Talk:Vilnius Soviet of Workers Deputies

Names
Hello, Soman. I have noticed that you systematically used the name "Vilna". A far as I can tell, this is inconsistent with the naming convention adopted in the English-language WP, which favours "Vilnius". Could you provide a rationale, please? Regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 21:50, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hello . Not always, there are also articles where I've used 'Vilnius' or 'Wilno'. The naming of the city, in historical perspective, is complex, as the city was contested by Lithuanian, Polish, Belorussian, Russian and Soviet sides around this period. Usage of names vary over time, and using present-day naming conventions retroactively can be misleading. I think 'Vilna' is more apt for use in English in for the sake of this article. On other hand, I ended up using 'Kaunas' for the corresponding Kaunas Soviet of Workers Deputies. --Soman (talk) 22:14, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hello, Soman. Many thanks for your kind reply. Fully agree as to complex naming (when listing competing names you forgot to mention two Jewish names, one in Yiddish - in transliteration, "Wilne" and one in Hebrew - in transliteration, "Wilnia", and the German one - Wilna, as the Germans ruled the city in 1915-1918; also, the Russian name might have appeared in two slightly distinct ortographic versions, namely Вильня and Вильна, not to mention Ви́льно - a simple transliteration from Polish, and Вильнюс - a simple transliteration from Lithuanian). As to the very point here, do you have any other rationale than "I think 'Vilna' is more apt for use in English in for the sake of this article"? Thanks and regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 23:04, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Additionally, I'd say the following: Pre-WWI, the city was in the Russian Empire. During good part of WWI, the city was under German occupation (which was conceptualized, by the German side, as an occupation regime - the city was not annexed). The Taryba declared independence 16 February, 1918, but did not get to hold governing power in the city. March 1918, the city is located in the territories that Soviet Russia ceded at Brest-Litovsk, Soviet Russia later revokes Brest-Litovsk (which is essentially the event that prompts the development promopting the launch of the Vilna Soviet), the Vilna Soviet is active in two periods: the first period when the organization operates in the last phase of German military occupation. In the second period, the city was the capital of the Lithuanian and then Litbel soviet republics. The front line moves a number of times, for most of 1919 and 1920 the city is held by Polish forces, for a brief period in 1920 only does the Republic of Lithuania hold the city. Later Poland retakes the city, and eventually managed to gain diplomatic recognition for its claim to the city and holds it until 1939 when the city was finally transferred to Lithuanian rule. Notably during the period of interest for this article, the city was not de facto part of the Republic of Lithuania (and de jure claims dubious at best) and did not have a Lithuanian demographic majority. I'd say that that a pragmatic approach would be to use Vilna up to 1919/1920 (as it was the internationally established name at the time), Wilno at least 1923-1939 (possibly earlier as well) and Vilnius from 1939 onwards. Furthermore, there is also the issue of the naming of the Vilna Governorate, which remained a (Russian/Soviet) geographic entity until 1920. --Soman (talk) 15:10, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hello Soman, many thanks for your extensive treatment of the history of the city in the early 20th century. However, I am afraid I do not see any relation to the question discussed here: what English name of the city should be used in this article.


 * You were kind to suggest “a pragmatic approach”, which you believe is using “Vilna” until 1919/1920, “Wilno” during 1923-1939 and “Vilnius” from 1939 onwards. Well, my humble opinion is that this approach is not pragmatic, but quite the opposite: cumbersome and tricky, and apart from that also confusing, bewildering, baffling, incomprehensible and perplexing. It seems also incoherent; WP contains the entry dedicated to the city and named “Vilnius”; why another entry would opt for another spelling?


 * But above all and leaving all the "I know better, you know better", don’t we have a WP rule for this? It says that “when a widely accepted English name, in a modern context, exists for a place, we should use it”. The widely accepted English name is “Vilnius”. In the English-speaking world almost all news agencies, all newspapers, all websites, all insitutions use “Vilnius”. Currently the name “Vilna” is only used in some English-language works related to the Jewish history, and often by Jewish or Israeli institutions.


