Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Merveilles des Morte)

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
1501 - Present
Royal Banner (c. 1605) Royal Coat of arms
Motto: "Si Deus nobiscum quis contra nos" "If God is with us, then who is against us"
Capital	Warsaw
Common languages	Official: Polish and Latin Regional: Lithuanian Ruthenian (see Languages section for details)
Religion	Official: Roman Catholicism Minority: Eastern Orthodox Christianity Jungism Judaism Islam
Government	Parliamentary monarchy with elective monarch at the top of the state
King
Legislature	General sejm
• Privy council	Senate
Historical era	Early modern period
• Union established	1 July 1501
• Disestablished	Present
Area
1582	815,000 km2 (315,000 sq mi)
1618	1,000,000 km2 (390,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1582	8000000
• 1618	12000000
ISO 3166 code	[[ISO 3166-2:|]]

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth – formally, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – was a country and bi-federation of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch in real union, who was both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Formed in 1501 through the Union of Mielnik, Poland-Lithuania was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th- to 17th-century Europe. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered almost 1,000,000 square kilometres (400,000 sq mi) and as of 1618 sustained a multi-ethnic population of almost 12 million. Polish and Latin were the two co-official languages.

History

Olgierd Monarchy

In 1353 Conrad III of Bohemia and Poland died during a conflict with the Republic of Novgorod, and the personal union between the two kingdoms was dissolved. One of Conrad's generals and son-in-law, Stanslaw Olgierd, who also ruled in Lithuania, would negotiate a ten year truce with Novgorod and arrange Conrad's succession at the end of 1352, claiming Poland for himself while promising Bohemia to Conrad's uncle Ottokar III. Stanislaw's position was strengthened due to receiving Conrad's supposed blessing, his position at the head of the remaining Polish army, and his popular decision to end the war with Novgorod and invade Galicia-Volyhnia. Ottokar and Stanislaw would peacefully agree to this division soon after the death of Conrad III, and Stanislaw was formally elected by the Polish nobility in joint rulership with his wife Elizabeth, although the Duke of Austria would lay claim the throne of both nations. Uniquely in Europe, the union connected two states geographically located on the opposite sides of the great civilizational divide between the Western Christian or Latin world, and the Eastern Christian or Byzantine world.

The reign of Stanislaw I would see Poland recover after years of war and the onset of the Black Death, with settlement of the eastern territories from Lithuania promoted as long as settlers converted to Catholicism. The period would also see the growth in power of the Sejm and the Polish nobility, as Stanislaw sold off a large portion of royal lands to pay off debts and placate various officials, and generally relied on the advise of the Sejm to govern the vast kingdom. The 1354 Edict of Warsaw further increased local autonomy and divided the country into various provinces with their own regional governments, with these subdivisions required to provide a set amount of taxes and manpower to the national government. The Polish would fight several wars against Hungary and Balkan states, as well as intervene in the Bohemian Civil War. In the east the country would gain control over vast lands in the Dnieper River basin and territories extending south to the Black Sea, in the aftermath of the repulsion of the Mongols from Eastern Europe. To this end Poland-Lithuania found itself in competition to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and other emerging Russian states.

Although the intention of the union was to create a common state under Stanislaw and his descendants, it soon became clear to the Polish nobility that a unified government incorporating both territories was unfeasible. Territorial disputes between Poland and Lithuania and their respective nobles persisted, and on occasion one faction might conspire with a foreign power than with the other half of the country. Nonetheless, the Olgierd dynasty succeeded in creating a stable period of about a century, despite ceding control gradually over affairs in the central government to the landed nobility.

Eight Years' War

Main article: Eight Years' War (Merveilles des Morte)

Sigismund II Augustus was elected as the new king. At the time, Sweden was fighting with Hansa and Denmark. Sigismund always believed that Poland had the capability to become one of the most powerful nation in Europe, and it didn't get the chance. When Russia joined the war against Sweden, Poland formed an alliance with Sweden and surprised attacked the Hanseatic League. Sigismund made Poland, who has one of the most powerful cavalry in the world, proved to be a mighty nation. It successfully fought against the Russians and the Hanseatic Leauge. After this war, Poland gained eastern territories of Hanseatic League.