This is a Communist Party election poster for the elections to the Lithuanian Supreme Soviet in February 1990. These were the first elections for the Lithuanian legislature in which opposition candidates were allowed to participate.

At the end of 1988, the Communist Party of Lithuania broke away from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. This step raised the Party’s authority among the population and it became a serious competitor to the popular reform movement Sajudis in the fight for votes. The Communist Party of Lithuania had around 200,000 members at this time (about 6% of the population). Most supported the idea of Lithuanian independence, but were inclined to reach it gradually, ‘step by step’. Although the Communist Party did not have the same mass support that Sajudis enjoyed, it remained in a powerful position, controlling material resources, the media and the printing houses. Its propaganda publications were prepared by the state publisher Mintis and printed by a special printing house at the Communist Party Central Committee. Communist Party posters avoided radical slogans. They were dominated by exhortations to unite and work together, for the good of Lithuania, to gain ‘sovereignty’ – although the concept of ‘sovereignty’ was left undefined. Some understood it as complete independence, other as autonomy within the framework of the USSR.

The text for this poster ‘For the sake of Lithuania, let unity blossom’ was taken from the National Anthem of Lithuania. The image on the poster shows Gediminas’ Tower in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius photographed by Zinas Kazenas. The tower is named after Gediminas, the ruler of Lithuania at the beginning of the 14th century, who is considered to be the founder of the city of Vilnius. The tower was the official symbol of the city during the Soviet period when coats of arms of Lithuania and its cities were banned. The tradition of raising the national flag above the tower began after World War One. During the Soviet period the flag of the LSSR was used. When demands to restore national symbols were accepted, the Lithuanian national flag was raised over the tower once more with great celebration. This is the moment captured by Kazenas’s photograph. The image of the tower and the text inviting people to unite were acceptable to many citizens of Lithuania with different political views.