Act of Tilsit

The Act of Tilsit ( _lt. Tilžės aktas) was an act, signed in Tilsit by 24 members of "Prussian Lithuania National Council" on November 30 1918.lt icon cite journal|title=Mažlietuvių apsisprendimo aktas| journal=Mokslas ir Gyvenimas| date=1998| first=Vytautas| last=Šilas| issue=491–492 | volume=11-12|pages=|id=ISSN 0134-3084 |url=http://ausis.gf.vu.lt/mg/nr/98/1112/11mazl.html |accessdate=2007-10-15 ] 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, Alexander Kurschat, and Wilhelm Gaigalat. The latter was elected as chairman of the Prussian Lithuanian Council, but refused to take the position. [lt icon cite journal| title=Nors nuritintas akmuo... |journal=Mokslo Lietuva |date=2004| first=Bernardas| last=Aleknavičius| coauthors=| volume=2| issue=292| id=ISSN 1648-710X |url=http://ml.lms.lt/ML/200402/20040215.htm| |accessdate=2007-10-18| format=Dead link|date=May 2008] He was replaced by general secretary Erdmonas Simonaitis.

Eventually, the Act of Tilsit became an important propaganda pretext for the staged Klaipėda Revolt of 1923, after which Memel Territory (Klaipėda Region) was annexed by Lithuania. In March 1939, Lithuania was forced to cede Klaipėda Region to Nazi Germany. Some of the signatories of the Tilsit Act were later persecuted by the Nazis for treason, and Erdmonas Simonaitis was sent to a Nazi concentration camp.

References

*A.A. Gliožaitis "Tilžės akto reikšmė" ("Voruta", 1998, 1999 No 43-47)
*Algis A. Regis, "Tilžės aktas" ("Lietuvių dienos”, No 1 (361), 1986)
*Petras Cidzikas "Tilžės aktas - vilties aktas" ("Voruta", No 23 (521), 2002)
*Romualdas Ozolas "Tilžės aktas: alternatyvos ir imperatyvai" ("Donelaičio žemė", No 1-2, 2004)