Directorate of the Klaipėda Region
Encyclopedia
The Directorate of the Klaipėda Region was the main governing institution (executive branch) in the Klaipėda Region
(Memel Territory) from February 1920 to March 1939. It was established by local German political parties to govern the region between the signing of the Treaty of Versailles
and establishment of French provision administration. Instead of replacing it, the French legitimized the Directorate. It mainly represented German interests and supported the idea of leaving the region as a free city, similar to the Free City of Danzig
. Dismayed Lithuanian government and Prussian Lithuanian activists, who campaigned for incorporation into Lithuania
, organized the Klaipėda Revolt
in January 1923. The revolt was staged as a popular uprising against the unbearable oppression by the German Directorate. The revolt was successful and the region was incorporated into Lithuania as an autonomous region, governed by the Klaipėda Convention
of May 1924.
The Convention outlined organizational structure, competency, and relationship to the central Lithuanian government of the autonomous institutions – the Directorate, local parliament
, governor. This enabled the directorate under Viktoras Gailius to conclude with the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union the Agreement concerning the Evangelical Church of the Klaipėda Region on July 23, 1925 as to the organisation of the Protestant congregations. The Protestant congregations in the Klaipėda Region were disentangled from the old-Prussian Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia and formed the Regional Synodal Federation of the Memel Territory (Landessynodalverband Memelgebiet) since, being ranked an ecclesiastical province directly subordinate to the Evangelical Supreme Church Council.
The relationship between the Directorate, which was more pro-Lithuanian as it was indirectly appointed by the President of Lithuania, and the local parliament, which was more pro-German, was tense. Of the six elected parliaments only two finished their full three-year term. The Directorate also often received votes of no confidence from the parliament and had to be replaced. A procedural dispute over the dismissal of the Otto Böttcher's Directorate in 1932 was only resolved by the Permanent Court of International Justice
. The relationship stabilized in late 1930s when both the parliament and the Directorate supported pro-Nazi activities. The growing tension between Nazi Germany
and Lithuania resulted in the ultimatum of March 1939
. Klaipėda Region was incorporated into Germany and the autonomous institutions were dissolved.
According to the Treaty of Versailles
of June 1919, Klaipėda Region was detached from East Prussia
and placed under provisional French administration. Even before the treaty was officially signed, German political parties held a congress and formed the seven-member Executive Committee to govern the region on the interim basis. On February 10, 1920, the first French troops, commanded by General Dominique Joseph Odry, arrived to the region. A week later Odry recognized the Executive committee, transforming it into the Directorate. Initially all its members were German, which caused protests among the Prussian Lithuanian activists. Two Lithuanians, Erdmonas Simonaitis
and Mikelis Reidys, were co-opted on March 12, 1920. Odry resigned on May 1, 1921, leaving Gabriel Jean Petisné the highest-ranking official in the region. He appointed a new Directorate, presided by pro-German Prussian Lithuanian Wilhelm Stepputat. In September 1921, he also established 20-member advisory Council of State . Petisné and the Directorate generally held anti-Lithuanian attitudes and supported turning the region into a free city, similar to the Free City of Danzig
. In February 1922, Simonaitis resigned in protest of such policies.
The Directorate was in charge of public institutions (railroad, postal service, customs, etc.), but its jurisdiction over of the police and courts was limited to financial matters. The President of the Directory was the head of the administration and had extensive powers in his own right. The members of the Directorate were appointed and dismissed by the French commissioner.
to take the region by force and present the League of Nations
with a fait accompli
. Lithuanian Prime Minister Ernestas Galvanauskas
took great care to represent the revolt as a genuine uprising of the local population against oppression by the German Directorate. Such plan was designed to direct Allied protests away from the Lithuanian government and to exploit the anti-German sentiment in Europe. On January 9, 1923, the Supreme Committee for the Salvation of Lithuania Minor declared that it usurped power in the region, dismissed Stepputat's Directorate, and authorized Simonaitis to form a new five-member Directorate within three days. The rebels then petitioned to unite with Lithuania
citing the right of self-determination
. The League of Nations initially protested the revolt, but quickly accepted the transfer. The Simonaitis' Directorate was disbanded on February 14 to appease the League. The Lithuanians left the region's administration as it was before the revolt until the signing of the Klaipėda Convention
, which formalized the transfer of the Klaipėda Region to Lithuania, in May 1924.
