Mykolas Sleževičius

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Mykolas Sleževičius (born February 21, 1882 in Drembliai near Raseiniai , † November 11, 1939 in Kaunas ) was a Lithuanian lawyer, lawyer , politician and prime minister .

Life

Studies and professional career

After graduating from Jelgava High School , he studied law at the University of Odessa from 1901 , which he graduated with the state examination in 1907 . As a student he was a participant in the Russian Revolution of 1905 . After completing his studies, he returned to Lithuania and joined the Lithuanian Democratic Party (Lietuvos democų partija).

From 1907 to 1912 he was editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Lithuanian Farmer" ( Lietuvos ūkininkas ) and at the same time from 1910 to 1912 of the newspaper "Lithuanian News" ( Lietuvos Žinios ). He then worked as a lawyer until he left Lithuania in 1915 after the invasion of German troops and settled in Russia .

Independence and Prime Minister 1918-1919

In 1917 he was expelled from the Lithuanian Socialist Small Farmers Party because he advocated the independence of Lithuania from Russia . Later he was one of the founders of the Lithuanian Socialist Democratic Peasant Party. From 1917 to 1918 he was Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council of Lithuania in Russia, an organization which he later chaired. In 1918 he was arrested by the Bolsheviks in Voronezh . He then returned to Lithuania after he was released from prison.

On December 26, 1918, he succeeded Augustinas Voldemaras as the second Prime Minister of the independent Republic of Lithuania. On March 12, 1919, he resigned because he refused to rule with dictatorial powers .

Prime Minister 1919

On April 12, 1919, he took over the post of Prime Minister again from his successor Pranas Dovydaitis . During this tenure, a volunteer army was built up, which primarily fought against the Polish Nationalist Military Organization ( POW , Polish Polska Organizacja Wojskowa ). The POW continued to regard Lithuania as part of Poland. By supporting the armed forces, Sleževičius came into sharp contrast with former Prime Minister Voldemaras, who believed that the Lithuanian militias were sufficient to defend against the Polish nationalist organizations. Sleževičius' government also laid the foundations for several state institutions in the fields of finance , justice and local government. In addition, a first draft law for land reform was drawn up. On October 7, 1919 Sleževičius was replaced by Ernestas Galvanauskas .

After the flare-up of an armed conflict between Poland and Lithuania, he was elected chairman of the Lithuanian Defense Committee ( Vyriausias Lietuvos Gynimo Komitetas ) in 1920 and, as such, oversaw the organization of the armed forces.

Prime Minister 1926 and Lithuanian-Soviet Nonaggression Pact

On October 10, 1922 Sleževičius was elected member of the first parliament ( Seimas ), where he represented the interests of the Lithuanian Peasant People's Union ( Lietuvos Valstiečių Liaudininkų Sąjunga ) until 1927 . From 1922 to 1936 he was also chairman of the central committee of this party.

Mykolas Sleževičius (center, seated) and his cabinet (1926)

On June 15, 1926, he succeeded Leonas Bistras again as Prime Minister, this time he led a coalition of his Peasant People's Union with the Social Democrats who were first involved in government . As such, he was on 28 September 1926 in Moscow next to the Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs (Foreign Minister) Georgy Chicherin signatories of a "gentlemen's agreement" designated non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union , which contributed from the Soviet point of view to the influence of the United Kingdom to the Baltic States to decrease. During this time he was also acting Foreign Minister and Minister of Justice .

Also in sharp rejection of this turn to the Soviet Union , his government was overthrown by the coup d'état by Antanas Smetona and Lieutenant General Povilas Plechavičius on December 17, 1926.

Other activity

Subsequently, he largely withdrew from politics and again worked as a lawyer for various organizations and banks. From 1927 he worked as a legal consultant at the International Bank, Credit Bank and as a Lithuanian representative of foreign companies. Sleževičius also worked as an actor and director at the Kaunas Theater .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Algimantas Kasparavicius: Gentlemen's Agreement Of Lithuania And The USSR . ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 170 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lfpr.lt
  2. ^ Non-Aggression Treaty Between Lithuania And USSR
  3. ↑ Russian Pact . In: TIME Magazine , October 11, 1926
  4. ^ A Short History of Lithuania .
predecessor Office successor
Augustinas Voldemaras Prime Minister of Lithuania
December 26, 1918 - March 12, 1919 		Pranas Dovydaitis
predecessor Office successor
Pranas Dovydaitis Prime Minister of Lithuania
April 12, 1919 - October 7, 1919 		Ernestas Galvanauskas
predecessor Office successor
Leonas Bistras Prime Minister of Lithuania
July 15, 1926 - December 17, 1926 		Augustinas Voldemaras
personal data
SURNAME Sleževičius, Mykolas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lithuanian politician and prime minister
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Drembliai at Raseiniai
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1939
Place of death Kaunas