The Kingdom of Lithuania was a failed attempt to create an independent constitutional Lithuanian monarchy. It was created towards the end of World War I when Lithuanian-speaking lands were under military occupation by the German Empire. The Council of Lithuania declared Lithuania's independence on February 16, 1918, but the council was unable to form a government, police, or other state institutions due to the continued presence of German troops. The Germans presented various proposals to incorporate Lithuania into the German Empire, particularly Prussia. The Lithuanians resisted this idea and hoped to preserve their independence by creating a separate constitutional monarchy. On 4 June 1918, they voted to offer the Lithuanian throne to the German noble Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach. He accepted the offer in July 1918 and took the regnal name Mindaugas II. However, he never visited Lithuania. His election stirred up controversy, divided the council and did not achieve the desired results. As Germany was losing the war and was engulfed in the German Revolution, Lithuania suspended its decision to invite the Duke on 2 November 1918, thereby ending his reign.
Background
After the last Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Lithuania was annexed by the Russian Empire. In 1915, during World War I, Germany occupied western parts of the Russian Empire, including Lithuania. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Germany conceived the geopolitical strategy of Mitteleuropa, a regional network of puppet states that would serve as a buffer zone. The Germans allowed the organisation of the Vilnius Conference, hoping that it would proclaim that the Lithuanian nation wanted to detach itself from Russia and establish a "closer relationship" with Germany. In September 1917, the Conference elected a twenty-member Council of Lithuania and empowered it to negotiate Lithuanian independence with the Germans. The Germans were preparing for the upcoming negotiations for the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and sought a declaration from the Lithuanians that they wanted a "firm and permanent alliance" with Germany. Such a declaration was adopted by the Council of Lithuania on December 11, 1917. However, these concessions divided the council and still did not earn recognition from Germany. Therefore, the Council adopted the Act of Independence of Lithuania on February 16, 1918. The Act omitted any mention of alliance with Germany and declared the "termination of all state ties which formerly bound this State to other nations." On March 3, 1918, Germany and Bolshevik Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which declared that the Baltic nations were in the German interest zone and that Russia renounced any claims to them. On March 23, Germany formally recognized independent Lithuania on the basis of the December 11 declaration. However, the country was still occupied by German troops, the Council still did not have any actual power and it was treated just as an advisory board by the Germans.
Election
Candidates
The crown of Lithuania was initially offered to Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, by the military command of Ober Ost. This would have created a personal union between Lithuania and Prussia. An alternative proposal called for the election of Wilhelm's youngest son, Prince Joachim. Such plans for expansion of already dominant Protestant Prussia were opposed by the Catholic ruling houses, like the Wettins of Saxony and the Wittelsbacher of Bavaria. Saxony promoted Prince Friedrich Christian, second son of King Frederick Augustus III. This proposal was a reminder of historical ties between Saxony and Lithuania: the House of Wettin had produced two rulers for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1697 and 1763. A number of other candidates were also considered. Such plans were viewed by the Lithuanians as a threat to their independence. The threat became more pressing after a meeting of German officials on May 19, where conventions governing the "firm and permanent alliance" were discussed leaving very little autonomy for the Lithuanians.