The Klaipėda Convention contained the Statute of the Klaipėda Region, which was a kin to regional constitution. While the region became integral part of Lithuania, it was also granted extensive legislative, judicial, administrative, and financial autonomy to preserve "traditional rights and culture of the inhabitants". The region elected its own local Klaipėda Parliament
. Members of the Directorate were appointed by the chairman of the Directorate (President), who was appointed by the governor, who in turn was appointed by the President of Lithuania. The Directorate consisted of no more than five members, all of whom had to be residents of the region, and served as long as it had the confidence
of the Klaipėda Parliament. The governor in agreement with the Directorate could dissolve the parliament. The Directorate had the right to initiate legislature, issue regional passports, appoint tribunal judges for life, various officials, and one member of the three-member Harbor Board in charge of the port of Klaipėda
. Matters specifically placed under local authority of the parliament and Directorate included public worship and education, local administrative divisions, health and social welfare, roads and public works, civil, criminal, and commercial legislation, local police, taxes (except custom duties).
in 1929. As a permanent member of the Council of the League of Nations, Germany used its right, provided by the Convention, to refer the local disputes to the League of Nations
.
In August 1930, a dispute arose over the appointment of pro-Lithuanian Martynas Reisgys. The parliament voted no confidence, Reisgys dismissed the parliament, and Germany submitted the dispute to the League. Lithuania wished to avoid the intervention by the League and compromised with Germany, appointing Otto Böttcher. After 1931 customs agreement between Lithuania and Germany, exports of agricultural products from Klaipėda to East Prussia
fell sharply. In December 1931, Böttcher and two members of the parliament secretly traveled to Berlin
to discuss agricultural imports with German Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Agriculture. Once the Lithuanians learned about this trip, Governor Antanas Merkys
dismissed Böttcher for overstepping his authority as the Klaipėda Convention left foreign affairs as a sole responsibility of the central Lithuanian government. It was the first time that the Directorate was dismissed without approval from the parliament, which alleged that this was illegal under the Convention. Merkys then appointed Jonas Tolišius and Eduardas Simaitis as the Presidents of the Directorate, but neither of them were able to obtain vote of confidence from the parliament. Faced with a deadlock, Merkys and Simaitis dissolved the parliament. Germany submitted the dispute to the League of Nations, which referred the case to the Permanent Court of International Justice
. In August 1932, the Court ruled that Lithuania had the right to dismiss Böttcher and appoint Simaitis, but did not have the right to dissolve the parliament. The new elections to the parliament took place in May 1932. In an attempt to normalize the situation, Governor Merkys was replaced with more liberal career diplomat Vytautas Gylys and President Simaitis with Ottomar Schreiber, who was an industrialist and not a politician.
The relative calm was disrupted by Nazi seizure of power in Germany
. The local German activist began organizing pro-Nazi parties (Christlich-Sozialistische Arbeitsgemeinschaft or CSA and Sozialistische Volksgemeinschaft or SOVOG) in spring–summer 1933. The Lithuanians responded by appointing hard-line advocate of Lithuanian interest Jonas Navakas as the governor in November 1933. To combat spreading Nazism
, CSA and SOVOG were outlawed, its leaders and over 100 members were arrested and put on trial for anti-state activities (the Neumann–Sass case). Navakas demanded that the Directorate dismissed teachers and other officials who were members of anti-state parties or otherwise disloyal to the state. When Schreiber resisted, the Directorate was dismissed by Navakas, who appointed pro-Lithuanian Martynas Reisgys. It was clear that Reisgys could not obtain vote of confidence from the parliament. Thus two weeks before the parliamentary session, Lithuanian military commander dissolved the Memel Agricultural Party, pro-German party with 11 seats in the parliament, on grounds that it was seditious and prohibited its members from sitting in the parliament. Therefore, the parliament lacked the quorum
to dismiss Reisgys. Germany withdrew from the League in October 1933 over the re-armament
and could not directly petition the League of Nations to intervene. Therefore, Germany petitioned the signatories of the Convention, but they delayed and responded only by sending diplomatic notes. Nevertheless, Lithuania responded by replacing Governor Navakas with Kurkauskas and President Reisgys with Brūvelaitis and including a majority of Germans in the Directorate. But even this compromise Directorate faced opposition.
