German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop delivered an ultimatum to the Lithuanian Foreign Minister on 20 March 1939, demanding the surrender of the Memel region to German control. Ribbentrop vowed that if Memel was not ceded to Germany peacefully, it "will be taken by other means if necessary". Lithuania submitted to the ultimatum and, in exchange for the right to use the new harbour facilities as a Free Port, ceded the disputed region to Germany in the late evening of 22 March 1939. Reunion of the Memel Territory with Germany was met with joy by a majority of Prussian Lithuanians. It was Nazi Germany's last territorial gain prior to World War II. The whole of Lithuania itself came under occupation by the Soviet Union, then briefly became independent again in 1941 before being occupied entirely by Nazi Germany.