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Chapter 78: To Humiliate (1924-1925)
This is going to be a shorter, yet still important chapter.
Part 78: To Humiliate (1924-1925)
In 1924, the government of Jan Žuk, having only recently been elected in Visegrad, brushed off some dust from a recent treaty and discovered an interesting set of negotiated terms that, somehow, was almost lost to time.
According to the terms of the Peace of Kiev, the Empire of Lithuania was obliged to pay upwards of 600 million Visegradian tolars as war reparations. The Russian War of Independence, Unitarian chaos in Eastern and Southern Europe, as well as the Republican revolution in Lithuania, all delayed Visegrad's plans to press for payment, however, until new successor governments, unaware of these plans, replaced the war government. Perhaps it would have been forgotten and left as a historical oddity, but Jan Žuk's government finally unveiled it, and in time.
The terms of paying Great European War reparations, set on being finished by 1927, were presented to the foreign ministry of the Republic of Lithuania in late 1924, and the government of Steponas Bizauskas was naturally shocked. Why wouldn't they be shocked? 600 million tolars was almost the entire budget of the government of Lithuania at the time, and this massive sum would have to be paid in a few years. There was no negotiating out of this, either - sure, the Lithuanians could try to press that they are not the successor state of the Empire of Lithuania and are thus not obliged to follow any of the agreements it made, but whether or not they were right, Visegrad had economic power, an army four times larger than Lithuania's and the backing of Germania.
Despite that, many elements within Lithuania still campaigned against giving in to the Westerners' will and declining to make any payment - even if it results in sanctions, embargo, or even war. To many, it was unbelievable that their dear Mother Lithuania, one of the mightiest nations in Europe a mere ten years ago, could be pushed around by nations it used to consider it's rivals. The politicians in the Prezidiumas thought differently and more rationally - despite fierce opposition from the Democratic Unitarians and the Revival Front, the United Christians and the Democratic-Republicans agreed to work together "for Lithuania's best interests" and push a bill accepting the terms of war reparation payment through the legislature.
In order to be able to pay war reparations, Bizauskas's government was forced to take up on severe austerity measures. Subsidies to agriculture and the farmers had to be cut, taxes to all classes were raised and a number of government programs were cancelled in order to make way for payment to Visegrad. Many of these measures were poorly thought out, and in addition to angering pretty much all strata in the Republic, it neutered the economy to the point where the period of prosperity Bizauskas's term enjoyed ended in a roaring halt.
As a result, paying war reparations to Visegrad was extremely unpopular, and thus it was the death knell to both the Democratic-Republicans and the United Christians. And it just so happened that the very next year was election year in Lithuania...
The established parties made way for the rise of Unitarian and Revivalist movements within the country. Each one of these radical parties had something to propose. The Democratic Unitarians, now led by the former priest Liudas Vasaris - perhaps one of the most interesting political figures in Lithuanian history - decried that the recent events show that the Lithuanian and Visegradian capitalist governments are in cahoots and desire to drain Lithuania of all it's wealth in order to destroy the unity of it's working class, while Augustinas Stankevičius's Revival Front spoke out against the weakness of Lithuanian democracy and declared that only a return to the strength of the past can bring Lithuania out of its' rut. The United Christians and Democratic-Unitarians tried to paint themselves as the saviors of Lithuania from a Visegradian intervention and an even worse set of reparations, but that didn't save them from severely falling in popularity.
This election was perhaps even more chaotic than the election of 1917.
And then...
Part 78: To Humiliate (1924-1925)
According to the terms of the Peace of Kiev, the Empire of Lithuania was obliged to pay upwards of 600 million Visegradian tolars as war reparations. The Russian War of Independence, Unitarian chaos in Eastern and Southern Europe, as well as the Republican revolution in Lithuania, all delayed Visegrad's plans to press for payment, however, until new successor governments, unaware of these plans, replaced the war government. Perhaps it would have been forgotten and left as a historical oddity, but Jan Žuk's government finally unveiled it, and in time.
The terms of paying Great European War reparations, set on being finished by 1927, were presented to the foreign ministry of the Republic of Lithuania in late 1924, and the government of Steponas Bizauskas was naturally shocked. Why wouldn't they be shocked? 600 million tolars was almost the entire budget of the government of Lithuania at the time, and this massive sum would have to be paid in a few years. There was no negotiating out of this, either - sure, the Lithuanians could try to press that they are not the successor state of the Empire of Lithuania and are thus not obliged to follow any of the agreements it made, but whether or not they were right, Visegrad had economic power, an army four times larger than Lithuania's and the backing of Germania.
Despite that, many elements within Lithuania still campaigned against giving in to the Westerners' will and declining to make any payment - even if it results in sanctions, embargo, or even war. To many, it was unbelievable that their dear Mother Lithuania, one of the mightiest nations in Europe a mere ten years ago, could be pushed around by nations it used to consider it's rivals. The politicians in the Prezidiumas thought differently and more rationally - despite fierce opposition from the Democratic Unitarians and the Revival Front, the United Christians and the Democratic-Republicans agreed to work together "for Lithuania's best interests" and push a bill accepting the terms of war reparation payment through the legislature.
In order to be able to pay war reparations, Bizauskas's government was forced to take up on severe austerity measures. Subsidies to agriculture and the farmers had to be cut, taxes to all classes were raised and a number of government programs were cancelled in order to make way for payment to Visegrad. Many of these measures were poorly thought out, and in addition to angering pretty much all strata in the Republic, it neutered the economy to the point where the period of prosperity Bizauskas's term enjoyed ended in a roaring halt.
As a result, paying war reparations to Visegrad was extremely unpopular, and thus it was the death knell to both the Democratic-Republicans and the United Christians. And it just so happened that the very next year was election year in Lithuania...
The established parties made way for the rise of Unitarian and Revivalist movements within the country. Each one of these radical parties had something to propose. The Democratic Unitarians, now led by the former priest Liudas Vasaris - perhaps one of the most interesting political figures in Lithuanian history - decried that the recent events show that the Lithuanian and Visegradian capitalist governments are in cahoots and desire to drain Lithuania of all it's wealth in order to destroy the unity of it's working class, while Augustinas Stankevičius's Revival Front spoke out against the weakness of Lithuanian democracy and declared that only a return to the strength of the past can bring Lithuania out of its' rut. The United Christians and Democratic-Unitarians tried to paint themselves as the saviors of Lithuania from a Visegradian intervention and an even worse set of reparations, but that didn't save them from severely falling in popularity.
This election was perhaps even more chaotic than the election of 1917.
And then...
- Augenis
- Word Count: 690