Description

1916 (Nov 23) envelope to Calbe (Saale) bearing Germania 2½ pf, 7½ pf & 15 pf Postgebiet Ob. Ost overprints tied Kowno cds & with violet framed Konigsberg censor handstamp..….

German forces occupied Lithuania from 1915 to the end of WW1. As Germany was losing the war, she on 20 October 1918 repeated it’s recognition of an independent Lithuania & promised to convert the German military administration into a civilian government. The Council of Lithuania convened on 28 October to discuss a provisional constitution & government. The changed political situation indicated that its king Duke William should abandon the throne, which he did. Therefore, on November 2, the Council had a free hand & later the same day the Council adopted the first provisional constitution, which did not declare for either monarchy or republic. The constitution simply organized the government on a provisional basis until the Constituent Assembly made a final decision. On December 16, 1918, Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas became the leader of the puppet state known as Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic.