Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" width="285" style="margin-left:1.0em;" |+Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narod�w |- | align=center colspan=2 | {| border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 |- | align="center" width="140px" | |- | align="center" width="140px" | Coat of Arms of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, combining Coat of Arms of Poland (eagle) and Coat of Arms of Lithuania |} |- | align=center colspan=2 | ''The Commonwealth around 1619'' |- | Official languages | Polish language and Latin |- | Established church | Roman Catholic Church |- | Capitals | Cracow (until 1596)
Warsaw (from 1596) |- | Largest City | Gdansk, later Warsaw |- | Head of state | List of Polish rulers |- | Area | about 1 million km� |- | Population | about 11 million |- | List of extinct states | 1569 - 1795 |} The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (or the Republic of the Two Nations; in Polish language ''Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narod�w''; in Lithuanian language ''Žečpospolita'' or ''Abiejų tautų respublika''; in Latin ''Most Serene Republic Poloniae''; in Belarusian language ''Рэч Паспалі́тая'') was a federation monarchy-republic formed by the Jagiellon Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569, lasting until 1795. The Commonwealth was an extension of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, a personal union between those two states that had existed from 1386. The Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous states in Europe and for over two centuries successfully withstood aggressions from the Teutonic Order, the Mongol Empire, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Sweden. The Commonwealth was notable for its political system, which was a precursor to modern democracy and federation; for its remarkable religious tolerance; and for the second-oldest written national constitution in the world. Its economics was dominated by agriculture. While the Commonwealth's first century was a golden age for both Poland and Lithuania, the second century was marked by military defeats, a return to serfdom for the peasants, and growing anarchy in political life. The Duchy of Warsaw, established in 1807, traced its origins to the Commonwealth. Other revival movements appeared during the January Uprising (1863-1864) and in the 1920s, when Jozef Pilsudski advanced the concept of a federation of Miedzymorze (translatable as "Tween-Seas"). Today's Poland considers itself a successor to the Commonwealth. == History == ''Main article'': History of Poland (1569-1795) The creation of the Commonwealth by the Union of Lublin in 1569 was one of the signal achievements of Sigismund II Augustus, last king of the Jagiellon dynasty. His death in 1572 was followed by a three-year interregnum during which adjustments were made to the constitutional system that effectively increased the power of the nobility (the ''szlachta'') and established a truly elective monarchy. The Commonwealth reached its Golden Age in the first half of the 17th century. Its powerful parliament (the ''Sejm'') was dominated by nobility who were reluctant to wage offensive wars, thus sparing the country the ravages of the Thirty Years' War. The Commonwealth was mostly victorious against numerous incursions by Sweden, Russia, and vassals of the Ottoman Empire, and even managed for a time to take Moscow during the Russian Time of Troubles. Commonwealth power waned after the double blow of 1648: history's greatest Cossack rebellion (the Chmielnicki Uprising, supported by Crimean Khanate Tatars, in the eastern territories of ''Kresy''), which resulted in Cossacks falling under the Muscovy sphere of influence in 1652, and the Swedish invasion in 1655 (supported by troops of Transylvanian duke Rakoczy and prince-elector of Brandenburg), known as the Deluge, provoked by the policies of Commonwealth kings from the Swedish royal House of Vasa. In the late 17th century, the weakened Commonwealth under King John III of Poland was still strong enough to deal crushing defeats to the Ottoman Empire: in 1683, the Battle of Vienna marked the final turning point in a 250-year struggle between the forces of Christianity Europe and the Islamic Ottoman Empire. Over the next 16 years (in the "Great Turkish War\") the Turks would be permanently driven south of the Danube River, never to threaten central Europe again. By the 18th century, the Commonwealth was facing many internal problems and was vulnerable to foreign influences. This destabilized its political system almost to the brink of anarchism. Attempts at reform, such as those made by the Four-Year Sejm of 1788–1792, which culminated in the May Constitution of Poland of 1791, came too late, and the country was partitions of Poland by the neighboring Russian Empire, Kingdom of Prussia, and Austrian Empire. By 1795 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and Lithuania re-established their independence, as separate countries, only in 1918. How the Commonwealth disappeared from the map of Europe: Image:Rzeczpospolita.png|The Commonwealth at its greatest extent (1648) Image:Rzeczpospolita Rozbiory 1.png|The First Partition (1772) Image:Rzeczpospolita Rozbiory 2.png|The Second Partition (1793) Image:Rzeczpospolita Rozbiory 3.png|The Third Partition (1795). Poland disappears for 123 years. ==State organization and politics== :''See also'': Offices in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ===Commonwealth military=== [[Image:Husarz.jpg|thumb|right|Commonwealth hussars]] Polish Army were commanded by four hetmans. The armies comprised: *''Wojsko kwarciane'': Regular units with wages paid from taxes (these units were later merged with the wojsko komputowe) *''Wojsko komputowe'': Semi-regular units created for times of war (in 1652 these units were merged with the wojsko kwarciane into a new permanent army) *Pospolite ruszenie: Szlachta lev�e en masse *Piechota lanowa and piechota wybraniecka: Units based on peasant recruits *Registered Cossacks: Troops made up of Cossacks, used mainly as infantry, less often as cavalry (with tabor (formation)s) were recruited until 1699 *Royal guard: A small unit whose primary purpose was to escort the monarch and members of his family *Mercenary: As with most other armies, hired to supplement regular units *Private army: In time of peace usually small regiments (few hundred men) were paid for and equipped by magnates or cities. However, in times of war, they were greatly augmented (to even a few thousand men) and paid by state Some units of the Commonwealth used fairly unique tactics. These units included: *Hussars: heavy cavalry armed with lances; their charges were extremely effective until advances in firearms in the late 17th century substantially increased infantry firepower. Members were known as towarzysz towarzysz husarski and were supported by pocztowy's. *Towarzysz pancerny: medium cavalry, armed with sabers or axes, bows, later pistols. Second important cavalry branch of the Polish army. *Cossacks: general name for all Commonwealth units of light cavalry, even if they did not contain a single ethnic Cossack; fast and manueverable like oriental cavalry units of Ottoman Empire vassals, but lacking the firepower of European cavalry such as the Swedish pistol-armed reiters. *Tabor (formation): military horse-drawn wagons, usually carrying army supplies. Their use for defensive formations was perfected by the Cossacks, and to a smaller extent by other Commonwealth units. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy was small and played a relatively minor role in the history of the Commonwealth. === The Golden Liberty === [[Image:Unia Lubelska.JPG|left|thumb|300px|"Union of Lublin" of 1569, oil on canvas by Jan Matejko, 1869, 298 x 512 cm, National Museum (Warsaw).]] The political doctrine of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was: ''our state is a Republic under the presidency of the King''. Kanclerz Jan Zamoyski summed up this doctrine when he said that ''Rex regnat et non gubernat'' (''The King reigns but does not govern''). The Commonwealth had a parliament, the Sejm, as well as a Senat and an elected king. The king was obliged to respect citizens' rights specified in King Henry's Articles as well as in ''pacta conventa'' negotiated at the time of his election. The monarch's power was limited, in favor of a sizable noble class. Each new king had to subscribe to King Henry's Articles, which were the basis of Poland's political system (and included near-unprecedented guarantees of religious tolerance). Over time, King Henry's Articles were merged with the pacta conventa, specific pledges agreed to by the king-elect. From that point, the king was effectively a partner with the noble class and was constantly supervised by a group of senators. The foundations of the Commonwealth, the unique ''Golden Freedoms'' (Polish ''Zlota Wolność'', a term used from 1573), included: * free election of the king by all nobles wishing to participate; * Sejm, the Commonwealth parliament which the king had to hold every two years; * ''pacta conventa'' (Latin), "agreed-to agreements" negotiated with the king-elect, including a bill of rights, binding on the king, derived from the earlier King Henry's Articles; * ''rokosz'' (insurrection) — the right of szlachta to form a legal rebellion against a king who violated their guaranteed freedoms; * ''liberum veto'' (Latin) — the right of an individual Sejm deputy to oppose a decision by the majority in a Sejm session; the voicing of such a "free veto" nullified all the legislation that had been passed at that session; during the crisis of the second half of the 17th century, Polish nobles could also use the liberum veto in provincial sejmiks; * ''konfederacja'' (from the Latin ''confederatio'') — the right to form an organization to force through a common political aim. [[Image:Potega_Rzeczypospolitej_u_zenitu_Zlota_wolnosc_Elekcja_1573.JPG|thumb|300px|right|The Republic at the Zenith of Its Power. Golden Liberty. "The Royal Election in 1573," by Jan Matejko]] The provinces of the Commonwealth enjoyed wide autonomy. Each voivodship had its own parliament (sejmik), which exercised serious political power, including choice of poesl (deputy) to the national Sejm and charging of the deputy with specific voting instructions. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had its own army, treasury and other institutions. The Golden Freedoms created a state that was unusual for its time. Perhaps the most similar political system existed in the city-state Republic of Venice, and it is interesting to note that both states were known as the Most Serene Republic. At a time when most European countries were headed toward centralization, absolute monarchy and religious and dynastic warfare, the Commonwealth experimented with decentralization, confederation and federation, democracy, religious tolerance and even pacifism. Since the Sejm usually vetoed a monarch's plans for war, this constitutes an interesting argument for the democratic peace theory. This unique system stemmed from the victories of the szlachta (noble) social class over other social classes and over the political system of monarchy. In time, the szlachta accumulated enough privileges (such as those established by the Nihil novi Act of 1505) that no monarch could hope to break the szlachta's