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67-581: 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 caused Nazi Germany to declare a boycott of Lithuanian imports of agricultural products. This caused an economic crisis in Suvalkija (Southern Lithuania), where farmers engaged in violent protests . Advisers to Smetona tried to convince him that

134-585: A month later. On 6 October 1922, the Constituent Assembly resigned. A new regular Seimas started on 13 November. The assembly passed approximately 150 laws, strengthened the state's administrative system, and laid the foundations of the future economic, social and cultural life in Lithuania. The Constituent Assembly continued to work for 29 months, held 257 plenary sessions and 963-panel sittings, and passed over 300 laws. Its main achievement

201-411: A vote of confidence in the new cabinet formed by Voldemaras. Constitutional formalities were thereby observed. The Lithuanian National Union secured other major roles: Antanas Merkys assumed office as minister of defense and Ignas Musteikis as minister of the interior. The military claimed that their actions had prevented an imminent Bolshevik coup, allegedly scheduled for 20 December. Martial law

268-413: A 20-day sentence for a fistfight with another officer, and declared dictator of Lithuania. Later that day, Colonel Plechavičius asked Smetona to become the new president and normalize the situation. The military strove to create the impression that the coup had been solely their initiative, that Smetona had not been involved at all, and he had joined only in response to an invitation to become the "savior of

335-619: A Polish invasion was imminent and Smetona had sworn to uphold the constitution. On 19 December 42 delegates of the Seimas met (without the Social Democrats or the Peasant Popular Union) and elected Aleksandras Stulginskis as Speaker of the Seimas. Stulginskis was the formal head of state for a few hours before Smetona was elected president (38 deputies voted for, two against, and two abstained). The Seimas also passed

402-537: A Seimas could share the criticisms that was aimed solely at the President. 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 Nationalist 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

469-422: A committee which included generals Vladas Nagevičius and Jonas Bulota among its members. About a month later, another group, the so-called Revolutionary General Headquarters (Lithuanian: revoliucinis generalinis štabas ) was formed. The two groups closely coordinated their efforts. By 12 December, the military had already planned detailed actions, scouted the areas where the action was to take place, and informed

536-575: A constitution in August 1922; elections to the First Seimas took place in October 1922. The most-disputed constitutional issue was the role of the presidency. Eventually, the powers of government were heavily weighted in favor of the unicameral parliament ( Seimas ). Members of the Seimas were elected for three-year terms. Each new Seimas directly elected the president, who was authorized to appoint

603-446: A corrective to an extreme form of parliamentarianism , justifiable in light of Lithuania's political immaturity. Constituent Assembly of Lithuania The Constituent Assembly of Lithuania or Constituent Seimas ( Lithuanian : Steigiamasis Seimas ) was the first parliament of the independent state of Lithuania to be elected in a direct, democratic, general, secret election. The Assembly assumed its duties on 15 May 1920 and

670-474: A coup "to defend the constitution," but the plans were discovered and the rebels were arrested. Among the detainees was a member of the Seimas, Juozas Pajaujis. On 12 April 1927, the Seimas protested this arrest as a violation of parliamentary immunity by delivering a motion of no confidence in the Voldemaras government. Smetona, using his constitutional right to do so, dissolved the Seimas. The constitution

737-518: A fairly new and insignificant nationalistic party. By 1926, its membership reached about 2,000 and it had won only three seats in the parliamentary elections. The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party , the largest party in the Seimas at the time, collaborated with the military and provided constitutional legitimacy to the coup, but accepted no major posts in the new government and withdrew in May 1927. After

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804-517: A liberation from fascism. Encyclopædia Britannica , however, describes the regime as authoritarian and nationalistic rather than fascist, a view not shared by historian Mindaugas Tamošaitis, who wrote in the Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija that "In the late 1930s, the younger generation that assuming leadership of the party proclaimed radical right-wing attitudes [such as] sympathy for Italian fascism, etc". The coup's apologists have described it as