 * You might rightly claim that in the English-speaking world the name “Vilna” prevailed until the late 20th century, and it was only in the 1990s that “Vilna” gave way to “Vilnius”. You might want to combine it with the WP guideline to use the name appropriate for the period discussed. However, this guideline appears to refer to cases like Tsaritsin / Stalingrad / Volgograd, and not to cases of changing English spelling.


 * The spelling issue is explained by WP guidelines using as an example the Chinese city once known in English as “Nanking”. The guidelines say that given today the widely accepted English name is “Nanjing”, this is the preferred version. I think this is almost the same case as “Vilna” vs “Vilnius”. Hence, my suggestion is to change the title and the text by replacing all instances of “Vilna” with “Vilnius”. regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 22:27, 17 February 2023 (UTC)


 * The difference between Vilna/Vilnius and Peking/Beijing, is that the latter is a reform within Chinese society on how their names would be transliterated. In terms of Vilna/Wilno/Vilnius, all of these names 'belonged' to different languages, co-existed in the same time period, and the use in English would depend on from which language the name would be transliterated. Today the city is overwhelmingly Lithuanian in terms of language and ethnicity, universally recognized as the capital of the Republic of Lithuania, but that wasn't the case around this period (and not until after WWII). Assigning the present-day usage backwards means establishing a post-Holocaust naming convention to a pre-Holocaust world. And the dilemma of Vilna/Wilno/Vilnius on wikipedia isn't limited to just this article, there are plenty of other examples. --Soman (talk) 22:36, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
 * As per name of the soviet in English literature, 'Vilna Soviet' appears to be more common than 'Vilnius Soviet' or 'Wilno Soviet'. Not that there are tons of sources for neither spelling, but at least possible to say that a reader trying to search for sources on the soviet in English-language historical literature are likely to encounter this name. --Soman (talk) 23:00, 17 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hello Soman, many thanks for your kind reply. I can not help the feeling that you keep referring to a number of issues which are entirely irrelevant to the point discussed here; who ruled the city? what nation prevailed in the given period? how does it relate to Holocaust? and so on.


 * There is a WP rule as to English names of non-English locations. Why don’t we use it?


 * You might look like scoring a point when claiming that in literature the name of “Vilna Soviet” appears to be more common than “Vilnius Soviet”. This might be pretty much the case, though I have not carried out a systematic search. I agree that WP rules accept the usage of phrases like “Battle of Nanking” (despite “Nanjing” being the preferred city name) because they are commonly used. However, I am afraid “Vilna Soviet” is nowhere near “Battle of Nanking” in world historiography; in English it does not exist as a recognizable phrase and refers to an obscure episode in Eastern European history barely ever mentioned. I strongly suggest that an obsolete name, non used in English any more and incompatible with WP usage is replaced. Regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 00:08, 18 February 2023 (UTC)
 * prompted by your challenge, I have done a brief search in Google.Books for 2 pairs: “Vilna Soviet” vs “Vilnius Soviet” and “Vilna Soviet of Workers” vs “Vilnius Soviet of Workers”. I would not say that there are hundreds or results, there are barely few. The comparison seems inconclusive to me. There are slightly more cases of “Vilnius Soviet of Workers”, and there are slightly more cases of “Vilna Soviet”. All this leads to me saying that your claim about alleged predominance of “Vilna Soviet” is unsubstantiated. I invite everyone interested to repeat the test to see for himself. --Hh1718 (talk) 00:36, 18 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hello, Soman. A week gone with no response from you. I have seen you have done some 70 edits in the meantime are appear to be heavily engaged in work on Liberia Transitional Government article, so am not sure whether I may take your silence for OK as to my proposal. In case I do not hear from you shortly, I will asume you have kindly agreed to replacing "Vilna" with "Vilnius". Regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 11:05, 25 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi . We're clearly in disagreement of how to apply naming conventions. I think 'Vilna' is the better option, you think 'Vilnius' is the better option. It's not the end the world, you're free to edit without my agreement, but if you'd like a wider consensus or a third opinion that's also possible. I do want to stress that this issue wouldn't relate only to this article, you also have Vilna Governorate, Vilna Military District, Vilna Ghetto, Vilna offensive, Wilno District, etc. --Soman (talk) 16:26, 25 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hello, Soman. Many thanks for your kind response.
 * Sure I might try to edit this entry without seeking consent, but I would prefer not to. You see, one of the things which I dislike in WP the most is disrespect to other editors. It has happened to me a number of times that users apparently (judging by their record) with little knowledge about a specific issue embark on sometimes major (and usually requiring little effort) changes to work done by the others. I appreciate your article on the Vilnius Soviet, which apparently did cost you some time and which is firmly based on a number of sources from different languages. I would hate to be a person who arbitraily steps in and makes changes with total disregard to the fact that someone has worked on the topic, thought it over, structured the entry and proposed his/her idea.
 * Since as you rightly say following some exchange of opinions we are still in disagreement, I think I will launch one of the WP-recommended resolution methods, namely I will lodge a RfC request.
 * And as to the samples you quote: I am not convinced. The fact that some WP articles contain non-compliant names does not mean that compliance with WP rules is not required. Regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 19:19, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