grip on power. The Commonwealth's political system is difficult to fit into a simple category, but it can be tentatively described as a mixture of: * confederation and federation, with regard to the broad autonomy of its regions. It is however difficult to decisively call the Commonwealth either confederation of federation, as it had some qualities of both of them; * oligarchy — as only the szlachta — around 10% of the population — had political rights; * democracy, since all the szlachta were equal in rights and privileges, and the Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones). Also, the 10% of Commonwealth population who enjoyed those political rights (the szlachta) was a substantially larger percentage than in any other European country; note that in 1831 in France only about 1% of the population had the right to vote, and in 1867 in the United Kingdom - only about 3%; * elective monarchy, since the monarch, elected by the szlachta, was Head of State; * constitutional monarchy, since the monarch was bound by pacta conventa and other laws, and szlachta could disobey any king's decrees they deemed illegal. === The political players === ''See also list of szlachta.'' The major players in the politics of the Commonwealth were: * monarchs, who struggled to expand their power and create an absolute monarchy. * magnates, the wealthiest of the szlachta, who wanted to rule the country as a privileged oligarchy, and to dominate both the monarch and the poorer nobles. * szlachta, who desired a strengthening of the Sejm and rule of the country as a democracy of the szlachta. The magnates and the szlachta were far from united, with many factions supporting either the monarch or various of the magnates. === Shortcomings of the Commonwealth === Once the Jagiellon dynasty had disappeared from the scene in 1572, the fragile equilibrium of the Commonwealth's government began to shake. Power increasingly slipped away from the central government to the nobility. In their periodic opportunities to fill the throne, the ''szlachta'' exhibited a preference for foreign candidates who would not found another strong dynasty. This policy often produced monarchs who were either totally ineffective or in constant debilitating conflict with the nobility. Furthermore, aside from notable exceptions such as the able Transylvania Stefan Batory (1576–1586), the kings of foreign origin were inclined to subordinate the interests of the Commonwealth to those of their own country and ruling house. This was especially visible in the policies and actions of the first two elected kings from the Swedish House of Vasa, whose politics brought the Commonwealth into conflict with Sweden, culminating in the war known as The Deluge (1648), one of the events that mark the end of the Commonwealth's Golden Age and the beginning of the Commonwealth's decline. The aftermath of the rokosz of Zebrzydowski (1606-1607) marks the time when magnates significantly increased their power, and this the ''szlachta democracy'' has transformed into ''magnate oligarchy''. The Commonwealth's political system was vulnerable to outside interference, as Sejm deputies bribed by foreign powers might use their liberum veto to block attempts at reform. Such actions sapped the power of the Commonwealth and threw it into political paralysis and anarchy for over a century (from the mid-17th century to the end of the 18th century), while its neighbors stabilized their internal affairs and increased their military might. === Late reforms === [[Image:Konstytucja 3 Maja.jpg|thumb|right|300px|"May Constitution of Poland," oil on canvas by Jan Matejko, 1891, 227 x 446 cm. Royal Castle (Warsaw).]] Eventually the Commonwealth did make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in 1791 the May Constitution of Poland, Europe's first codified national constitution and the world's second, after the United States Constitution that began functioning in 1789. The revolutionary Polish Constitution recast the erstwhile Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as a unitary state with a hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system. The new constitution: * abolished the liberum veto and the confederation; * provided for a separation of powers among legislative, executive and judicial branches of government; * established "popular sovereignty" and extended political rights to include not only the nobility but the bourgeoisie; * increased the rights of the peasantry; * preserved religious tolerance (but with a condemnation of apostasy from the Catholic faith). These reforms came too late, however, as the Commonwealth was immediately invaded from all sides by its neighbors. The latter feared the revolutionary implications of the May 3rd Constitution's political reforms and the prospect of the Commonwealth regaining its position as a European empire. In the end the May 3rd Constitution was never fully implemented, and the Commonwealth entirely ceased to exist only four years after the Constitution's adoption. == Economy == The economics of the Commonwealth was dominated by feudalism agriculture. Typically a nobleman's landholding comprised a ''folwark'', a large farm worked by serfs to produce surpluses for internal and external trade. The peasantry's situation worsened from the late 17th century on, when the landed szlachta sought to compensate for falling grain prices by increasing the peasants' workload. Although the Commonwealth was Europe's largest grain producer, the bulk of her grain was consumed domestically. Estimated grain consumption in the "Crown" (Poland proper) and Prussia in 1560-1570 was some 113,000 tons of wheat (or 226,000 łaszt — a łaszt, or "last," being a large bulk