Summary

The Ramygala Parish and Valsčius during the long 19th century

Arūnas Astramskas

The paper deals with the development of local community within the Ramygala parish and rural district during the 19th century. Various aspects of this development, i.e., economic, social, political and cultural, have been analysed. Some trends in the changes are observed: emancipation of the caste of peasants, with the start of their participation in political life, decline of the nobles class and its transformation, as well as various forms of modernisation of the society. The local community has been observed to consist of very different social groups, but in spite of that, under significant internal changes and permanent conflict with tsarist government as well as economic, cultural and social outside pressure, it managed to preserve its integration during the entire century. A conclusion is made that the district of Ramygala has been one of the most active centres of the Lithuanian national movement. And it is most important that the development of the Ramygala Parish in the 19th century resulted in the strengthening of the Lithuanian national self-consciousness among the people and their mobilisation for foundation of the national state, in general, the birth of modern Lithuanian nation.