Directorate Of The Klaipėda Region
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The Directorate of the Klaipėda Region (; ) was the main governing institution (
executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...
) in the
Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region () or Memel Territory ( 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 Memelland, it was put under the administr ...
(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 The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
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 The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
. Dismayed Lithuanian government and
Prussian Lithuanian The Prussian Lithuanians, or Lietuvininkai (singular: ''Lietuvininkas'', plural: ''Lietuvininkai''), are Lithuanians, originally Lithuanian language speakers, who formerly inhabited a territory in northeastern East Prussia called Prussian Lithuan ...
activists, who campaigned for incorporation into
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
, organized the
Klaipėda Revolt The Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory or ). The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from East Prussia, German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a ...
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 The Klaipėda Convention (or Convention concerning the Territory of Memel) was an international agreement between Lithuania and the countries of the Conference of Ambassadors (United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Japan) signed in Paris on May 8, 192 ...
of May 1924. The relationship between the Directorate, which was more pro-Lithuanian as it was indirectly appointed by the
President of Lithuania The president of the Republic of Lithuania () is the head of state of the Republic of Lithuania. The president directs and appoints the executive branch of the Government of Lithuania, represents the nation internationally and is the commande ...
, 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 A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...
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 Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...
. 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, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
and Lithuania resulted in the ultimatum of March 1939. Memel Territory was incorporated into Germany and the autonomous institutions were dissolved.


French administration

According to the
Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
of June 1919, Klaipėda Region was detached from
East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
and placed under provisional French administration. Even before the treaty was officially signed, German political parties held a proto-parliament () and formed the seven-member Executive Committee () to govern the region on the interim basis.Gliožaitis (2003), p. 173 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 The Prussian Lithuanians, or Lietuvininkai (singular: ''Lietuvininkas'', plural: ''Lietuvininkai''), are Lithuanians, originally Lithuanian language speakers, who formerly inhabited a territory in northeastern East Prussia called Prussian Lithuan ...
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 Gabriel Jean Petisné (14 June 1881 – 4 December 1931) was a French lawyer and commissioner of the Klaipėda Region before its incorporation into Lithuania after the Klaipėda Revolt. Biography Gabriel Jean Petisné was born on 14 June 1881 in ...
the highest-ranking official in the region. He appointed a new Directorate, presided by pro-German Prussian Lithuanian . In September 1921, he also established 20-member advisory Council of State (; ).Gliožaitis (2003), p. 174 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 The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...
. 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.Krivickas (1937), p. 1007


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 Revolt The Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory or ). The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from East Prussia, German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a ...
to take the region by force and present the
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
with a ''
fait accompli Many words in the English vocabulary are of French language, French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman conquest of England, Norman ...
''. Lithuanian Prime Minister
Ernestas Galvanauskas Ernestas Galvanauskas (20 November 1882 – 24 July 1967) was a Lithuanian engineer, politician and one of the founders of the Peasant Union (which later merged with the Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union). He also served twice as Prime Min ...
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 Steputat's Directorate, and authorized Simonaitis to form a new five-member Directorate within three days. The rebels then petitioned to unite with
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
citing the right of
self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
. 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 The Klaipėda Convention (or Convention concerning the Territory of Memel) was an international agreement between Lithuania and the countries of the Conference of Ambassadors (United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Japan) signed in Paris on May 8, 192 ...
, 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 akin to regional constitution.Andriulis (2002), p. 347 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 Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...
. 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 president of the Republic of Lithuania () is the head of state of the Republic of Lithuania. The president directs and appoints the executive branch of the Government of Lithuania, represents the nation internationally and is the commande ...
.Krivickas (1937), p. 1008 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 Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...
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 The Port of Klaipėda () is a seaport located in Klaipėda, Lithuania. It is one of the few ice-free ports in northernmost Europe. It serves as a port of call for cruise ships as well as freight transport. Regular cargo and passenger ferry lines c ...
. 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 A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...
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 Stresemann Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 May 1878 – 3 October 1929) was a German statesman during the Weimar Republic who served as Chancellor of Germany#First German Republic (Weimar Republic, 1919–1933), chancellor of Germany from August to November 1 ...
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 The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
.


Appointment of Martynas Reisgys

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.Gerutis (1984), p. 239 Lithuania wished to avoid the intervention by the League and compromised with Germany, appointing Otto Böttcher.


Dismissal of Otto Böttcher

After 1931 customs agreement between Lithuania and Germany, exports of agricultural products from Klaipėda to
East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
fell sharply. In December 1931, Böttcher and two members of the parliament secretlyGerutis (1984), p. 240 traveled to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
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 (; 1 February 1887 – 5 March 1955) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When the Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania demanding that it accept a Soviet g ...
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 The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...
. 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.


Neumann–Sass case

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.Gerutis (1984), p. 243 The Lithuanians responded by appointing hard-line advocate of Lithuanian interest Jonas Navakas as the governor in November 1933. To combat spreading
Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
, 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 The trial of Neumann and Sass (; ), also known as the Kaunas Trials, was among the largest mass trials of Nazis in the early 1930s. The trial resulted in the convictions of the leaders of regional Nazi parties, Theodor von Sass, and other part ...
). 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 Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establis ...
and prohibited its members from sitting in the parliament. Therefore, the parliament lacked the
quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...
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.


German takeover

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.


Church

The Convention outlined organizational structure, competency, and relationship to the central Lithuanian government of the autonomous institutions – the Directorate, local parliament, and governor. This enabled the directorate under Viktoras Gailius to conclude with the
Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in Pru ...
the ''Agreement concerning the Evangelical Church of the Memel Territory'' () on July 23, 1925, as to the organisation of the Protestant congregations.Cf. Ernst Rudolf Huber, ''Verträge zwischen Staat und Kirche im Deutschen Reich'', Breslau: Marcus, 1930 (Abhandlungen aus dem Staats- und Verwaltungsrecht sowie aus dem Völkerrecht, No. 44), p. 82. The
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
congregations in the Memel Territory were disentangled from the old-Prussian ''Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia'' and formed the
Regional Synodal Federation of the Memel Territory In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
() since, being ranked an ecclesiastical province directly subordinate to the ''Evangelical Supreme Church Council''.


Presidents of the directorate


References


Bibliography

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External links


Full text of the Klaipėda Convention and the Statute of the Memel Territory

Interpretation of the Statute of the Memel TerritoryDissenting opinion
by the
Permanent Court of International Justice The Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, existed from 1922 to 1946. It was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1920 (although the idea of an international court was several cent ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Directorate of the Klaipeda Region 1920 establishments in Lithuania Government agencies disestablished in 1939 Klaipėda Region