In what chronological period did incl. Grand Duchy of Lithuania (briefly)
The principality of Lithuania was originally Lithuanian-Russian in composition with a predominance of Russians and could become a powerful Orthodox state. It is not known what would have happened to the Moscow principality if the Lithuanian princes had not turned to the West, towards Poland.
Zhemgola, Zhmud, Prussians and others
The Lithuanian tribes, close to the Slavs, judging by both the study of the language and the analysis of beliefs, lived quite calmly and carelessly on the Baltic coast between the Western Dvina and the Vistula. They were divided into tribes: on the right bank of the Dvina the Letgola tribe lived, on the left - the Zhemgola, on the peninsula between the mouth of the Neman and the Gulf of Riga - the Kors, between the mouths of the Neman and the Vistula - the Prussians, in the Neman basin - Zhmud in the upper reaches, and Lithuania proper - on average, plus the densest of the listed Yotvingians on Narva. Cities in these territories did not exist until the 13th century, when the city of Voruta among the Lithuanians and Tveremet near Zhmud were noted for the first time in the annals, and historians tend to attribute the formation of the beginnings of the state to the 14th century.
German knights
Young and aggressive Europeans, represented mainly by Germans, but also by Swedes and Danes, of course, could not but begin the colonization of the east of the Baltic Sea. So the Swedes took the lands of the Finns, the Danes built Revel in Estonia, and the Germans went to the Lithuanians. At first they only traded and preached. The Lithuanians did not refuse to be baptized, but then they plunged into the Dvina and “washed away” the baptism from themselves, sending it back to the Germans by water. The Pope then sent crusaders there, led by Bishop Albert, the first Bishop of Livonia, who in 1200 founded Riga, the Order of the Sword, since there were plenty of knights in those days, and conquered and colonized the surrounding lands. Thirty years later, another order, the Teutonic Order, was located nearby, in the possessions of the Polish prince Konrad of Mazovia, which was driven out of Palestine by Muslims. They were called upon to defend Poland from the Prussians, who constantly robbed the Poles. The knights conquered all the Prussian lands in fifty years, and a state was founded there in fief subordination from the emperor of Germany.
The first reliable reign
But the Lithuanians did not submit to the Germans. They began to unite in large crowds, build alliances, in particular, with the Polotsk princes. Considering that the Russian western lands were weak at that time, passionate Lithuanians, who were called to the service by one or the other princes, acquired primitive management skills, and they themselves begin to seize first the Polotsk land, then the lands of Novgorod, Smolensk, Kyiv. The first reliable reign is Mindovg, the son of Romgold, who created the principality from Russians and Lithuanians. However, it was impossible to turn around too much, since there was a strong Galician Principality led by Daniel, and on the other hand, the Livonian Order did not doze off. Mindovg ceded the occupied Russian lands to Daniil's son Roman, but formally retained power over them and secured this business by marrying his daughter to Daniil's son Shvarna. The Livonian Order recognized Mindovg when he was baptized. As a sign of gratitude, he handed over to the Germans the letters for the Lithuanian lands, which he did not own.
Dynasty Founder
After the death of Mindovg in the principality, as expected, various civil strife began, which lasted half a century, until Gedimin, the founder of the Gediminovich dynasty, occupied the princely throne in 1316. In previous years, Daniel and other Russian princes had big influence in Lithuania and transferred a lot there in terms of urban planning, cultural military. Gediminas was married to a Russian and generally led a Lithuanian-Russian policy, realizing that this was necessary for the construction of the state. But he subjugated Polotsk, Kyiv, and partly Volhynia. He himself sat in Vilna, and two-thirds of his state were Russian lands. Gedimin's sons Olgerd and Keistut turned out to be friendly guys - one was in Vilna, and was engaged in northeastern Russia, and Keistut lived in Troki, and acted against the Germans.
Jagiello - apostate
To match the sound of his name, Prince Jagiello turned out to be an unworthy son of Olgerd, he agreed with the Germans to destroy his uncle Keistut. That Jagiello won, but did not kill his nephew, and in vain, because at the first opportunity, Jagiello strangled his uncle, but his son Vitovt was able to hide from the Teutonic knights, however, then he returned and sat on small lands. The Poles began to approach Jagiello with a proposal to marry him to Queen Jadwiga. She was recognized as queen after the death of the Hungarian king Louis, who also ruled dynastically in Poland. The pans argued and fought for a long time over who Jadwiga should take as her husband, and Jagiello was very suitable: the disputes over Volhynia and Galich would stop, Poland would strengthen itself against the Germans who captured the Polish seaside, drive the Hungarians out of Galich and Lvov. Jagiello, who was baptized into Orthodoxy, was very pleased with the offer, was baptized into Catholicism and baptized Lithuania. In 1386, the marriage was concluded and Jagiello received the name Vladislav. He destroyed the pagan temples, etc., helped to remove the Hungarians and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Teutonic Order at Grunwald. But, as the Russian historian Sergei Platonov notes, the union "introduced the seeds of internal enmity and decay into Lithuania," since the prerequisites were created for the oppression of Orthodox Russians.
Vitovt - the collector of lands
The son of the murdered Keistut Vitovt, as soon as Jagiello left for Poland, with the help of the appanage princes, he began to rule in Poland (1392), moreover, with such support that he achieved complete personal independence from King Vladislav, the former Jagiello. Under Vitovt, Lithuania expanded from the Baltic to the Black Sea, deeply advanced to the East at the expense of the Smolensk principality. Vasily I was married to the only daughter of Vitovt Sophia, and the left tributary of the Oka Utra was designated as the border between Moscow and Lithuanian lands. Some historians believe that this powerful eastern policy, which could lead to the creation of a huge Lithuanian-Russian state, was promoted by the Orthodox princes of Lithuania, but the Poles and the new Polonized Lithuanian nobility, who received all the privileges of the gentry and pans, were sharply opposed. Vytautas even began to petition for a royal title before the emperor of Germany in order to become independent from Poland, but died (1430) in the midst of this process.
full union
For more than 100 years, the union was largely formal. This, as in the case of Vytautas, could have the most unfortunate consequences for Poland, so it was decided to always elect one person as both prince and king. Thus, the union, conceived in 1386, was implemented only at the beginning of the 16th century. Polish influence in Lithuania after that began to grow. Previously, local princes could rule in their lands without Catholic and Polish dictates, now Grand Duke subjugated them, the Roman faith became overwhelming and oppressive in relation to the Orthodox. Many converted to Catholicism, others tried to fight, moved to Moscow, which, thanks to this situation, was able to push Lithuania. In domestic politics the principalities finally established the Polish order, in the first place - the gentry with its enormous rights in relation to the king and peasants. This process naturally ended in 1569 with the Union of Lublin and the formation of another state - the Commonwealth.
