Mykolo Sleževičiaus profilis tarpukario Lietuvos užsienio politikoje (1919 04 12-10 06 ir 1926 06 15-12 16)

ENMykolas Sleževičius, one of the most renowned founders of the reinstated and independent Lithuania, and a democrat, publicist and statesman, was born on February 21, 1882, in the Raseiniai district. In 1907, Sleževičius graduated from Odessa University with a diploma in Law. He started his career as a lawyer, and retained a faith in the profession nearly his entire life. Sleževičius found himself in the public political arena, practically since childhood. When the First World War began, he retreated to Russia. There, he actively supported Lithuanian victims of war with financial aid. During the war, Sleževičius matured as a politician and a public personality. In 1917, at the General Council of Lithuanians in St. Petersburg, Sleževičius made a determined stand for the full independence of Lithuania. At the end of 1918, he returned to Lithuania to be appointed the Prime Minister of the Second Cabinet. From 1918 to 1926, he served as an elected member of the Constituent, and the First, Second and Third Seimas. Sleževičius served several terms as Prime Minister, and also held the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. While heading the Ministers’ Cabinet and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from 1918 to 1919, Sleževičius directly faced the foreign policy difficulties of a newly established country. By military strength and diplomatic means, he needed to stop the stream of Bolshevist agitation flowing from Russia, resist the aims of Poland to annex Lithuania by any means possible, detach from German trusteeship, legally sever the ties to Russian sovereignty, establish national borders by virtue of international agreements, legitimize the territory of Lithuania, and gain official international recognition from Western countries. Among the other foreign policy goals, Sleževičius paid much attention to development of cooperative efforts between the Baltic Republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.Frequent public appeals were made, emphasizing the perseverance and patriotism within the society of the Lithuanian nation. Under the governing of Mykolas Sleževičius in 1919, the Bolsheviks were expelled from Lithuania. The Government also proceeded with negotiations for peace with the RSFSR. Relations with Poland proved to be more complicated than with Russia. Failure to reach mutual accord with Poland was one of the causes that forced the resignation of the Government, led by Sleževičius, on October 2, 1919. Following the resignation, the former Minister did not retire from state matters in foreign politics. Lithuania faced new trials in the autumn of 1920. Poland had forcibly occupied Vilnius City and Vilnius lands. The former Prime Minister did not hesitate to act in Lithuania’s defense. He was elected Chairman of the General Committee for the Defense of Lithuania, an organization founded on a public, voluntary basis. In the spring of 1921, the United Nations made efforts to resolve the conflict between Lithuania and Poland. Delegations of parties in conflict met in Brussels at the end of April in 1921. Sleževičius was a member of the Lithuanian delegation. He researched and analyzed the international situation; assisted in the preparation of drafts for several agreements between Poland and Lithuania; consulted the Lithuanian delegation on political issues and coordinated the actions of the Lithuanian Government by letters from Brussels to Kaunas. Unfortunately, the negotiations in Belgium of June 1921, brought no results. The conflict between Lithuania and Poland continued unresolved. And Vilnius continued to be under Polish rule. Mykolas Sleževičius returned to the helm of Lithuanian foreign policy in the summer of 1926, after the victory of the Liaudininkai and Social Democrats in the election to the Third Seimas.The major foreign policy objective, just as over the past several years, was the issue of Vilnius, which was gradually losing ground in importance on the international scene. Sleževičius tried to broaden the Vilnius issue to reach an international level by gaining support from Germany and the USSR. The Liaudininkai Movement, under the leadership of Sleževičius, declared their foreign policy position, to wit: because Poland had refused to relinquish Vilnius on good terms following the their forcible occupation of Vilnius, Lithuania had no choice but to establish close contacts with Germany and the Soviet Union. The spike of the triangle of Berlin, Kaunas and Moscow was directed against Warsaw. Then, Sleževičius proceeded to implement the program successfully. On September 28, 1926, he signed a nonaggression pact with the USSR. The pact reinforced the rights and claims of Lithuania to Vilnius. Sleževičius also concluded a so-called „gentlemen’s agreement“ with the Soviet Union, wherein both parties agreed to jointly coordinate their respective policies regarding Poland, and exchange information concerning this country. Sleževičius made efforts to sign a similar treaty with Germany. Certain available data sources have led to a presumption that Sleževičius may have tried to negotiate with Warsaw in the summer of 1926 with the purpose of reaching consent and to diffusing the conflict. Regrettably, he was not successful in realizing these projects. [...].

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