Klaipėda Convention was an international agreement between
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and the countries of the
Conference of AmbassadorsThe Conference of Ambassadors of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers was an inter-allied organization of the Entente in the period following the end of World War I. Formed in Paris in January 1920 it became a successor of the Supreme War Council and was later on de facto incorporated into...
(Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan) signed in
ParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on May 8, 1924. According to the Convention, the
Klaipėda RegionThe Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
(Memel Territory) became an autonomous region under unconditional
sovereigntySovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
of Lithuania. The region was detached from
East PrussiaEast Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
by the
Treaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
and placed under a provisional French administration. During the staged
Klaipėda RevoltThe Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region . The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from the East Prussia of the German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a mandate of the League of Nations. It was placed under provisional French...
of January 1923, the Lithuanians seized control of the region and attached it to Lithuania. The Conference of Ambassadors accepted this
fait accompliFait accompli is a French phrase which means literally "an accomplished deed". It is commonly used to describe an action which is completed before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it...
and set out to formalize the territorial changes. After difficult negotiations, the Convention was agreed upon in spring 1924. The region was granted extensive legislative, judicial, administrative, and financial autonomy. It had its own democratically elected parliament (
Klaipėda DietThe Parliament of the Klaipėda Region was the parliament of the Klaipėda Region , an autonomous region of Lithuania. The parliament was established by the Klaipėda Convention of 1924 and the first elections took place in October 1925. In all elections pro-German parties more than 80% of the vote...
) and appointed executive branch (the Klaipėda Directorate). The administration and operation of port of Klaipėda was entrusted to a three-member Harbor Board. The
Neman RiverNeman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
, particularly its timber traffic, was internationalized granting freedom of transit to all nations. The Convention became obsolete when the Klaipėda Region was attached to
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
as a result of the
ultimatum of 19391939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania, by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, on March 20, 1939...
.
Background
According to article 28 of the
Treaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, lands north of the
Neman RiverNeman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
were detached from the
German EmpireThe German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
and, according to article 99, were placed under a
mandate of the League of NationsA League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League...
effective January 10, 1920. The French became temporary administrators of the region known as the
Klaipėda RegionThe Klaipėda Region or Memel Territory was defined by the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 when it was put under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors...
or Memel Territory. The Lithuanians believed that the region should be attached to Lithuania due to its significant Lithuanian-speaking population of
Prussian LithuaniansThe term Prussian Lithuanians or Lietuvininkai refers to a Western Lithuanian ethnic group, which did not form a nation and inhabited a territory in East Prussia called Prussian Lithuania or Lithuania Minor in contrast to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later the Republic of Lithuania .Unlike most...
. Also
KlaipėdaKlaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
(Memel), a major sea port in the
Baltic SeaThe Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
, was the only viable access to the sea for Lithuania. However, such Lithuanian aspirations gained little international support. It seemed that the region would be turned into a free city similar to the
Free City of DanzigThe Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
. Rather than waiting for an unfavorable decision by
the AlliesThe Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
, Lithuanian activists decided to organize a revolt, capture the region, and present a
fait accompliFait accompli is a French phrase which means literally "an accomplished deed". It is commonly used to describe an action which is completed before those affected by it are in a position to query or reverse it...
. The revolt, organized by the Lithuanian government and the
Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, began on January 9, 1923. The rebels met little resistance and controlled the region by January 15. They organized a new pro-Lithuanian Directorate (main governing institution) and petitioned to join Lithuania. On January 24, the First Seimas (parliament of Lithuania) accepted the petition thus formalizing the incorporation of the Klaipėda Region on the Lithuanian side. The
Conference of AmbassadorsThe Conference of Ambassadors of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers was an inter-allied organization of the Entente in the period following the end of World War I. Formed in Paris in January 1920 it became a successor of the Supreme War Council and was later on de facto incorporated into...
decided to dispatch a special commission to the region, rejected a military intervention, and agreed to open negotiations with Lithuania.
Negotiations
On February 16, 1923, the Conference of Ambassadors relinquished its rights, granted by the Treaty of Versailles, and transferred the district over to Lithuania with a condition that a formal international treaty would be signed at a later date. Lithuania accepted the transfer and negotiations over the treaty began on March 24, 1923. A special commission of the Conference, chaired by French diplomat Jules Laroche, presented a 50-paragraph project which reserved extensive rights of the
Second Polish RepublicThe Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
to access, use, and govern the
port of KlaipėdaThe Port of Klaipėda is a seaport located in Klaipėda, Lithuania. It is one of the few ice-free ports in northernmost Europe, and the largest in Lithuania...
. To Lithuania, which terminated all diplomatic ties with Poland over a bitter disputer over
Vilnius RegionVilnius Region , refers to the territory in the present day Lithuania, that was originally inhabited by ethnic Baltic tribes and was a part of Lithuania proper, but came under East Slavic and Polish cultural influences over time,...
, this was completely unacceptable. The Lithuanian delegation, led by
Ernestas GalvanauskasErnestas Galvanauskas was a Lithuanian engineer, politician and one the founders of the Lithuanian Peasants' Union...
, responded by presenting their own project which reserved no rights to Poland in April 1923. The negotiations resumed in July when Laroche presented two other projects, which were very similar to the first. Seeing that the situation became deadlocked, Lithuanians suggested to turn over the case to the
Permanent Court of International JusticeThe Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...
while Laroche preferred the
League of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
. The Conference decided to appeal to the League on the basis of Article 11 of
its Covenant-Creation:Early drafts for a possible League of Nations began even before the end of the First World War. A London-based study group led by James Bryce and G. Lowes Dickinson made proposals adopted by the British League of Nations Society, founded in 1915. Another group in the United States—which...
. On December 17, 1923, the League authorized a three-man commission to analyze the situation and prepare a report. The commission was headed by American
Norman DavisNorman H. Davis , was a U.S. diplomat. He was born in Bedford, Tennessee. He served as President Wilson's Assistant Secretary of Treasury and later as Undersecretary of State....
and included A. G. Kröller (Dutch technical expert on transportation) and M. Hoernell (Swedish professor). The commission visited Klaipėda,
KaunasKaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
, and
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. It presented a treaty projected on February 18, 1924. After negotiations with the Lithuanians, the League adopted the Convention on March 14, 1924 despite Polish protests. The document was signed by
Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of CreweRobert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe KG, PC , known as The Lord Houghton from 1885 to 1895 and as The Earl of Crewe from 1895 to 1911, was a British statesman and writer....
,
Raymond PoincaréRaymond Poincaré was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France on five separate occasions and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Poincaré was a conservative leader primarily committed to political and social stability...
, Camillo Romano Avezzana, Ishii Kikujirō and
Ernestas GalvanauskasErnestas Galvanauskas was a Lithuanian engineer, politician and one the founders of the Lithuanian Peasants' Union...
on May 8. It was registered with the League of Nations Treaty Series on October 3. The Convention was ratified by the Entente Powers and took full effect on August 25, 1925. The Lithuanians hailed the final version as their major diplomatic victory as Poland received no special rights in the port.
Content
Schedule of war reparations for Klaipėda Region per agreement of February 15, 1930
| Date of payment |
Total
(in gold marks) |
To France
(in francsThe franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
) |
To Great Britain
(in poundThe pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
s) |
To Italy
(in lirasThe lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a “national subunit” of the euro...
) |
| 15 days after signing |
800,000 |
4,725,998 |
90,882 |
– |
| December 15, 1930 |
1,000,000 |
5,886,873 |
113,180 |
16,273 |
| December 15, 1931 |
1,000,000 |
5,907,505 |
113,590 |
– |
| December 15, 1932 |
1,000,000 |
5,907,505 |
113,590 |
– |
The Convention had 18 articles. The region was transferred to Lithuania without conditional provisions and granted legislative, judicial, administrative, and financial autonomy to preserve "traditional rights and culture of the inhabitants". The residents were automatically granted Lithuanian citizenship but were also given a window of 18 months to opt out and chose German citizenship. The new Lithuanian citizens were exempt from military service until January 1930. Lithuania agreed to pay
war reparationsWar reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...
according to the Treaty of Versailles as they related to the region, protect rights of minorities and foreign businesses. Any member of the Council of the League of Nations could draw attention of the League to any infractions of the Convention and such disputes would be referred to the
Permanent Court of International JusticeThe Permanent Court of International Justice, often called the World Court, was an international court attached to the League of Nations. Created in 1922 , the Court was initially met with a good reaction from states and academics alike, with many cases submitted to it for its first decade of...
. This provision was used by
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
when it supported anti-Lithuanian activities in the region and accused Lithuania of violating minority rights. The region could not be transferred to other countries without the consent of the contracting parties. This article became relevant in 1939 when
Lithuania was presented an ultimatum1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania, by Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, on March 20, 1939...
demanding to transfer the Klaipėda Region to Germany.
The Convention included the statute of Klaipėda Region, agreement on port of Klaipėda and transit as an addendum. The statute of Klaipėda Region had 38 articles and was akin to a constitution. It dealt primarily with detailing the level of legislative, judicial, administrative, and financial autonomy granted to the region. The autonomy was given in the name of Lithuania, which was a significant Lithuanian diplomatic achievement, and the four international signatories just confirmed it. Matters specifically placed under local authority 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). The region had its own legislative body (
Memel LandtagThe Parliament of the Klaipėda Region was the parliament of the Klaipėda Region , an autonomous region of Lithuania. The parliament was established by the Klaipėda Convention of 1924 and the first elections took place in October 1925. In all elections pro-German parties more than 80% of the vote...
) elected for a three-year term in free democratic elections. The President of Lithuania appointed a governor of the region. The governor could not veto laws passed the local parliament unless they violated the statute,
Constitution of LithuaniaThe Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania defines the legal foundation for all laws passed in the Republic of Lithuania. It was approved in a referendum on October 25, 1992.-History:...
, or international agreements. The reasons for a veto did not include laws contrary to the interest of Lithuania. The five-member
DirectorateThe Directorate of the Klaipėda Region was the main governing institution in the Klaipėda Region 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 and establishment of French provision...
was appointed by the governor and served as the executive institution as long as it had confidence of the parliament. The governor in agreement with the Directorate could dissolve the parliament. The Directorate appointed tribunal judges for life. The Lithuanian and German languages were given equal status as official languages of the region. Amending the statute required a three-fifths majority in the local parliament and could be submitted for approval to a local referendum.
The agreement on port of Klaipėda specified that it was a port of international concern and that the
Barcelona Convention and Statute on the Regime of Navigable Waterways of International ConcernAn International convention signed in Barcelona on April 20, 1921 to ensure freedom of navigation in waterways which bear international significance. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on October 8, 1921. It went into effect on October 31, 1922...
applied. The agreement established a three-member Harbor Board charged with administration, operation, and development of the port. One member was appointed by the Lithuanian government, another by the Directorate, and the third by the League of Nations. The transit agreement had four articles and guaranteed freedom of transit. It particularly concerned export and import of timber via the
Neman RiverNeman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
.
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