However, the biggest methodological mistake is the idea that somewhere in the West there was a super-civilized Lithuania with advanced statehood, which was ruled by a progressive king - a purebred Lithuanian Mindovg. The Balts did not have any principality as a feudal state, even the Prussians, as the most numerous tribe. At the time of the formation of the Lithuanian principalities, all the Balts had a tribal system with a strong influence of pagan priests, and their small number was explained by the fact that they had not yet really mastered agriculture. The Russian boyars chose Mindovg not for his literacy, but for the strength that stood behind him in the form of his squad and his influence among the leaders of the Baltic tribes.
The civilization and industrialization of Lithuania is a product of the USSR, which it is now happily losing in the United Europe. Lithuania is gradually returning to the position it had before joining Russia. To consider yourself Germans through kinship with the Prussians, which the Lithuanian nationalists declare, is obviously a unique kind of patriotism, since all the Prussians were completely assimilated by the German colonists who moved to the indigenous lands of the Balts, captured by the order states. Unfortunately, the ancestors of the Lithuanians did not know about the passionate desire of their descendants to merge with the Germans, and therefore fought for hundreds of years against the Teutonic and Livonian orders, who came to the lands of the Baltic peoples in a crusade.
Apparently, in the Middle Ages, the Eastern Slavs did not single out the Balts as an alien tribe, especially since the lands of the Balts have long been located in the depths of the territory Eastern Slavs. Part of the Balts participated in the formation of the Polish and Belarusian nations, but thanks to the formation of the Principality of Lithuania, the Balts had a chance to subsequently create Lithuania and Latvia as national states.
You just need to be aware that national feelings are a VALUE that the "national" elite inspires in the people in order to maintain their dominant position. For the elite itself, nationality is an empty phrase (a vivid example is Ukraine), however, if you inspire it as a value to citizens, you can get ownership of a whole nation united by this value. Paying tribute to national feelings, one should not be mistaken about their origin.
To those readers who are looking for an answer to the question - How was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania formed?, I advise you to look at the map, which clearly shows that takes place in the northwestern part of the Russian land (so called - Black Russia, according to the coloristic designation of the cardinal points among the Slavs - black \u003d north), which at the time of the formation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was OUTSIDE Mongol-Tatar Empire. Independence (1) from Russian princes and (2) from Mongolian yoke- was the main condition appearance.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia
However, the consequence of MOSCOW-CENTRISM is the fact that story
Galician and Lithuanian Rus fall out of the orthodox Russian history of Russia as the history of exclusively Muscovite Russia, and then - this one-sidedness does not allow to understand that ripened precisely in these "shards" of Kievan Rus, alien to the idea of \u200b\u200bunifying Russian lands under the rule of Moscow.
Today, a frantic war is being waged against the real and Russia, where the fact that Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia was a Russian-speaking state to conceal the more important fact that Rus Lithuanian was a Russian state , the main population of which were Kievan Rusyns. In the minds of the Russians and the inhabitants of Europe, the invasion of Batu - did not lead to the division of Russia into separate parts. Western Russia, Southwestern Russia and Northeast Russia always remained the country of Russians, only much later the political struggle of the ruling elites of these parts of Russia divorced history Lithuanian Rus, Galician Rus and Vladimir-Suzdal Rus (Muscovy) according to the main criterion - who will collect united Russia again .
And, here, people’s ideas about the state in antiquity fully corresponded - as a community of people, of no interest to anyone in a nationality in some territory - under the rule, for the individualization of which everyone was primarily interested in nationality, at least primary. Nationality passed into the name of the state for the reason that so could be personalized, which in those days were entirely captured by force, inhabited by many different tribes and, more often, unrelated peoples. In the face of the inability to determine ethnic composition people of a certain state - nominally assigned to him the nationality of his elite.
If we consider "nationality" by belonging to a tribe, then population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania it was very colorful national composition, however, the Slavonic speakers always prevailed in numbers, keeping its dialect as a western dialect of the Old Russian language of Kievan Rus. If the modern Russian language developed under the great influence of the church language of Cyril and Methodius, which was actually the literary language in Northern Russia, then the modern Belarusian language developed from the Western Russian dialect under the influence of Polish.
Principality of Lithuania and Russia
The Balts have always constituted an insignificant part of the population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, even at the birth of the Lithuanian state, a separate Lithuanian tribes, apparently - was not (actually, see below about the origin of the name Lithuania). The territory of the birthplace of the Lithuanian state was inhabited by well-known Balto-speaking tribes - Aukshtaites, Samogitians, Yotvingians, Curonians, Latgalians, villages, who fled from the forced Christianization of the Semigallians in the XIII century, Prussians (Bortei or Zuks, Skalovs, Flyers), among which there is no Lithuania. Today one can only guess - where did it come from the word Lithuania(like Russia), but we can say for sure that the union of the Baltic tribes, formed on the territory bordering Russia, transferred the collective name to the state - Lithuania, the state language of which, due to multinationality, became the Old Russian language, in which, by analogy with the word Rusyn- and the old Russian word was formed litvin- Litvin - in the sense subject Lithuanian principality. Later unity on the basis of allegiance to one state pushed the national self-consciousness of the kindred Baltic-speaking tribes to feel unity in one nationality Lithuanians.
