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Memel Medal
The Return of Memel Commemorative Medal (''Medaille zur Erinnerung an die Heimkehr des Memellandes''; 22. März 1939) was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, the last in a series of Occupation Medals. Description Germany annexed the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) from Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ... on 22 March 1939 after an ultimatum. On 23 March the occupation of the city and district was carried out by German Army troops. This area of East Prussia, with 160,000 inhabitants, had been turned over to Lithuania in the aftermath of World War I. To commemorate the occupation, the "Memel Medal" was authorized on 1 May 1939. It was awarded until 31 December 1940. In all 31,322 medals were awarded. The wearing of Nazi er ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies of World War II, Allies defeated Germany, End of World War II in Europe, ending World War II in Europe. On 30 January 1933, H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Occupation Medals
The German Occupation Medals were a series of awards, also known as the ''"Flower War medals"'', created to commemorate the successive annexations by Nazi Germany of neighbouring countries and regions with large ethnic German populations. These comprised Austria (March 1938), the Sudetenland (October 1938) and Memel (March 1939). The occupation of the remainder of western Czechoslovakia (March 1939) was marked by the 'Prague Bar', worn on the ribbon of the Sudetenland Medal. The awards All three medals have a common obverse designed by Professor Richard Klein, Director of the Munich School of Applied Arts and a favoured artist of the Nazi establishment. The criteria for each of the medals and the Prague bar were broadly the same. They were awarded to those, both military and civilian, who participated in or contributed to the occupation, including members of the German Wehrmacht, German State officials and local Nazi supporters who had worked for union with Germany. The wearin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1939 German Ultimatum To Lithuania
The 1939 German ultimatum to Lithuania was an oral ultimatum which Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany, presented to Juozas Urbšys, Foreign Minister of Lithuania on 20 March 1939. The Germans demanded that Lithuania give up the Klaipėda Region (also known as the Memel Territory) which had been detached from Germany after World War I, or the Wehrmacht would invade Lithuania and the ''de facto'' Lithuanian capital Kaunas would be bombed. The Lithuanians had been expecting the demand after years of rising tension between Lithuania and Germany, increasing pro-Nazi propaganda in the region, and continued German expansion. It was issued just five days after the Occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia. The 1924 Klaipėda Convention had guaranteed the protection of the ''status quo'' in the region, but the four signatories to that convention did not offer any material assistance. The United Kingdom and France followed a policy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interwar Period
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The interwar period was relatively short, yet featured many significant social, political, and economic changes throughout the world. Petroleum-based energy production and associated mechanisation led to the prosperous Roaring Twenties, a time of both social mobility and economic mobility for the middle class. Automobiles, electric lighting, radio, and more became common among populations in the developed world. The indulgences of the era subsequently were followed by the Great Depression, an unprecedented worldwide economic downturn that severely damaged many of the world's largest economies. Politically, the era coincided with the rise of communism, starting in Russia with the October Revolution and Russian Civil War, at the end of World War I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Memelland it was put under the administration of the Entente's Council of Ambassadors. The Memel Territory, together with other areas severed from Germany (the Saar and Danzig) was to remain under the control of the League of Nations until a future day when the people of these regions would be allowed to vote on whether the land would return to Germany or not. Today, the former Memel Territory is controlled by Lithuania as part of Klaipėda and Tauragė counties. Historical overview In 1226 Duke Konrad I of Masovia requested assistance against the Prussians and other Baltic tribes, including the Skalvians who lived along the Neman (Memel) River. In March 1226, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II issued the Golden Bull of Rimini, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania shares land borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, Poland to the south, and Russia to the southwest. It has a maritime border with Sweden to the west on the Baltic Sea. Lithuania covers an area of , with a population of 2.8 million. Its capital and largest city is Vilnius; other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipėda. Lithuanians belong to the ethno-linguistic group of the Balts and speak Lithuanian, one of only a few living Baltic languages. For millennia