How did Lithuanians preserve their language during Russian rule?

During the period of Russian rule, particularly following the 1863 uprising, the tsarist government implemented aggressive policies of Russification that mandated the use of the Russian language in all public life and education. To suppress the Lithuanian language, authorities prohibited the printing of materials in the Latin script, permitting only the use of the Cyrillic alphabet.123

Lithuanians resisted this cultural imperialism through several key actions:

• Smuggling Publications: Lithuanians boycotted books printed in the Cyrillic alphabet. Instead, they relied on publications printed in the Latin script across the border in East Prussia, which were smuggled into the country in large quantities.123
• Schools of the Hearth: To circumvent the Russian-controlled educational system, an informal network of village-based "schools of the hearth" was organized to teach the Lithuanian language and culture.123

These efforts fueled a national renaissance, eventually leading to the annulment of the press prohibition in 1904.13