Lithuania Minor was an important center for Lithuanian culture, which was persecuted in Russian-controlled Lithuania proper. That territory had been slowly Polonized when being part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and was heavily Russificied while part of the Russian Empire, especially in the second half of the 19th century. During the ban on Lithuanian printing in Russia from 1864 until 1904, Lithuanian books were printed in East Prussian towns such as Tilsit, Ragnit, Memel, and Königsberg, and smuggled to Russia by "knygnešiai". The first Lithuanian language periodicals appeared during the period in Lithuania Minor, such as "Auszra", edited by Jonas Basanavičius, succeeded by "Varpas" by Vincas Kudirka. They had contributed greatly to the Lithuanian national revival of the 19th century.