New elections to the parliament were held in November 1935. They were purposefully delayed beyond six-week period allowed by the Convention by the Lithuanians, who hoped to build pro-Lithuanian momentum. Despite the efforts, the Lithuanian candidates received only five seats. Baldžius was appointed the President of the all-German Directorate. In effect, the pro-German forces controlled the region. Relative stability returned, while pro-German and pro-Nazi activists increased their influence. They campaigned for re-attachment of the region to Germany. Eventually, defendants of the Neumann–Sass case had their sentences commuted and a number of them successfully ran in the December 1938 elections. Wilhelm Bertuleit, Neumann's right-hand man, became the President of the Directorate. It was expected that the new parliament would vote to secede from Lithuania as soon as it convened in March 1939. However, Lithuania "voluntarily" transferred the region to Germany following the ultimatum of March 20, 1939
. Following the transfer, the Directorate and the parliament were dissolved.
Klaipėda Region
The Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
(Memel Territory) from February 1920 to March 1939. It was established by local German political parties to govern the region between the signing of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
and establishment of French provision administration. Instead of replacing it, the French legitimized the Directorate. It mainly represented German interests and supported the idea of leaving the region as a free city, similar to the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
. Dismayed Lithuanian government and Prussian Lithuanian activists, who campaigned for incorporation into Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, organized the Klaipėda Revolt
Klaipeda Revolt
The Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region . The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from the East Prussia of the German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a mandate of the League of Nations. It was placed under provisional French...
in January 1923. The revolt was staged as a popular uprising against the unbearable oppression by the German Directorate. The revolt was successful and the region was incorporated into Lithuania as an autonomous region, governed by the Klaipėda Convention
Klaipėda Convention
Klaipėda Convention was an international agreement between Lithuania and the countries of the Conference of Ambassadors signed in Paris on May 8, 1924. According to the Convention, the Klaipėda Region became an autonomous region under unconditional sovereignty of Lithuania...
of May 1924.
The Convention outlined organizational structure, competency, and relationship to the central Lithuanian government of the autonomous institutions – the Directorate, local parliament
Parliament of the Klaipėda Region
The Parliament of the Klaipėda Region was the parliament of the Klaipėda Region , an autonomous region of Lithuania. The parliament was established by the Klaipėda Convention of 1924 and the first elections took place in October 1925. In all elections pro-German parties more than 80% of the vote...
, governor. This enabled the directorate under Viktoras Gailius to conclude with the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union the Agreement concerning the Evangelical Church of the Klaipėda Region on July 23, 1925 as to the organisation of the Protestant congregations. The Protestant congregations in the Klaipėda Region were disentangled from the old-Prussian Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia and formed the Regional Synodal Federation of the Memel Territory (Landessynodalverband Memelgebiet) since, being ranked an ecclesiastical province directly subordinate to the Evangelical Supreme Church Council.
The relationship between the Directorate, which was more pro-Lithuanian as it was indirectly appointed by the President of Lithuania, and the local parliament, which was more pro-German, was tense. Of the six elected parliaments only two finished their full three-year term. The Directorate also often received votes of no confidence from the parliament and had to be replaced. A procedural dispute over the dismissal of the Otto Böttcher's Directorate in 1932 was only resolved by the Permanent Court of International Justice
Permanent Court of International Justice
The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...
. The relationship stabilized in late 1930s when both the parliament and the Directorate supported pro-Nazi activities. The growing tension between Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Lithuania resulted in the ultimatum of March 1939
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania, by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, on March 20, 1939...
. Klaipėda Region was incorporated into Germany and the autonomous institutions were dissolved.
