Posted on 02/23/2025 10:55:18 AM PST by BenLurkin
In the late 18th century, Russia, Austria, and Prussia finished with the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This state was a union of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that had dominated Eastern and Central Europe for centuries.., But before its era of weakness, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a power to reckon with. It controlled a large chunk of territory spanning from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
Lithuania’s history began in the early 13th century when local pagan Baltic tribes organized themselves into a single state. By 1230, the chieftain Mindaugas emerged as the leader of Lithuania and adopted Catholic Christianity in 1251, which allowed him to be crowned king. He then expanded his realm to the east and south, defeating some Russ principalities and annexing territory from the Golden Horde.
Lithuania became a major mix of ethnicities, cultures, and religions. The Lithuanian princes ruled over Orthodox and Catholic Slavs, Muslim Tatars, and pagan Baltic tribes.
The Kingdom of Poland was formed when a number of Polan tribes under Duke Mieszko I in today’s central Poland adopted Catholic Christianity in the second half of the 10th century. His son, Boleslaw the Brave, was crowned king in the early 11th century. From that point onward, the newly-founded kingdom continuously expanded, reaching its peak under the Jagiellonian Dynasty in the 15th century. Polish territory stretched from a few dozen ports on the Baltic Sea to Moldova.
By the time of the establishment of the Commonwealth, Poland had a strong government and army that continuously pushed the borders of its immediate German neighbors. The House of Jagiellon ruled over Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, and Bohemia and was a significant player in European politics.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecollector.com ...
Supposedly one of the most realistic saber duels ever filmed. The actors were trained in Polish saber fencing for months and got so into the scene that one almost killed the other when he stumbled so the director stopped filming.
Soooo russia has not controlled all this territory since the beginning of time?
Don’t tell pitin
Many dont realize Lithuania was the first to invade Russia and Moscow, long before Napoleon. When I was in the Moscow Ring, an old cathedral , a cannon ball hole in the door had a plaque, ….something like “a Lithuanian cannon ball “.
Wiki
The Commonwealth lasted more than two centuries, until neighbouring countries gradually dismantled it between 1772 and 1795, with the Russian Empire annexing most of Lithuania’s territory.
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