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Vilius Gaigalaitis
Vilius Gaigalaitis or Wilhelm Gaigalat (27 September 1870 – 30 November 1945) was a Lutheran priest and Prussian Lithuanian activist. He was a member of the Prussian House of Representatives (1903–1918), director of the consistory of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lithuania (1925–1933), and professor at Vytautas Magnus University (1925–1936). Educated at the University of Königsberg, Gaigalaitis was ordained priest and received doctorate in philosophy in 1900. He worked as priest in (1900–1902), Priekulė (1902–1915), and Katyčiai (1915–1919). As a representative of the Lithuanian Conservative Election Societies, Gaigalaitis was elected to the Landtag of Prussia in 1903, 1908, and 1913. He aligned with the German Conservative Party and defended the use of the Lithuanian language in schools and churches. During World War I, he supported Lithuania's independence and the idea of uniting Lithuania Minor with Lithuania Proper. In 1918, he was elected chairman of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Prussia
East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's Free State of Prussia, until 1945. Its capital city was Königsberg (present-day Kaliningrad). East Prussia was the main part of the Prussia (region), region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Sea, Baltic Coast. The bulk of the ancestral lands of the Baltic Old Prussians were enclosed within East Prussia. During the 13th century, the native Prussians were conquered by the crusading Teutonic Knights. After the Northern Crusades, conquest the indigenous Balts were gradually converted to Christianity. Because of Germanization and colonisation over the following centuries, Germans became the dominant ethnic group, while Polish people, Poles and Lithuanians formed sizeable minorities. From the 13th century, the region of Prussia was part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Conservative Party
The German Conservative Party (, DkP) was a Right-wing politics, right-wing political party of the German Empire founded in 1876. It largely represented the wealthy landowning German nobility and the Prussian Junker (Prussia), Junker class. The party was a response to German unification, Universal suffrage, universal and equal franchise in national elections and rapid industrialization. It changed from a diffuse party of broad ideology into an interest party in Bismarckian Germany. In the early 1870s, Otto von Bismarck formed his majority with the base in the National Liberal Party (Germany), National Liberal Party which emphasized free trade and anti-Catholicism. Bismarck broke with them in the late 1870s, by which time the German Conservative Party and the Free Conservative Party had brought together the landed Junkers in the East and the rapidly growing industrial leadership in the major cities. They now became the main base of Bismarck's support and successive Chancellor of Ger ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prussian Lithuanians
The Prussian Lithuanians, or Lietuvininkai (singular: ''Lietuvininkas'', plural: ''Lietuvininkai''), are Lithuanians, originally Lithuanian language speakers, who formerly inhabited a territory in northeastern East Prussia called Prussian Lithuania, or Lithuania Minor (, ), instead of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, later, the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuania Major, or Lithuania proper). Prussian Lithuanians contributed greatly to the development of written Lithuanian, which for a long time was considerably more widespread and in more literary use in Lithuania Minor than in Lithuania proper. Unlike most Lithuanians, who remained Roman Catholic after the Protestant Reformation, most Lietuvininkai became Lutheran-Protestants (Evangelical-Lutheran). There were 121,345 speakers of Lithuanian in the Prussian census of 1890. Almost all Prussian Lithuanians were murdered or expelled after World War II, when East Prussia was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union. The northern p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vilkyškiai
Vilkyškiai () is a small town in Tauragė County, in western Lithuania. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 666 people. Etymology It is believed that the name of the town was previously longer – Vilkijiškiai. This is a place name, which probably originated from the neuter gender ''Vilkija'' of the name of the river ''Vilka'' (or ''Vilkė''). Theoretically, it is also possible that the first inhabitants of Vilkyškiai originated from the settlement of Vilkija. The normative gender with the suffix ''-yšk'' was approved in 1997. Geography The town is part of the Rambynas Regional Park territory, located in the Vilkyškių Ridge (60–80 m above sea level in the middle). The Jūra River flows in the east, and a small forest stretches in the southeast. Notable People * Albrecht Gustav von Manstein Albert Ehrenreich Gustav von Manstein (24 August 1805 in Willkischken – 11 May 1877 in Flensburg) was a Prussian general who served during the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pagėgiai Municipality
Pagėgiai (, ) is a town in south-western Lithuania. It is located in the medieval region of Scalovia in the historic region of Lithuania Minor. It is the capital of Pagėgiai municipality, and as such it is part of Tauragė County. Name The name of the town literally means "at Gėgė" (: grove of alders, hay meadows, fields) and it is believed that the Gėgė river (also Gäge, Jäge) once flowed through the town. History The settlement dates back to the Middle Ages. In 1454, King Casimir IV Jagiellon incorporated the region to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland upon the request of the anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation. After the subsequent Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466) the village was a part of Poland as a fief held by the Teutonic Knights, and thus was located within the Polish–Lithuanian union, later elevated into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From the 18th century, it was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, and from 1871 it was also part of G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kristijonas Donelaitis