measure--in the case of grain, about half a ton). Average yearly production of grain in the Commonwealth in the 16th century was 120,000 tons, 6% of which was exported while cities consumed some 19% and the villages the rest. The exports probably satisfied about 2% of the demand for grain in Western Europe, feeding three-quarters of a million people there. Commonwealth grain achieved far more importance in poor crop years, as in the early 1590s and the 1620s, when governments throughout southern Europe arranged for large grain imports to cover shortfalls in their jurisdictions. [[Image:StefanBatory.jpg|thumb|right|Commonwealth coin minted during the reign of King Stefan Batory]] Still, grain was the largest export commodity of the Commonwealth. The owner of a folwark usually signed a contract with merchants of Gdansk (German language Danzig), who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain north to that seaport on the Baltic Sea. Many rivers in the Commonwealth were used for shipping purposes: the Vistula, Pilica, Western Bug, San River, Nida, Wieprz, Niemen. The rivers had relatively developed infrastructure, with river ports and granary. Most of the river shipping moved north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdansk for lumber. [[Image:Oboz_flisakow_nad_Wisla.jpg|left|thumb|200px|"Rivermen's camp at the Wisła (Vistula)," 1858, by Wilhelm August Stryowski (1834-1917), 110 x 138 cm.]] From Gdansk, ships, mostly from the Netherlands and Flanders, carried the grain to ports such as Antwerp and Amsterdam. Gdansk ships accounted for only 2-10% of this maritime trade. Besides grain, other seaborne exports included lumber and wood-related products such as tar and ash. By land routes, the Commonwealth exported hides, furs, hemp, cotton (mostly from Wielkopolska) and linen to the German lands of the Holy Roman Empire, including cities like Leipzig and Nuremberg. Large herds (of around 50,000 head) of cattle were driven south through Silesia. The Commonwealth imported spices, luxury goods, clothing, fish, beer and industrial products like steel and tools. A few riverboats carried south imports from Gdańsk like wine, fruit, spices and herring. Somewhere between the 16th and 17th centuries, the Commonwealth's trade balance shifted from positive to negative. With the advent of the Age of Exploration, many old trade route such as the Amber Road lost importance as new ones were created. Poland's importance as a caravan route between Asia and Europe diminished, while new local trading routes were created between the Commonwealth and Russia. But even with improvements in shipping technology the Commonwealth remained an important link between Occident and Orient, as many goods and cultural artifacts passed from one region to another via the Commonwealth. For example, Persian carpets imported across the Commonwealth were actually known in the West as "Polish carpets." Commonwealth currency included the zloty and the grosz. The City of Gdansk had the privilege of minting its own coinage. The Commonwealth's preoccupation with agriculture, coupled with the szlachta's dominance over the bourgeoisie, resulted in a fairly slow process of urbanization and thus a fairly slow development of industry. While similar conflicts among social classes may be found all over Europe, nowhere were the nobility as dominant as in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. There is, however, much debate among historians as to which processes most affected those developments, since until the wars and crises of the mid-17th century the cities of the Commonwealth had not markedly lagged in size and wealth behind their western counterparts. Still, the Commonwealth did have numerous towns and city, commonly founded on Magdeburg rights. Some of the largest trade fairs in the Commonwealth were held at Lublin. See the geography section, below, for a list of major cities in the Commonwealth (commonly capitals of voivodships). If such a commonwealth of countries existed in 2005, it might have been the 10th largest economy in the world. == Culture == [[Image:Palac Branickich3.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Branicki Palace, built 1726.]] [[Image:Siemenowicz rocket.gif|thumb|right|75px|Multi-stage rocket, from Kazimierz Siemienowicz's ''Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima'']] The Commonwealth was one of the important European sites for the development of modern social and political ideas. It was famous for its unique quasi-democratic political system praised by philosophy such as Erasmus, was known for a near-unparalleled religious tolerance during the Counter-Reformation, and was one of the safest places for Jews. It gave rise to the famous Christian sect of Polish Brethren, antecedents of the United Kingdom and United States Unitarianism. With its unique political system, the Commonwealth gave birth to political philosophy such as Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (1503-1572), Wawrzyniec Grzymala Goslicki (1530-1607) and Piotr Skarga (1536-1612). Later, works by Stanislaw Staszic (1755-1826) and Hugo Kollataj (1750-1812) helped pave the way for May Constitution of Poland of May 3rd, 1791, the first written national constitution in Europe, which enacted revolutionary principles of political science for the first time in Europe. The Jagiellonian University in Krak�w is one of the oldest university in the world. The Commonwealth's Commission for National Education (Polish Komisja Edukacji Narodowej), formed in 1773, was the world's first national ministry of education. Commonwealth scientists included: * Martin Kromer (1512-1589), historian and cartographer, * Michal Sedziwoj (1566-1636), alchemist