the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea were inhabited by various Baltic tribes. In the 1230s, Lithuanian lands were united by Mindaugas, becoming king and founding the Kingdom of Lithuania on 6 July 1253. In the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 October 1990. During the Cold War, the western portion of Germany and the associated territory of West Berlin were parts of the Western Bloc. West Germany was formed as a political entity during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II, established from eleven states formed in the three Allied zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The FRG's provisional capital was the city of Bonn, and the Cold War era country is retrospectively designated as the Bonn Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided between the Western and Eastern blocs. Germany was divided into the two countries. Initially, West Germany claimed an exclusive mandate for all of Germany, representing itself ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Klein (artist)
Richard Klein (January 7, 1890 – July 31, 1967) was a German artist, known for his work as a medallist from the start of World War I in 1914, and mainly for his work as a favoured artist of the Nazi regime. Klein was director of the Munich School of Applied Arts and was one of Adolf Hitler's favourite painters. Klein was one of the artists exhibited at the '' Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung'' (Great German Art Exhibition) held at the Haus der Kunst in Munich in 1937, meant as a contrast to the modern art condemned by the Third Reich as degenerate art (''entartete Kunst''). Klein's work at the exhibition included plaques contributed from Hitler's private collection. The poster for the exhibition, ''Das Erwachen'' (The Awakening), was designed by Klein and also used as the front cover for the Nazi art periodical '' Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich'' (Art in the Third Reich). Klein also designed Nazi awards and decorations. These included, the Sudetenland Medal, Anschluss Medal, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithuania Minor
Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažoji Lietuva; german: Kleinlitauen; pl, Litwa Mniejsza; russian: Ма́лая Литва́), or Prussian Lithuania ( lt, Prūsų Lietuva; german: Preußisch-Litauen, pl, Litwa Pruska), is a historical ethnography, ethnographic region of Prussia (region), Prussia, where Prussian Lithuanians (or Lietuvininkai) lived, now located in Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. Lithuania Minor encompassed the northeastern part of the region and got its name from the territory's substantial Lithuanian language, Lithuanian-speaking population. Prior to the Northern Crusades, invasion of the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century, the main part of the territory later known as Lithuania Minor was inhabited by the tribes of Scalovians, Skalvians and Nadruvians. The land depopulated during the incessant war between Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Lithuania and the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights, Teutonic Order. The war ended with the Treaty of Melno and the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anschluss Medal
The ''Anschluss'' Commemorative Medal () was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, and the first in a series of Occupation Medals. Description Instituted on 1 May 1938, the medal commemorated the annexation of Austria by the German Reich, the so-called ''Anschluss''. German troops crossed the Austrian border on 12 March 1938 without any resistance. The medal, known as the "''Anschluss'' medal", was awarded to those, both military and civilian, who contributed to or participated in the annexation. This included German State officials and members of the German Wehrmacht and SS who entered Austria. Local Nazis who had worked for union with Germany also qualified, including the widows of those who had been killed for their cause. Last awarded on 31 December 1940, a total of 318,689 medals were bestowed. The wearing of Nazi era awards was banned in 1945. The Anschluss medal was not among those awards reauthorized for official wear by the Federal Republic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sudetenland Medal
The 1 October 1938 Commemorative Medal (german: Die Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938), commonly known as the Sudetenland Medal was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, and the second in a series of German Occupation Medals, Occupation Medals. Description Instituted on 18 October 1938, the medal was awarded to participants in the occupations of German occupation of Czechoslovakia#The Munich Agreement and the first Vienna Award, Sudetenland in October 1938 and German occupation of Czechoslovakia#After Munich and Vienna: the Second Republic, October 1938 to March 1939, Czechoslovakia in March 1939. The medal was awarded to all German State officials and members of the German Wehrmacht and SS who entered the Sudetenland on 18 October 1938, and to Sudeten Nazis who had worked for union with Germany. Later a special bar for attachment to the ribbon was introduced for participation in the occupation of the remnants of Czechoslovakia on 15 March ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
