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Background[edit]

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ernestas Galvanauskas participates in the rebels parade in Klaipėda, 1923

On 10–15 January 1923, following the Klaipėda Revolt, Lithuania acquired the Klaipėda Region which was previously detached from East Prussia, German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles, became a mandate of the League of Nations and was placed under provisional French administration until a more permanent solution could be worked out.[1] According to the Lithuanian intelligence, about 60% of the region's population was waiting for an uprising, about 30% were passive, and only about 10% supported the idea of Freistaat.[1]

The Klaipėda Region consisted of four administrative territorial units: city of Klaipėda and counties of Klaipėda, Šilutė, and Pagėgiai (about 5% of the territory of ​​Lithuania).[2] According to the census of 20 January 1925, 141,650 people lived in the region, of which 71,960 (50.8%) were Lithuanians, however 34,340 (24% of the region's population) emphasized that they differed from the Lithuanians in the Lithuania proper and registered themselves as Klaipėdians (Memellanders), 59,300 (41.9%) Germans, and 10,360 (7.3%) other nationalities.[2][3] Due to the ban on the Lithuanian language in schools and elsewhere before the World War I, many Lithuanians in the region were denationalized, thus they tended towards the German-side.[2] When the agitators of the German parties called for the so-called Klaipėdian nation, they explained that there are two nations, but with one culture.[2] The Klaipėda Convention granted the right for the residents of the region to decide on citizenship and following the agreement between Lithuania and Germany in February 1925 – the right for citizens who had acquired German citizenship to depart to Germany.[2]

In 1925–1933, 17,730 people departed from the Klaipėda Region, despite the fact that the German authorities urged their citizens not to leave the region.[2] Emigrants from East Prussia came to the region, especially in 1933 when the Nazis came to power in Germany.[2] Until 1939, the ethnic composition of the population changed little in the region.[2] The majority of believers (1925 – 91.7%) were Evangelical Lutherans and Evangelical Reformed, while only 5.3% were Catholics.[2] Most of the region's population (43.8%) worked in agriculture, 10.5% in industry or crafts.[2] About 45% of Lithuanians in the region were peasants, 35% were workers, 15% were tenants, and 5% were merchants, industrialists, craftsmen, landowners and civil servants.[2] In comparison, only 15% of the Germans were peasants as 25% of them were workers, 40% were tenants, and 20% were merchants, industrialists, craftsmen, landowners and civil servants.[2] In 1923, there were several trade union organizations in the region with about 4,000 members.[2]

Demolished monuments of Kaiser Wilhelm I (left) and Borussia (right) in Klaipėda, 1923

The Lithuania's acquisition of the Klaipėda Region gave negative results to the region's economy, resulted in growing unemployment and the local population was increasingly feeling hostility towards Lithuania.[4] The German nationalists began to take advantage of the situation and with their activity only worsened it.[4] On 6 April 1923, strikes and demonstrations, organized by the far-rights and communists, began in the Klaipėda Region.[4] Moreover, unidentified intrigants in nighttime demolished the monuments of Kaiser Wilhelm I and Borussia that symbolized the German culture and statehood in the region.[4][5][6] The German-part of the region's population considered it as a Lithuanian provocation, but the Lithuanians denied that that they vandalized the German monuments.[4]

Another obstruction for the Government of Lithuania to Lithuanize the region and its population was the Klaipėdians (Memellanders) national indecision and support for the pro-German parties in the elections to the Seimelis of the Klaipėda Region.[4] Moreover, the Germans had considerable influence in all government bodies.[4] The anti-Lithuanian activities in the region were greatly financed by various German financial institutions.[4] According to Antanas Merkys, the Governor of Klaipėda in 1927–1932, the deteriorating situation of the region was dangerous already in 1927, and in 1930 the Lithuanian language was taught as a foreign language to most of the region's pupils.[4]

On 29 June 1931, pangermanist Joseph Goebbels participated in a event in nearby Tilsit and by presenting the aims of the National Socialists claimed that the Klaipėda Region should be ceded to Germany as part of the restoration works of the pre-war German borders.[4] This rhetoric was supported by the Nazi press.[7]

The German-Lithuanian Klaipėda Regional Union, whose members advocated for the region to be separated from Lithuania and returned to Germany, slandered Lithuanians, was established in Berlin and had its branches in Tilsit and Königsberg.[4][8] The Kulturverband financed German schools, boarding schools, bookstores, libraries, clubs, organized celebrations, and since 1933 actively promoted National Socialism in Lithuania.[4][9][10][11] The destructive anti-Lithuanian activities were coordinated and financed by the German consulate in Klaipėda.[4]

References[11][4]

  1. ^ a b Šilas, Vytautas. "Klaipėdos krašto sukilimas" [Uprising of the Klaipėda Region]. Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gliožaitis, Algirdas. "Klaipėdos kraštas" [Klaipėda Region]. Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  3. ^ Vareikis, Vygantas (2001). "Memellander/Klaipėdiškiai Identity and German-Lithuanian Relations in Lithuania Minor in the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries". Identiteto raida. Istorija ir dabartis (in Lithuanian and English). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Mart, Palmira (23 December 2019). "Noimano - Zaso procesas – mažasis Niurnbergas?" [The trial of Neumann-Sass – the Little Nuremberg trial?]. AtviraKlaipeda.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  5. ^ Klimantavičienė, N. (2014). "Paminklas karaliui Vilhelmui I (Kaiser Wilhelm I)" [Monument of the King Wilhelm I (Kaiser Wilhelm I)]. Krastogidas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  6. ^ Klimantavičienė, N. (2014). "Paminklas „Borussia" (Borusija)" [Monument Borussia]. Krastogidas.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Naujienos: the Lithuanian daily news" (PDF). Naujienos (in Lithuanian). XXII: 1. 21 January 1935. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  8. ^ Šilas, Vytautas. "Klaipėdos krašto vokiečių ir lietuvių sąjunga" [German-Lithuanian Klaipėda Regional Union]. Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  9. ^ Žostautaitė, Petronėlė. "Kultūrferbandas". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  10. ^ Gliožaitis, Algirdas. "Memeldeutscher Kulturverband". Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  11. ^ a b Kerulytė, Rūta. "Nacių teismai tarpukario Lietuvoje: kaip maža Lietuva prieš didelę Vokietiją kovojo" [Nazi courts in interwar Lithuania: how small Lithuania fought against big Germany]. 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 13 February 2022.
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