarusian in their daily lives.

Several factors contributed to its subsequent revival: the language drew attention from scholars of the emerging science of comparative linguistics; after the abolition of serfdom in the Russian Empire in 1861, social mobility increased, and Lithuanian intellectuals arose from the ranks of the rural populace; and language became associated with identity in Lithuania, as elsewhere across Europe.

Russian policy became harsher in response, and there were known instances of attacks on Catholic churches; meanwhile, a ban on the Lithuanian press continued.

Yet even with a press ban, the literacy of Lithuanians continued to rise significantly and was one of the greatest among the nations in the Russian Empire, behind only Finns, Estonians and Latvians.