The Fourth Seimas of Lithuania was the fourth parliament (

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...

) elected in

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 ...

after it declared independence on 16 February 1918. The elections took place on 9 and 10 June 1936, a bit less than ten years after the

Third Seimas The Third Seimas of Lithuania was the third parliament (Seimas) democratically elected in Lithuania after it declared independence on February 16, 1918. The elections took place on May 8–10, 1926. For the first time the Lithuanian Christian ...

was dissolved by President

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 ...

. The Seimas commenced its work on 1 September 1936. Its five-year term was cut short on 1 July 1940 when Lithuania lost its independence to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. It was replaced by the

People's Seimas The People's Seimas ( lt, Liaudies Seimas) was a puppet legislature organized in order to give legal sanction the occupation and annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union. After the Soviet ultimatum in June 1940, a new pro-Soviet government wa ...

in order to legitimize the occupation. Konstantinas Šakenis was the chairman of the Seimas.

Background

After a military coup d'état in 1926, Smetona assumed the power and continued to strengthen his position. In 1935–1936, Smetona's prestige was declining as a trial against 122 Nazi activists in the

Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...

caused

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

to declare a boycott of Lithuanian imports of agricultural products. This caused an economic crisis in

Suvalkija Suvalkija or Sudovia ( lt, Suvalkija or ''Sūduva'') is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija (Suvalkijans, Suvalkians) are called (plural) or (singular) in Lithu ...

(Southern Lithuania), where farmers engaged in violent protests. Advisers to Smetona tried to convince him that a Seimas could share the criticisms that was aimed solely at the President.

Elections

In early 1936, before the election, all public organizations had to re-register with the government. Political parties, however, were not re-registered and had to close. The Lithuanian Nationalists Union remained the only party in Lithuania. A new electoral law provided that the nominations of the candidates must come not from parties but from counties and municipal councils which were appointed by the central government. The votes were to be cast not for party lists, but for specific individuals. The number of representatives was reduced from 85 to 49. Such changes provided that the Nationalists got 42 seats; remaining seven seats were taken by the

Young Lithuania Young Lithuania ( lt, Partija "Jaunoji Lietuva") is a nationalist political party in Lithuania. The party has no seats in the Seimas, European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union an ...

, a youth branch of the Nationalists Union. The Seimas functioned primarily as an advisory to the President: it debated proposals, made recommendations, and confirmed President's decisions. Its main purpose was to adopt a new constitution. It was accomplished on 11 February 1938. The new constitution provided for even more powers to the president. Up to that point all constitutions defined Lithuania as an independent democratic republic; the 1938 constitution dropped words "democratic" and "republic".

Members

49 men were elected to the Seimas:

References

{{Seimas of Lithuania Legal history of Lithuania 1930s in Lithuania 04