Klaipėda Region
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 The Klaipėda Region (German: ), or commonly in English Memel Territory, was historically a part of East Prussia and the German Empire. Following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles in 1920 it fell under the administration of the Council of Ambassadors and was occupied by French troops. It was seized by Lithuania in the Klaipėda Revolt of 1923 and remained a part of Lithuania until 1939 when it was annexed by Germany. After World War II the territory was a part of the Lithuanian SSR, and today is contained within Lithuania's Klaipėda and Tauragė counties, bordering Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast to the south.
HistoryThe area has historically been a part of various political entities:
History between the World WarsBy the Treaty of Versailles in February 1920, the part of former East Prussia north of the Niemen River up to the town of Memel. It was designated as the Memel Territory (Territoire de Memel, Memelland,Klaipėda Region), was separated from Germany and passed to an interim supervisor of the states of the Council of Ambassadors. The administration and control of the region was exercised by France.In January 1923, three years after Versailles, the Lithuanian inhabitance of the territory rose up against the French administration in the Klaipėda Revolt. On January 19 the rebels asked for admission into Lithuania as an autonomous territory (where the Memel Territory would have a separate parliament and government, two official languages, be the administrator of taxes, duties, cultural and religious affairs, would oversee the local judical system, agriculture and forestry, and social security). Lithuania accepted this, and thus the Memel Territory became an autonomous part of Lithuania. This annexation gave Lithuania control of an all year round ice free Baltic port. The Council of Ambassadors, accepted the status quo and made a bid for the significant autonomy for the region, homologated its incorporation to the Republic of Lithuania. On May 8, 1924 the Convention on the Klaipėda region confirmed the cession and an autonomy agreement was signed in Paris. It was recognized as an integral part of The Republic of Lithuania by Germany in January 29, 1928 (Lithuanian - German border treaty). Klaipeda Region however remained an autonomous region inside Lithuania and had a significant German population, also a significant population of people who chose to identify themselves as Klaipėdians during censuses (see demography information below). Both the Lithuanian and German languages were official in the Region. However, during the 16 years of administration the government of Lithuania faced with hearty opposition of the autonomic institutions. Certainly, there was a complex of occasions for this opposition. Seemingly, the fundamental was a political conjuncture in interwar Europe itself, necessitated the revanchistic temperature, reasoned by the desire to regain to the memelland in all conceivable measures, in the territories, isolated from Germany. Sixteen years later Lithuania, firstly leaned upon the contingent of Lithuanian descent, tried to integrate and lithuanize the region, regardless of the substantial cultural and religious differences. Meanwhile, the public organizations of region, especially those financially supported by Germany prosecuted the disintegration in their movement only. This interwar collision, reflected on a political, cultural and even religious plane, was an essential historical topicality of the period. It was perfectly imaged by an authoress of the region Ieva Simonaitytė, who in the 1930s earned fame when she wrote her first novel about the centuries-old German-Lithuanian relations in the region. Nonetheless, Lithuania fully used the makings of Klaipėda port, modernized and adapted it to export its agricultural products. The port reconstruction was certainly the largest long-term investment project realized by the government of Lithuania. Actually, you couldn't even imagine, what could or might have been, since the Nazi movement been activated in 1933 in Germany and subsequently in the Memel Territory. Incriminated in sedition, the leaders of pro-Nazi organizations of the region were put on trial by Lithuania. The so-called proceeding of Neumann and Sass in 1934–35 in Kaunas was presented as the first anti-Nazi trial in Europe. However, the leaders of pro-Nazi organizations were not arraigned for their pro-Nazi ideology but for their undesirable relations with Nazi Germany. On account of political and economical constraint of Germany in 1936–38 the most part of these leaders were unbound: by late 1938 Lithuania lost control over the situation in region already. On March 22, 1939, after a political blackmail of Germany, Lithuanian minister of foreign affairs Juozas Urbšys and his colleague Joachim von Ribbentrop signed the Treaty of cession of the Memel Territory to Germany. Germany invaded it even before Lithuanian ratification. Despite of pledge to overlook after Klaipėda and help maintain its position as autonomous part of Lithuania, the United Kingdom was not interested in helping Lithuania, and therefore the Seimas was forced to approve the annexation of Klaipėda region, that way falsely hoping that Germany won't invade other parts of Lithuania (at least on March 30). World War II and laterWhen the area was returned to German control from 1939 to 1945, under Nazi Germany, most Lithuanians and their organizations left Memel and the area surrounding it. Memel was made a naval base and was fortified. The German invasion of the USSR (Operation Barbarossa),and its ultimate failure, determined the fate of entire East Prussian region. Between 1944–45, all of the inhabitants of the area, without ethnic distinction, had to make a decision whether to leave or stay. After 1945, the former Memelland became a part of the Lithuanian SSR. Today it is known as the Klaipeda Region. DemographyAccording to 1925 census (by subdivisions):
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