French administration
| From | To | Tenure | German name | Lithuanian name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920-02-17 | 1921-08-05 | Arthur Altenberg | Artūras Altenbergas | |
| 1921-08-06 | 1923-01-09 | Wilhelm Stepputat | Vilius Steputaitis | |
| 1923-01-13 | 1923-02-14 | Erdmann Simoneit | Erdmonas Simonaitis Erdmonas Simonaitis Erdmonas Simonaitis was a Prussian Lithuanian activist particularly active in the Klaipėda Region and advocating its union with Lithuania. During the staged Klaipėda Revolt of 1923 he headed the pro-Lithuanian government of the region... |
|
| 1923-02-15 | 1925-02-04 | Viktor Gailus | Viktoras Gailius | |
| 1925-02-15 | 1926-01-15 | Heinrich Borchert | Endrius Borchertas | |
| 1926-01-16 | 1926-11-24 | Erdmann Simoneit | Erdmonas Simonaitis | |
| 1926-11-25 | 1927-01-04 | Wilhelm Falk | Vilius Falkas | |
| 1927-01-05 | 1927-12-04 | Viktor Schwellnus | Viktoras Švelnius | |
| 1927-12-05 | 1930-08-08 | Otto Kadgiehn | Otas Kadgynas | |
| 1930-08-16 | 1931-01-12 | Martin Reisgys | Martynas Reisgys | |
| 1931-01-13 | 1932-02-05 | Otto Böttcher | Otas Betcheris | |
| 1932-02-06 | 1932-03-01 | Jan Tolischus | Jonas Tolišius | |
| 1932-03-02 | 1932-06-06 | Eduardas Simaitis | ||
| 1932-06-07 | 1934-06-28 | Ottomar Schreiber | Otomaras Šreiberis | |
| 1934-06-28 | 1934-12-03 | Martin Reisgys | Martynas Reizgys | |
| 1934-12-04 | 1935-11-27 | Georg Bruweleit | Jurgis Brūvelaitis | |
| 1935-11-28 | 1939-01-19 | August Baldszus | Augustas Baldžius | |
| 1939-01-19 | 1939-03-23 | Wilhelm Bertuleit | Vilius Bertulaitas |
According to the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
of June 1919, Klaipėda Region was detached from East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
and placed under provisional French administration. Even before the treaty was officially signed, German political parties held a congress and formed the seven-member Executive Committee to govern the region on the interim basis. On February 10, 1920, the first French troops, commanded by General Dominique Joseph Odry, arrived to the region. A week later Odry recognized the Executive committee, transforming it into the Directorate. Initially all its members were German, which caused protests among the Prussian Lithuanian activists. Two Lithuanians, Erdmonas Simonaitis
Erdmonas Simonaitis
Erdmonas Simonaitis was a Prussian Lithuanian activist particularly active in the Klaipėda Region and advocating its union with Lithuania. During the staged Klaipėda Revolt of 1923 he headed the pro-Lithuanian government of the region...
and Mikelis Reidys, were co-opted on March 12, 1920. Odry resigned on May 1, 1921, leaving Gabriel Jean Petisné the highest-ranking official in the region. He appointed a new Directorate, presided by pro-German Prussian Lithuanian Wilhelm Stepputat. In September 1921, he also established 20-member advisory Council of State . Petisné and the Directorate generally held anti-Lithuanian attitudes and supported turning the region into a free city, similar to the Free City of Danzig
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
. In February 1922, Simonaitis resigned in protest of such policies.
The Directorate was in charge of public institutions (railroad, postal service, customs, etc.), but its jurisdiction over of the police and courts was limited to financial matters. The President of the Directory was the head of the administration and had extensive powers in his own right. The members of the Directorate were appointed and dismissed by the French commissioner.
Lithuanian takeover and Klaipėda Convention
Seeing that the region is likely to become a free city, the Lithuanian government and activists began organizing the Klaipėda RevoltKlaipeda Revolt
The Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region . The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from the East Prussia of the German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a mandate of the League of Nations. It was placed under provisional French...
to take the region by force and present the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
with a fait accompli
Fait Accompli
Fait accompli is a French phrase which means literally "an accomplished deed". It is commonly used to describe an action which is completed before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it...
