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Memel lies on the Baltic at the mouth of the River Niemen. The port city was founded by the knights of the Livonian Order in 1252 and became an important trading center during the Middle Ages when it was part of the Hanseatic League. The region later came under Swedish control and, following the Napoleonic wars under Prussia. It remained within the German Reich until the end of World War I.
Germans constituted a majority of the city's population while Lithuanians predominated in the surrounding countryside.
The Treaty of Versailles severed Memel and the surrounding district (2.828 sq.km. - population 140.000) from Germany without a plebiscite or other input by the inhabitants. Lithuanian representatives to the Paris Peace Conference had asked the Allied Powers to grant them possession of Memelland but the unstable situation in the newly independent state stayed the Entente's hand. Memel was instead placed under a French administration that governed under a League of Nations mandate.
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TREAY OF VERSAILLES JUNE 28, 1919
SECTION X. MEMEL.ARTICLE 99.
Germany renounces in favour of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers all rights and title over the territories included between the Baltic, the north-eastern frontier of East Prussia as defined in Article 28 of Part II (Boundaries of Germany) of the present Treaty and the former frontier between Germany and Russia. Germany undertakes to accept the settlement made by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in regard to these territories, particularly in so far as concerns the nationality of the inhabitants
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Ethnic tensions persisted during the French era. Lithuania having lost its capital city, Vilnius, in a territorial dispute with Poland, was not about to give up its chief port without a fight. That Memel was as German as Vilnius (polish Wilno) was Polish, i.e. 80% of the population, made little difference to the Lithuanians.
An Allied commission recommended establishing a "Free City" under League of Nations supervision in the fall of 1922. Memel's German and Polish communities favored the proposal but local Lithuanians responded by forming a Committee for the Salvation of Lithuania Minor.
The Ruhr Crisis gave the Lithuanians an opportunity to act while the French were distracted. An uprising began in January, 1923. Memel Lithuanians were supported by troops from Lithuania proper. They gained control over the entire region in a week and forced withdrawal of the French garrison. The move drew sharp diplomatic protests but within a month the Allied Council of Ambassadors accepted it as fait accompli.
Lithuanian sovereignty over Memel (Lithuanian Klaipeda) was internationally recognized with the signing of the Memel Statute by France, Britain, Italy and Japan in December 1923. Memel was formally incorporated as an autonomous region of Lithuania on March 8, 1924. The local assembly (Landtag) was given extensive power over internal affairs subject to the approval of a governor appointed by the President of Lithuania.
The German community remained unreconciled throughout the decade and a half of Lithuanian rule. Martial law was imposed in 1926 and again in 1938. The National Socialists gained favor and anti-Semitism grew steadily during the 1930s. The Nazis won 26 of 29 seats on the local council in December 1938 elections and Memel's Jews began a mass exodus.
Memel was returned to the Reich on March 23, 1939. The Lithuanians had bowed to Hitler's inevitable demands and turned the region over without a fight. The Kriegsmarine was deprived of a chance to launch a planned amphibious assault but was accorded the honor of delivering the Fueher to the city for a celebration of his last bloodless conquest.
Memel was heavily defended throughout the war. Its civilian population was evacuated to the west in October 1944. The Red Army captured the heavily damaged city on January 28, 1945.
Memel was renamed Klaipeda and incorporated into the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1947. The German population was not allowed to return.
TIMELINE 1918 -1945
| 1918 |
November |
French and British forces occupy Memel following the Armistice ending
World War I
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| 1919 |
March 24 |
Lithuania asks the Allied Powers to grant possession of the Memel District
to that newly independent state
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June 28 |
Germany signs the Treaty of Versailles - Germany renounces all rights and
title to Memel in favor of the Allied Powers under Article 99 of the Treaty
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| 1920 |
February 15 |
Article 99 of the Treaty of Versailles comes into force
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February 25 |
Allied Ambassadors conference approves the use of a Memel flag by
ships using the local port
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August 1 |
French postage stamps overprinted "Memel" and surcharged in marks
introduced concurrently with German stamps overprinted "Memel-Gebiet".
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| 1922 |
Fall |
Committee for the Salvation of Lithuania Minor formed after a special Allied
Commission on the Status of Memel expresses support for a German and
Polish proposal to establish a Free City of Memel
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| 1923 |
January 9 |
Lithuanian leaders announce that they are taking over the government
of Memel with the intention of uniting the region with Lithuania proper
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January 10 |
Lithuanian troops invade Memel and force withdrawal of the French
garrison
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January 15 |
Lithuanians secure control over the entire district of Memel
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February 16 |
Allied Ambassadors Conference agrees to accept Lithuanian
sovereignty over Memel
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April |
Lithuanian currency and postage stamps inscribed Klaipeda/Memel introduced
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December |
Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan sign the Memel Statute making
the district an autonomous region within Lithuania
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| 1924 |
March 8 |
Memel incorporated as an autonomous district of Lithuania
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| 1925 |
August 25 |
A convention between the Lithuanian authorities and the German
dominated local assembly grants Memel autonomy in local affairs
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| 1926 |
December 17 |
Lithuania declares a state of martial law in Memel
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| 1934 |
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Dr. Neumann leader of Memel's Nazis sentenced to 10 years in prison by a
Lithuanian military tribunal
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| 1937 |
Summer |
Nazi youths attack Jewish vacationers at the Baltic Sea resort of
Schwartzorte
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| 1938 |
October |
Lithuania imposes martial law in Memel and restricts the local assembly's
powers
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November 1 |
Lithuania bows to German demands to end martial law in Memel -
local Nazi party leaders Neumann, Bertuleit and Bottchner released
from prison
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November |
Hitler orders the Kriegsmarine to plan a sea-borne invasion of Memel
under the codename "Transport Exercise Stettin"
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December 11 |
National Socialists win 26 of 29 seats in the local assembly (Landtag)
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December 12 |
Memel's German population reportedly on the verge of rioting -
French and British ambassadors request German Foreign Minister
von Ribbentrop's help in calming tensions
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| 1939 |
March 22 |
Lithuanian military units begin withdrawing from Memel during the early
morning hours - Lithuanian district governor Gailus turns power over to
the Nazi dominated local assembly - 2 pm Lithuanian delegation arrives
in Berlin for talks on the status of Memel
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March 23 |
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Urbsys signs the convention returning Memel
to Germany at 1 am retroactive to March 22,1939 - Germany grants
Lithuania a Free Zone in the port of Memel - German naval squadron
carrying Hitler to reunification celebration enters Memel harbor at dawn
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March 30 |
The Lithuanian parliament approves the convention returning Memel to
Germany unanimously and without abstention
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April 14 |
Last Jewish residents leave Memel for Lithuania
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May 1 |
The Wehrmacht authorizes a special "Return of Memel" medal
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| 1944 |
October |
Civilian population of the city of Memel evacuated
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| 1945 |
January 28 |
Red Army enters Memel
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| 1947 |
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Memel renamed Klaipeda and formally annexed to the Lithuanian Soviet
Socialist Republic
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by Richard Doody
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