Lithuanian Nationalist Union
Lithuanian Nationalist Union Lietuvių tautininkų sąjunga | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Antanas Smetona |
| Founded | August 1924 |
| Dissolved | June 1940 |
| Merger of | Party of National Progress, Lithuanian Farmers' Association |
| Succeeded by | Lithuanian Activist Front |
| Headquarters | Vilnius, Lithuania |
| Newspaper | Lietuvis (1924–28) Lietuvos aidas (1928–40) Vairas (1929–40) Mūsų kraštas (1930–33) |
| Youth wing | Young Lithuania |
| Paramilitary wing | Geležinis Vilkas (1927–30) |
| Ideology | Lithuanian nationalism Corporate statism Authoritarian conservatism Anti-communism |
| Political position | Right-wing to far-right[a] |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| International affiliation | Fascist International Congress (observer) |
| Colours | Gold Blue |
| Party flag | |
^ a: In the 1930s, the party became increasingly more radical and sympathetic to Fascism. | |
The Lithuanian Nationalist Union (Lithuanian: Lietuvių tautininkų sąjunga or LTS), also known as the Nationalists (Tautininkai), was the ruling political party in Lithuania during the authoritarian regime of President Antanas Smetona from 1926 to 1940. The party was established in 1924 but was not popular. It came to power as a result of the December 1926 military coup. From 1927 to 1939, the Council of Ministers included only members of the LTS. In 1936, other parties were officially disbanded, leaving LTS the only legal party in the country. At the end of the 1930s new members started bringing in new ideas, right wing and closer to Italian Fascism. The party was disestablished after the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940. A party of the same name (known as the Lithuanian Nationalist and Republican Union since 2017) was reestablished in 1990 and claims to be the successor of the interwar LTS.