Prancūzijos vyriausybės požiūris į Klaipėdos problemą 1930-1935 metais

LTStraipsnyje nagrinėjama Prancūzijos vyriausybės reakcija į Lietuvos vyriausybės ir Klaipėdos krašto savivaldos institucijų santykių pablogėjimą 1930-1935 m. Centrinių ir autonominių institucijų nesutarimai atskleidė neišsamios, daugelio probleminių dalykų neaptarusios Klaipėdos konvencijos trūkumus. Be to, jie tuo pat metu rodė Lietuvos vyriausybės siekį stiprinti valstybės centrinių institucijų įtaką autonominėje teritorijoje ir klaipėdiškių suinteresuotumą išlaikyti kuo didesnį politinį savarankiškumą, atskirumą. Lietuvos kaimynė Vokietija sąmoningai rėmė ir skatino buvusios savo šalies teritorijos gyventojų politinę emancipaciją, jau XX a. ketvirto dešimtmečio pirmojoje pusėje vis aiškiau stiprino jos susigrąžinimo prielaidas. Pagrindinė Vokietijos žemyninė politinė varžovė ir potenciali priešininkė Prancūzija 1930-1935 m. balansavo tarp pastangų pašalinti nesutarimus dėl Klaipėdos krašto, užkirsti kelią jo pri(si)jungimui prie Vokietijos, švelninti griežtus Vokietijai palankius Didžiosios Britanijos siūlymus dėl politinio poveikio Lietuvai ir kartu pernelyg neįsitraukti į regiono politines problemas. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Prancūzija (France); Klaipėdos kraštas [Klaipeda region]; Klaipėdos konvencija; Demaršas; Komisija; Nuolatinis tarptautinio teisingumo teismas,; Užsienio reikalų ministerija; France; Klaipėda region; Klaipėda Convention; Demarche The; Commission; Permanent Court of International Justice.

ENOn May 8, 1924, Lithuania and the Conference of Ambassadors (Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan) signed the Klaipėda Convention. The document was ratified on August 25,1925 and laid out the conditions for autonomy for the region under Lithuanian sovereignty and the legal obligations binding Lithuania to the Conference of Ambassadors. Germany encouraged the political emancipation of the residents of its former territory in the Klaipėda region, thus maintaining an atmosphere of mutual mistrust between itself and the Lithuanian government. For five years, Germany’s neighbour, France, limited its activities to monitoring the political situation in the Klaipėda region and making the occasional polemical remark concerning the Lithuanian government. The residents of the region used the inconsistencies in the text of the convention to weaken Lithuania’s influence over the territory under its control. From 1930-1935, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs closely observed the political disagreements in the Klaipėda region and actively exploited legal consulting, official interpretations of the convention and other diplomatic means supporting the dialogue between the local government institutions and the central government. The actions of the French at this time, however, were mostly undertaken to placate Germany, its stronger and more dangerous neighbour. French politicians wanted to maintain good relations with Germany and to avoid provoking any diplomatic demarches concerning the latter’s political interference in the Klaipėda region. But when France coordinated its diplomatic measures with Great Britain, it usually took the Lithuanian position into consideration and acted to its advantage.French diplomats tried to avoid an appeal to the International Court of Justice in the Hague as they considered Lithuania’s loss of control over the region as virtually inevitable. However, it was Andre Tardieu, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, who suggested that the Conference of Ambassadors should seek formal clarification through the International Court of Justice concerning the problematic relationship between the central government of Lithuania and regional authorities in Klaipėda. On April n, a complaint was filed over violations of the Klaipėda Convention with the Hague Court and the court’s rather favourable ruling of August 11 helped ease the tensions between the Lithuanian government and the autonomous territory for almost a year. In the 1930s, French politicians tried to prevent a discussion about the problem of the Klaipėda region at the League of Nations in which residents of the region could have raised the idea of a referendum regarding sovereignty over the territory. France was increasingly interested in enforcing the Klaipėda Convention and took a critical approach toward the National Socialists’ attempts to dominate the political life of the territory from 1933 onwards. France wanted to maintain the status of the Klaipėda region as an autonomous part of Lithuania in order to avoid a potential international military conflict. French diplomats understood that the co-existence between the Klaipėda region and Lithuania was fragile and that the territory might secede from its governing state but it could not offer any measures to resolve the situation. The developments in the resolution of the issue of the Klaipėda region in the first half of the 1930s showed that Germany’s influence in the region was growing while France’s international influence had diminished. [From the publication]