Šaulių vaidmuo Klaipėdos krašto gynybos sistemoje
Role of Riflemen in the Defence System of Klaipėda Region

Summary/Abstract: Being a militarized organization, the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union was entrusted with military tasks. In the event of an armed attack, riflemen had to help the armed forces to resist. Therefore, plans for the use of riflemen were devised. The Riflemen’s 20th Regiment of Klaipėda and the riflemen of the 22nd Regiment of Railwaymen founded in 1936 were in operation in Klaipėda Region. The article limits with the analysis of the role of the Riflemen’s 20th Regiment of Klaipėda in the defence system of the region. The relations between the riflemen of Klaipėda Region and the soldiers of the Lithuanian Armed Forces deployed in the region were close. They cooperated in military (preparations for military tasks) and cultural (conflicts could not be avoided) activities. Until the reform of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union in 1935 the riflemen’s military preparation level was very low. The required weaponry, ammunition, outfit were lacking. Military preparation was also aggravated by the lack of commanders in platoons capable of introducing the material. After the 1935 reform of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, the attention to military training was on the increase. More military officers were introduced to the command of the Riflemen’s 20th Regiment of Klaipėda and its platoons. The provision of the riflemen was enhanced at the effort of the command of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union and the Lithuanian Armed Forces; preparations for implementing the region defence plans prepared by the Lithuanian Armed Forces were held. According to the directive ŠADIR issued in 1938, the riflemen of Klaipėda Region had to assume an important role. According to the opinion established in historiography, riflemen were named as “unreliable” in March 1939, when Lithuania was forced to surrender Klaipėda Region. However, a more exhaustive analysis of archival documents leads to a different conclusion. Riflemen were disarmed for two reasons. First – the objective to prevent the arms from getting into the hands of Germans by carrying them to Lithuania Major. Second – the aspiration to protect from the potential wilful resistance of riflemen against Germans. It is also confirmed by the repetitive order of the commander of the 20th Regiment and the governor of the region directing not to resist and not to assume any actions without his personal order.

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