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The Prussian Lithuanians or Lietuvininkai (singular: ''Lietuvininkas'', also ''Lietuvininkai'') are a Western Lithuanian ethnic group, originally Lithuanian language speakers who inhabited a territory in East Prussia called Prussian Lithuania or Lithuania Minor, ((リトアニア語:Prūsų Lietuva'', ''Mažoji Lietuva), (ドイツ語:Preußisch-Litauen'', ''Kleinlitauen)) in contrast to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuania Major or Proper). Prussian Lithuanians contributed greatly to the development of written Lithuanian, which for a long time was considerably more widespread and in more literary use in their land than in Lithuania Proper. Unlike most Lithuanians, who remained Roman Catholic after the Protestant Reformation, most Lietuvininkai became Lutheran-Protestants (Evangelical-Lutheran). There were 121,345 speakers of Lithuanian in the Prussian census of 1890. Almost all fled or were expelled after World War II, when East Prussia was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union. The northern part became the Kaliningrad Oblast, while the southern part was attached to Poland. Only the small Klaipėda Region ((ドイツ語:Memelland)) was attached to Lithuania. == Ethnonyms and identity == The term ''Preußische Litauer'' (''Prussian Lithuanians'' in German) appeared in German texts of the 16th century. The term ''Kleinlitaw'' (''Lithuania Minor'' in German) was first used by Simon Grunau between 1517 and 1527. Prussian Lithuanians used various names for themselves: Prussians (Lithuanian: ''Prūsai'', German: ''Preusch''), Prussian Lithuanians (Lithuanian: ''Pruſû Lietuwiai'', ''Pruſû Lietuvininkai'', ''Pruſißki Lietuvininkai'', German: ''Preußische Litauer''), or simply Lithuanians (Lithuanian: ''Lietuw(i)ni(n)kai'', German: ''Litauer''). Local self-designating terms found in literature, such as ''Sziszionißkiai'' ("people from here"), ''Burai'' (German: ''Bauern''), were neither politonyms nor ethnonyms. Another similar term appeared in the Klaipėda Region (Memelland) during the interwar years – ''Memellanders'' (Lithuanian: ''Klaipėdiškiai'', German: ''Memelländer''). Modern Lithuanian historiography uses the term ''Lietuvininkai'' or sometimes a neologism unknown to Lietuwininkai themselves, ''Mažlietuviai''. The usage of ''Lietuvininkai'' is problematic as it is a synonym of the word ''Lietuviai'' ("Lithuanians"), and not the name of a separate ethnic sub-group. For Prussian Lithuanians loyalty to the German state, strong religious beliefs, and the mother tongue were the three main criteria of self-identification.〔Loyalty to state power, great religiosity and mother language were three self-identifying priorities of ''mažlietuviai'' 〕 Due to differences in religion and loyalties to a different state, the Prussian Lithuanians did not consider Lithuanians of the Grand Duchy to be part of their community. They used the exonym Samogitians ((リトアニア語: Źemaicziai), (ドイツ語: Szameiten)) to denote Lithuanians of Lithuania Major. As with other closely related groups with differing religions (e.g. Northern Ireland, former Yugoslavia), antagonism was frequent between the Lutheran Prussian Lithuanians and the Catholic Lithuanians of the Grand Duchy, despite the common language. For example, inhabitants of Lithuania did not trust Prussian Lithuanians in the Klaipėda Region and tended to eliminate them from posts in government institutions. When Prussian Lithuanian writer Ieva Simonaitytė (Ewa Simoneit) chose the side of the Lithuanian Republic, she was condemned by relatives, friends and neighbours. Only one Prussian Lithuanian, Dovas Zaunius, worked in the government of Lithuania between World War I and World War II. The antagonism persisted until the end of World War II. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Prussian Lithuanians」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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