The rights of national and religious communities under the constitutions of interwar Lithuania (1918–1940)

Abstract

16 February 1918 The Council of Lithuania proclaimed the act of full independence of Lithuania. However, the country managed to get a chance for freedom only after the end of the First World War (1914–1918). For Lithuania, however, the World War transformed into the War of Independence (1919–1923). The young country was confronted by new imperial geopolitical projects. The success of the struggle of the Lithuanian people and army led to the establishment of the state’s independence and its gradual recognition in the international arena. Representatives of various ethnic groups that had long-lived in the country took an active part in the struggle for a free Lithuania and the development of its state institutions. Often, ethnic communities were distinguished by their belonging to different religious traditions. In this article, we aim to examine how the issue of the rights of national minorities and religious organisations was covered in the constitutions of Lithuania in the interwar period. In this research, we analyse the provisions of the entire range of relevant normative documents, namely, the provisional constitutions of 1918, 1919, 1920; the constitutions of 1922, 1928, 1938. In addition, the focus of our investigation is on the rights of ethnic and religious communities in the Klaipeda region, according to the Paris Convention and the Memel Statute of 1924, attached to it. We have also paid attention to the aspect of the draft monarchical constitution of Lithuania of 1918. Such an analysis is carried out for the first time in the framework of Ukrainian Lithuanistic studies. It is relevant both to the study of the history of the interwar Lithuania (1918–1940) and the history of the state and law of the Baltic States of the same era. This determines the relevance of our work.