Lietuvos skolos Jungtinėms Amerikos Valstijoms XX a. 4-ajame dešimtmetyje klausimu

LTStraipsnyje nagrinėjamas Lietuvos skolos JAV klausimas 1934–1940 metais. Kaip tik šis skolos laikotarpis istorikų dar nebuvo analizuotas. Skirtingai nuo ankstesnio laikotarpio, tuo metu jau Lietuvos vyriausybės, pripažindamos skolą, bet, kaip ir kitos šalys, iki pat Antrojo pasaulinio karo ir sovietų okupacijos, nemokėjo nei skolos, nei procentų už ją. Nacių Vokietijai atsisakius mokėti Prancūzijai, Didžiajai Britanijai, Italijai ir kitoms reparacijas už Pirmojo pasaulinio karo padarinius, minėtos valstybės lygiagrečiai nevykdė ir savo finansinių įsipareigojimų JAV. Lietuvos vyriausybė nemokėjimo politiką vykdė atsižvelgdama į didžiųjų valstybių skolininkių poziciją, motyvuodama Lietuvos ekonominiais sunkumais, Klaipėdos krašto praradimu bei atgauto Vilniaus krašto atstatymu ir pan. Lietuvos valdžia elgėsi labai atsargiai, brangino santykius su JAV, ilgai nesiryžo siūlyti amerikiečiams naujos, sau palankios sutarties skolos klausimu. Lietuvos pasiuntinys Povilas Žadeikis, skirtingai nei Lietuvos užsienio reikalų ir finansų ministerijų vadovai, buvo skolos sumažinimo ir jos išmokėjimo šalininkas. Jis matė, kaip jautriai į skolos klausimą žiūrėjo JAV visuomenė ir dalis lietuvių išeivijos, kaip neigiamai skolų nemokėjimą vertino JAV Kongresas. Lietuvos pasiuntinys savo poziciją motyvavo ir tuo, kad ateityje Lietuvai gali prisireikti rimtos moralinės ir materialinės JAV paramos. Skola taip ir nebuvo sumokėta. Antrasis pasaulinis karas ir jo padariniai skolos klausimą padarė nebe svarbiausia JAV problema. Esminiai žodžiai: Lietuva, JAV, karo skola, procentai, Vašingtonas, Vengrija, Povilas Žadeikis, Franklinas D. Rooseveltas, Alfredas Bilmanis, Juozas Urbšys. [Iš leidinio]

ENLike most countries, the Republic of Lithuania (1918–1940) had foreign debts, with the majority owed to the United States. Payment for various goods received after the war, including substandard ones, had to be made in cash. On September 22, 1924, in Washington, a treaty was signed between Lithuania and the US, whereby the Lithuanian government committed to paying $14,531,940 to the United States over a period of 62 years, including interest, even though the actual debt amounted to only $6,045,225. Until 1932, Lithuania dutifully made payments and participated in the debt moratorium authorized by the US government in 1931–1932. By 1934, $1,236,419.26 (including interest) had already been paid. The remaining archival material allows for a more detailed examination of the fate of Lithuania’s debt after 1933, which has not yet been explored by historians. After Nazi-controlled Germany refused to pay war reparations to France, Great Britain, Italy, and other countries, those countries decided not to repay the loans that were linked to the reparations to the United States. The Lithuanian government also took advantage of this situation, and from 1934 to 1940, it argued that it could not pay its debts because Germany had failed to pay reparations to Lithuania, the economic crisis had negatively affected the country’s economy, it had lost significant revenue after the loss of Klaipėda, and the costly restoration of the Vilnius region was underway. They also reminded the US that the goods received in 1919 had been overpriced. The Lithuanian authorities valued their relationship with the United States and carefully shaped their policy on debt, closely monitoring the actions of other countries, especially major debtors such as Great Britain and France.Lithuania’s debt was perhaps the only aspect of Lithuanian-US relations that received more attention from the US government, showing initial interest in Lithuania rather than the other way around. Based on this, political circles in Washington “remembered” Lithuania twice a year. Unlike Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance, Lithuanian envoy Povilas Žadeikis advocated debt reduction and its necessary payment. He recognized the sensitive view of the debt issue held by American society and a portion of the Lithuanian diaspora, as well as the negative perception of debt non-payment by the US Congress. The envoy justified his position by emphasizing the potential need for significant moral and material support from the United States in the future and that even the partial repayment of the debt was a matter of Lithuania’s prestige and strengthening its authority in the eyes of the Americans. He consistently urged the Lithuanian government to show initiative and renegotiate the debt payment terms, suggesting that part of the debt be paid with Lithuanian goods. The belief that payment might not be necessary was stronger than the commitment to fulfill the signed obligations or to initiate renegotiations. The belief was further reinforced by the Americans themselves: the press, economists, and certain politicians voiced the opinion that it would be impossible to fully recover all the debts. They proposed either canceling the debts or at least reducing them.Americans suggested using a portion of the debt as US investments within debtor countries: for construction projects, creating joint funds, financing science, education, and so on. Each debtor country would also contribute its own funds. Such proposals were received by the Lithuanian government in 1938, but they did not generate interest because, at that time, Hungary, one of the smaller debtors, was trying to negotiate highly favorable debt repayment conditions, which the Lithuanian government hoped to take advantage of as well. As documents and statistics show, debt repayment would not have significantly affected the Lithuanian economy. However, the unpaid amount of approximately $1.6 million, including interest, from 1934 to 1940 was redirected to finance other needs in Lithuania. The debt was never fully repaid due to the outbreak of World War II and its consequences, which shifted the focus away from the debt issue, turning it into a matter of history. Keywords: Lithuania, USA, war debt, interest, Washington, Hungary, Povilas Žadeikis, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Alfred Bilmanis, Juozas Urbšys. [From the publication]