Military monks from Livonia and Teutonic appeared in this area. The former was founded in Riga in 1202, and the latter took root in Prussia in 1226. Christian knights posed a great threat to the pagan Baltic tribes and further promoted the formation of countries in this region. 12 19 The peace treaty signed with Galicia-Warwick Company proved the cooperation between Lithuanians and Samogians. The treaty lists 265,438+0 Lithuanian dukes, including five high dukes from Oksthaya (Wenzhi Buddas, Do Gotaas, Wikila, Dausprungas and Mindogas) and several dukes from Samodhya. Although Lithuanians and Samoans used to be at war with each other, now they have to face a common enemy. Perhaps Buddas is the most powerful, and at least several dukes come from the same family. The formal recognition of common interests and the establishment of a ruling class based on the signatory countries of the treaty indicate the rise of a new country. In the treaty with Galicia-Warwick, mindaugas, Duke of South Lithuania, was mentioned as one of the five dukes. According to the rhyming chronicle of Livonia, by the middle of A.D. 1230, Mindagas had gained the supreme power to rule the whole of Lithuania. 1236, Samogians led by Vi Quintas defeated the Livonia Knights in the Battle of Su Le. The order was forced to become a branch of Prussian Teutonic order. This means that Samoggia, a narrow strip separating Livonia from Prussia, became the main target of the two knights. This battle allowed the Knights and Lithuania to breathe in the war, and Lithuania took this opportunity to attack Rusenia and annex New Grudok and Grodno.
1248 a civil war broke out between mindogas and his nephews, Todd Wells and Eddie Vidas. The latter two, together with quintus, the Knights of Livonia, Daniel of Galicia and Vasilco of Warwick Company, formed a former major alliance against Mindogas. Mindaugas used the civil war to form an alliance with the Order of Livonia. He promised to follow Christianity and give up part of the territory of West Lithuania in exchange for a military strike against his nephew and a knight's throne. 125 1 year, Mindagas was baptized, and Pope Sinibaldo Fieschi issued a papal edict announcing the establishment of the Lithuanian kingdom. After the civil war, Mindagas was proclaimed king of Lithuania in 1253, and a period of relative peace began in 10. Mindaugas tried to extend its influence to Polatsk and Pinsk, an important commercial center along the Dogava River. The Teutonic Order used this period to strengthen its position in Samoja and Livonia, but lost in the Battle of Skodas in 1259 and the Battle of Durbeyfield in 1260. These two failures aroused the resistance of Migali and Prussia against the knights.
Incited by Treniota, Mindagas tore up the peace treaty with the Knights, and may return to his old gods to form an alliance with alexander nevsky of Novgorod. He hopes to unify all Baltic tribes under Lithuanian rule. Relations between Mindagas and Treniota deteriorated due to the failure of military operations. Treniota and Daumantas assassinated mindaugas and his two sons, Rukris and Rupeikis, in 1263. Lithuania has since fallen into the haze of years of civil war. From 1263 to 1269, three Lithuanian archduke-Treniota, Vaivilkas and Shiva coexisted. However, the country was not divided, and Traidenis came to power in 1269. He strengthened Lithuanian control in Herusenia, fought against Livonia Knights, and won the Battle of Carruthet in 1270 and the Battle of Azcroklay in 1279. As for the period from Traidenis's death in 1282 to Vitnis's claim to be the Grand Duke in 1295, there is still great controversy about who the Grand Duke of Lithuania is. During this period, the knights decided their conquest. 1274 After the Prussian Uprising, the Teutonic Order continued to conquer other Baltic tribes: from 1274 to 1277, it conquered the Nadruvi and Calvia, and from 1283, it conquered the Jotuns; The Order of Livonia continued to conquer Semigalia, Lithuania's last Baltic ally, in 129 1. Knights can now concentrate on Lithuania. The "buffer zone" composed of other Baltic tribes disappeared, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was forced to fight against the Knights alone.
Vitnis was the first ruler of the Gediminas dynasty, which ruled the Lithuanian Grand Duchy for centuries. His rule was regarded as years of war with knights, the kingdom of Poland and Rusenia. Vitnis took part in the struggle related to the succession of Polish kingship. In the struggle, he supported Polles Lao II of Mazovshe who married the Lithuanian Duchess Goldmonda. In Rusenia, Vitnis tried to recover the land lost after the assassination of Mindagas, and captured the Principality of Pinske and the Principality of Turoff. In the conflict with the knights, Vitnis allied himself with the citizens of Riga. Riga used its solid position to consolidate the trade route and provide a base for further military operations. About 1307, the important commercial center Polotsk was surrounded by troops. Witness also began to build a network of fortifications along the Nieman River. This defense network has gradually become an important line of defense against Teutonic knights. Territorial expansion reached its climax under the rule of Gediminas, who established a powerful centralized government and an empire whose territory extended from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. 1320, the principality of Siros either surrendered to Lithuania or was directly annexed by Lithuania. 132 1 year, Gediminas captured Kiev and exiled Stanislaw, the last member of the Ryukyu dynasty who ruled Kiev. Gediminas rebuilt Vilnius, the permanent capital of the Principality of Lithuania, and probably moved from Trache in 1323. Some scholars, including Maciej Stryjkowski in16th century, think that Novgordok is the capital of Lithuania in13rd century.