This is confirmed by the appearance of the first references to Lithuania as an adjective Lituae in Latin for the name of the border of some previously unknown state with Russia. Then the term appeared in Europe lithuanians to designate citizens of a state that appeared on the political arena, the core of whose elite, judging by the place of origin, became aukshtaites, in the sense of some UNION of the Balts tribes close to the Prussians. As we know, all the other Prussians were colonized by the Teutonic Order, so much so that they simply dissolved, leaving us not even a language.
History of Lithuania Wikipedia contains an article Lithuania (tribes), which actually proves only THAT, that no tribe named Lithuania did not have, but simply several different tribes of the Balts, moreover, from different ethnic groups, on the lands adjacent to Black Russia formed a territorial union, which received the external name of Lithuania. This Union Lithuania fought with his neighbors - the union of the Balts Yatvyags, Aukshtaity and Samogitia, although the tribes of these same peoples were part of Union Lithuania. The members of the Lithuania union had the name Litvin, which directly comes from the word Lithuania, but from which word the word was formed Lithuanians I don't quite understand. The term Lithuania in the sense union of lithuanian tribes of the balts- is quite legitimate, and the existence of a separate Lithuanian tribe not fixed.
In fact, the full name is Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russian and Zhemoytskoye- reflected the multinational composition not of the population of the Principality of Lithuania, which was much more diverse, but the specific composition of its elite. The names of the main nationalities are sewn into the name of the state - Principality of Lithuania- for the reason that (1) the union of the Baltic tribes called Lithuania gave the first princes, (2) Principality of Lithuania and Russia not so much due to the numerical predominance of the Rusyns, since the territory of the Lithuanian principality was formed precisely at the expense of the Russian lands of the weakened Kievan Rus, but due to the presence of Russian boyars, on which the Novogrudok principality was based, and additions (3) - Principality of Zhemoytskoe(Zhomoytsky, Zhemaytsky, Zhyamaytsky, Zhmudsky - various transcriptions of the name of the second union of the Baltic tribes, known in Russia as Zhmud - were introduced by a new dynasty of princes Gediminoviches, originating from the Samogitian tribes.
The first mention of Lithuania in the European Annals of Quedlinburg is under 1009 year when describing the death of a certain missionary Bruno of Querfurt, who was killed "on the border of Russia and Lithuania", which itself is referred to as Lituae, that is Lithuania in the form of an indirect case (in the sense - Lithuanian- for the border name).
Perhaps the terms Lituae and lithuanians in Europe they spread from the crusaders of the Teutonic Order, who seized the lands of the Prussians, which for neighboring related Baltic tribes became factor for the formation own state. The Russian chronicle mentions the Litvins almost at the same time, but in connection with the campaigns of Prince Yaroslav the Wise in 1040 against the Yotvingians. It seems to me that the reason for the punitive campaign of the powerful Kyiv prince was the predatory raids of the squads of the emerging Lithuanian state, as an alliance of tribes on the outskirts of Russia, since the Baltic lands themselves were hardly of particular economic interest to Russia. It was during Yaroslav's campaign that the Novgrudok fortress was laid as an outpost, which later turned into the Russian city of Novogrudok, which became the first capital of the Lithuanian principality.
Actually, Lithuanian tribes lived surrounded by Eastern Slavs from the Krivichi tribe, who were paid tribute, so the Western Russian dialect of the Krivichi was understandable to the Balts. To designate the Balts from Lithuanian union of tribes in Russia constructed the term litvin , litvin- by analogy with the Russian self-name - Rusyn, Rusyn, and in Europe they constructed the term - lithuanians to designate the subjects of the Lithuanian proto-state.
For us it is no longer so important where it came from the word Lithuania- it is most likely that this was the self-name of the tribe that once ruled in the union of the Baltic tribes and was able to nominate the first rulers from its ranks - elite, which gave its own name litvin to all subjects. Already later - from the word litvin ethnonym occurred Lithuanians, when the population of the main indigenous lands () needed to somehow separate themselves from their neighbors.
I do not insist on reliability, and for Russian history the issue of the emergence of the state among the Balts is relevant only in the plane of the emergence of Lithuanian Rus, which became a competitor to the Muscovite kingdom, ripening inside Vladimir-Suzdal Rus.
In this article, the reader will need an idea of the empire as a state entity, the whole essence of which lies in the unlimited expansion of borders. This "spring" sewn into Lithuanian principality allowed him to turn from an unknown tiny city-state of Novogrudok into the most powerful state in Eastern Europe.
Further article Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia from Wikipedia, which still had to be edited a little. It is possible to understand the history of the Lithuanian-Russian state only by imagining a clear periodization, since at different stages we are dealing with a completely different state, which changes not only the size of its territory, but the political vector of development. Initially Lithuanian principality arises and acts as a typical principality of Kievan Rus, participating in the civil strife of Russian princes, which continues despite the Tatar-Mongol yoke.
However, soon two global forces - the European empire (papal throne and German emperors) on the one hand and the khans (elite) of the Golden Horde begin to "pull" the Russian principalities left without a center on different sides of the "barricade", both on the issue of choosing a faith, and political orientation. Moreover, a feature of those times is the literal undisguised coincidence of "the interests of states" with the personal interests of their rulers in full accordance with the theory of elites.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia
History of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania is an Eastern European state that existed from the middle of the 13th century to 1795 on the territory of modern Belarus and Lithuania, as well as partly Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, Poland, Estonia and Moldova.
Periodization of the history of the Principality of Lithuania
1. ON from 1240 to 1385 - as an independent Russian principality, fighting against Southwestern (Galician) Russia and Northeastern (Vladimir-Suzdal) Russia for the collection of Kievan lands for yourself. The death of Alexander Nevsky and the flare-up between his heirs allowed the Principality of Lithuania to seize the middle lands of Kievan Rus, and later to annex almost the entire territory of the Galicia-Volyn principality. becoming the most powerful state in Eastern Europe.
2. Since 1385, after the conclusion of a personal union with the Kingdom of Poland, the Principality of Lithuania has been included in the union state, where the main role belongs to the Polish gentry. The reason was the weakening of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the wars against Muscovy, which openly announced the gathering of Russian lands.