and chemist, * Kazimierz Siemienowicz (1600-1651), military engineer, artillery specialist and one of the founders of rocketry, * Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687), astronomer, founder of lunar topography. [[Image:Alchemik_Sedziwoj_Matejko.JPG|thumb|left|300px|Alchemist Michal Sedziwoj|"The Alchemist Michał Sędziw�j," oil on board by Jan Matejko, 73 x 130 cm, Museum of Arts (Lodz).]] The many classics of Commonwealth literature include: * Jan Kochanowski, (1530-1584), writer, dramatist and poet, * Waclaw Potocki, (1621-1696), writer, poet * Ignacy Krasicki, (1735-1801), writer, poet, author of the first Polish novel, * Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, (1758‑1841), writer, dramatist and poet. Many szlachta wrote memoirs and diary; perhaps the most famous of those are the ''Memoirs of Polish History'' by Albrycht Stanislaw Radziwill (1595-1656) and the ''Memoirs'' of Jan Chryzostom Pasek (c.1636-c.1701). Magnates often undertook construction projects as monuments to themselves: churches, cathedrals, and palaces like the present-day Presidential Palace, Warsaw built by Hetman Stanislaw Koniecpolski. The largest projects involved entire towns, although in time many of them would lapse into obscurity or be totally abandoned. Usually they were named after the sponsoring magnate. Among the most famous is the town of Zamosc, founded by Jan Zamoyski and designed by the Italian architect Bernardo Morando. [[Image:Zamosc.jpg|thumb|left|City hall, Zamosc.]] [[Image:Palac Prezydencki.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Presidential Palace, Warsaw, built 1643-1645 and frequently remodeled. Foreground: equestrian statue of Prince Jozef Poniatowski by Bertel Thorvaldsen.]] === Szlachta and Sarmatism === The prevalent ideology of the szlachta became "Sarmatism," named after the Sarmatians, alleged ancestors of the szlachta. This belief system was an important part of the szlachta's culture, penetrating all aspects of its life. Sarmatism enshrined tradition, provincial rural life, peace and pacifism; championed oriental-inspired attire (zupan, kontusz, sukmana, pas kontuszowy, delia, szabla); and served to integrate the multi-ethnic nobility by creating an almost nationalism sense of unity and of pride in the szlachta's Golden Freedoms. [[Image:Kolumna Zygmunta.jpg|thumb|left|King Zygmunt's Column, erected 1644 in front of Warsaw Castle.]] In its early, idealistic form, Sarmatism represented a positive cultural movement: it supported religious belief, honesty, national pride, courage, equality and freedom. In time, however, it became perverted. Late Sarmatism turned belief into bigotry, honesty into political naïvet�, pride into arrogance, courage into stubborness, freedom into anarchy. [[Image:Jan Zamoyski.jpg|thumb|right|Jan Zamoyski in crimson kontusz and blue silk zupan tied with pas kontuszowy. Holds hetman's baton (bulawa).]] === Demographics and religion === The population of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was never overwhelmingly either Roman Catholic or Polish. This circumstance resulted from Poland's possession of Ukraine and federation with Lithuania, in both of which countries ethnic Poles were a distinct minority. To be Polish, in the non-Polish lands of the Commonwealth, was then much less an index of ethnicity than of rank; it was a designation largely reserved for the landed noble class, which included members of Polish and non-Polish origin alike. Generally speaking, the ethnically non-Polish noble families of Ukraine and Lithuania adopted the Polish language and Polish culture, by an ineluctable process of Polonization. As a result, in the eastern territories a Polish or Polonized aristocracy dominated a peasantry whose great majority was neither Polish nor Roman Catholic. Moreover, the decades of peace brought huge colonization efforts to Ukraine, heightening the tensions among peasants, Jews and nobles. The tensions were aggravated by conflicts between Eastern Orthodoxy and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church following the Union of Brest, and by several Cossack uprisings. In the west and north, many cities had sizable German minorities, often belonging to Reformed churches. Until the Reformation, the Polish szlachta were mostly Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. However, many families quickly adopted the Reformed religion. After the Counter-Reformation, when the Roman Catholic Church regained power in Poland, the szlachta became almost exclusively Roman Catholic, despite the fact that Roman Catholicism was not a majority religion (the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches counted approximately 40% of the population each, while the remaining 20% were Jews and members of various Protestant churches). It should be noted that the Counter-Reformation in Poland, influenced by the Commonwealth tradition of religious tolerance, was based mostly on Jesuit propaganda, and was very peaceful when compared to excesses such as the Thirty Years' War elsewhere in Europe. == Provinces and geography == The lands that once belonged to the Commonwealth are now largely distributed among several Central European and Eastern European countries: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, with smaller pieces in Estonia, Slovakia, Romania and Moldova. [[Image:Pol-lith commonwealth map.jpg|thumb|right|450px|Outline of the Commonwealth with its major subdivisions as of 1619 superimposed on present-day national borders]] While the term "Poland" was also commonly used to denote this whole polity, Poland was in fact only part of a greater whole — the Commonwealth, which comprised primarily two parts: *the Crown of