. Lithuanian Prime Minister Ernestas Galvanauskas
Ernestas Galvanauskas
Ernestas Galvanauskas was a Lithuanian engineer, politician and one the founders of the Lithuanian Peasants' Union...
took great care to represent the revolt as a genuine uprising of the local population against oppression by the German Directorate. Such plan was designed to direct Allied protests away from the Lithuanian government and to exploit the anti-German sentiment in Europe. On January 9, 1923, the Supreme Committee for the Salvation of Lithuania Minor declared that it usurped power in the region, dismissed Stepputat's Directorate, and authorized Simonaitis to form a new five-member Directorate within three days. The rebels then petitioned to unite with Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
citing the right of self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
. The League of Nations initially protested the revolt, but quickly accepted the transfer. The Simonaitis' Directorate was disbanded on February 14 to appease the League. The Lithuanians left the region's administration as it was before the revolt until the signing of the Klaipėda Convention
Klaipėda Convention
Klaipėda Convention was an international agreement between Lithuania and the countries of the Conference of Ambassadors signed in Paris on May 8, 1924. According to the Convention, the Klaipėda Region became an autonomous region under unconditional sovereignty of Lithuania...
, which formalized the transfer of the Klaipėda Region to Lithuania, in May 1924.
The Klaipėda Convention contained the Statute of the Klaipėda Region, which was a kin to regional constitution. While the region became integral part of Lithuania, it was also granted extensive legislative, judicial, administrative, and financial autonomy to preserve "traditional rights and culture of the inhabitants". The region elected its own local Klaipėda Parliament
Parliament of the Klaipėda Region
The Parliament of the Klaipėda Region was the parliament of the Klaipėda Region , an autonomous region of Lithuania. The parliament was established by the Klaipėda Convention of 1924 and the first elections took place in October 1925. In all elections pro-German parties more than 80% of the vote...
. Members of the Directorate were appointed by the chairman of the Directorate (President), who was appointed by the governor, who in turn was appointed by the President of Lithuania. The Directorate consisted of no more than five members, all of whom had to be residents of the region, and served as long as it had the confidence
Motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence is a parliamentary motion whose passing would demonstrate to the head of state that the elected parliament no longer has confidence in the appointed government.-Overview:Typically, when a parliament passes a vote of no...
of the Klaipėda Parliament. The governor in agreement with the Directorate could dissolve the parliament. The Directorate had the right to initiate legislature, issue regional passports, appoint tribunal judges for life, various officials, and one member of the three-member Harbor Board in charge of the port of Klaipėda
Port of Klaipeda
The Port of Klaipėda is a seaport located in Klaipėda, Lithuania. It is one of the few ice-free ports in northernmost Europe, and the largest in Lithuania...
. Matters specifically placed under local authority of the parliament and Directorate included public worship and education, local administrative divisions, health and social welfare, roads and public works, civil, criminal, and commercial legislation, local police, taxes (except custom duties).
Lithuanian–German relations
The relationship between the Directorate, which was more pro-Lithuanian, and the local parliament, which was more pro-German, was tense and often led to conflicts over the interpretation of the Klaipėda Convention and Statute. Of the six elected parliaments only two finished their full three-year term. The Directorate also often received votes of no confidence from the parliament and had to be replaced. The local tensions reflected growing tensions between Lithuania and Germany, which became increasingly revisionist after the death of Foreign Minister Gustav StresemannGustav Stresemann
was a German politician and statesman who served as Chancellor and Foreign Minister during the Weimar Republic. He was co-laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926.Stresemann's politics defy easy categorization...
in 1929. As a permanent member of the Council of the League of Nations, Germany used its right, provided by the Convention, to refer the local disputes to the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
.
