Lithuanian Conservative Election Societies

The Lithuanian Conservative Election Societies (Lithuanian: Lietuviškos konservatyvų skyrimo draugystės) were several loosely connected political societies of Prussian Lithuanians active from 1890 to the German Revolution of 1918–19. They sought to elect Prussian Lithuanians to the German Reichstag and Prussian Landtag and to defend the use of the Lithuanian language. The societies managed to get two representatives to the Reichstag (Jonas Smalakys in 1898–1901 and, after Smalakys' death, Friedrich Martin Mattschull [de] in 1901–1903) and two to the Landtag (Wilhelm Gaigalat in 1903–1918 and Wilhelm Steputat [de] in 1913–1918).[1] It is sometimes described as the first Lithuanian political party (the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania was established in 1895).[2]

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  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference kundro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).