Deutschen in der litauischen Wirtschaft 1918-1940 (im Vergleich zum Memelgebiet)

Straipsnyje, remiantis archyviniais šaltiniais, tuometine periodika ir statistikos duomenimis, nagrinėjama Lietuvos vokiečių žemės ūkio ir pramonės įmonių veikla šalies ekonominiame gyvenime XX a. 3–4 dešimtmečiais, pateikiami atskirų vokiečių įmonių darbo pavyzdžiai. Lietuvos vokiečių ekonominės veiklos mastas analizuojamas remiantis vokiečių verslo Klaipėdos krašte pavyzdžiais. Aptariamos Lietuvos verslo sąlygos ir konkurencijos įtaka vokiečių ūkio plėtrai, atskleidžiamas Kulturverbando vaidmuo pasinaudojant Vokietijos institucijų teikiama finansine parama, skirta stiprinti vokiečių ekonomines galias. In the 3rd decade, the output of German businesses was quite humble as the majority of German community worked in the agricultural sector or ran small enterprises. They developed their business without any financial aid from Germany. In the 3rd decade, Germans owned very few big companies or estates. Until 1934, the business environment for Germans was quite favourable. In 1935, after the trial against German Nazis from the Klaipėda region, Germans in Lithuania fell under pressure. At the same time, Lithuanians started taking actions to consolidate their weight in the economy. In the 4th decade, the number of German enterprises and pieces of property owned by the minority increased due to the active involvement of Kulturverband, which turned into an organization interested not only in the cultural but also in the economic aspects of the community. With the help of Kulturverband, German farmers and owners of small businesses received financial aid from Germany. However, if compared with the economic situation of Germans in the Klaipėda region, Germans in the rest of Lithuania never had anything close to a dominant position in the business, received fewer financial injections and had to face competition in the market and national discrimination. Evolving business plans were disrupted in 1940 by the political decision of Germany to evict Germans from Lithuania.