The unusual military doctrine of the first Prime Minister of Lithuania A. Voldemar: he thought that Lithuania did not need an army Do you know?
A. Voldemar was the first in 1918. Prime Minister of Lithuania after declaring independence. Back in 1917 announced his military doctrine, which sounded rather unexpected.
A. Voldemaras believed that Lithuania does not need an army, and instead should rely on international law. A. Voldemaras implemented this doctrine in practice, albeit briefly. What was A. Voldemar’s doctrine and how did he succeed in it?
Proposed eternal neutrality
in 1917 A. Voldemar believed that Lithuania would be independent, so he paid attention to geopolitics and a favorable international situation.
Of course, he did not limit himself to the armies of other countries. A. Voldemaras had a unique idea of what the raging Lithuanian army should look like.
At the end of the First World War, A. Voldemar lived an average life, he was a professor at Perm University. in 1916 joined the People’s Progress Party and represented and granted in 1917 Lithuanian Seimas of Petrapilis. During these elections, he wrote articles in the Petrapilis Lithuanian newspaper “Lietuvių balsas” edited by M.Yčas.
In one of the articles of this newspaper, “Federation or independence”, he considered which type of Lithuania is better to create – a federation or a state.
The article begins with the statement: “Lithuania’s case is more difficult than Poland’s.” It will not defend independence by itself. There are many such incidents in history where a country cannot defend its independence.”
AV reasoned why it would be difficult for Lithuania to maintain its independence. He made it clear that the difficult situation of Lithuania means that it would be very difficult to preserve Lithuania’s independence by military means.
A. Voldemaras thought that the military method of defense is only one of the defense options for Lithuania. He relied more on international law as a form of defense.
A. Voldemaras named a neutral state as one of the main conditions that Lithuania must comply with when conducting national defense based on international law.
He: “Once established, Lithuania will have to be a neutral state forever, and the independence of Lithuania would be saved by international law.” He understood the threat that was possible by defending Lithuania’s independence in this way, but he hoped that it would be avoided.
A. Voldemaras wrote: “The neutrality of Lithuania would be threatened by a German-Russian war. But it is possible that the war between Germany and Russia will not break out, because the last war took place a hundred years ago. Therefore, it is possible that after this war we will also have to wait a hundred years for a war to break out between these states. After granting independence to Lithuania. Germany or Russia will not dare to rejoin Lithuania, because sooner or later it would mean a war between Germany and Russia.”