RfC: city name
Should the city name in this article be Vilna or Vilnius? For arguments in favor of both options please see above. --Hh1718 (talk) 19:26, 26 February 2023 (UTC) Invited by the bot.


 * Soviet of Workers Deputies wasn't institution of the Russian administration, but it was communist organisation of the city's inhabitants, I think we should use Vilnius form in this case Marcelus (talk) 20:34, 27 February 2023 (UTC)

(Invited by the bot) I only took a quick look. The main name used should be the most common current English name for it. Other names can be mentioned with explanations. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 00:33, 27 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Vilnius, because we should use the most common current name for it.--Cukrakalnis (talk) 21:23, 27 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Looks like Vilnius is used more often: -- ., before the RFC, mentioned Vilna Governorate. That article uses Lithuania-Vilnius Governorate that redirects to Lithuania Governorate that provides a link back to this article. The Russian Vilna Military District was used from 1862 to the beginning of WWI. The Vilna Ghetto claims to be a Jewish ghetto in the German-occupied city of Vilnius. The Vilna offensive uses Vilnius. The Wilno District was apparently during the period June 1919 to September 1920. Britannica states, "Vilnius, Russian Vilnyus, Polish Wilno, Russian (formerly) Vilna, city, capital of Lithuania, at the confluence of the Neris (Russian Viliya) and Vilnia rivers." More currently it appears: Vilnius Region, Vilnius Cathedral, Vilnius University, Vilnius airport, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius Voivodeship (1413-1795), Vilnius Castle Complex, Nasdaq Vilnius, Coat of arms of Vilnius, Vilnius railway station, and others. -- Otr500 (talk) 15:00, 1 March 2023 (UTC)


 * Hello Marcelus, North8000, Cukrakalnis, Otr500, many thanks for your kind contributions.


 * I am somewhat disappointed by how this discussion developed, or rather, by how it ended. Whan launching this RfC I assumed it would be concluded by what I thought was a regular way of closing RfCs, i.e. someone with appropriate right stepping in and summarising with an appropriate template. However, following few weeks on RfC page, this thread has been silently removed from it with no formal conclusion and I think it is reasonable to say that neither any further comments nor a formal conclusion can be expected. I am not sure why it developed this way, probably I do not understand the RfC mechanics properly.


