ABSTRACT
According to the Treaty of Versailles, a part of East Prussia north of the Memel (Neman, Nemunas) River, then called the Memel Territory, was split off from Germany. In line with the mandate handed down by the Entente Powers in 1920–1923, the land was administered by France. After a military operation organised by the Lithuanian Government and followed by the negotiations with the Entente Forces, in 1923–1924 it was joined to the Republic of Lithuania and granted autonomous rule. In 2001, Debora Cohen published a well-known study of the British and German war veterans in the interwar period. The experiences of the First World War, and particularly the postwar changes, polarised the community in the Memel Territory just like in Germany. The region boasted several large organisational networks that united war veterans and victims and that were characterised by different interests and views.
