Content Warning: This study guide section mentions violence, rape, and death.

Today, Lithuania is a country on the coast of the Baltic Sea, bordering Latvia, Belarus, Poland, and Kaliningrad Oblast, a semi-exclave of Russia. Before Imperial Russia’s control of Lithuania, the country was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a unified state between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia, and Habsburg monarchy divided this territory into the Partitions of Poland. The Russian Empire now controlled the majority of Lithuania as a province.

In 1830 and 1863, the Poles and Lithuanians attempted to revolt, but these uprisings failed. The November and January Uprisings are alluded to in the novel, and Lukas explains to Audra that the January Uprising of 1863 is the one that resulted in the Lithuanian press ban. Lithuanians resisted this ban by writing for Lithuanian newspapers, smuggling illegally printed books, and organizing secret Lithuanian schools, as depicted in Words on Fire.

As momentum grew for the revival of Lithuanian national identity, the local Russian governors were tasked with destroying anything and punishing anyone that facilitated support for Lithuanian independence. This included destroying Catholic churches, as the Church was a significant supporter of smuggled books.