The party was named by the prominent Lithuanian activist and writer Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, who regarded progress as the main aspect of future politics.

The party published its main goals in 1917, while Lithuania was still part of the Russian Empire.

They announced that the party regarded Lithuania as a democratic republic with rights to self determination.

In late 1917 Alfonsas Petrulis, member of the party, was elected into the Council of Lithuania.

In 2016, the process of dissolving the party due to lack of reports about its membership numbers was started.