Klaipėdos universitetas

On the basis of historical sources and investigations, the article analyses the German policy towards the Klaipėda region and the role of German general consulate. The consulate and the Lithuanian governor of the Klaipėda region competed for influence over and control of the political and economical life of the region. Three phases of the competition between the consulate and the Lithuanian governor are considered. The author puts special emphasis on the struggle between Consuls M. F. Mudra, O. Toepke, R. von Saucken and governors A. Merkys and J. Navakas in their attempt to defend Lithuania’s sovereignty in the region.

The author of the article aims to distinguish and characterize the major stages in the development of the diplomacy centre in Klaipėda in 1920–1939; the author elucidates the circumstances of the pro-German and pro-Lithuanian consul group formation; discusses the cases of the Danish honorary consul Gerhard Schmaeling and the Swedish honorary consul Karl Wiese; the author also discloses the means by which Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Governor endeavored to restore the balance between pro-German and pro-Lithuanian forces in the consulate corps of foreign countries in Klaipėda. To clarify the above-mentioned issues, the author used the following sources: the materials from the Lithuanian Central State Archive, the periodicals of interwar Lithuanian as well as the latest historical researches.