Vairas

Vairas (literally: steering wheel; also translated as helm or rudder) was a Lithuanian-language political and cultural newspaper published by Antanas Smetona and the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, the ruling party in Lithuania in 1926–1940. It was published three separate times. Vairas was first established in January 1914 when Smetona departed Viltis; it was discontinued due to World War I. The newspaper was briefly revived in September 1923 when Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras harshly criticized their political opponents and the Lithuanian government. Due to the anti-government rhetoric, their newspapers were closed by state censors one after another, but they would quickly establish a new newspaper under a new title. Vairas was closed in February 1924. The newspaper was reestablished as a cultural magazine in 1929 with the backing of the authoritarian regime of Smetona. In 1939, it became a weekly political magazine that pushed an agenda of radical nationalism and openly sympathized with National Socialism. The magazine was discontinued after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940.

==1914–1915== Vairas was established by Antanas Smetona with financial backing of on 5 January 1914 in Vilnius. After a conflict with conservative clergy, Smetona departed Viltis and established Vairas to continue its original mission of uniting Lithuanians, regardless of their religious or political beliefs, and promoting the Lithuanian national identity. Initially it was a monthly, and in 1915 became a weekly. The publication was discontinued in summer 1915 due to World War I.