Since 1385, it was in a personal union with the Kingdom of Poland, and since 1569 - in the Sejm Union of Lublin as part of the confederal state of the Commonwealth. In the XIV-XVI centuries - a rival of the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the struggle for dominance in the Russian lands. It was abolished by the Constitution on May 3, 1791. It finally ceased to exist after the third partition of the Commonwealth in 1795. By 1815, the entire territory of the former principality became part of Russian Empire.
Russia and Lithuania
In the Russian chronicles, the first dated mention of Lithuania dates back to 1040, when the campaign of Yaroslav the Wise against the Yotvingians took place and the construction of the Novogrudok fortress began - i.e. a Russian outpost was founded against the Litvins - New town, whose name later became Novogrudok.
Since the last quarter of the 12th century, many principalities bordering Lithuania (Gorodenskoe, Izyaslavskoe, Drutskoe, Gorodetskoe, Logoiskoe, Strezhevskoe, Lukomskoe, Bryachislavskoe) have left the field of view of ancient Russian chroniclers. According to the Tale of Igor's Campaign, Prince Izyaslav Vasilkovich died in battle with Lithuania (earlier in 1185). In 1190, Rurik Rostislavich organized a campaign against Lithuania in support of his wife's relatives, came to Pinsk, but due to snowmelt, the further campaign had to be canceled. Since 1198, the Polotsk land has become a springboard for the expansion of Lithuania to the north and northeast. 
Lithuanian invasions begin directly in Novgorod-Pskov (1183, 1200, 1210, 1214, 1217, 1224, 1225, 1229, 1234), Volyn (1196, 1210), Smolensk (1204, 1225, 1239, 1248) and Chernigov (1220) lands with which annalistic Lithuania had no common borders. The Novgorod first chronicle under 1203 mentions the battle of the Chernigov Olgoviches with Lithuania. In 1207, Vladimir Rurikovich of Smolensk went to Lithuania, and in 1216 Mstislav Davydovich of Smolensk defeated the Litvins, who were plundering the outskirts of Polotsk.
article Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Wikipedia. had to be corrected because in the period before no formations of the principality of Lithuania Lithuanians did not exist but were Lithuanians ka collectively the name of the Balts, who raided deep into the Russian principalities.
History of the Principality of Lithuania
If you follow the chronicles, then at the beginning of the second millennium, the Baltic tribes often raided the nearest Russian principalities, which allowed the Russian chroniclers to correlate the robbers with the territory already known in Russia, for which the generalized name Lithuania. However, the Balts themselves have not yet been united into a single union, since we know at least about TWO unions - a separate union of the Samogitian tribes, and we are interested in the Lithuanian union based on Aukshaits, which, after the Yotvingians entered it, just received a common the name of Lithuania. In those ancient times, when no one asked the nationality of the robbers, all the gangs of robbers from the Varangian Sea in Russia were called the same and without distinction - Litvins from Lithuania. Lithuania, running out of its forests to the border villages of Pskov, was devastating.
Actually, already THAT Lithuanian tribes pursued only purely predatory goals, tells us that the state organization of Lithuania was loose - the meaning of allied relations was to create a single detachment of armed men to carry out robberies of neighbors who clearly already had a higher level state structure in the form of principalities, headed by all means princes from the same Rurik family, which united them into one confederation of principalities, which had the name Rus.
The chronicles tell us that the Russian princes, in order to pacify the Litvins, themselves carried out punitive raids on the lands of the Balts, erecting defensive fortresses on the borders with the lands of the Balts, one of which was Novogrudok, which turned into the center of a small newly formed Russian principality. However, against the backdrop of expansion by the Crusaders, and especially after the defeat of Russia by the Mongol-Tatars, the policy of the elites of this border Russian principality towards neighboring unions of Lithuanian tribes begins to change. Armed squads from the Balts, who have already gained experience in waging war, begin to invite the Russian border city for defense, which is expressed in chronicle form as an "invitation to reign" their leaders (which had already happened before Mindovg).
It should be noted that - history of the Lithuanian state, most likely, it would never have started like that, because the Balts had already been pushed back from all sides by the Order of the Crusaders - the Teutonic and Livonian, well, why hide - Russia itself, if in a small Russian principality - the boyars (read correctly - the elite) would not have dared to invite the Lithuanian leader Mindovg with his retinue to reign. This is how TWO problems were solved at once - (1) the armed guards appeared and (2) the raids stopped, the raids from Lithuania, since they themselves Lithuanians began to defend Novogrudok.
They were able to break the inexorable rule about the possibility of reigning only members of the Rurik family in Novogrudok due to the circumstances of the weakening of Russia, when the clan of the princes of Rurik, who owned Russia, was severely reduced as a result of defeats in battles with the Mongols-Tatars. Actually, both in relation to the crusaders, chained together with horses in armor, and in relation to the unusual deceptive tactics of the Tatar cavalry, Russia was faced with an unfamiliar technology of warfare. Moreover, almost unarmed Tatars on small horses turned out to be even more invulnerable than German knights clad in iron.
The third condition for the success of the first Lithuanian prince was the almost immediate support from the Pope of Rome and the European Empire, which, with the assistance of Poland, were colonizing the Baltic lands. Giving Mindovg the title of king was an advance to attract Lithuania to the side of Catholic Europe. Although the heirs of Mindovg were no longer crowned kings, they by all rights acquired the title of grand dukes, even according to the concepts adopted in the empire of the Eastern Slavs. The royal title was never required by the Lithuanian princes, since the Lithuanian principality was Russian, and Russia had its own tradition of glorifying rulers, in which only the title "Grand Duke" was supreme.
What are the reasons for the formation of the Principality of Lithuania
Reasons for the formation of the Lithuanian principality- in changing the policy of the Russian elite of the Russian city of Novogrudok in relation to the leaders of the unions of neighboring Lithuanian tribes with a hostile one - to the creation of a single state association - Russian-Lithuanian state- in the form of the Novgrudok principality, in which - in principle, "Russian" in its location - the invited Litvin began to rule Mindovg, how first Lithuanian prince.
