Antanas Smetona
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Antanas Smetona was a Lithuanian intellectual, journalist, and politician. He served as the first president of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and later as the authoritarian head of state from 1926 until
Antanas Smetona 2
Smetona as a student of the university's Faculty of Law
Smetona's portrait taken in Vilnius before World War I
Smetona (first right from center) in the Council of Lithuania
Antanas Merkys
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Antanas Merkys was the last Prime Minister of independent Lithuania, serving from November 1939 to June 1940. When the Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania demanding that it accept a Sovie
Antanas Smetona
…capable of effective resistance with Soviet troops stationed inside Lithuania. On 15 June, Smetona turned his presidential duties over to Prime Minister Antanas Merkys on an interim basis, according to the constitution. Before leaving the presidential palace, Smetona said: "I do not want to make Lithuania a bolshevik…
Antanas Merkys
A. Merkys in 1921