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Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania between 8 and 10 May 1926. [1] The Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union remained the largest party, winning 24 of the 85 seats in the third Seimas. [2] They formed a left-wing coalition government with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, which was overthrown in a military coup in December. [3] The Seimas was subsequently disbanded and Lithuanian Nationalist Union leader Antanas Smetona was appointed President. [3]
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union | 225,797 | 22.20 | 22 | +6 | |
| Social Democratic Party | 173,250 | 17.03 | 15 | +7 | |
| Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party | 128,126 | 12.59 | 14 | 0 | |
| Farmers' Association | 113,819 | 11.19 | 11 | –3 | |
| Labour Federation | 79,315 | 7.80 | 5 | –7 | |
| Democratic Jewish Union | 47,142 | 4.63 | 3 | New | |
| Lithuanian Nationalist Union | 43,841 | 4.31 | 3 | New | |
| Central Polish Electoral Committee | 31,349 | 3.08 | 3 | –1 | |
| Party of Polish Workers, Artisans and Farmers | 24,473 | 2.41 | 1 | New | |
| Memel Agricultural Party | 20,944 | 2.06 | 6 | New | |
| Farmers' Party | 18,741 | 1.84 | 2 | +2 | |
| Memel People's Party | 18,496 | 1.82 | 0 | New | |
| Jewish Economic and Religious Party | 16,702 | 1.64 | 0 | New | |
| German Evangelical Party | 9,658 | 0.95 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Russians and Belarusians | 8,022 | 0.79 | 0 | 0 | |
| Memel Workers' Party | 3,000 | 0.29 | 0 | New | |
| Union of Latvians in Lithuania | 2,358 | 0.23 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Catholics and Abstainers | 2,343 | 0.23 | 0 | New | |
| Company of House and Land Owners | 2,235 | 0.22 | 0 | New | |
| Union of Russian Democrats | 1,617 | 0.16 | 0 | New | |
| Union of Evangelical Lutherans | 1,340 | 0.13 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Public Servants of Klaipėda | 1,158 | 0.11 | 0 | New | |
| Party for an Autonomous Klaipėda | 937 | 0.09 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Samogitian Women | 828 | 0.08 | 0 | New | |
| Poles of Jonava | 431 | 0.04 | 0 | New | |
| German Evangelicals of Marijampolė | 404 | 0.04 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Polish Farmers and Workers | 256 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Polish Workers | 253 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lithuanian National Organisation in Kedainiai | 230 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Evangelical Lithuanians | 203 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
| Catholic Nationalists | 169 | 0.02 | 0 | New | |
| Polish Party "For Creed and Homeland" | 149 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Polish Catholic Party | 116 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tenants' Party | 94 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Party of Public Servants | 71 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
| Workers groups (6) | 20,074 | 1.97 | 0 | 0 | |
| Poor peasants and small farmers groups | 19,352 | 1.90 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 1,017,293 | 100.00 | 85 | +7 | |
| Valid votes | 1,017,293 | 99.79 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 2,178 | 0.21 | |||
| Total votes | 1,019,471 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 1,179,538 | 86.43 | |||
| Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Ragauskas & Tamošaitis, [4] Lietuvos statistikos metraštis (without seats) [5] | |||||
 | This section needs expansionwith: accurate seat distribution. You can help by adding to it.(February 2024) |
| Party | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | X | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Popular Peasants' Union | 26.1 | 17.5 | 26.3 | 30.6 | 19.5 | 26.1 | 1.6 | |
| Social Democratic Party | 15.0 | 19.3 | 20.3 | 15.7 | 20.0 | 15.0 | 13.3 | |
| Christian Democratic Party | 13.8 | 9.3 | 12.3 | 15.9 | 14.1 | 15.9 | — | |
| Farmers' Association | 16.4 | 8.5 | 12.7 | 15.0 | 10.7 | 11.2 | — | |
| Labour Federation | 8.1 | 7.7 | 7.0 | 10.6 | 9.8 | 6.3 | 1.0 | |
| Democratic Jewish Union | 5.7 | 6.2 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.5 | — | |
| Nationalist Union | — | 7.7 | 1.9 | 12.3 | 4.7 | — | — | |
| LCRK/CPKW | 4.5 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 3.6 | — | |
| LDAŪ | — | 6.6 | — | — | 1.3 | 5.4 | — | |
| Memel Agricultural Party | — | — | — | — | — | — | 35.6 | |
| Farmers' Party | 4.8 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 0.5 | — | |
| Memel People's Party | — | — | — | — | — | — | 31.4 | |
| ŽETS | 1.3 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 1.2 | — | |
| German Evangelical Party | 1.3 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.2 | — | — | — | |
| Source: Lietuvos statistikos metraštis [5] | ||||||||
The Lithuanian Peasants Party was a political party in Lithuania.
The Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union was a centre-left political party in Lithuania between 1922 and 1936. The party's leaders included the third President Kazys Grinius and three-term Prime Minister Mykolas Sleževičius.
The 1926 Lithuanian coup d'état was a military coup d'état in Lithuania that replaced the democratically elected government with a nationalist regime led by Antanas Smetona. The coup took place on 17 December 1926 and was largely organized by the military; Smetona's role remains the subject of debate. The coup brought the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, the most conservative party at the time, to power. Previously it had been a fairly new and insignificant nationalistic party. By 1926, its membership reached about 2,000 and it had won only three seats in the parliamentary elections. The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party, the largest party in the Seimas at the time, collaborated with the military and provided constitutional legitimacy to the coup, but accepted no major posts in the new government and withdrew in May 1927. After the military handed power over to the civilian government, it ceased playing a direct role in political life.