the Polish Kingdom (Poland proper), colloquially "the Crown"; and *the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, colloquially "Lithuania." The Commonwealth was divided administratively into provinces known as voivodships. Each voivodship was governed by a voivod (governor). Voivodships were further divided into starostwa, each starostwo being governed by a starosta. Cities were governed by castellans. There were frequent exceptions to these rules: for details on the administrative structure of the Commonwealth, see the article on offices in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Other notable regions of the Commonwealth often referred to, without respect for voivodship divisions, include: * Lesser Poland (Polish language: Malopolska), southern Poland, with its capital in Krakow; * Greater Poland (Polish: Wielkopolska), west-central Poland, including much of the area drained by the Warta River and its tributaries; * Masovia (Polish: Mazowsze), central Poland, with its capital in Warsaw; * Duchy of Livonia (Polish: Inflanty), a northern fief of the Commonwealth from 1561, lost to Sweden in the 1620s and in 1660; * Duchy of Courland (Polish: Kurlandia), a northern fief of the Commonwealth; * Prussia (Polish: Prusy), parts of which belonged to the Commonwealth: ** Royal Prussia (Polish: Prusy Kr�lewskie), incorporated into the Crown in 1569, at the time of the Commonwealth's formation; ** Duchy of Prussia, a Polish fief until 1660; * Kresy, the southeastern Crown of the Polish Kingdom; * Ruthenia, the eastern Commonwealth, adjoining Russia; * Samogitia (Polish: Żmudź), western Lithuania. * Silesia (Polish: Slask) was not part of the Commonwealth, but small parts belonged to various Commonwealth kings; in particular, the Vasa kings were dukes of Opole from 1645 to 1666. * Pomerania (Polish: Pomorze) is the term used for lands lying on the southern bank of Baltic, partially outside the Commonwealth and/or in Prussia * Galicia (Central Europe) (Polish:Galicja) was not widely used until 18th century Commonwealth borders shifted with various wars and treaties, sometimes several times in a decade, especially in the eastern and southern regions. A Duchy of Ruthenia was planned at various times, particularly during the 1648 Cossack insurrection against Polish rule in Ukraine. The creation of Duchy of Ruthenia, proposed in the 1658 Treaty of Hadiach was intended to be a full member of the Commonwealth, which would thereupon become a tripartite Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth, but due to Muscovy invasion and divison among the Cossacks the plan was never implemented. The Crown of the Polish Kingdom had approximately double the population of Lithuania and five times the income of the latter's treasury. As with other countries, over time the borders, area and population of the Commonwealth varied. After the Peace treaty in Jam Zapolski in 1582, the Commonwealth had appoximately 815 km� with the population of 6,5 million. After the Truce of Deulino in 1618, the Commonwealth had an area of approximately 1 million km� (990,000 km�) and a population of 10-11 million (with about 4 million Poles). In the 16th century, the Polish bishop and cartographer Martin Kromer published a Latin Atlas (cartography) entitled, Polonia sive de situ, populis, moribus, magistratibus et Republica regni Polonici libri duo, which was regarded in its time as the most comprehensive guide to the country. Kromer's works and other contemporary maps, such as those of Gerardus Mercator, show the Commonwealth as mostly plains. The southeastern part of the Commonwealth, the Kresy, was famous for its steppes. The Carpathian Mountains formed part of the southern border, with the Tatra Mountains chain the highest, while the Commonwealth was bounded in the north by the Baltic Sea. As with most other European countries at the time, the Commonwealth had extensive forest cover, especially in the east. Remains of the Bialowieza Forest form today the last largely intact primeval forest in Europe. === Voivodships of the Commonwealth === ==== Voivodships of Greater Poland ==== * Poznan Voivodship (wojew�dztwo poznańskie, Poznan) * Kalisz Voivodship (wojew�dztwo kaliskie, Kalisz) * Gniezno Voivodship (wojew�dztwo gnieźnieńskie, Gniezno) from 1768 * Sieradz Voivodship (wojew�dztwo sieradzkie, Sieradz) * Leczyca Voivodship (wojew�dztwo łęczyckie, Leczyca) * Brzesc Kujawski Voivodship (wojew�dztwo brzesko-kujawskie, Brzesc Kujawski) * Inowroclaw Voivodship (wojew�dztwo inowrocławskie, Inowroclaw) * Chelmno Voivodship (wojew�dztwo chełmińskie, Chelmno) * Malbork Voivodship (wojew�dztwo malborskie, Malbork) * Pomeranian Voivodship (wojew�dztwo pomorskie, Gdansk) * Warmia (Księstwo Warmińskie, Lidzbark Warminski) * Duchy of Prussia (Księstwo Pruskie, Lidzbark Warminski) * Plock Voivodship (wojew�dztwo płockie, Plock) * Rawa Voivodship (wojew�dztwo rawskie, Rawa Mazowiecka) * Mazovian Voivodship (wojew�dztwo mazowieckie, Warsaw) ==== Voivodships of Lesser Poland ==== * Krak�w Voivodship (wojew�dztwo krakowskie, Krak�w) * Sandomierz Voivodship (wojew�dztwo sandomierskie, Sandomierz) * Lublin Voivodship (wojew�dztwo lubelskie, Lublin) * Podlasie Voivodship (wojew�dztwo podlaskie, Drohiczyn) * Ruthenian Voivodship (wojew�dztwo ruskie, Lw�w) * Belz Voivodship (wojew�dztwo bełzkie, Belz) * Wolhynian Voivodship (wojew�dztwo wołyńskie, Lutsk) * Podole Voivodship (wojew�dztwo podolskie, Kamieniec Podolski) * Braclaw Voivodship (wojew�dztwo bracławskie, Braclaw) * Kij�w Voivodship (wojew�dztwo kijowskie, Kij�w) * Czernich�w Voivodship (wojew�dztwo czernichowskie, Czernich�w) ==== Voivodships of Grand Duchy of Lithuania ==== * Wilno Voivodship (wojew�dztwo wileńskie, Wilno) * Troki Voivodship (wojew�dztwo trockie, Trakai) * Nowogrodek Voivodship (wojew�dztwo nowogrodzkie, Nowogrodek) * Brzesc Litewski Voivodship (wojew�dztwo brzesko-litewskie, Brest-Litovsk) * Minsk Voivodship (wojew�dztwo mińskie, Minsk) * Mscislaw Voivodship (wojew�dztwo mścisławskie, Mscislaw) * Smolensk Voivodship (wojew�dztwo smoleńskie, Smolensk) * Witebsk Voivodship (wojew�dztwo witebskie, Witebsk) * Polock Voivodship (wojew�dztwo połockie, Polock) * Duchy of Samogita (księstwo żmudzkie, Miedniki-Wornie) ==== Voivodships of Duchy of Livonia ==== * Wenden Voivodship (wojew�dztwo wendeńskie, Wenden) from 1598 to 1920s * Dorpat Voivodship (wojew�dztwo dorpackie, Dorpat) from 1598 to 1920s * Parnawa Voivodship (wojew�dztwo parnawskie, Parnava) from 1598 to 1920s * Livonian Voivodship (wojew�dztwo inflanckie, Dyneburg) from 1620s * Duchy of Courland and Semigalia (księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii, Jelgava) == See also == * List of Polish Coats of Arms * List of Polish rulers * List of szlachta * Polish heraldry == References == * Norman Davies, ''God's Playground'', ISBN 0231053533 and ISBN 0231053517 (two volumes). * Jan Chryzostom Pasek, ''Memoirs of the Polish Baroque: The Writings of Jan Chryzostom Pasek, a Squire of the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania'', ISBN 0520027523. * Adam Zamoyski, ''The Polish Way: a Thousand-Year History of the Poles and Their Culture'', ISBN 0781802008. * Pawel Jasienica, ''Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narod�w'', ISBN 8306010930. * Zdzislaw Kowalewski, ''Rzeczpospolita nie doceniona: Kultura naukowa i polityczna Polski przedrozbiorowej'', ISBN 832110312X. * Teresa Chynczewska-Hennel, ''Rzeczpospolita XVII wieku w oczach cudzoziemc�w'', ISBN 8304041073. * Albrycht Stanislaw Radziwill, ''Pamiętnik o dziejach w Polsce''. == External links == * [http://1632.org/1632Slush/163xPolishTitles.doc Officials in 1st Rzeczpospolita - article discussing organization of officialdom in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, doc format] * [http://users.tyenet.com/kozlich/da121.htm The Polish-Lithuanian State (1569-1795)] * [http://www.rydel.net/litvania/polish_lithuanian_union_2004.php Hypothetical estimate of Commonwealth economy today] * [http://www.istorija.net Lithuanian history forums. Some articles in English] * [http://viduramziu.lietuvos.net History of Lithuania in the Middle Ages] * [http://starbel.narod.ru History of Belarus 9-18 centuries through original documents] (The site is in Russian, and the original documents are in various languages, mostly Old Belarusian) * [http://66.188.129.72:5980/History/PreModernEurope/index_poland.htm POLAND - LITHUANIA] * [http://raven.cc.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect1-2.htm East Central and South-Eastern Europe to 1772] * [http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/351/351-103.htm Polish Society and Government] Polish history Lithuanian history Ukrainian history Belarusian history Former monarchies lv:Polija-Lietuva

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

== Merger with The Noble Republic == How about merging the articles Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and The Noble Republic, since they are related to essentially the same? Besides, I strongly suspect that the term "Noble Republic" is a catchy phrase from a history article, rather than a term really used in these times. Even if not, IMO the proper name of the merged article would be Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, according to the "official" name of the state. User:Mikkalai 20:55, 21 Jan 2004 (UTC) I guess the merger is possible, but it would require some careful restructuring. Or one can consider it as an expansion - advanced version of this page. Personally I prefer to add new articles then meddle with those two, they dont look very broken to me. --User:Piotrus 15:12, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC) News: concensus on Wikipedia:WikiProject History of Poland is that Noble Republic should be dedicated to history or perhaps the discussion of PLC political system. Anyway the PLC article will be the main article for this period, with several subarticles like Noble Republic. --User:Piotrus 12:24, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC) == Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or Commonwealth of Two Nations? == Interseting fact is that the official translation is not correct. In Polish language, the exact term is Commonwealth of Two Nations (Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodow), not Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polsko-Litweska Rzeczpospolita - I have never heard that one before!). Some redirects and a note should fix that easily, though :) :It is not a translation though, it's the name and term used in the English language.User:Milicz 20:31, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC) I have another question though, Rzeczpospolita supposedly means "Republic" which we as Poles certainly know that it does not really mean, we have the word "republika" for that. I have never heard Rzeczpospolita be refered to anything other than specifically Poland in the Polish language, and therefore it is a word that means more than just Republic or Commonwealth. "Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodow", if we take the dictionary translation, would literally be "Republic of Two Nations", not "Commonwealth of Two Nations". Commonwealth on the otherhand would be "Federacja" or "Wsp�lnota" (Look at the CIS and corresponding Polish translation). Just thought I'd throw that in to confuse everyone. User:Milicz 21:19, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC) :: This is why we have an article dedicated to clear this confusion: Rzeczpospolita. --User:Piotrus 22:35, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC) :::Thanks for the heads up, I didn't know that, isn't Wikipedia great? User:Milicz 23:02, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC) :I have seen multiple times rzecczpospolita being used with context of Rzeczpospolita Wenecka and all that little staes in Italy created by Napoleon. I also saw Rzplita rzymska referring to Roman period. All those references are however quite old and rare; User:Szopen 07:19, 30 May 2005 (UTC) == Was it part of the Commonwealth...