1940_Lithuanian_parliamentary_election

1940 Lithuanian parliamentary election

1940 Lithuanian parliamentary election

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Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 14–15 July 1940 to the so-called People's Seimas. They followed an ultimatum from the Soviet Union to allow Soviet troops to enter the country and operate freely.[1] The elections were rigged and only communist candidates were allowed to run.[2]

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Background

Following the Soviet invasion in June 1940, the Red Army occupied the country and took control of the government.[1] President Antanas Smetona left Lithuania on 15 June.[1]

On 1 July the puppet People's Government led by Justas Paleckis announced elections to a new parliament, the People's Seimas, to be held on 14 July. The Communist Party of Lithuania emerged from underground with 1,500 members.[3] Soon afterwards, the government announced the formation of the Union of the Working People of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos liaudies darbo sąjunga), ostensibly a popular front. Voters were presented with a single list of candidates, including some non-communists. Just one candidate was presented for every seat in the new parliament and no other organizations were allowed to participate. On 11 and 12 July, the Soviet authorities stifled the opposition by arresting leading figures of the previous government and deporting some of them to the interior of the Soviet Union – even though Lithuania was still formally an independent state. The elections were later extended into 15 July. Each voter had his or her passport stamped after voting. According to the official results, voter turnout reached 95% and the Union list received over 99% of the votes. Most of the original election records were destroyed. The remaining data shows that turnout was indeed high, but that many ballots were invalid (missing, destroyed, left blank, or marked with anti-Soviet slogans). The results were announced even before the polls closed.

The new parliament was convened on 21 July and voted unanimously to established the Lithuanian SSR and request to join the Soviet Union.[1] The country became the Soviet Union's fourteenth member on 3 August.[1]

Significance

The event is seen by Lithuania as a sham election used to justify the occupation.[2] The United States and most other Western countries never recognised the subsequent Soviet annexation, considering it illegal.[4][5]

EUvsDisinfo has documented examples of disinformation in the pro-Kremlin media, which falsely used the 1940 election as a justification of Soviet occupation.[6]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos Publishers. p. 1189. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
  2. [2]
    Dainius Žalimas (2001) Special Theme: International Legal Status of the Baltic States p. 4
  3. [3]
    O'Connor, Kevin (2003). The history of the Baltic States. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 117. ISBN 0-313-32355-0.
  4. [4]
    Kaplan, Robert B.; Baldauf, Richard B. Jr. (2008). Language Planning and Policy in Europe: The Baltic States, Ireland and Italy. Multilingual Matters. p. 79. ISBN 978-1847690289. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2020. Most Western countries had not recognised the incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union, a stance that irritated the Soviets without ever becoming a major point of conflict.
  5. [5]
    Kavass, Igor I. (1972). Baltic States. W. S. Hein. ISBN 978-0930342418. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2020. The forcible military occupation and subsequent annexation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union remains to this day (written in 1972) one of the serious unsolved issues of international law
  6. [6]
    "Disinfo: In 1940, the Baltic States asked to be incorporated into the USSR". EUvsDisinfo. Archived from the original on 28 November 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2023.


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