ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the origins and scope of this unprecedented development and to highlights the interplay between the main actors of the drama, namely the Lithuanian Reconstruction Movement, the Communist Party of Lithuania (CPL), and the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Taken together, Lithuanian nationalism, democratic traditions, and dissent provided the basis for a program much different from and more far-reaching than the CPL's and the CPSU's efforts at perestroyka and democratization. The CPL leadership, especially after the death of First Secretary Antanas Snieckus in 1976, fell into the hands of mediocre apparatchiks. Determination to form a popular front was solidified by two events, namely the election of CPL delegates to the 19th Conference of the CPSU and decisions taken by Moscow on the expansion of the Lithuanian chemical industry. The latter action justifies Brazauskas's optimism and uplifts the CPL's standing in Lithuania.
