Antanas Merkys

Antanas Merkys (; 1 February 1887 – 5 March 1955) was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When the Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania demanding that it accept a Soviet garrison, President Antanas Smetona fled the country, leaving Merkys as acting president. Merkys ostensibly cooperated with the Soviets, and illegally took over the presidency in his own right. After three days, Merkys handed power to Justas Paleckis, who formed the People's Government of Lithuania. When Merkys attempted to flee the country, he was captured and deported to the interior of Russia, where he died in 1955.

Biography

Merkys was born in Bajorai, near Skapiškis. Educated in law, he served in the Russian Army during World War I (1914–18). In 1919, he served as the newly independent Lithuania's Minister of Defence, before serving with the Lithuanian Army until his decommissioning in 1922. He then practised as a lawyer.

After the Klaipėda Revolt of 1923, Merkys became secretary to the Klaipėda Region Commissioner, Antanas Smetona. Following the 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état, he became Minister of Defence again until 1927, when he was made Governor of the Klaipėda Region. In 1932, German demands prompted his removal as Governor and Merkys returned to practising law. and b) appointing left-wing journalist Justas Paleckis as the new prime minister. Merkys resigned later that day, making Paleckis acting president as well. The Soviets then used the more pliant Paleckis as a puppet to provide the ostensibly legal sanction for its annexation of Lithuania a month later.

Since regaining independence from the Soviet Union, Lithuania has maintained that Merkys' takeover of the presidency was illegal and unconstitutional, since Smetona never formally resigned. For that reason, Merkys is not recognized as a legitimate president in Lithuanian government records. Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, Grand Cross (1938) and Commander's Grand Cross (1928)