871-546: A member of the League of Nations . Most of the world's countries immediately recognized its independence. On 15 February 1922, it passed a law on land reform. It was a decade-long reform which nationalized land owned by the nobility and distributed it to the volunteers who fought in the Freedom Wars and to peasants who owned none or very little land. This way Lithuania's agriculture was based on small (20-50 ha ) farms. Over

938-516: A much larger and influential rival and assumed absolute control of the state. The 1926 coup was a major event in interwar Lithuania ; the dictatorship went on for 14 years. In 1935, the Smetona government outlawed all other political parties. The coup continued to be a difficult issue for Lithuanians, since the Soviet Union went go on to describe its subsequent occupation of Lithuania as

1005-431: A prime minister. The prime minister then confirmed a cabinet of ministers. The presidential term was limited to no more than two three-year terms in succession. The parliamentary system proved unstable: eleven cabinets were formed between November 1918 and December 1926. The principal political actors at the time of the coup had been active in the independence movement and the republic's first few years. Antanas Smetona

1072-596: A protest attended by approximately 400 people in Kaunas on 13 June, a day after the acquittal of 92 members of the Workers' Group of Lithuania . The protest was dispersed. The new government opposition used the protest in a public attack on the government, saying that it allowed illegal organizations (the Communist Party of Lithuania was still outlawed) to freely continue their activities. Despite its local nature,

1139-554: Is mandatory and its preamble starts with the words "In the name of Almighty God" (Lithuanian: Vardan Dievo Visagalio ). On 9 September a law was passed on the national currency, introducing the litas . On 1 October, it was introduced. Litas became one of the stronger currencies in Europe. On 16 February 1922, the Lithuanian University was established and had its statute approved on the initiative of V. Čepinskis

1206-503: The Baltic states were contemplating a union of their own. On 21 November, a student demonstration against "Bolshevization" was forcibly dispersed by the police. About 600 Lithuanian students gathered near a communist-led workers' union. The police, fearing armed clashes between the two groups, intervened and attempted to stop the demonstration. Seven police officers were injured and thirteen students were arrested. In an attempt to overthrow

1273-602: The Bolsheviks , the Bermontians , and Poland. In October 1920, Poland annexed Vilnius , the historic and modern capital of Lithuania, and the area surrounding it; known as Żeligowski's Mutiny , this action caused ongoing tension between the two powers in the interwar period. Lithuania's second-largest city, Kaunas , was designated the interim capital . The Constituent Assembly of Lithuania elected in April 1920 adopted

1340-483: The Lithuanian German Committee ). There were two non-partisan representatives. Later on, the parliamentary structure would shift. By way of rotation, some representatives would step down to be replaced by new ones. As a result, 150 persons had held a seat at the parliament by the end of the term. Most representatives were very young: 26 of them were aged 30 or under, and only two 12 members of

1407-665: The Vilnius region belonged to Lithuania. Shortly after the defeat in the Battle of Warsaw , the withdrawing Red Army handed Vilnius over to Lithuania, in accordance with the agreement. From October 1920 till February 1921, the Constituent Assembly was adjourned because the Lithuanian-Belarusian Division of the Polish Army under General Lucjan Żeligowski seized Vilnius . Many representatives went to

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1474-482: The temporary capital . Aleksandras Stulginskis was elected as the chairman and de facto president. As soon as 10 June 1920, it passed the third and final draft of the constitution. On 12 June 1920, a peace treaty was signed with the Russian SFSR . It was highly beneficial to Lithuania as Russia recognized its independence de jure (the first state to do so after 1918) and acknowledged that vast areas of

1541-529: The 21 November student protest and an article headlined Bolshevism's Threat to Lithuania . The latter argued that the communists posed a genuine threat and the current government was incapable of dealing with them. After that, the newspaper ceased criticising the Christian Democrats. On 20 September 1926, five military officers led by Captain Antanas Mačiuika  [ lt ] organized