The Third Seimas of Lithuania was the third parliament (Seimas) democratically elected in Lithuania after it declared independence on 16 February 1918. The elections took place on 8–10 May 1926. For the first time the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party were forced to remain in opposition. The coalition government made some unpopular decisions and was sharply criticized. Regular Seimas work was interrupted by a military coup d'état in December 1926 when the democratically elected government was replaced with the authoritarian government of Antanas Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras. The Third Seimas was dissolved on 12 March 1927 and new elections were not called until 1936.
The Fourth Seimas of Lithuania was the fourth parliament (Seimas) elected in Lithuania after it declared independence on 16 February 1918. The elections took place on 9 and 10 June 1936, a bit less than ten years after the Third Seimas was dissolved by President Antanas Smetona. The Seimas commenced its work on 1 September 1936. Its five-year term was cut short on 1 July 1940 when Lithuania lost its independence to the Soviet Union. It was replaced by the People's Seimas in order to legitimize the occupation. Konstantinas Šakenis was the chairman of the Seimas.
Constituent Assembly elections were held in Lithuania between 14 and 16 April 1920. The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party emerged as the largest party, winning 46 of the 112 seats. Together with its allies, the Lithuanian Labour Federation and Farmers' Association, it secured a absolute in the Assembly.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 10 and 11 October 1922, electing 78 members of the First Seimas. They were the first elections held in Lithuania under the 1922 constitution, which had been adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 1 August 1922.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 12 and 13 May 1923. The Lithuanian Popular Peasants' Union emerged as the largest party in the second Seimas, winning 16 of the 78 seats. However, the Labour Federation, Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party and the Farmers' Association won a majority of seats.
Parliamentary elections were held in Lithuania on 10 June 1936, after a new law on holding elections was issued by presidential decree.
Felicija Bortkevičienėnée Povickaitė was a Lithuanian politician and long-term publisher of Lietuvos ūkininkas and Lietuvos žinios. She became active in public life after she moved to Vilnius in 1900 and became known as an energetic and prolific organizer, manager, and treasurer of numerous political, cultural, and charitable organizations. She joined and was one of the leaders of various political parties, including the Lithuanian Democratic Party, the Peasant Union, and the Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union. She was a delegate to the Great Seimas of Vilnius (1905), was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania (1920), and was considered for the positions of Minister of Provision and Public Work (1918) and President of Lithuania (1926). Bortkevičienė organized and ran several charitable organizations, including those supporting gifted students, political prisoners of the Tsarist regime, and deported Prussian Lithuanians. She was also a member of women's movement in Lithuania, being an active member of the Lithuanian Women's Association and the chair of the Lithuanian Women's Union. For her various activities Bortkevičienė was arrested and imprisoned numerous times by different regimes, including Tsarist Russia, independent Lithuania, and Soviet Lithuania.
The Central Polish Electoral Committee was a political party in interwar Lithuania representing the Polish minority. The committee was organized in March 1920 and was the only ethnic minority party to win seats in all four democratic elections to the Seimas.
The Democratic Jewish Union was a political coalition in inter-war Lithuania.
Jewish People's Election Group "Achdus" was an electoral grouping in inter-war Lithuania. It was affiliated to Agudath Israel.
The New Democracy Party was a political party in Lithuania.
The Lithuanian Liberty Union was a political party in Lithuania.
Eliziejus Draugelis was a Lithuanian physician and politician.
Rapolas Skipitis was a Lithuanian attorney and politician. In 1920–1922, he was Minister of the Interior and was later elected to the Second and Third Seimas. After the 1926 coup d'état, he chaired the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union (1927–1928), Society for the Support of Lithuanians Abroad (1932–1940), and several other Lithuanian organizations. He also edited several newspapers, including Ūkininko balsas (1925–1928), Trimitas (1927–1928), Namų savininkas and Pasaulio lietuvis (1937–1940). At the start of World War II, he retreated to Germany and joined the Lithuanian Activist Front. He was reserved the seat of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Provisional Government of Lithuania. After the war, he settled in Chicago where he was active in Lithuanian American cultural life.
Dominik Semashko was a Belarusian activist. In 1890s, he joined the Polish Socialist Party and other socialist groups advocating workers' rights. The police forced him to flee to Switzerland where he received engineering education and firefighting training. During World War I, he was fire chief in Vilnius from 1915 to 1918. In 1918, he was elected to the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic and then became part of the Council of Lithuania. Initially, he was a supported of a union between Lithuania and Belarus along the lines of the old Grand Duchy of Lithuania but later became more aligned with Lithuania. He represented Lithuania at the Paris Peace Conference and during the negotiations of the Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty. In 1920–1922, he was Minister for Belarusian Affairs. He then retired from politics and devoted his time to firefighting.
Kazimieras Venclauskis was a Lithuanian attorney, politician, and philanthropist.
The Workers' Group of Lithuania was a front organization of the Communist Party of Lithuania that participated in the elections to the First and Second Seimas of Lithuania in 1922 and 1923. Members of this group became known as Kuopininkai ("groupers").
