Klaipėda Convention

The Klaipėda Convention (or Convention concerning the Territory of Memel) was an international agreement between Lithuania and the countries of the Conference of Ambassadors (United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Japan) signed in Paris on May 8, 1924. According to the convention, the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory) became an autonomous region under unconditional sovereignty of Lithuania.

The region was detached from East Prussia by the Treaty of Versailles and placed under League of Nations administration with a provisional French garrison. During the staged Klaipėda Revolt in January 1923, the Lithuanians seized control of the region and attached it to Lithuania. The Conference of Ambassadors accepted the fait accompli and set out to formalise the territorial changes. The inhabitants of the area were not given a choice on the ballot on whether they wanted join Lithuania or Germany. After difficult negotiations, the convention was agreed upon in spring 1924.

The region was granted extensive legislative, judicial, administrative and financial autonomy. It had its own democratically-elected parliament (Klaipėda Diet) and appointed executive branch (the Klaipėda Directorate). The administration and operation of the port of Klaipėda was entrusted to a three-member Harbor Board. The Neman River, particularly its timber traffic, was internationalised, which granted freedom of transit to all nations. The convention became obsolete when the Klaipėda Region was attached to Nazi Germany as a result of the ultimatum of 1939.