1608-407: The Christian Democrats when it proposed a 1927 budget that reduced salaries to the clergy and subsidies to Catholic schools. Further controversies were created when the government's military reform program was revealed as careless downsizing. Some 200 conservative military officers were fired. The military began planning the coup. Academics have debated the involvement of Antanas Smetona in planning

1675-722: The Council of the State of Lithuania passed the Fundamental Laws of the Provisional Constitution of the State of Lithuania, which said that the future form of the state of Lithuania would be determined by the Constituent Assembly. The Law on the Election of the Constituent Assembly was adopted on 30 October 1919. Lithuania was divided into 11 constituencies, of which 5 were not controlled by Lithuanians at

1742-465: The May elections, the Grinius/Sleževičius government lifted martial law , still in effect in Kaunas and elsewhere, restored democratic freedoms, and granted broad amnesty to political prisoners. For the first time, Lithuania was truly democratic. However, the change did not meet with universal approval. Many released prisoners were communists who quickly used the new freedoms of speech to organize

1809-738: The Popular Peasants' Union. The reasons for the coup remain the subject of debate. The domestic situation was definitely troubled. Historians have pointed to specific European precedents in the 1920s that may have had an influence, including the 1922 March on Rome by Benito Mussolini in Italy and the May 1926 Coup of Józef Piłsudski in Poland. Other historians have cited more general trends in Europe that resulted in more or less undemocratic governments in almost all of Central and Eastern Europe by

1876-551: The Provisional Constitution stating that the Constituent Assembly would gather in Vilnius was amended. The rights and duties of the parties and fines and punishment for the obstruction of the elections, agitation by state officials during work hours, destruction of visual ads and electoral lists, the exercise of coercion or bribery towards voters, agitation out of place and time. The elections took place on 14–15 April 1920. The voter turnout reached about 90%. The voters, both men and women, elected 112 representatives. The plurality of

1943-402: The Social Democrats formed a left-wing coalition opposing the Christian Democrats. But the coalition still did not constitute a majority, and went on to add representatives of minorities in Lithuania – Germans from the Klaipėda Region , Poles, and Jews. On 7 June, Kazys Grinius was elected the third president of Lithuania and Mykolas Sleževičius became the prime minister . Both were members of

2010-856: The Soviet Union in September. They were looking for a change in the priorities of Lithuanian foreign policy. It was therefore not surprising that the British, in The Daily Telegraph , the French, in Le Matin , and the United States, in The New York Times wrote that the coup was expected to curtail friendly relations with the Soviet Union and normalize relations with Poland; the anti-democratic and unconstitutional nature of

2077-453: The Soviet consul informed Sleževičius about a possible coup the following night, but Sleževičius did not pay much attention to this warning. The coup began on the night of 17 December 1926. The 60th birthday of President Kazys Grinius was being celebrated in Kaunas, attended by numerous state officials. The 1927 budget, with its cuts to military and church spending, had not yet passed. During

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2144-732: 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 , 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

2211-402: The city of Mažeikiai . In return, Latvia received the so-called Aknysta foreland (Latvian: Aknīste ) north of Rokiškis . In total, Latvia gained about 100 km² more than Lithuania. This treaty solved all border conflicts with Latvia and the border remains the same today. It became a foundation for good and healthy cooperation between the two nations. On 23 September 1921, Lithuania became

2278-521: The coup was merely a temporary measure, demanded that new elections to the Seimas be held, but Smetona stalled. He predicted that his party would not be popular and that he would not be re-elected president. In the meantime, nationalists were discussing constitutional changes to increase the powers of the executive branch and curb the powers of the Seimas. In April, a group in the Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union tried to organize

2345-530: The coup was not emphasized. The Western press reported the news calmly, or assessed it as a positive development in the Lithuanian struggle against Bolshevism. International diplomatic opinion held that a strong authoritarian leader would provide internal stability, and that even during the earlier years of the republic Lithuania had not been genuinely democratic, since many essential freedoms were curtailed under martial law. Christian Democrats, believing that