I think then no one really thought about what to call the new Russian-Lithuanian state- it turned out that the adjective Lithuanian placed before the word principality, especially since the Mindrvgu had no choice but to accept the Western Russian language as the state language - simply, formation of the Lithuanian-Russian state began in the Russian city of Novogrudok. Any Baltic language was of no interest to anyone, since the language of communication between Rusyns and Litvins, probably, had long been the Rusyn language.
Now, after answering the question - what are the reasons for the formation of the Lithuanian principality, I want to give an idea of the states themselves in the era of feudalism. In Russian orthodox history, they put forward in the first place as something unusual - features of Kievan Rus as a confederation of almost independent principalities, which allows some anti-Russian historians to argue that the state itself - Kievan Rus - did not really exist. Actually, they appeal to today's idea of the structure of the state as centralized, the creation of which in Russia only Ivan the Terrible will be able to complete.
Firstly, Kyiv Russia is just a term for a period in the history of Russia called Kyiv or pre-Mongolian- from before the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars, when Kyiv was the political center and capital of the ancient Russian state. Then feudal fragmentation, which is worn like a written bag - was not a unique feature of the ancient Russian state - in Europe, all states were separate fiefs as some kind of territory that the feudal lord COULD PERSONALLY BYPASS to collect taxes. Since, simply for physical reasons, the feudal lord could not control a large territory, the European principalities were small in size. The states in Europe were like a nesting doll - small fiefs formed a larger fief of a signora, larger in relation to the fiefs of vassals, since it overlapped them. Even larger were the fiefs of lords, princes or dukes, which together constituted the fief of the king or grand duke, whose fief was considered the state.
Secondly, the principle according to which only members of the exclusively Rukovichi family could reign in the Russian principalities was also not unique, although it was fulfilled unquestioningly for hundreds of years after the bloody lesson taught by the Prophetic Oleg to the Kyiv "imposters" - from simple combatants who took the place of the Kyiv princes and sentenced to death only for the lack of kinship with Rurik. Indeed, the entire history of the European empire just shows us the struggle of the princes for the device of themselves or their descendants to the vacant place of the monarch.
Features of the Lithuanian state were typical of territorial empires, which no doubt was Lithuanian principality 13th-15th century, since it was formed by the leader of the pagan Balts, who became a prince in a Christian Orthodox principality, inhabited by Rusyns, but outside the principality they were already called Litvins. The main feature of the Lithuanian state thing is great state of lithuania became a "melting pot" in which two current nations were formed - Lithuanians and Belarusians, as the descendants of those Litvins and Russians who were united by the Great Russian-Lithuanian state, which became one of the three parts of Russia during the period of the Mongol yoke under the name.
To understand the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, some periodization should be carried out, since Lithuanian principality in the 13th century is "Great" only in the dreams of his princes, while Grand Duchy of Lithuania 15th century- the largest state in Europe in terms of territory (except for the Golden Horde or, perhaps, North-Eastern Russia, which did not have any fixed borders in the East).
Grand Duchy of Lithuania 13th century
The consolidation of the Principality of Lithuania took place against the backdrop of a gradual offensive by the crusaders of the Order of the Sword in Livonia and the Teutonic Order in Prussia, leading a crusade for the conversion to Christianity of the pagan Prussians, who stubbornly continued to adhere to their ancient pagan beliefs. Unfortunately, the details of the existence of statehood among the Baltic tribes themselves remained out of the attention of chroniclers, since the Teutonic Order did not keep records of events among the conquered Baltic tribes, and Russian chroniclers since the campaign of Yaroslav the Wise have lost interest in the peoples of this region of Kievan Rus, since the main the crusaders of the Teutonic and Livonian orders become enemies, the fight against which belongs to the prerogatives of the princes Novgorod land and the Pskov principality. The rest of Russia focused all its attention on the strife between the brothers princes and the first attack of the Mongol-Tatars, which destroyed the flower of the Russian army.
Princes of the Principality of Lithuania
I hope the reader understands that History is a description of the activities of the elite of society, which makes decisions and is often responsible for the correctness of the choice with life. Everything is in full accordance with the theory of elites - representatives of the people living in different parts of the state are not only unable to assess the event (which is important when writing history), but they do not even know about it if it has not touched them personally. Knowing and evaluating is a function of the elite, which, in order to make life easier for their descendants, only for the sake of keeping them in power as long as possible, begins to write history as an instruction based on accumulated experience. Chronicles were written by literate people in ancient times by order of the authorities, today the intelligentsia offers variants of history - and the elite chooses the option that is beneficial to it in today's conditions.
Therefore, there is no objective history or "in general" - each is written from some point in space and time - to know, from a certain angle, which is necessarily present and determines the assessment of events, and the role of elite representatives in them. The first Lithuanian princes, not burdened with obligations to any numerous parties of the elite or officials, acted on the basis of their purely personal interests, disposing of the state as personal property.
The world is diverse, therefore we are interested in the character, personal qualities and even the appearance of the princes of Lithuania, which definitely influenced the course of history. The logic of development goes by itself, and the mistakes or tactical successes of the princes are a retreat or following the strategy of this logic, which sometimes changes the goals of the logic itself.
The first Lithuanian princes
First Lithuanian prince first mentioned in the treaty of 1219 between the Galicia-Volyn principality and the "princes" of Lithuania, devils and Samogitians ( lithuania- in the sense of the name of the union of Lithuanian tribes). In Russian, the agreement appears Prince Mindovg, how fourth leader on the list of leaders of the Balts, which immediately raises the question of the reasons why the future first prince of Lithuania occupied by 1240 a leading position among the rest of the Lithuanian leaders-princes.
