The Dispute Over Vilna (1920–1922) and the Question of Memel (1920–1924)

Abstract

At the end of the First World War, the victorious powers provisionally assigned Vilna, the historic capital of Lithuania, to that resurrected state, and the new Soviet regime — the former overlord — concurred. But the majority of Vilna’s inhabitants were Poles, and Poland (another resurrected state) claimed the city on that ground. She took the matter to the League of Nations which, with the agreement of the parties, established a Military Commission to watch over the provisional boundary line. It was composed of military officers from Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Spain, and persuaded each party to withdraw from the provisional line for a distance of four miles. However, no sooner had this been done than irregular Polish forces marched on Vilna, causing the Lithuanians to flee. The Military Commission came into action once again, negotiating a new neutral zone between Lithuania and Poland’s unofficial forces as well as confirming the old one.