2412-432: The coup, but neither inspired nor organized it. Before the coup, Smetona had been the editor of Lietuvis ( The Lithuanian ). A shift in its orientation in late November has been cited as evidence he was not informed about the coup until then. Before the 25 November issue appeared, the newspaper had been critical of the government and of the Christian Democrats. That day however, the newspaper published several articles about

2479-475: The coup. In 1931 Augustinas Voldemaras , since ousted from the government and forced into exile, wrote that Smetona had planned the coup since 1925. Historian Zenonas Butkus  [ lt ] asserted that the idea of a coup had been raised as early as 1923. However, the time frame is disputed, since the military did not take action until the autumn of 1926. Smetona's personal secretary, Aleksandras Merkelis  [ lt ] , held that Smetona knew about

2546-453: The end of the 1930s. Historians have also cited an exaggerated fear of communism as a factor, along with the lack of a stable center that could reach out to parties on the left and right; parties accused one other of Bolshevism and fascism . According to historian Anatol Lieven , Smetona and Voldemaras saw themselves as the dispossessed true heroes of the independence movement, who despaired of returning to power by democratic means. After

2613-531: The end of the national rebirth in Lithuania, the restoration of the state, resulting in the building of a legal foundation for the independent state. In addition to the fundamental laws (the standing Constitution, the land reform, the introduction of the Litas , and the establishment of the university ), other areas of life were regulated as well. The country switched to a metric system, Central European time , implemented executive control, and became an active player on

2680-538: The front to defend the historic capital. Before adjourning it had created the so-called Small Seimas (Lithuanian: Mažasis Seimas ) consisting of the Chairman and six members of the regular Constituent Assembly who were authorized to pass urgent laws. In March 1921, after international arbitration , a border treaty with Latvia was signed. 21 km of coastline including the towns of Palanga and Šventoji were transferred to Lithuania. It also defended its interest in

2747-490: The government in 1920, but continued to write and publish political criticism, for which he also was again sentenced to a short prison term. Kazys Grinius had chaired a post-World War I repatriation commission, and served as head of the 6th cabinet of ministers and in the First and Second Seimas . Mykolas Sleževičius served as prime minister in 1918 and 1919, oversaw the organization of the Lithuanian armed forces in 1920, and

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2814-496: The government legally, the Christian Democrats suggested a motion of no confidence in response to the incident, but it was rejected. Another public outcry arose when the government, seeking the support of ethnic minorities, allowed the opening of over 80 Polish schools in Lithuania. At the time, the Polish government was closing Lithuanian schools in the fiercely contested Vilnius Region. The coalition government directly confronted

2881-495: The incident was presented as a major threat to Lithuania and its military' and the government was said to be incapable of dealing with it. Further allegations of "Bolshevization" came after Lithuania signed the Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Treaty of 28 September 1926. The treaty had been conceived by a previous government dominated by Christian Democrats. However, the Christian Democrats voted against

2948-563: The leaders of the Lithuanian National Union and Christian Democratic parties. Rumors of the plan reached the Social Democrats, but they took no action. Just before the coup, disinformation about movements of the Polish army in the Vilnius Region was disseminated; its purpose was to induce troops in Kaunas that could potentially have opposed the coup to move towards Vilnius. Late in the evening of 16 December,

3015-597: The military handed power over to the civilian government, it ceased playing a direct role in political life. Lithuania was incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1795. It was occupied by Germany during World War I , and declared itself independent on 16 February 1918. The next two years were marked by the Lithuanian Wars of Independence , which delayed international recognition and the establishment of political institutions. The newly formed army fought

