The Farmers' Party ( lt, Ūkininkų partija, ŪP) was a liberal political party in inter-war

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

History

The party was established as the Democratic National Freedom League (''Demokratinė tautos laisvės santara'' known simply as ''Santara'' and its members as ''santarininkai'') in March 1917 by Lithuanian refugees in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. The party initially advocated for Lithuanian autonomy within the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. Its members were liberal intelligentsia, including future Ministers of Justice

Petras Leonas Petras Leonas (1864–1938) was a Lithuanian attorney and politician, the first Minister of Justice of the newly independent Lithuania in 1918. After graduating from Moscow University in 1889, Leonas held a government job at various courts in S ...

and

Stasys Šilingas Baron Stasys Šilingas (11 November 1885 – 13 November 1962) was a prominent lawyer and statesman in interwar Lithuania. When the independence of Lithuania was proclaimed on February 16, 1918, Šilingas served first as vice-president and then ...

, diplomats

Vaclovas Sidzikauskas Vaclovas Sidzikauskas (10 April 1893 – 2 December 1973) was a prominent diplomat in interwar Lithuania and post-war anti-communist. Educated at the University of Fribourg and Moscow University, Sidzikauskas joined the newly established Lithuan ...

and

Jurgis Baltrušaitis Jurgis Baltrušaitis (May 2, 1873 – January 3, 1944) was a Lithuanian symbolist poet and translator, who wrote his works in Lithuanian and Russian. In addition to his important contributions to Lithuanian literature, he was noted as a politica ...

. In 1917–1920, they published newspaper ''Santara'' in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kaunas. The party gained just 2,591 votes in the 1920 parliamentary elections and did not participate in the

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

or 1923 elections but had members in almost every government in 1918–1922. In 1925, it became the Farmers' Party and published weekly ''Ūkininkų balsas'' (Voice of Farmers) until 1928. It won two seats in the

1926 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1926. Africa * 1926 Egyptian parliamentary election * 1926 Lagos by-election * 1926 Northern Rhodesian general election * 1926 South West African legislative election Asia * 1926 Hong Kong sanitary ...

(

Rapolas Skipitis Rapolas Skipitis (31 January 1887 – 23 February 1976) was a Lithuanian attorney and politician. In 1920–1922, he was Minister of the Interior and was later elected to the Second and Third Seimas. After the 1926 coup d'état, he chaired the ...

and ), forming part of the government coalition with the

Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union The Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union ( lt, Lietuvos valstiečių liaudininkų sąjunga, LVLS) was a centre-left political party in Lithuania between 1922 and 1936. The party's leaders included the third President Kazys Grinius and three-term P ...

and the

Social Democratic Party of Lithuania The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija, LSDP) is a centre-left and social democratic political party in Lithuania. Founded as an underground Marxist organization in 1896, it is the oldest extant party i ...

.McHale, p. 487 Following the 1926 coup, the party was a member of

Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual and journalist and the first President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was one of the m ...

's coalition government alongside the

Lithuanian Nationalist Union The Lithuanian Nationalist Union ( lt, Lietuvių tautininkų sąjunga or LTS), also known as the Nationalists (), was the ruling political party in Lithuania during the authoritarian regime of President Antanas Smetona from 1926 to 1940. The part ...

and the Christian Democratic Bloc. Aleksa became Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Communications. The party pulled out of the coalition around May 1927, but Aleksa disobeyed and remained minister until 1935. The party was banned later in 1928.

Ideology

The party held had secular and liberal platform, and unlike other agrarian parties, advocated religious tolerance. It sought to support the interests of agriculture and industry, as well as measures to develop Lithuanian culture. The party envisioned itself as a mediator between the political right and left.

References

{{Authority control Defunct political parties in Lithuania Political parties established in 1917 Political parties disestablished in 1928 Agrarian parties in Lithuania Defunct agrarian political parties