Valstiečiai liaudininkai Jono Černiaus ir Antano Merkio vyriausybių darbo laikotarpiu (1939 m. kovas-1940 m. birželis)

LTStraipsnyje iš pradžių plačiau aptariamas Valstiečių liaudininkų partijos vaidmuo Lietuvos politikoje Jono Černiaus vyriausybės valdymo laikotarpiu: atskleidžiamos liaudininkų ir iš dalies krikščionių demokratų derybos dėl naujos J. Černiaus vyriausybės sudarymo, išreiškiama liaudininkų vadovybės pozicija sudarant vyriausybę, aptariama liaudininkų programa J. Černiaus vyriausybėje, išryškinami jų santykiai su krikščionimis demokratais, liaudininkų vadovybės ir valdžios santykiai, susidarius naujoms sąlygoms. Analizuojant liaudininkų vaidmenį šalyje Antano Merkio vyriausybės valdymo laikotarpiu, atskleidžiamos naujo Ministrų Kabineto sudarymo aplinkybės, duodamas išsamus liaudininkų ministrų veiklos vertinimas J. Černiaus ir A. Merkio vyriausybėse, išryškinamas bendras Valstiečių liaudininkų partijos vaidmuo šalies politiniame gyvenime. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: 1939-1940; Antanas Merkys; Jonas Černius; Krikščionys demokratai; Opozicija; Valstiečiai liaudininkai; Valstiečių liaudininkų partija; Vyriausybė; 1939-1940; Antanas Merkys; Christian Democrats; Government; Jonas Černius; Opposition; Peasant Populist Party; Peasant Populists.

ENArticle analyses the role of the officially banned, yet functioning Peasant Populist Party in Lithuania’s politics in the terms of office of the Government led by Jonas Černius and Antanas Merkys (1939-1940). It highlights the relationship between the Peasant Populist leadership with the government and the coalition partners Christian Democrats in the period under analysis, evaluates the activities of the Peasant Populist ministers in the afore-mentioned terms of office of the Lithuanian Government. The chronological limits of the article cover a period of over a year. The beginning is associated with the ultimatum of Germany to Lithuania of the second half of March 1939 demanding the surrender of the Klaipėda Region to German control and the end is marked by the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union on 15 June 1940. The article ends with a conclusion that removed from power by force in December 1926, the Peasant Populists made a conditional return to the government in March 1939 – like the Christian Democrats, they had two ministers in the two final terms of office of the Lithuanian Government. However, a seemingly coalition government fully depended on the President Antanas Smetona, who had taken the control over the country. Therefore, the ministers delegated from officially banned parties of the Peasant Populists and the Christian Democrats had to execute the decisions imposed from above. The leaderships of the two parties found themselves in a complicated situation: on the one hand, they supported the decisions in the interest of the residents of the country under the existing circumstances; on the other hand, they criticised laws in prejudice of the society. Such a situation allows us to speak about the maintenance of the party principles and values by the Peasant Populist leadership in the terms of office of the Government led by Jonas Černius and Antanas Merkys.However, such a position of the Peasant Populists and their partners Christian Democrats alike differed from their position in March 1939; therefore, their tactics can be entitled "between the government and the opposition". Through their role in the allegedly coalition Government, the Peasant Populists, like the Christian Democrats, instead of making essential reforms in the country’s government and execution of their programme provisions, undermined their reputation in the face of the public, even though they were not willing to acknowledge that. Hence, in the eve of the occupation, the Peasant Populists were considered the supporters of the Nationalists and the authoritarian regime of Antanas Smetona. Their incapacity to turn the reins of government to any direction deepened the several-year-old gap between the old and the new generation of the Peasant Populists, which saw the policy led by the Peasant Populist leadership in the terms of office of the Government led by Černius and Merkys as the "compromise policy". [From the publication]