3082-609: The military, no casualties were associated with the coup, apart from the four executions. However, other sources cite Captain Vincas Jonuška, allegedly shot by the guards of the Presidential Palace , who died a day later in a hospital. International recognition of the new government did not prove difficult. Western powers were not pleased with the Third Seimas , which had ratified the non-aggression treaty with

3149-551: The minister of finance, Vytautas Petrulis , transferred a large sum of money from the state budget to his personal account. The party's strategies for economic crisis were perceived as ineffective. An additional tension arose when the Concordat of 1925 between Poland and the Holy See unilaterally recognized Vilnius as an ecclesiastical province of Poland, despite Lithuanian requests to govern Vilnius directly from Rome. It

3216-506: The nation". Prime Minister Sleževičius resigned, and President Grinius appointed Augustinas Voldemaras as the new Prime Minister. Smetona and Voldemaras, both representing the Lithuanian National Union, invited the Christian Democrats to join them in forming a new government that would restore some degree of constitutional legitimacy. The party agreed reluctantly; they were worried about their prestige. Looking toward

3283-398: The near future, the Christian Democrats reasoned that they could easily win any upcoming Seimas elections and regain power by constitutional means and avoid direct association with the coup. In keeping with this strategy, they allowed members of the Lithuanian National Union to take the most prominent posts. Initially, President Grinius refused to resign, but he was eventually persuaded that

3350-412: The night, military forces occupied central military and government offices and arrested officials. Colonel Kazys Škirpa , who had initiated the military reform program, tried to rally troops against the coup, but was soon overpowered and arrested. The Seimas was dispersed and President Grinius was placed under house arrest. Colonel Povilas Plechavičius was released from prison, where he had been serving

3417-486: The parliament were 50 or older. Of them, 4 were members of the Jewish faction. The majority of the members of the parliament (37 out of 150) had a college degree, with the group of self-taught representatives coming in second (26 out of 150). Seven representatives were graduates of a spiritual academy or a divinity school. The parliament had 8 female representatives. By way of seniority, MP Gabrielė Petkevičaitė–Bitė chaired

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3484-628: The principles of democracy by all of its residents, had to be convened in Vilnius . The resolutions of the Conference were to be implemented by an executive body: the Lithuanian Council of 20 members (to become the Council of the State of Lithuania as of 11 July 1918). It was this Council that adopted the Act of Independence on 16 February 1918, stipulating that a Constituent Assembly was to be convened as soon as possible. On 2 November 1918,

3551-550: The solemn inaugural meeting, with Ona Muraškaitė–Račiukaitienė , being the youngest member of the parliament, acting as secretary. It was a major achievement for women at the time. In terms of trade, most members of the parliament were farmers (21). They were followed by teachers (18), officials, co-operators, and municipal workers (18), craftsmen and workmen (17), lawyers (13), priests and rabbis (12), military officers (13). The first meeting took place on 15 May 1920 in Kaunas ,

3618-563: The time. The total designated number of mandates was 229, but the Polish-controlled Vilnius region and the French-controlled Klaipėda region were barred from the elections. The constituencies under Lithuania's control were able to elect 112 representatives, one per population of 15,000. Every citizen aged 21 and above was entitled to vote; the voting age threshold for the military was 17. The paragraph in

3685-601: The treaty and Antanas Smetona strongly supported it. It drew sharp criticism, as Lithuania exchanged Soviet recognition of its rights to the Vilnius for international isolation; the treaty demanded that Lithuania make no alliances with other countries. At the time, the Soviet Union was not a member of the League of Nations . France and the United Kingdom were looking for reliable partners in Eastern Europe, and

3752-772: The votes went to the lists of the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party , securing it 59 seats. The bloc of the Lithuanian Popular Socialist Democratic Party and the Lithuanian Peasants’ Union placed second with 28 mandates. The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania won 13 seats. Ethnic parties won ten seats (six to Democratic Jewish Union , three to the Central Polish Electoral Committee and one to