 * However, given the RfC was live for some 4 weeks and given 4 users expressed their views, I will arogate myself the right to close this discussion myself. All 4 contributors agree that the name Vilnius should be used. I will take it as a verdict of the Wiki community, which sorts out the disagreement between myself and Soman, and will proceed to edit the article accordingly (no April Fool's Day joke). Regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 18:05, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I'm ok with that Marcelus (talk) 19:26, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
 * DO not be disappointed about the closing. Some discussions need to be formally closed (this can be requested) and some are considered closed when an agreement has been met or there is a clear direction and there are no further additions to the comments. In cases like these silence indicates the issue is resolved.
 * I think it is certainly alright for an involved editor to close a discussion when it is unanimous, and I would add likely a great candidate to pass the The snowball test. --  Otr500 (talk) 18:40, 1 April 2023 (UTC)

Street names in Vilnius (Lithuanian)
Hello Soman,

I have noticed that when it comes to street names in Vilnius, you seem to apply a strange convention.

I am not sure whether there are any rules in WP for street names; I have not found any, but maybe I missed the right page, in this case grateful for a link. As far as I could tell, in practice there are 3 ways: 1) all vernacular, 2) all English, and 3) hybrid.

However, you opt for none of the above. You seem to choose a hybrid, but then you transform it, so that the vernacular name in genitive gets converted to vernacular name in nominative. I would call this method "transformed hybrid".

Please let me demonstrate this using 4 examples, from Bucharest, Warsaw, Bratislava and Vilnius. I have produced a table, which presents how a specific street name would have looked like in all vernacular, all English and a hybrid (actual Wikipedia articles are linked in bold). I have also added another column, demonstrating how these names would look like using your "transformed hybrid" method.

I find the "transformed hybrid" method rather odd:


 * first, it is rather unique in Wikipedia
 * second, it does not look practical to me; when someone would like to find "Komunarai Street" on the map of Vilnius, even the old Soviet one, he/she will surely fail, as there neither is nor was any street like this
 * third, in local language these transformations would sound rather funny if not downright incorrect gramatically

Hence, I would suggest to change the names to one of the widely used 3 conventions; since you seem leaning towards a hybrid, let it be a hybrid. In this case, I would suggest to change:


 * "Komunarai Street" to "Komunarų Street"
 * "A. Jakštas Street" to "A. Jakšto Street"

You actually use the regular hybrid and not the "transformed hybrid" method when you mention "Varnių Street". In this case, you are inconsistent as you do not attempt to convert the name to nominative, either in singular ("Varna Street") or in plural ("Varnos Street").

grateful for your opinion.

regards, --Hh1718


 * Hello Soman, grateful for your feedack. --Hh1718 (talk) 20:48, 20 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi . So, this is by no means uncomplicated issue, and I struggled with the googling of names across the various languages involved. My general approach, not limited to this particular article, is that 1) the name should match the actually official name used at the time, 2) no full translation to English of street names (for example I wouldn't refer to Kaiserdamm as 'the Emperor Dam'). Here there is a multilingual and contested city, where power is rapidly changing hands over the course of the months involved. The activity of the Soviet can be roughly divided in main 2 periods - German military occupation (unclear to me what linguistic policy was followed in terms of renaming streets? I presume they didn't interfere with pre-WWI Russian Empire names, but honestly I don't know well) and Lithuanian SSR/Litbel SSR (that had 5 official languages with seemingly equal status).
 * Now, there are examples of English-language literature using hybrid names. For example "Ludka Arbeijtsman from Wrona Street, a young student in the fourth year of her baccalaureate , the youngest of us , all bubbly enthusiasm and tenacity , was sitting just here ." (, though this might be a Wrona Street somewhere else), "... the building of the Philharmonic Society where Soviet power in Vilnius was proclaimed on the 15th of December 1918 ; the house at No 9 Komunarai Street where the five Communards died the death of heroes in fighting against counter ..." , "In this building ( now No.9 Komunarai Street) the Vilnius Town Soviet of Workers ' Deputies resided in 1918-1919" , "The Parczewski palace on the Neris embankment , a castle with towers , and a group of houses in Komunarai Street represent the pseudo - Gothic" . Etc.
 * Actually, in the edit history you'll find that I had initially written "Workers Club building on 5, Varnu Street (later 9, Komunaru Street, present-day A. Jakšto Street)", that changed to "Workers' Club building at 5 Wrona (Varnių) Street (later 9 Komunarai Street, present-day A. Jakštas Street)"  --Soman (talk) 21:38, 20 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Hello Soman


 * Many thanks for your kind response.