We must understand that the Lithuanian princes mentioned in the annals were still leaders of tribal unions, since concept of prince suggests that he has a personal castle - a fortress or in the old Russian detinets, around which a city grows. Since we do not know about Lithuanian cities, the Lithuanian leaders have not yet distinguished themselves so much from among their fellow tribesmen as to have a fortified personal dwelling with a warehouse for storing the collected tribute. However, the further history of Mindovg's approval as the first among the five leaders mentioned in the annals confirms the fact that among the Balts there are already families or clans that have seized power or have hereditary advantages to take the place of the leader. Perhaps someone else, due to their personal courage or wisdom, could still take the place of the leader, but the story of the rise of Mindovg shows that the men of his family are already aware of the value of supporting each other in order to find the whole family in a privileged position among the rest of the tribe. The chronicle mentions Mindovg as the fourth, and shortly after his becoming a prince, his brothers and nephews are listed, who occupy key positions in power among the Baltic tribes. The rest of the leaders from the annalistic list of leaders disappear from the historical scene, apparently pushed aside by a close-knit group of men from the Mindovga clan.
Actually, the above paragraph is the beginning of a separate article - as an insert into this article, which has already become too large. The first Lithuanian princes they also acted as leaders of the squad from the Balts, since it was important for them to receive support precisely among their fellow tribesmen and, accordingly, members of their own family, who occupied key positions in the unions of the Baltic tribes. Obviously, the resource of the Russian Novogrudok Principality was immediately used to strengthen the position of Mindovg's relatives in the power structures of the Lithuanian captive unions.
On the other hand, an invitation to a principality had only the force of an agreement of a hired leader of a military squad, and the practice of invitation itself had ancient traditions, when the squad was expelled. Therefore, the first prince of Lithuania should be regarded as a successful adventurer who, like Rurik, managed to realize the opportunity and gain a foothold in the place of the prince, without relying on any party or family ties among the Russian boyars. Most likely, the first Lithuanian prince was a member of the dynasty of the Polotsk princes through the female line, as the chronicle hints at. The Principality of Polotsk itself lost its significance, but a century earlier it was in second place among the Russian principalities, the lot of the first heirs to the throne of the Kyiv Grand Dukes.
I single out Mindovg both as a person and as the leader of the Baltic tribes, who became the first prince and for the Balts themselves, who became citizens of the state he created on the Russian lands of Black Russia and the adjacent lands of the Balts themselves.
Board of Mindaugas
So, once again, let us recall the geopolitical situation in the Baltic region, when the Russian principalities, weakened by the defeat from the Tatar-Mongols, leave the border lands out of their sphere of attention, where, in violation of the rule, it became possible to invite princes not from the Rurik dynasty. According to one of the hypotheses, the boyars of the Russian city of Novogrudok and Lithuanian prince Mindovg begin negotiations on an invitation to reign closer to 1240, when Mindovg is nominated for the role of chief leader among the leaders of the Baltic tribes. The main danger for Novogrudok came from Prince Daniel of Galicia, since Galicia-Volyn principality in its expansionist desire to dominate the whole of Russia, itself - the former most southwestern principality, "reached out" even to the northern outskirts of Russia. The eastern direction for the expansion of the Galician principality was blocked by the Tatars, in the western direction the prince of Galicia was looking for friendship with Hungary, only the northern direction remained.
The first Lithuanian prince successfully used the opposition of the Principality of Pskov, and most importantly, of Alexander Nevsky, who reigned in Novgorod, with Daniil of Galicia, but in the end, Lithuania fell under the influence of the Galicia-Volyn principality, which became the main fighter against the crusaders invited by the Polish king to Prussian lands. Novgorod and Pskov would simply have annexed the principality of Novogrudok, and an alliance with the strong principality of Galicia would provide the principality of Lithuania with the possibility of independence from the Russian principalities, and help in the fight against the crusaders. In addition, the remoteness from the Golden Horde allowed the Principality of Lithuania not to pay tribute and accumulate resources, even providing it with security from the sudden raids of the Tatars. All history of the Principality of Lithuania- this is its expansion due to the weakening Galicia-Volyn principality, which did not have such a successful geopolitical position.
Considering the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the aspect of its formation as Lithuanian Rus, we must remember that immediately after the invasion of the Tatars, Kievan Rus broke up into TWO parts - the long-standing unauthorized Galicia-Volyn principality and the northeastern confederation of Russian principalities. Galician Russia came into contact with the European empire, from which it began to seek protection in the confrontation with the Golden Horde, and North-Eastern Russia, at the hands of Alexander Nevsky, entered into a close alliance with the Golden Horde. Moreover, the help of the Western European empire demanded from Galician Russia a profound change in the cultural and religious foundations, while the Tatars did not seek to change anything in the states they captured, in which their original way of life was preserved. As history has shown, CHOICE Alexander Nevsky turned out to be more effective for the self-preservation of Russia. The core for the revival of Russia was preserved precisely in the northern principalities, among which Moscow became the main collector of Russian lands.
The most likely reason for inviting Mindovg to reign in Russian Novogrudok was his hypothetical belonging to the Russian dynasty of Polotsk princes (see Mindovg's biography), since at that time kinship with princes and dynastic marriages were crucial for occupying the princely throne. Occupation by a pagan of the place of a prince in an Orthodox city was not something unusual, since no one paid attention to this. The baptism of Mindovg according to the Orthodox rite is not recorded, but most likely was with his family, since his son Voyshelk makes a pilgrimage to Athos and becomes a monk, but the baptism of Mindovg according to the Catholic rite in 1251 is a recorded fact that clearly served the political goals of easing pressure by the ordering Catholic states.
History of the Lithuanian state begins with the wars that Prince Mindovg organizes to turn his tiny Novogrudok principality into the Principality of Lithuania, for which, first of all, he eliminates rivals among the leaders of the Baltic tribes, forcing his nephew Tovtivil (mindovk’s protege in the Principality of Polotsk) together with the rest of the leaders to make a campaign against the Smolensk lands, promising the occupied lands to their control. Having learned about the failure of the campaign, Mindovg seized the lands of the prince-leaders and tried to organize their murder. Most likely, the leaders from the failed Smolensk campaign returned not to their own, but to other tribes of the Balts.