3819-401: The years 459,000 ha of land were distributed to over 65,000 people. The nobility was allowed to keep 80 ha of land and was reimbursed an average of 27 litas per hectare (equivalent to $ 2.70 USD under the exchange rate in 1922) for nationalized land. People who received land, except for the volunteers, were required to pay for the land for 36 years. The main goal, to adopt a new constitution,

3886-452: Was Lithuania's first president from April 1919 to June 1920; he then withdrew from formal political involvement, although he published political criticism, for which he served a brief prison term in 1923. Augustinas Voldemaras represented Lithuania at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 and later served as prime minister, minister of defense, and minister of foreign affairs. He resigned from

3953-898: Was a member of the Second Seimas between 1922 and 1926. Between 8 and 10 May 1926, regular elections to the Third Seimas took place. For the first time since 1920, the bloc led by the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party , which strongly supported the Roman Catholic Church and its clergy, did not win a majority. The Lithuanian people were disillusioned with this party, whose members had been involved in several financial scandals: Juozas Purickis had used his diplomatic privileges in Moscow to deal in cocaine and saccharin ; Eliziejus Draugelis and Petras Josiukas  [ lt ] purchased cheap low-quality smoked pig fat from Germany instead of from Lithuanian farmers; and

4020-549: Was a military coup d'état in Lithuania that replaced the democratically elected government with a authoritarian regime led by Antanas Smetona . The coup took place on 17 December 1926 and was largely organized by the military; Smetona's role remains the subject of debate. The coup brought the Lithuanian Nationalist Union , the most conservative party at the time, to power. Previously it had been

4087-494: Was declared. About 350 communists were arrested, and four leaders ( Karolis Požela , Juozas Greifenbergeris, Kazys Giedrys and Rapolas Čarnas) were executed on 27 December. This was a serious blow to the Communist Party of Lithuania and it was inactive for a time. No concrete evidence was ever found that the communists had planned any coups. Other political parties and organizations were not brutalized and, according to

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4154-573: Was disbanded in October 1922. Following the last Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Lithuania was annexed by and became part of the Russian Empire . On 21 September 1917, Vilnius played host to the Lithuanian Conference which resolved that, to lay the groundwork for the independent Lithuania and regulate its relations with the neighbours, a Constituent Assembly, elected under

4221-609: Was not traditionally a Vatican policy to establish an arrangement of this type, but the decision was objected to strongly by many Lithuanians. The decision implied that the Pope had recognized the Polish claims to Vilnius, creating a loss of prestige for the Christian Democrats. Diplomatic relations with the Holy See were severed, and did not improve when Pope Pius XI unilaterally established and reorganized Lithuanian ecclesiastical provinces in April 1926 without regard to Lithuanian proposals and demands. The Popular Peasants' Union and

4288-662: Was reached on 1 August 1922. The constitution granted broad powers to the Seimas , the Parliament. It selected the Cabinet of Ministers and elected the President. The Seimas and the president were to be elected every three years in democratic elections. Lithuania was declared a democratic republic modeled after the example of France . Because of the Christian democrats' majority, the constitution clearly reflected Christian ideas. For example, it established that religious education

4355-412: Was the first permanent Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, which was adopted on 1 August 1922 to close the cycle of the prior provisional constitutions: The Assembly cemented the principles of western democracy grounded on the freedom of faith, consciousness, speech, the equality of nations and genders before the law, and the immunity of a person. The expiry of the Constituent Assembly's term marked

4422-481: 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". 49 men were elected to the Seimas: 1926 Lithuanian coup d%27%C3%A9tat Coup successful The 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état ( Lithuanian : 1926-ųjų perversmas )

4489-400: Was violated, however, when no new elections were held within two months. In April, Christian Democratic newspapers, which had been calling for new elections, were censored. On 2 May 1927, Christian Democrats withdrew from the government, thinking that the nationalists acting alone would not be able to sustain it. As a result, the Lithuanian National Union took the upper hand in its dispute with

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