In August 1930, a dispute arose over the appointment of pro-Lithuanian Martynas Reisgys. The parliament voted no confidence, Reisgys dismissed the parliament, and Germany submitted the dispute to the League. Lithuania wished to avoid the intervention by the League and compromised with Germany, appointing Otto Böttcher. After 1931 customs agreement between Lithuania and Germany, exports of agricultural products from Klaipėda to East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
fell sharply. In December 1931, Böttcher and two members of the parliament secretly traveled to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
to discuss agricultural imports with German Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Agriculture. Once the Lithuanians learned about this trip, Governor Antanas Merkys
Antanas Merkys
Antanas Merkys |Bajorai]], near Skapiškis, Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire; died on March 5, 1955 in Vladimir Oblast, Soviet Union) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, President...
dismissed Böttcher for overstepping his authority as the Klaipėda Convention left foreign affairs as a sole responsibility of the central Lithuanian government. It was the first time that the Directorate was dismissed without approval from the parliament, which alleged that this was illegal under the Convention. Merkys then appointed Jonas Tolišius and Eduardas Simaitis as the Presidents of the Directorate, but neither of them were able to obtain vote of confidence from the parliament. Faced with a deadlock, Merkys and Simaitis dissolved the parliament. Germany submitted the dispute to the League of Nations, which referred the case to the Permanent Court of International Justice
Permanent Court of International Justice
The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...
. In August 1932, the Court ruled that Lithuania had the right to dismiss Böttcher and appoint Simaitis, but did not have the right to dissolve the parliament. The new elections to the parliament took place in May 1932. In an attempt to normalize the situation, Governor Merkys was replaced with more liberal career diplomat Vytautas Gylys and President Simaitis with Ottomar Schreiber, who was an industrialist and not a politician.
The relative calm was disrupted by Nazi seizure of power in Germany
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
. The local German activist began organizing pro-Nazi parties (Christlich-Sozialistische Arbeitsgemeinschaft or CSA and Sozialistische Volksgemeinschaft or SOVOG) in spring–summer 1933. The Lithuanians responded by appointing hard-line advocate of Lithuanian interest Jonas Navakas as the governor in November 1933. To combat spreading Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, CSA and SOVOG were outlawed, its leaders and over 100 members were arrested and put on trial for anti-state activities (the Neumann–Sass case). Navakas demanded that the Directorate dismissed teachers and other officials who were members of anti-state parties or otherwise disloyal to the state. When Schreiber resisted, the Directorate was dismissed by Navakas, who appointed pro-Lithuanian Martynas Reisgys. It was clear that Reisgys could not obtain vote of confidence from the parliament. Thus two weeks before the parliamentary session, Lithuanian military commander dissolved the Memel Agricultural Party, pro-German party with 11 seats in the parliament, on grounds that it was seditious and prohibited its members from sitting in the parliament. Therefore, the parliament lacked the quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
to dismiss Reisgys. Germany withdrew from the League in October 1933 over the re-armament
German re-armament
The German re-armament was a massive effort led by the NSDAP in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.During its struggle for power the National Socialist party promised to recover Germany's lost national pride...
and could not directly petition the League of Nations to intervene. Therefore, Germany petitioned the signatories of the Convention, but they delayed and responded only by sending diplomatic notes. Nevertheless, Lithuania responded by replacing Governor Navakas with Kurkauskas and President Reisgys with Brūvelaitis and including a majority of Germans in the Directorate. But even this compromise Directorate faced opposition.
New elections to the parliament were held in November 1935. They were purposefully delayed beyond six-week period allowed by the Convention by the Lithuanians, who hoped to build pro-Lithuanian momentum. Despite the efforts, the Lithuanian candidates received only five seats. Baldžius was appointed the President of the all-German Directorate. In effect, the pro-German forces controlled the region. Relative stability returned, while pro-German and pro-Nazi activists increased their influence. They campaigned for re-attachment of the region to Germany. Eventually, defendants of the Neumann–Sass case had their sentences commuted and a number of them successfully ran in the December 1938 elections. Wilhelm Bertuleit, Neumann's right-hand man, became the President of the Directorate. It was expected that the new parliament would vote to secede from Lithuania as soon as it convened in March 1939. However, Lithuania "voluntarily" transferred the region to Germany following the ultimatum of March 20, 1939
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania
1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania, by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, on March 20, 1939...
. Following the transfer, the Directorate and the parliament were dissolved.
External links
- Full text of the Klaipėda Convention and the Statute of the Klaipėda Region
- Interpretation of the Statute of the Memel Territory (Dissenting opinion) by the Permanent Court of International JusticePermanent Court of International JusticeThe Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...