 * In your note I failed to find whether you agree with my proposal or not. Grateful if you could please indicate whether the change suggested ("Komunarai Street" to "Komunarų Street" and "A. Jakštas Street" to " A. Jakšto Street") is OK with you.


 * Thanks to your note I now see that in fact, I should address my question also to Renata3, who on Sep 24, 2022 changed the original „Komunarų” to „Komunarai” and „A. Jakšto” to „A. Jakštas”. Renata3, could you please advise the rationale behind the changes you have introduced?


 * You might find a brief history of the street interesting (though rather irrelevant for this discussion, as we are discussing noun cases). Here is what I found:


 * in the mid-19th century the place was an underdeveloped mostly rural area. On maps from the 1870s or 1880s the street is marked, but with no name
 * the first map where the street is identified comes from the 1890s and it features „Старый Переулок”, see here. The Polish mp from the same period offers a similar but different name, "Zaułek nadbrzeżny", see here
 * some time at the turn of the century the street got renamed, as on the map from 1904 it appears named after the city of Kherson: „[улица] Херсонская”, see here. Also on Polish-language maps it was named „[ulica] Chersońska”, see here
 * following their seizure of the city the Germans initially did not change the name and on the 1915 map you can see it is marked as „Chersonstrasse”, see here
 * however, on the 1916 map the street appears already as „Krähenstrasse”, see here. It is also the name referred in various accounts from the era, both in Lithuanian and Polish, see e.g. „Buvo taip pat apsuptas darbininkų klubas prie Varnių gatvės 5” in recollections of Mykolas Biržiška, see here or „Na grupę agentów natknął się na ul. Wroniej” in recollections of Wincenty Jastrzębski, see here
 * I am not sure what was the name of the street during the bolshevik rule between January and April 1919, but I guess they had other things to worry about than street names. From digital press collections available at Vrublevskių biblioteka and at PBC it appears that in papers issued during these turbulent days the street was referred to as "Crow Street (former Kherson Street)"
 * have no idea what was the street name during the Polish rule between April 1919 and July 1920
 * the same applies to the Soviet rule between July and September 1920
 * the same applies to the Lithuanian rule between September and October 1920
 * on the Polish map from 1921 the street appears as „[ulica] Dąbrowskiego” and it was named so until 1939, see e.g. here


 * regards,--Hh1718 (talk) 17:46, 25 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Hello Soman, Hello Renata3, grateful for your thoughts. Regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 14:40, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

Hi Hh1718, thanks for your thoughtful write up on the history of street names. You asked why I changed to "Komunarai Street" -- it seems more appropriate to me, but I think it is a losing battle and "Komunarų Street" is fine too. Renata•3 02:02, 9 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Hello Renata3, many thanks for your kind response. Hello Soman, I suppose you had more important things to do than discussing this minor issue, dangerously close to hair-splitting, so no worries. Given Renata3 has somewhat grudgingly but agreed to my proposal, and since Soman at least has not voiced his opposition, I implemented the change suggested earlier. Regards and again thanks for your advice, --Hh1718 (talk) 08:16, 10 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi . I do appreciate your effort to seek consensus, but I think we aren't really in any significant conflict here. I have no particular opinion on the Lithuanian grammar issue, I generally think it's fine to mix (local name)+(street in English) but it should be applied with some pragmatism. I think that having both historical name plus current name in parenthesis is good. --Soman (talk) 12:41, 10 May 2023 (UTC)

Street names in Vilnius (Polish)
Hello Soman,

I have a problem with another street name you use, namely “Wrona Street”, which appears to be a derivate from Polish. I believe it is wrong and I think it should be “Wronia Street”. Since above you kindly declare that “we aren't really in any significant conflict” when it comes to street names, I do not expect any response from you (of course unless you believe my proposal is rubbish). The below is merely to explain my rationale; unless you shout out, I will proceed with the change suggested some time from now.