Kristijonas Donelaitis (; 1 January 1714 – 18 February 1780) was a Prussian Lithuanian poet and Lutheran pastor. He lived and worked in Lithuania Minor, a territory in the Kingdom of Prussia, that had a sizable Lithuanian-speaking minority. He wrote the first classic Lithuanian language poem, '' The Seasons'' (), which became one of the principal works of Lithuanian poetry. The poem, a classic work of Lithuanian literature, depicts everyday life of Lithuanian peasants, their struggle with serfdom, and the annual cycle of life. Biography Early life Donelaitis was born at Lasdinehlen estate (now Gusevsky District) near Gumbinnen, Prussia. His parents were free peasants who owned the land that they cultivated. His father died in 1720, leaving seven children (four sons and three daughters). One of his three brothers, Friedrich, became a goldsmith in Königsberg. Another brother, Michael, inherited the father's farm. His third brother, Adam, became a blacksmith and innkeeper. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalitarianism, totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred 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 the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945, after 12 years, when the Allies of World War II, Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin, End of World War II in Europe, ending World War II in Europe. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi Party began to eliminate political opposition and consolidate power. A 1934 German referendum confirmed Hitler as sole ''Führer'' (leader). Power was centralised in Hitler's person, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1939 German Ultimatum To Lithuania
On 20 March 1939, Nazi Germany's foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop presented an oral ultimatum to Juozas Urbšys, foreign minister of Lithuania. Germany 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 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 of appeasement, while Italy and Japan openly supported Germany, and Lithuania accepted the ultim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Directorate Of The Klaipėda Region
The Directorate of the Klaipėda Region (; ) was the main governing institution (executive branch) in the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) 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 administration. Instead of replacing it, the French legitimized the Directorate. It mainly represented German interests and supported the idea of leaving the region as a City-state, free city, similar to the Free City of Danzig. Dismayed Lithuanian government and Prussian Lithuanian activists, who campaigned for incorporation into Lithuania, organized the Klaipėda Revolt in January 1923. The revolt was staged as a popular uprising against the unbearable oppression by the German Directorate. The revolt was successful and the region was incorporated into Lithuania as an autonomous region, governed by the Klaipėda Convention of May 1924. The relationshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 League of Nations mandate, mandate of the League of Nations. It was placed under provisional French Third Republic, French administration until a more permanent solution could be worked out. Lithuania wanted to unite with the region (part of Lithuania Minor) due to its large Lithuanian-speaking population of Prussian Lithuanians and major port of Klaipėda (Memel) – the only viable access to the Baltic Sea for Lithuania. As the Conference of Ambassadors favoured leaving the region as a free city, similar to the Free City of Danzig, the Lithuanians organized and staged a revolt. Presented as an uprising of the local population, the revolt met little resistance from either the German police or the French troops. The rebels established a pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Act Of Tilsit
The Act of Tilsit () was an act, signed in Tilsit by 24 members of the National Council of Lithuania Minor () on 30 November 1918. Signatories demanded unification of Lithuania Minor and Lithuania Proper into a single Lithuanian state. This would mean detaching the northern areas of East Prussia, inhabited by Prussian Lithuanians, from the German Empire. The part of East Prussia north of Neman River, the Memel Territory up to the city of Memel (Klaipėda), was detached by Polish efforts by the Treaty of Versailles and placed under the supervision of the League of Nations. The rest of East Prussia, located south of the Neman River, including the town of Tilsit, where the act was signed, remained within Germany. The Act was not signed by the main pro-Lithuanian oriented Prussian Lithuanian leaders Wilhelm Storost and Wilhelm Gaigalat. The latter was elected as chairman of the Prussian Lithuanian Council, but refused to take the position. He was replaced by general secretary Erdmo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Council Of Lithuania Minor
National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, census-designated place * National, Nevada, ghost town * National, Utah, ghost town * National, West Virginia, unincorporated community Commerce * National (brand), a brand name of electronic goods from Panasonic * National Benzole (or simply known as National), former petrol station chain in the UK, merged with BP * National Book Store, a bookstore and office supplies chain in the Philippines * National Car Rental, an American rental car company * National Energy Systems, a former name of Eco Marine Power * National Entertainment Commission, a former name of the Media Rating Council * National Motor Vehicle Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA 1900–1924 * National Radio Company, Malden, Massachusetts, USA 1914–1991 * National Supermarket ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
