GPS May 2020

The philatelic history of Memel ended with a whimper, not a bang.
Early in 1924, the League of Nations acceded to French demands and
accepted the Lithuanian annexation, the first of many such instances
leading to 1939, where this well-intentioned organization could be seen
to have failed in all of its fundamental goals.
* * *
All very interesting, you may say, but while unfortunate, where’s the
tragedy? That came later, taking many years to fully unfold.
As a part of gaining League of Nations’ sanction for the annexation
of Memel, the government of Lithuania was forced to make a number
of concessions. Memel was officially bilingual, and had considerable
discretion concerning regional affairs over such matters as taxation and
marriage. Secular “mixed marriages”’ were permitted in Memel but not
in Catholic Lithuania.
A regional parliament was authorized and close ties with East
Prussia permitted to continue largely without interference from the
central government.
Despite the concessions, the inhabitants of Memelland remained
unhappy and staunchly pro-German. This situation grew worse over
time. At no point in time did the Prussian Lithuanians exercise control
over the parliament; census figures showed a continuing 80%+ of
ethnic Germans and Memellanders, despite Lithuanian attempts at
colonization.
Over time, the port of Memel was modernized and enlarged by
Lithuania, probably the biggest undertaking on its part during the interwar
years, and that country’s most important outlet to the world at large.
As Lithuania slipped into a fascist dictatorship under Antanas
Smetana, residents concluded that as long as a dictatorship was to be
their lot, it may as well be one that was showing great economic success
during the ‘thirties. Adolf Hitler was a better wager at that point.
By 1935, the sentiment for German re-unification had reached 81%;
by 1938 it was 87%. Just prior to the final vote, Lithuania had withdrawn
·its police and turned responsibility for keeping order over to German
auxiliary police, in effect admitting it had lost control of the area. The
Memel parliament petitioned the German government to redeem
the country.
On 19 March 1939, the German Foreign Ministry summoned their
Lithuanian opposite numbers to Berlin and offered them a deal they
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German Postal Specialist