Lithuania is an ideal successor to the west and south of Kiev Ross. Almost all the neighboring countries were looted or defeated by Mongols, but Mongolian soldiers stopped at the present border of Belarus, and most parts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were not hurt. Lithuania's expansion has also accelerated, because the Mongols have weak rule over the places they conquered. The duchy of Ross has never been directly incorporated into the golden account khanate. On the contrary, they have always been vassal countries and enjoyed a considerable degree of independence. Lithuania's expansion only met with very weak resistance in the territory of Eastern Slavs, and the Mongolian resistance to them was also very limited, so Lithuania's rise entered an ideal state.
However, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is not only based on great martial arts, but diplomacy and the army have always been equally important to Tao Wan. The vast majority of cities conquered by Lithuania, but not all cities, although not defeated on the battlefield, are willing to surrender to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Because most of them have claimed vassals to the Golden Horde or the Grand Duchy of Moscow before, for them, such a decision is not to give up independence, but to change their owners. This can be seen in Novgorod, which often enters Lithuania's sphere of influence, but only occasionally becomes a vassal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. To some extent, Lithuanian rule was the result of internal struggles among cities, which tried to avoid surrendering to Matsov. However, the founding of the country is not stable. Changes in the city's internal policies may pull it out of Lithuania's jurisdiction, which has happened many times in Novgorod and other eastern Slavic cities. Lithuania converted to Christianity in 1387. This transformation was initiated by Jorge, who translated Christian prayers into Taowan language. Lithuania's national strength reached its peak during the reign of Vitotas the Great (1392 to 1430). Vitautas is one of the most famous rulers of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy. He is the grand duke of 140 1 to 1430, as well as Grodno (1370-1382) and Lutzke (1387-1382). D Tatas is the son of costou titus, the cousin of Ugera and the grandfather of Vasily II. His cousin Jorge became king of Poland on 1386. 14 10 The army of the Grand Duchy of Vitautas took part in the Battle of Granwad. In this battle, the Polish-Lithuanian Coalition forces won a decisive victory over the Teutonic Order. Tatas supported domestic economic development and carried out many reforms. During his reign, Vitautas gradually centralized power in the Lithuanian Grand Duchy. He replaced the local prince with a local governor loyal to him. These local governors are rich landlords, forming the aristocratic class of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Under the rule of Vi Tatas, the Laziwu family and the Gosh Tatas family began to gain influence.
However, due to the rapid expansion of its influence, the Grand Duchy of Moscow became the enemy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 1478 After the annexation of Novgorod, the Grand Duchy of Moscow was indeed the most prominent country in Northeast Europe. During the period from 1492 to 1508, Russian Ivan III of Russia won the crucial battle of Vidrosha and recovered the homeland of Kiev Ross, such as chernigov and Bryansk. Lithuania's territory was occupied by Moscow, which threatened Lithuania and forced Lithuania to move closer to Poland. Lithuania and its western neighbors merged into the Polish-Lithuanian Federation ("two-state federation") in the lublin Union of 1569. According to the alliance, most of Lithuania's territory was Russenized in the past and transferred to Polish territory, and Lithuania itself was gradually Polish under Polish rule. Before the Constitution was adopted on May 3, 179 1, the Grand Duchy still retained many powers in the Federation (including its own government, treasury and army).
In the early days of the founding of Lithuania, Poland began to invade Latvia, Estonia and other neighboring countries, and in 1558, it launched a 25-year Latvian war for Latvia and Russian Emperor Ivan the Terrible. Although the kingdom has won in the war, there are constant wars and conflicts with Russia and Sweden, and its national strength is consuming day by day. From the middle of16th century, Russia gradually invaded the kingdom by swallowing silkworms, and annexed a large area of land, making the kingdom crumbling. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, Prussia rose, and finally, the land of the kingdom was divided up by Russia, Austria and Prussia. 1795, the Lithuanian kingdom of Poland officially perished. After the partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Federation, most of the territory of the former Grand Duchy was directly annexed by the Russian Empire, but not transferred to the Polish Parliamentary Kingdom (composed of the rest of the Federation, with the Russian czar as the monarch). However, in 18 12, on the eve of the Russian-French war, anti-Russian riots broke out in the former Grand Duchy. After Napoleon arrived in Vilnius, he announced the establishment of the provisional representative government of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and rebuilt the Polish-Lithuanian Union accordingly. However, because Napoleon's "great army" was repelled by Russia only half a year later and continued to retreat to the west, the alliance was never realized. 18 12 12 In February, Vilnius was reoccupied by the Russian army, ending all plans to rebuild the Grand Duchy.