proposals and demands. The Peasant Popular Union and Social Democrats formed a left-wing coalition in opposition to the Christian Democrats. But the coalition still did not constitute a majority, and it went on to add representatives of minorities in Lithuania – Germans from the Klaipėda Region, Poles, and Jews. On 7 June, Kazys Grinius was elected the 3rd president of Lithuania and Mykolas Sleževičius became the prime minister. Both were members of the Peasant Popular Union. Causes The reasons for the coup remain the subject of debate. The domestic situation was definitely troubled; historians have pointed to specific European precedents in the 1920s that may have had an influence, including the 1922 March on Rome by Benito Mussolini in Italy and the May 1926 Coup of Józef Piłsudski in Poland. Other historians have cited more general trends in Europe that resulted in more or less undemocratic governments in almost all Central and Eastern European nations by the end of the 1930s. Democratic immaturity was displayed by an unwillingness to compromise, and the frequent shifts of government created a chronic perception of crisis. Historians have also discussed an exaggerated fear of communism as a factor, along with the lack of a stable center that could reach out to parties on the left and right; parties accused each other of Bolshevism and fascism. According to historian Anatol Lieven, Smetona and Voldemaras saw themselves as the dispossessed true heroes of the independence movement, who despaired of returning to power by democratic means. After the May elections, the Grinius/Sleževičius government lifted martial law, still in effect in Kaunas and other localities, restored democratic freedoms, and granted broad amnesty to political prisoners. For the first time, Lithuania had become truly democratic. However, the change did not meet with universal approval. Many of the released prisoners were communists who quickly used the new freedoms of speech to organize a protest attended by approximately 400 people in Kaunas on 13 June. The protest was dispersed. The new government's opposition used this protest as the platform for a public attack on the government, alleging that it was allowing illegal organizations (the Communist Party of Lithuania was still outlawed) to continue their activities freely. Despite its local nature, the incident was presented as a major threat to Lithuania and its military; the government was said to be incapable of dealing with this threat. Further allegations of "Bolshevization" were made