Lithuanian German ultimatum - an oral ultimatum presented to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Juozas Urbschis, Third Reich Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop on March 20, 1939.
Background
Germany lost Klaipeda region (Memelland) as a result of the First World War [1] .
On May 21, 1935, Adolf Hitler presented Lithuania with a claim for the persecution of the German language in Memel and called it a country that does not comply with the “generally accepted norms of human society”. Latvian Foreign Minister Wilhelms Munters noted in his diary of September 19, 1935 that Lithuania is offended by the lack of support from Latvia and Estonia . However, the Baltic countries took advantage of the fact that Germany declared a trade war to Lithuania, reducing food purchases by 60%: Latvian and Estonian took the place of Lithuanian milk and butter.
When Lithuania confiscated 440 hectares of land from the German owners for military purposes in Klaipeda region at the end of 1937, the Latvian envoy to Kaunas, on the instructions of Minister Munters, persuaded his Lithuanian counterpart Stasis Lozoraitis “not to aggravate” relations with Germany [2] .
However, at the end of 1938, Lithuania lost control of the situation in the province. The Latvian consul on January 31, 1939 reported that “the Klaipeda district is irreversibly lost for Lithuania” and “it would be beneficial for Latvia and Lithuania to have Lithuania amputated this politically and nationally poisoned province” [2] .
As compensation for German Memel, Baltic diplomats allowed Poland to receive Vilna from Germany.
Presentation of an ultimatum and its consequences
By March 1939, Lithuanians, under pressure from Germany, abolished martial law in Memel, dismissed Foreign Minister Stasis Lozoraitis , but this did not save them from the German ultimatum presented on March 20, 1939 [3] .
Germany demanded that Lithuania cede Klaipeda region to her, otherwise the Wehrmacht was ready for the invasion [4] .
On March 23, 1939, the Lithuanian delegation arrived in Berlin, and a week before the German troops entered Prague, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Juozas Urbschis and his German counterpart Joachim von Ribbentrop signed an agreement on the transfer of Memelland to Germany [5] . Lithuania withdrew its troops from the region. Formally, Lithuania was left a free trade zone in Memel and the right to free movement for 99 years. The next day, Adolf Hitler arrived in Klaipeda, who delivered a solemn speech [2] .
Germany strengthened its position by sending five cruisers, two squadrons of destroyers and three squadrons of torpedo boats, opposing the only Lithuanian 580-ton destroyer [2] .
The Germans seized the territory of the region even before the formal ratification of the treaty by Lithuania. International guarantees under the Klaipeda Convention of 1924, which guaranteed the preservation of the status quo in the region, did not work: Great Britain and France followed a " pacification policy ", as during the Memel Uprising of 1923 , while Italy and Japan openly supported Germany. The Sejm of Lithuania was forced to approve the agreement, hoping that Germany would not put forward other territorial requirements for Lithuania. The Baltic neighbors did not show concern, although the German fleet was 50 miles from the Latvian military port of Liepaja [2] .
According to the agreement, residents of Klaipeda region were allowed to choose citizenship - German or Lithuanian . It was also emphasized that people who moved to the region from 1923 to 1939 should emigrate , which was done by about 8900 Lithuanians . At the same time, the Nazis deported about 1300 Jews (local Memel and Lithuanian) and only about 40 Prussian Lithuanians .
Memel’s occupation continued a series of bloodless annexations of territories separated from the German and Austrian empires under the Treaty of Versailles , which the Germans perceived as humiliation. The Allies and neighboring countries made no concessions to the democratic German governments during the Weimar Republic ; but when Hitler came to power in Germany, these countries took steps to resolve relations with Nazi Germany.
For Germany, Klaipeda Territory was the last acquired territory before the outbreak of World War II [6] . In Lithuania, its loss caused a serious deterioration in the economic situation and a decrease in the morale of the nation. In Europe, pre-war tension increased even more.
Economic Change
| Industry of Klaipeda Region (1939) [7] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Industry | Volume of production, thousand litas | Industry share % |
| Peat mining | 1,272 | 13.3 |
| Metalworking and mechanical engineering | 2 377 | 10.6 |
| Chemical industry | 7,747 | 36.6 |
| Fur and leather industry | 764 | 4.2 |
| Textile industry | 28 257 | 44,2 |
| Woodworking | 20,899 | 53.9 |
| Paper and Printing | 20,744 | 57.6 |
| Food industry | 27,250 | 21.5 |
| Sewing industry | 1,495 | 6.6 |
| Fuel and energy | 4 938 | 28.6 |
See also
- Polish ultimatum to Lithuania (1938)
- Soviet ultimatum of Lithuania (1940)
Notes
- ↑ . Independent Lithuania // Lithuania: 700 Years / Ed. Albertas Gerutis; translated by . - 6th. - New York : Manyland Books, 1984. - P. 247-249. - ISBN 0-87141-028-1 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Nikolay Kabanov. Klaipeda's amputation: 80 years ago, the Third Reich came close to Latvia . // Baltijas Balss. Date of treatment March 26, 2019.
- ↑ Skirius, Juozas. Klaipėdos krašto aneksija 1939–1940 m. // Gimtoji istorija. Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės : [ lit. ] . - Vilnius: Elektroninės leidybos namai, 2002. - ISBN 9986-9216-9-4 . Archived March 3, 2008 on Wayback Machine
- ↑ Skirius, Juozas. Klaipėdos krašto aneksija 1939–1940 m. // Gimtoji istorija. Nuo 7 iki 12 klasės : [ lit. ] . - Vilnius: Elektroninės leidybos namai, 2002. - ISBN 9986-9216-9-4 . Archived March 3, 2008 on Wayback Machine
- ↑ Text of the Agreement of Memel // New York Times : newspaper. - 1939 .-- March 23. - P. 4 .
- ↑ Germany: Territorial Expansion (1935-1939 ) . GHDI Date of treatment May 22, 2015.
- ↑ Sabaliūnas, Leonas. Lithuania in Crisis: Nationalism to Communism 1939–1940. - Indiana University Press, 1972. - P. 116–119. - ISBN 0-253-33600-7 .
Literature
- Liettuan historia. - Tampere: Jagellonica-kulttuuriyhdistys ry, 2009 .-- ISBN 978-951-98665-3-6 .
- Kolmannen valtakunnan nousu ja tuho I. - New York: Simon and Schuster, 1960 .-- ISBN 951-20-6633-5 .
- Saksa valtapolitiikan paitsiossa. Memelin kysymys Weimarin tasavallan ulkopolitiikassa vuoden 1918 vallankumouksesta Memelin-sopimuksen syntyyn kesällä 1924., Ari Mäkiranta, Turun yliopiston humanistinen tiedekunta , historian laitos, yleinen historia.