Antanas Merkys
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Antanas Merkys (; 1 February 1887 – 5 March 1955) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When the Soviet Union presented an
ultimatum An ultimatum (; ) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series o ...
to Lithuania demanding that it accept a Soviet garrison, President
Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual and journalist and the first President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was one of the m ...
fled the country leaving Merkys as acting president. Merkys ostensibly cooperated with the Soviets, and illegally took over the presidency in his own right. After three days, Merkys handed power to
Justas Paleckis Justas Paleckis ( – 26 January 1980) was a Lithuanian author, journalist and politician. He was nominal acting president of Lithuania after the Soviet invasion while Lithuania was still ostensibly independent, in office from 17 June to 3 Au ...
, who formed the
People's Government of Lithuania The People's Government of Lithuania ( lt, Liaudies vyriausybė) was a puppet cabinet installed by the Soviet Union in Lithuania immediately after Lithuania's acceptance of the Soviet ultimatum of June 14, 1940. The formation of the cabinet was su ...
. When Merkys attempted to flee the country, he was captured and deported to the interior of Russia, where he died in 1955.


Biography

Merkys was born at
Bajorai The Lithuanian nobility or szlachta (Lithuanian language, Lithuanian: ''bajorija, Szlachta, šlėkta'') was historically a legally privileged aristocracy (class), hereditary elite class in the Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania (i ...
, near Skapiškis. Educated in law, he served in the Russian Army during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(1914–18). In 1919, he served as the newly independent Lithuania's Minister of Defence before serving with the Lithuanian Army until his decommissioning in 1922. He then practised as a lawyer. After the
Klaipėda Revolt The Klaipėda Revolt took place in January 1923 in the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory or ). The region, located north of the Neman River, was detached from East Prussia, German Empire by the Treaty of Versailles and became a ...
of 1923, Merkys became secretary to the
Klaipėda Region The Klaipėda Region ( lt, Klaipėdos kraštas) or Memel Territory (german: Memelland or ''Memelgebiet'') was defined by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles in 1920 and refers to the northernmost part of the German province of East Prussia, when as ...
Commissioner,
Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual and journalist and the first President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was one of the m ...
. Following the
1926 Lithuanian coup d'état The 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état ( Lithuanian: ) was a military coup d'état in Lithuania that resulted in the replacement of the democratically elected government with a Nationalist regime led by Antanas Smetona. The coup took place on 17 Dece ...
, he became Minister of Defence again until 1927, when he was made Governor of Klaipėda Region. In 1932, German demands prompted his removal as Governor and Merkys returned to practising law. He became Mayor of
Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...
in 1933 and served in this position until 1939. In 1936 was elected to the
Fourth Seimas of Lithuania The Fourth Seimas of Lithuania was the fourth parliament (Seimas) elected in Lithuania after it declared independence on 16 February 1918. The elections took place on 9 and 10 June 1936, a bit less than ten years after the Third Seimas was diss ...
. On 17 November 1939 he became Prime Minister.


Soviet ultimatum and occupation

When, on 14 June 1940, the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, Smetona proposed armed resistance. Merkys suggested accepting the ultimatum and offered to resign as Prime Minister, but he temporarily remained in office. Merkys agreed to Soviet demands that Smetona be arrested, but was unsuccessful in doing so. Rather than accept the demands, Smetona fled to Germany and then to
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Before leaving the country, he symbolically turned over his presidential duties to Merkys. Under the Constitution of 1938, the prime minister served as acting president whenever the president was unable to carry out his duties. The day after Smetona's departure, Merkys announced on national radio that he had removed Smetona and was now president in his own right. The following morning, the cabinet resolved that Smetona had effectively resigned by leaving the country, and confirmed Merkys as president. On 17 June 1940 Merkys acceded to more Soviet demands—a) dispatch police to arrest Skučas and Povilaitis near the Lithuanian border and b) appointing
Justas Paleckis Justas Paleckis ( – 26 January 1980) was a Lithuanian author, journalist and politician. He was nominal acting president of Lithuania after the Soviet invasion while Lithuania was still ostensibly independent, in office from 17 June to 3 Au ...
as the new Prime Minister. Merkys resigned later that day, making Paleckis acting president as well. The Soviets then used Paleckis as a puppet to provide the ostensibly legal sanction for its annexation of Lithuania a month later. Since Lithuania regained independence from the Soviet Union, it has maintained that Merkys' takeover of the presidency was illegal and unconstitutional, since Smetona never formally resigned. For that reason, Merkys is not recognized as a legitimate president in Lithuanian government records. When Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, it took the line that since Merkys' seizure of the presidency was illegal, all actions leading up to Lithuania's annexation by the Soviet Union later that year were ''ipso facto'' void. Therefore, Lithuania contended that it did not need to follow the secession process outlined in the Soviet Constitution, since it was reasserting an independence that still existed under international law. A month later Merkys attempted to escape to Sweden, but was arrested in
Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
. He and his family were deported to
Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...
in Russia. In 1941 Merkys was imprisoned. In 1954, during the period of
de-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
, Merkys was released from prison, but not allowed to return to Lithuania. He lived in
Vladimir Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...
until his death the following year, on 5 March 1955. Subsequently, his grave could not be located, but a symbolic
cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
dedicated to Merkys' memory is in the
Petrašiūnai Cemetery Petrašiūnai Cemetery ( lt, Petrašiūnų kapinės) is Lithuania's premiere last resting place formally designated for graves of people influential in national history, politics, arts, and science. Location Petrašiūnai Cemetery is located abo ...
in Kaunas.


Awards

*
Order of the Cross of Vytis The Order of the Cross of Vytis ( lt, Vyčio Kryžiaus ordinas) is a Lithuanian presidential award conferred for heroic defence of Lithuania's freedom and independence. November 23 is a holiday in honour of the Order of the Cross of Vytis. His ...
, Knight (5th Class, 1927) *
Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...
, Grand Cross (1938) and Commander's Grand Cross (1928) *
Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars ( lv, Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis) is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is "Per aspera ad astra", meaning "Thr ...
, 1st Class (15 March 1937)


See also

*
Prime Minister of Lithuania The prime minister of Lithuania ( lt, Ministras Pirmininkas; "Minister-Chairman") is the head of the government of Lithuania. The prime minister is Lithuania's head of government and is appointed by the president with the assent of the Lithuania ...
*
List of rulers of Lithuania The article is a list of heads of state of Lithuania over historical Lithuanian state. The timeline includes all heads of state of Lithuania as a sovereign entity, legitimately part of a greater sovereign entity, a client state, or a constituent ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merkys, Antanas 1880s births 1955 deaths Inmates of Vladimir Central Prison Lithuanian jurists Lithuanian people of World War II Ministers of Defence of Lithuania People from Panevėžys County Presidents of Lithuania Prime Ministers of Lithuania Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni World War II political leaders Recipients of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Vytis Members of the Seimas