1.

When pointing to the “Wrona Street” name appearing in historiography you quote an excerpt from the book by Ingrid Strobl, which goes as follows: „Dora Goldkorn again: I can still remember the first shooting lesson. There were five of us girls. I can see them all. Ludka Arbeijtsman from Wrona Street, a young student in the fourth year of her...” (p. 267). Unfortunately this is all that GoogleBooks allows me to see.

You note that the reference might point to a “Wrona Street” in another city, and I think you are very much correct. I have searched this book for “Dora Goldkorn”; she appears a number of times, but always in relation to Warsaw (pp. 253, 267, 268). She has written a book, titled Wspomnienia uczestniczki powstania w getcie warszawskim, and it appears she had nothing to do with Vilnius, please see here or here. However, there is no - and as far as I can tell, there has never been – a street named “Wrona” in Warsaw. There is a street with a similar name, “Wronia”, please see some pics here; this street was within the Jewish ghetto during WW2, so I guess this is the street meant by Ingrid Strobl, who for some reason has mis-spelled it.

2.

Of course, the above is not a proof that there was no “Wrona Street” in Vilnius. However, I have combed GoogleBooks and various digitalised Polish press collections, like Jagiellońska Biblioteka Cyfrowa here or Podlaska Biblioteka Cyfrowa here, but failed to find a reference to “ulica Wrona” in Vilnius. The only “Wrona Street” I found is in Springfield, Massachussets (sure :-) I did not find it in digitalised Polish press collections).

However, there are loads of references to “ulica Wronia” in Vilnius, often in relation to the Soviet of Workers Deputies and to the fightings of Jan 1, 1919, see e.g. a newspaper Dziennik Wileński of 21.11.1918 here or a book from 2008 here. This makes me think that also in case of Vilnius, “Wrona Street” is a mis-spelling of “Wronia Street”.

3.

Besides, though I am not an expert professional in Polish, it seems to me that “Ulica Wrona” is a linguistic mistake, which in English would sound like “the Crow the Street” or something in the like. I am sorry to come out with a treaty on linguistics, especially given you seem to be well familiar with a number of Eastern European languages, but I see no other way to clear things out. So: “wrona” means “a crow” and is a noun (singular, nominative), while “wronia” means “crow” as adjective (singular, nominative/vocative), please see here. Polish street names either use noun in genitive (e.g. Ulica Syreny, literally “Mermaid’s Street”, in Warsaw, see here) or adjective in nominative (e.g. Ulica Syrenia, literally “Mermaid Street” in Posen, see here), but they do not use noun in nominative (there is no “Ulica Syrena”). In case of a crow I can not draw such an example, as in no Polish town or city I found the genitive use of “Ulica Wrony” (literally “Crow’s Street”), except “Ulica Wrony” in Cracow, but this is not to honor a crow, but a bloke named Mieczysław Wrona.

All in all, unless someone opposes my proposal, I will shortly proceed to change “Wrona Street” to “Wronia Street”.

regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 10:10, 11 May 2023 (UTC)


 * no challenge, changing as suggested above --Hh1718 (talk) 17:51, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

Jakšto Street
Hello Soman, Hello Renata3, you might be interested to learn that prompted by this disucssion, I have committed an article, named Jakšto Street. Sure I need to thank you for inspiration. Of course if there is any rubbish in this article (which is possible if not likely), the responsibility is mine and only mine, and you are welcome to get things straight. I include the note on this talk page in case it might be useful for improvement of the Vilnius Soviet of Workers Deputies entry. regards, --Hh1718 (talk) 10:16, 11 May 2023 (UTC)