Lithuania District

Lithuania District Verwaltungsbezirk Litauen
Military occupation authority of the German Empire
1915–1918
Flag Coat of arms
Provinces of Ober Ost in March 1917
Capital	Vilnius
Area
• Coordinates	54°41′N25°17′E / 54.683°N 25.283°E / 54.683; 25.283
History
• Established	1915
• Disestablished	1918
Preceded by Succeeded by Vilna Governorate Suwałki Governorate Kingdom of Lithuania (1918)

Lithuania District (German : Verwaltungsbezirk Litauen) was an administrative subdivision of German-controlled territory of Ober-Ost, from 1915 to 1918, during World War I. It was bordered by the Bialystok-Grodno District to the south and the Courland District to the north. ^{[1] [2]}

History

The area was formed roughly from parts of the occupied governorates of Kovno, Vilna and Suvalki of the Russian Empire.

Initially, in 1915, the entire territory of the newly established Ober Ost administration was divided into six provinces, headed by German provincial administrators (governors), including: Franz-Joseph zu Isenburg-Birstein in northwestern Lithuania (Kovno), von Beckerath in Vilna, and Rüdiger von Haugwitz in Suvalki (the others were: Alfred von Gossler in Courland, Theodor von Heppe in Grodno, and von Bockelberg in Bialystok). ^[3]

In March 1917, regional administration was reorganized, dividing the entire Ober Ost into three provinces: Courland, Lithuania, and Bialystok-Grodno. ^[4]

Franz-Joseph zu Isenburg-Birstein continued do govern as provincial administrator in Lithuania until January 1918, when he was replaced by Theodor von Heppe. ^[5]

In August 1918, the Bialystok-Grodno region was also included into the Lithuanian province. ^[6]

See also

• Eastern Front (World War I)
• Council of Lithuania
• Kingdom of Lithuania (1918)
• Act of Independence of Lithuania

References

1. Linde 1965.
2. Strazhas 1993.
3. Sukiennicki 1984, p. 798, 1010-1011.
4. Sukiennicki 1984, p. 277-278, 344, 798.
5. Sukiennicki 1984, p. 578, 670.
6. Sukiennicki 1984, p. 792, 798.

Sources

• Linde, Gerd (1965). Die deutsche Politik in Litauen im Ersten Weltkrieg. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.
• O'Connor, Kevin (2003). The History of the Baltic States. Westport: Greenwood Press.
• Rauch, Georg (1974). The Baltic States: The Years of Independence : Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, 1917-1940. London: Hurst.
• Stone, Norman (1998) [1975]. The Eastern Front, 1914–1917. New York: Penguin Books.
• Strazhas, Abba (1993). Deutsche Ostpolitik im Ersten Weltkrieg: Der Fall Ober Ost 1915-1917. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.
• Sukiennicki, Wiktor (1984). East Central Europe During World War I: From Foreign Domination to National Independence. Boulder: East European Monographs.

External lists

• Deutsches Militärverwaltungsgebiet Ober Ost (Kurland, Litauen, Bialystok-Grodno) 1917. (in German)