Lithuanian king
To weaken the coalition of his enemies, which included the Livonian Order, Prince Mindovg goes to the trick - he "gives" the Livonian Order the lands of the recalcitrant Baltic tribes in exchange, first for baptism according to the Catholic rite, and then in 1253 coronation of Mindaugas by order of Pope Innocent IV. Having presented the Livonian Order with part of the Samogitian and Yatvingian lands, Mindovg strengthens its power over all Black Russia (the word "Black" goes back to the ancient designation of the cardinal point - Server - y, for what reason the name Bela Rus will initially denote North-Eastern Russia, and Red Russia- southern Galich lands of Russia).
It is necessary to understand the political situation of Western (Black) Russia, which became the historical center of the Mindovga principality, as the northwestern wedge of Russian lands, on which the interests of the Catholic German orders and Veliky Novgorod, which opposes them, led by Alexander Nevsky, the Kingdom of Poland and Daniel of Galicia, converged, moreover , for the latter, Mindovg turned out to be a natural ally. For Galicia-Volyn Principality of Lithuania as an independent one, it was of interest to oppose rivals, which in no way canceled Daniil's claims to reign by the right of the Rurikovichs, therefore, as we know, Mindovg was forced to transfer the rule in Novogrudok to Daniel's son - Roman, which, together with the rebaptism of Mindovg to Catholicism, leads him to confrontation with his own son Voyshelok, who led the Orthodox party.
Voyshelka's biography confirms the thesis that the Lithuanian princes became Russian princes already in the second generation, since son of Mindovg demonstrates exceptional fidelity to Orthodoxy. In addition, Voyshelk goes against the pagan father, who was baptized several times for political purposes and returned to paganism before his death, and returns to reign only for the sake of becoming a truly Russian principality of Lithuania, since he himself recognizes the right of the Ruriks to reign and voluntarily transfers the reign to Shvarn, son Daniil Galitsky. From Voyshelka, the Principality of Lithuania is firmly included in the "clip" of the Russian principalities on the rights of an appanage principality.
Actually, it is difficult to show the borders of the Lithuanian-Russian state under Mindovga and Voyshelka on the map - I depicted the area that captures the Russian lands and the lands of the Balts. It is more important for me to show that literally after a few years of reigning (in 1254), Mindovg recognizes his Russian principality as part of the empire of the Galician prince Daniel, planting in Novogrudok, the former capital of the principality, Roman Danilovich, the son of Daniel. In fact, this was the recognition of the laws of Russia on the reign, according to which only a member of the Rurik dynasty could reign. In fact, a strange situation arises when King Mindovg, having transferred the capital to Rurikovich, himself is in an unknown residence - most likely precisely because of the unknown - on the territory of the Lithuanian tribes. The dual power will continue under the son of Mindovg - Voyshelka, who will kill Roman Danilovich, but then voluntarily give the Principality of Lithuania to another son of Daniel - Shvarn Danilovich, in turn recognizing the unconditional rights of the Ruriks to reign in any Russian principality.
The first Lithuanian princes could not fight against the rules of Galician Rus, which was not only the hegemon in the region, but also almost the only natural ally of the Lithuanian princes. Most likely, the Novogrudok principality would simply have been annexed by the Russian neighbors, but as an outpost of the Galicia-Volyn principality in the northwestern corner of Russia, it was preserved as public education. The patronage of Galician Rus had to be paid for by the transfer of power to the sons of Daniel of Galicia, but they also contributed to the expansion of the territory and the strengthening of the principality as not a specific, but a Grand Duchy.
Another thing is that the Galicia-Volyn principality itself, for which the Lithuanian principality became a lot, begins to fall apart for several reasons at once, which, in the face of the weakening influence of the Galician princes, allows a new generation of Lithuanian impostors from the Zhmud leaders to seize power in the Lithuanian principality and create a new dynasty of Lithuanian princes - Gediminovichi.
The murder of Shvarn as a legitimate Russian prince from the Rurik dynasty opposed the Lithuanian principality to the rest of Russia. After several political assassinations of the new princes, obviously self-promoted by their military squad, the princely power is finally consolidated under Gediminas, as the prince of the Lithuanian principality, independent of the Galician grand dukes.
As I already said, activities of the Lithuanian princes covered in a separate article - but we note that with Gediminas, the expansion of the Lithuanian principalities begins due to the annexation, first of all, of the southern Russian lands. After the death of the main (from our point of view) political figures - Alexander Nevsky and Daniil Galitsky, their states were fragmented into inheritances of heirs who did not particularly show themselves, except for Daniil Alexandrovich, who, with his peace-loving policy, brought the seedy specific Moscow principality to the first row of the most influential principalities.
The entry of Lithuania into the political system of Catholic Europe for a couple of decades allowed Mindovg to strengthen his power among the Baltic tribes, and create an alliance with the Galicia-Volyn principality by transferring the reign in Novogrudok to the son of the Galician prince Roman Danilovich (Novogrudok prince 1254-1258). The union was not overshadowed by the joint campaign against Poland and Lithuania by the Horde and Galicians, organized under pressure from the khans of the Zola Horde, who did not forgive Mindovga for accepting the title of king from the pope. Daniil Galitsky himself evaded the campaign, transferring command to his brother, Prince of Volyn Vasilko Romanovich, which did not save his son Roman Danilovich from being captured by Voyshelka, the son of Mindovg, who led the Russian party in Novogrudok. Roman Danilovich was killed in 1258, which coincides with the renunciation of Mindovg from Christianity (it is not clear whether only from Catholicism) and the return to open struggle against the Catholic Orders. After supporting several uprisings of the Prussians, the Litvins under the leadership of Midovg won the Battle of Durba, which became the stage for the accession of Samogitia to the GDL. However, in 1263, Mindovg, along with his younger sons, was killed as a result of a conspiracy organized by the Polotsk prince Tovtivil and Mindovg's nephews - Troynat and Dovmont, which ended with the occupation of the place of Grand Duke Troynat (1263-1264), who soon killed the head of the conspirators Tovtivil.
