Soviet Ultimatum and Occupation
When, on 14 June 1940, the Soviet Union presented an ultimatum to Lithuania, President Antanas Smetona proposed armed resistance. Merkys suggested accepting the ultimatum and offered to resign as Prime Minister, but he temporarily remained at the head of the cabinet. Merkys agreed to Soviet demands that Smetona be arrested, but was unsuccessful in doing so. Smetona symbolically turned over his presidential duties to Merkys before escaping to Germany and then to Switzerland.
The day after Smetona's departure, Merkys announced on national radio that he had removed Smetona as President and had assumed the post himself. This violated the Lithuanian constitution, since Smetona never formally resigned. As such, he is not recognized as a legitimate president by Lithuanian diplomats.
On 17 June 1940 Merkys acceded to more Soviet demands, appointing Justas Paleckis as the new Prime Minister and resigned. A month later he attempted to escape to Sweden, but was arrested in Riga. He and his family were deported to Saratov in Russia. In 1941 Merkys was imprisoned. In 1954, during the period of de-Stalinization, Merkys was released from prison but not allowed to return to Lithuania. He lived in Vladimir until his death the following year, on 5 March 1955. Subsequently his grave could not be located but a symbolic cenotaph dedicated to Merkys' memory is in the Petrašiūnai cemetery in Kaunas.
Read more about this topic: Antanas Merkys
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