Lithuania (German Heritage)

Lithuania (German Heritage)
Lithuania (German Heritage) Nacionalinė lietuvių partija
Leader (First)	Augustinas Voldemaras
Founded	1935
Dissolved	1990
Succeeded by	National Democratic Party
Youth wing	Iron Wolves (The Greyshirts)
Ideology	Lithuanian Nationalism; National Conservatism; Antisemitism; Anti-Polish; Clerical Fascism; Corporatism
Political position	Far-Right
Colors	Grey (Political)
Election of 1947	57 / 100

Kingdom of Lithuania
*Lietuvos Karalystė* (**Lithuanian**)
Kingdom of Lithuania Lietuvos Karalystė (Lithuanian)
Flag of Lithuania	Coat of arms
	Motto: ; Laisvė, vienybė, gerovė; (Freedom, Unity, Prosperity)
	Motto: ; Freedom, Unity, Prosperity
	Anthem: ; Tautiška giesmė;
	Lithuania in Green.
Capital	Vilnius
Official languages	Lithuanian
Religion	Catholics, Orthodox, Lutheran, Jewish
Government	Unitary Constitutional Monarchy
Legislature	Seimas
Population
Currency	litas (LTL)
Time zone	Eastern European
Drives on the	Right

Lithuania, officially the Kingdom of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Karalystė), is a sovereign state located in the Baltic Region of Europe. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, to the east of Sweden and Denmark. It is bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east, Poland to the south, and Germany to the southwest.

For centuries, the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, the Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas and the Kingdom of Lithuania was created on 6 July 1253. During the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was the largest country in Europe; present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and parts of Poland and Russia were the territories of the Grand Duchy. With the Lublin Union of 1569, Lithuania and Poland formed a voluntary two-state personal union, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries systematically dismantled it from 1772 to 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania's territory.

As World War I neared its end, Lithuania's Act of Independence was signed on 16 February 1918, declaring the founding of an independent Lithuania. Lithuania soon came under the influence of the German Empire, and became a monarchy under Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach. Lithuania was invaded by the Soviet Union during World War II, and suffered a harsh occupation before being liberated by the German Army in 1943-44. Since then, Lithuania has industrialised, becoming one of the more versatile of the Eastern economies.

Lithuania is currently a member of the League of United Nations, the European Community, the Nordic-Baltic Eight and the Baltic Union.

History[]

Antanas Smetona, Prime Minister of Lithuania (1918-1941), one of the biggest supporters of a constitutional monarchy.

The Germans were preparing for the upcoming negotiations for the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and sought a declaration from the Lithuanians that they wanted a "firm and permanent alliance" with Germany. Such a declaration was adopted by the Council of Lithuania on December 11, 1917. However, these concessions divided the Council and still did not earn recognition from Germany. Therefore, the Council adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania on February 16, 1918. The Act omitted any mention of alliance with Germany and declared the "termination of all state ties which formerly bound this State to other nations." On March 3, 1918, Germany and Bolshevik Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which declared that the Baltic nations were in the German interest zone and that Russia renounced any claims to them. On March 23, Germany formally recognized independent Lithuania on the basis of the December 11 declaration. However, the country was still occupied by German troops, the Council still did not have any actual power and it was treated just as an advisory board by the Germans.

WilhelofUrach — Mindaugus II before his election in 1918.

Initially, the throne was offered to Kaiser Wilhelm II, but was vetoed by the Catholic Kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony, who opposed further expansion of the Protestant Prussia. Hoping to forestall complete German domination, the Lithuanians voted to elect Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach as King. Duke William seemed to be a perfect candidate as he was a Catholic, was not in line of succession to the Kingdom of Württemberg due to his grandfather's morganatic marriage, was not closely related to the House of Hohenzollern, and had no ties to Poland.^[1]

After Duke Wilhelm was coronated on the 30th of July, 1918, he appointed Antanas Smetona and his Lithuanian Nationalist Union to fill the government. The Election of 1919 wielded no clear majority for any party, which led to the First Seimas being dissolved after a few months of existence. The New Lithuanian State was plagued with the issue of minorities - much of the Southern Regions (and even the capital Vilno) were mainly populated by Poles and Byelorussians, which provided a considerable and controversial problem. Smetona employed a process termed as “Lituanization”, which banned other languages in schools (excluding German as a second language), moved wealthy Lithuanians into minority areas and expelled the minorities on the border into their respective countries. However, rather than dampen the separatist movement, these measures only led to the rise of nationalist and communist feeling amongst the minorities.

Mindaugas II died in 1928, passing the crown to his oldest son Wilhelm, who took the regal name of Mindaugas III. Mindaugus III began the pain-staking process of turning Lithuania into a more industrialised state. Though he studied law in university, Mindaugus was profoundly interested in engineering and technology, and so supported worker’s rights in order to boost industrialisation. During his 30 year-long reign, Mindaugas became a noteworthy supporter of Lithuanian engineering, which became a defining point of his legacy.