A strong Lithuanian-Russian state existed on the territory of Eastern Europe for more than three centuries. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia3 arose on the lands of the former Kievan state, where the Mongols did not “come”. The unification of Western Russian lands began in the second third of the 13th century under the Grand Duke of Lithuania Mindovge. During the reign of Gediminas and his son Olgerds, the territorial expansion of Lithuania continued. It included Polotsk, Vitebsk, Minsk, Drutsk principalities, Turov-Pinsk Polissya, Beresteyshchyna, Volyn, Podolia, Chernihiv land and part of the Smolensk region. In 1362, Prince Olgerd defeated the Tatars at the Battle of Blue Water and captured Podolia and Kyiv. Indigenous Lithuania was surrounded by a belt of Russian lands, which made up 9/10 of the entire territory of the newly formed state, stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Today it is the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine.
Russian cultural influence in the new state prevailed, subjugating the politically dominant people - the Lithuanians. Gediminas and his sons were married to Russian princesses, the Russian language dominated the court and official office work. Lithuanian writing at that time did not exist at all.
Until the end of the 14th century, Russian regions within the state did not experience national-religious oppression. The structure and character of local life was preserved, the descendants of Rurik remained in their economic positions, having lost little politically, since the system of the Lithuanian and Russian states was of a federal nature. The Grand Duchy was rather a conglomerate of lands and possessions than a single political entity. Until some time, Russian cultural influence in the state of Lithuania and Russia was growing steadily. The Gediminids became Russified, many of them converted to Orthodoxy. There were obvious trends leading towards the formation of a new version of Russian statehood in the southern and western lands of the former Kyiv state.
These tendencies were broken when Jagiello became the Grand Duke. In 1386, he converted to Catholicism and formalized the union of the Lithuanian-Russian principality with Poland. The aspirations of the Polish gentry to penetrate the vast Western Russian lands were satisfied. Her rights and privileges quickly exceeded those of the Russian aristocracy. Catholic expansion began in the western lands of Russia. Large regional principalities were abolished in Polotsk, Vitebsk, Kyiv and other places, self-government was replaced by governorship. The Lithuanian aristocracy changed its cultural orientation from Russian to Polish. Polonization and catholicization captured part of the Western Russian nobility. However, the majority of Russians remained faithful to Orthodoxy and ancient traditions.
National-religious hostility began, which did not exist until the 80s of the XIV century. This enmity developed into a tough political struggle, during which a part of the Western Russian population inevitably grew stronger in favor of the Muscovite state. The "departure" of Orthodox princes to Muscovy began. In 1569, according to the Union of Lublin, two states - Polish and Lithuanian-Russian - united into one - the Commonwealth. Later, at the end of the 18th century, the Commonwealth ceased to exist, and its territory was divided between three states: Russia, Prussia and Austria-Hungary.
The territorial boundaries of the GDL were established in the second half of the 14th century. They stretched from the Baltic to the Black Seas from north to south, from Brest to Smolensk from west to east.
The creation of the state was started by the Lithuanian prince Mindovg. Chronicle Lithuania was located on the modern East Lithuanian and northwestern Belarusian lands. In the second half of the 40s. 13th century Mindovg became a prince in Novogrudok, where he accepted the Orthodox faith in 1246. In the late 40s - early 50s. 13th century he wins Lithuania for himself, uniting it with Novogrudok, enters into an alliance with the Livonian Order, accepts Catholicism for diplomatic reasons and is crowned in Novogrudok. With this act, the Catholic world recognized the legitimacy and independence of the ON, equalized it with other European countries.
In 1264 Woishalk (1264 - 1267) became the Grand Duke, who conquered and annexed the Baltic lands of Nalshany and Devoltva to his possessions, and also united Novogrudok, Pinsk, Polotsk and Vitebsk lands.
The basis of the GDL was the neighboring Baltic and East Slavic lands, because the population of both lands was interested in political unification. Feudal principalities-powers that existed on the territory of Belarus in the 10th-12th centuries. brought their experience of statehood, economy and culture to the new state, turning it into the Grand Duchy.
6. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the XIV - XV centuries.
In the first half of the XIV century. ON borders expanded and strengthened Gedimin(1316-1341). Gediminas in 1323 founded the new capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - Vilna. The power of Gediminas extended to almost all Belarusian lands.
Son of Gediminas Olgerd sought to include in the ON all the Russian lands that were part of Kievan Rus. A significant part of today's Smolensk, Bryansk, Kaluga, Tula, Oryol, Moscow and Tver regions became subject to him.
In the XIV century. there was a further military-political strengthening of the GDL, the Grand Dukes began to be titled not only Lithuanian, but also Russian. The GDL became Slavic not only in terms of the official, state language, which Old Belarusian was, but also in terms of the predominance of the Slavic population.
But in late XIV in. A new stage in the history of the ON began. The situation changed after the death of Olgerd and the beginning of the reign of his son Jagiello(1377 - 1392). The dynastic struggle between Jagiello, his brother Vitovt and uncle Keistut, the aggressive policy of the Order, the aggravation of relations with the Moscow principality, the intrigues of Rome against Orthodoxy pushed Jagiello to an alliance with Poland. In 1385 was signed Union of Krevo- Jagiello converted to Catholicism, took the name Vladislav, married Queen Jadwiga and was declared the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania.
7. State and political system of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In the initial period, the GDL consisted of specific principalities, as well as regions that were in federal relations with the central government (Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk, Samogitian lands), and from the territories of Lithuania proper with part of the Belarusian lands. Kyiv, Volyn and Podolsk lands had a special autonomous status. They were ruled by princes - governors. In the XV century. Vitovt created a new political and administrative system. The Grand Duchy included six voivodships: Vilna, Trok, Kiev, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Smolensk and (since the 16th century) two starostvos - Zhemoytsky and Volynsky.
ON was a monarchy headed by the Grand Duke. The prince was elected by the nobility from among the representatives of the princely dynasty. Under the Grand Duke, the Panyrada acted as an advisory body. A narrow circle of persons from the members of the council closest to the prince made up the front, or secret council.
At the beginning of the XV century. (1401) a new body of state power began to operate - the general (general) diet. From the middle of the XVI century. The general Sejm consisted of the State Council - the Senate and of the district ambassadors - deputies, who made up the Ambassadorial hut.
