Leonas Bistras

Bistras first ventured into politics during the World War I. The February Revolution liberalized the political environment and allowed for discussions on the status of Lithuania. In Voronezh, Bistras met other active Lithuanian Catholics and edited the newspaper Voice of the Lithuanians (Lietuvių balsas), giving him his first experience in journalism – an activity that would take much of his interest in the coming decades. In 1917, Bistras joined the activities of the emerging Lithuanian Christian Democratic movement.

The political situation during the war led to the formation of two parties styling themselves as the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party. One was originally established by Lithuanian refugees in Russia, led by priest Mykolas Krupavičius, and was radicalized by the ongoing revolution there. The other, established in Lithuania, was led by Aleksandras Stulginskis and was more moderate in its goals. In November 1918, a conference was called to unite the two parties. During the conference, Bistras emerged as one of the leaders of the movement and proposed a solution once an impasse was reached – both radical and moderate Christian Democrats would be represented in the joint leadership of the party and both programs would remain in place until they could be aligned.[5] This goal was eventually achieved and the party remained united. Bistras officially joined the party as a member in 1921 and from 1922 onward was regularly elected to its central committee.

Bistras' growing prominence in the Lithuanian politics was evident when, in 1922, he was elected to the First Seimas from the constituency of Raseiniai and became its speaker.[2] He played a role in the election of Stulginskis as the President of Lithuania, dismissing complaints from the opposition politicians that the Seimas did not have the necessary quorum when voting on his candidacy.[6] The first Seimas, however, had a short and troubled life – no clear majority had emerged in the elections (Christian Democrats and their allies won 38 of the 78 seats allocated), making governing difficult. In fact, Prime Minister Ernestas Galvanauskas failed twice to get his cabinet approved by the Seimas and Stulginskis dissolved the First Seimas on 12 March 1923. However, the Seimas did play a role in the history of interwar Lithuania, authorizing the Klaipėda Revolt that would see the Klaipėda Region become an autonomous part of Lithuania between 1923 and 1939.

Bistras was reelected to the Second Seimas in 1923. Between June 1923 and January 1925, he served as the minister of education in the successive cabinets headed by Galvanauskas and Antanas Tumėnas. As a minister, he took a hard line insisting on religious instruction in public schools, drawing criticism from political opponents.[5] Between January and September 1925, Bistras again served as the speaker of the Seimas.

In September 1925,[7] the government of Vytautas Petrulis opened negotiations with Poland over the navigation of the Neman as required by the Klaipėda Convention. Successive Lithuanian governments bitterly contested the Polish possession of the Vilnius region and refused to open diplomatic relations. Although Petrulis' government saw negotiations as technical and not constituting a diplomatic recognition, the public and military discontent was widespread. An ultimatum from military offices forced Petrulis to resign and Bistras was appointed as the Prime Minister of the 12th cabinet on 25 September 1925. He also served as the minister of defense and, after the resignation of Mečislovas Reinys, as the minister of foreign affairs. His government was in power for less than a year, until the Seimas elections the following spring.

Bistras' cabinet withdrew from the negotiations with Poland. Feeling isolated in the international arena, Bistras started negotiations with the Soviet Union on the Soviet–Lithuanian Non-Aggression Pact that would eventually be signed by the government of Mykolas Sleževičius in 1926. Bistras later regretted this shift in political direction. Seeing the growing power of the Soviet Union and Germany in mid-1930s, he advocated for stronger ties with Latvia, Estonia and, above else, Poland, even if it meant accepting the Polish possession of Vilnius.[7]

A major challenge for the Bistras' government was managing relations with the Holy See in the Vatican. While Christian Democrats were naturally aligned with the Church in their views on a number of matters, organization of the Catholic Church presented the Lithuanian government with a headache. Even after the declaration of independence in 1918, Catholic churches in Lithuania continued to be organized under ecclesiastical provinces based in foreign countries. The issue escalated in 1925, when the Holy See signed the Concordat of 1925 with Poland and assigned the contested Archdiocese of Vilnius to the Polish ecclesiastical province. While this did not confer a diplomatic recognition of the Polish possession of Vilnius, public opinion in Lithuania turned against Vatican and the Christian Democrats, who were perceived as their allies. Despite protests, Bistras accepted the establishment of the Lithuanian ecclesiastical province without Vilnius in 1926.[5]

Bistras was elected to the Third Seimas in 1926, this time in Marijampolė,[2] but Christian Democrats and their allies did not fare well in the elections. For the first time in six years, the party was in opposition to a left-leaning coalition that attempted to normalize the life in Lithuania by lifting the martial law and introducing far-reaching reforms. Christian Democrats proved to be an active opposition in the parliament, with multiple interpellations to the government, many of them co-authored or signed by Bistras. Christian Democrats voted against the treaty with the Soviet Union that was originally conceived under Bistras' government and criticized other government decisions, as support for the government waned, especially among the military officers and the clergy.

In December 1926, military officers executed a coup d'état, removing Mykolas Sleževičius as the Prime Minister and Kazys Grinius as the President. Although Bistras and the Christian Democrats were not directly involved in the coup, they participated in implementing its outcome.[8][9] Christian Democrats voted to elect Antanas Smetona as the President, thus giving him constitutional legitimacy, and initially joined the government, with Bistras appointed as the minister of education. Bistras, ever trying to reach a compromise,[10] initially hoped that a new election would be called, allowing the Christian Democrats to return to power. As the prospect of new elections waned and the Third Seimas was dissolved, Bistras, together with the other Christian Democrats, resigned from the government, leaving Smetona's Nationalists Union of Lithuania as the sole governing party.

Bistras assumed the leadership of the Christian Democrats in 1927, leading it through a difficult period. Smetona did not call for new elections to the parliament until 1936, severely limiting the activities and influence of the party. Party leadership was constantly persecuted and put under surveillance, and party congresses were banned in 1929. Apart from the pressure from the government, the Christian Democrats also struggled to maintain unity with their traditional allies (the Farmers' Association and the Labour Federation) as well as within their own ranks.[5] The party, along with other opposition political parties, was finally banned in 1936.

Bistras was openly critical of the government during the period. In 1927, he was alleged to have influenced several military officers who attempted to force Smetona to form a coalition government. The intervention failed and Brisas fled Lithuania for Germany, only returning the following year.[1] Starting with 1930, he, together with other Catholic leaders, criticized the government for their attempt to curtail the activities of religious organizations and, in 1935, he openly criticized the government in a speech at the Global Lithuanian Congress.

Until 1936, Bistras also edited newspaper Rytas (The Morning) giving a voice to Christian Democrats in Lithuania. The newspaper was often critical of the ruling Nationalists and Smetona, and was often a target of censure and fines. In 1928, the publication of the newspaper was suspended as a result of "infractions" and Bistras started publishing Sutemos (The Dusk) instead, expressing the editor's view of the situation in the country. Bistras had many political articles published in minority (especially Jewish) press, which was less subject to censure.[5]

For his activities in inciting protests against the government, Bistras was sentenced in 1938 and sent to a three-month exile to Alytus, separating him from the political elite in Kaunas. His sentence was cut short and Bistras even returned to the government after Lithuania lost the Klaipėda Region after the German ultimatum of March 1939, serving on the 20th cabinet as the minister of education. Even as part of the government, Bistras maintained an explicitly cold relationship with Smetona, refusing to present the president with the work plan for his ministry.