In 1932, Branislaw Tarashkyevich, the leader of the Hramada, a Belarusian Socialist organisation, was executed after being convicted of treason. As a result, entire Belarusian villages and regions erupted into open rebellion - and were followed by the support of the Polish Community. The ensuring crisis rocked the core of Lithuanian Politics and its monarchy, and resulted in the overthrow of Smetona by Mandaugus III. Mandaugus’ plans for industrialisation was fiercely opposed by Smetona, whose LNU Party found its small electoral base within rural and Catholic Lithuania, which caused considerable tension between the king and his government. Set in the background of Adam Stegerweld’s weakness in foreign affairs, Mindaugus had an opportunity to overthrow the Nationalists and appoint a more progressive government. On the 5th of May, King Mindaugus sacked Smetona and replaced him with a government made up of the Peasant Party and the Social Democrats, led by Kazys Grinius. The new government negotiated with the Byelorussian rebels, and created a new federal state with 5 states, Žemaitija, Aukštaitija, Vilnius, Suvalkija and Dzūkija. These states each had a state parliament, which was appointed by open-list prepositional voting.

In 1933, Augustinas Voldemaras and the extreme factions of Lithuanian politics reformed the Iron Wolf Organisation into the embodiment of fascist and nationalist thought in Lithuania. The Iron Wolves later formed the paramilitary wing of the National Lithuanian Party (Lithuanian: Nacionalinė lietuvių partija; NLP), and received support from the military, who were disillusioned with the cuts in military spending during the Grinius and Dovydaitis Governments. In March 1940, Voldemaras, the Iron Wolves and a faction of the military marched on Vilnius and arrested Dovydaitis and his government. After storming the Royal Palace, Voldemaras declared himself prime minister and dissolved the Seimas.

Jews with a Lithuanian Soldier (GH) — Depicted: *Two Lithuanian Jews with a Lithuanian Soldier, c. 1950s. Under the rule of the NLP, Lithuania became openly fascist and anti-semitic.*

After winning the 1947 Lithuanian Parliamentary Election, Petras Kubiliūnas re-imposed nationalist rule in Lithuania. During his 33 years in office, Lithuania effectively became an one-Party state dominated by the National Lithuanian Party. Kubiliūnas adopted the title of Tautos Vadas ("Leader of the Nation") in 1950, and ran the country under a dictatorship, subject to his own political decisions - the Seimas was forced to submit and was dismissed frequently.

Politics[]

National Lithuanian Party[]

The National Lithuanian Party (Lithuanian: Nacionalinė lietuvių partija; NLP) was a nationalist and fascist political party active in Lithuania from 1935 until the restoration of democracy in 1990. After winning the 1947 Lithuanian Parliamentary Election, the NLP consolidated its power and went on to govern Lithuania for 44 years through electoral fraud, intimidation and political oppression.

Prime Minister[]

№		Party	Term	Notes
1	Antanas Smetona (1874–1944)	Lithuanian Nationalist Union	7 September 1918 - 5 May 1932	An original member of the Council of Lithuania, Smetona was the biggest supporter of a constitutional monarchy in 1918. During his rule, Lithuania adopted a authoritarian system where political oppression was common.
2	Kazys Grinius (1866–1950)	LVLS	5 May 1932 - 9 September 1936	Formed a multi-party cabinet made up of the LVLS, the Farmers’ Party and the Social Democrats. During his tenure, moderate land reform occurred, redistributing land at a lower price for “peasants”.
3	Pranas Dovydaitis (1886–1942)	Christian Democratic	9 September 1936 - 16 March 1940	A political moderate more inclined to the right of politics, Dovydaitis led a relatively uneventful cabinet until he was overthrown in the Fascist Coup in March 1940.
4	Augustinas Voldemaras (1883–1942)	NLP	16 March 1940 - 1941	Became prime minister under the guise of “restoring national prestige and stability”, and suspended the Seimas and State Parliaments, which caused unrest in the minority regions. Captured during the Soviet Invasion in 1941 and subsequently died in unknown circumstances in Moscow.
5	Petras Kubiliūnas (1894–1967)	NLP	9 July 1943 - 2 December 1967	The first prime minister after the Soviet Occupation, Kubiliūnas went on to win the 1947 election and imposed fascist rule on Lithuania. The Federal System was abolished and anti-Jewish laws were passed during his rule.
6	Adolfas Ramanauskas (1918–2001)	NLP	2 December 1967 - 17 July 1982	Ramanauskas served with distinction during the Soviet Occupation as part of the Lithuanian Resistance. After the war, Ramanauskas joined politics as a member of the NLP.
7	Vytautas Astrauskas (1930–2017)	NLP	17 July 1982 - 11 March 1990	A long-time Party member, Astrauskas rose up the bureaucracy of the NLP and entered the Central Committee in 1968, at the age of 38. Astrauskas’s rule was characterised by increasing liberalisation, which ultimately led to the return of democracy after the “Yellow Revolution” in 1990.