Augustino Voldemaro vyriausybės ministrų personalijos (1926 12 17–1929 m. pabaiga)
Personalities of Ministers in the Government Led by Augustinas Voldemaras (17 December 1926 –end of 1929)

Summary/Abstract: The article gives an in-depth analysis of personalities of the ministers serving in the Government formed by Augustinas Voldemaras after the military coup d’état of 17 December 1926. The article seeks to analyse the ministers of the Government led by Augustinas Voldemaras through the prism of personalities by showing how the Government was formed and focusing on the motives of appointment of ministers. To achieve this goal, the following objectives were set: 1) to reveal the reasons for selecting particular ministers to the Government led by Augustinas Voldemaras; to show their personal and character features by pointing their main character traits, evaluating the competence of the candidate for the minister’s post and their close links with President Antanas Smetona; 2) to highlight the motives for replacing the ministers during the term of office of the Government led by Augustinas Voldemaras and the causes determining the selection of new persons. Due to the limited scope of the article, it does not analyse the activities of individual ministers and ministries; a separate article would be required for such an extensive coverage. Though research studies focusing on individual prime ministers, foreign ministers and ministers of national defence of the First Republic of Lithuania (1918–1940) and their political activities appeared after the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, none attempted to address the personalities of ministers serving in a particular Government. The research revealed that after the coup d’état the competition for the high-ranking positions res lted in the victory of a seemingly weaker Lithuanian Nationalist Union (LNU) which won over the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party (LCDP). The Nationalists held the most important ministries – Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of National Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and soon ousted their allies Christian Democrats from the government. The candidacy for the ministers’ posts was determined by political reliability and loyalty to the President. The like-minded persons from the young days of Antanas Smetona and his close friends, who were often linked by family relations, or the Nationalists of the old generation were appointed ministers, e.g. A. Voldemaras, A. Merkys, J. Tūbelis, K. Šakenis. There were cases when ministers used to compromise themselves or got in the midst of scandals, e.g. I. Musteikis, S. Čiurlionis.

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