The national minorities were promised freedom for their cultural needs. In later years national minorities were granted the same rights as Lithuanians and in some cases extra representation in the government: after the war ended, the Council of Lithuania was expanded to include Jewish and Belarusian representatives; the first governments of Lithuania included Ministries for Jewish and Belarusian affairs; in 1920 the Jewish community was granted national and cultural autonomy with the right to legislate binding ordinances; the Russian Orthodox Church received financial support from the government; Germans, concentrated in the disputed Klaipėda Region, were also granted autonomy. The only sizeable group that did not have extra representation was the Polish minority because of intense conflicts over the Vilnius Region.