== Polish-Lithuania If you take into account that today Estonia was created from the Estonia province and norhern part of Livland DorpatTartu, Estonia also inherited some land from the commonwealth. Province of Estonia was claimed by Poland, but I don't know if ever achieved. User:Cautious 11:59, 22 Jan 2004 (UTC) * Sory, my bad. Indeed, for brief period 1582-1625 Lifland was under Polish rule, as well as Southern Estonia. I was looking at wrong maps.Any pieces of PLC in Germany and Chechs? BTW, what's your opinion about my proposal above?User:Mikkalai 16:17, 22 Jan 2004 (UTC) :: Enthusiastic. Especially, that Noble Republic is written from the perspective of the rotten end. I would prefer to construct it like this: :::Glory 80 years with some threads of future failure :::Deluge -crisis :::Decay with underline of some successes ::::second half XVII century ::::Russian protectorate ::::Partition and national awakening ::If take a look at the churches or castles, XVIII century with all its decay, shows some achievements. User:Cautious 16:24, 22 Jan 2004 (UTC) ::As far I am concerned, no part of present day Germany or Bohemia was ever part of the commonwealth. You can mention Tobago Island. User:Cautious 16:26, 22 Jan 2004 (UTC) :::Uhm, Tobago was a personal property of the Duke of Courland so it had only a very indirect link with the PLC. But then, why not not mention it? User:kpalion 16:20, 15 Feb 2004 (UTC) King Sigismund III promised to give (and gave) Swedish Estonia to Commonwealth, however Swedish Diet did not accept it (so one could argue that at least for a short time the whole Estonia was in Commonwealth). After rebellion led by his uncle Karl, troops of Karl captured first Finland (pro-Sigismund) and later Estonia in 1600 (before 1600 Estonia (I guess) was trying to be neutral). Polish counter-offsensive in 1603 recaptured big part of Estonia (but without main port cities). Finally Swedish counter-counter-offsensive took it back at the end of 1607.; source: Wisner, Kircholm 1605; Zbyszek == Good enough for external links? == I have a page dedicated to the Commowealth XVII century - http://www.wodzu.tonet.pl/republika_prokonsularna/En/163xCoTNRP.html It is not yet finished, but it contains some useful info, I think. Do u think it is worth adding it in the related links section? --User:Piotrus 15:08, 27 Apr 2004 (UTC) == Political system of the PLC: a republic? == was the polish-lithuanian commonwealth a classical republic in the sense of plato and aristotle? Classical definition of republic : Um, that article is SO bad I cannot even find the DEFINITION of the republic out there :> --User:Piotrus 19:49, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC) Considering modern definition of the republic, I'd call it rather a parliamentary democracy with very limited voting electorate. --User:Piotrus 19:49, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::Not so limited, 8 to 10 % of the society is quite a high ratio as for the period in history when most nobles in Europe had no voting rights at all, not to mention common people... User:HalibuttUser_Talk:Halibutt">User:Halibutt|User:HalibuttUser Talk:Halibutt 19:44, Sep 7, 2004 (UTC) ::: The problem here is that definitions change over time. For example, the term 'democracy' was actually a rather negative description (like today the term anarchy) untill sometime in XIX century. And then there is the fact that today's people tend to think that the term democracy = state, government, capitalism and lots of other things ('all things bright and beautiful' :D). Compared to its contemprary countries, PLN was quite democratic in that today's sense of the world. Compared to today's countries, it is obviously not a shining example. As for the right term to desribe its government, I will have to do more search on that. Republic...parliamentary monarchy...ehhh, one thing is sure - it was very unique *something* :D --User:Piotrus 20:39, 7 Sep 2004 (UTC) == Religion in the PLC == Note> I have no idea if this edit send is going to work or not While reviewing the article on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, it lists the established church as Roman Catholic. I do not know exactly, about the status of the Roman Catholic church in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time. (In other words, was it considered to be 'established', within the Lithuanian sectors.) It was during a period of time in which there was not much religious pluralism in Europe. However, when Poland and Lithuania united, Lithuania was Eastern Orthodox. This produced conditions that resulted in many ways, in a greater level of religious pluralism within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in comparison with most of Europe at the same time. This is mentioned in the article. I am not sure, however, of the exact status of the Roman Catholic church within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at that time. Would religious pluralism be a better categorisation of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth with respect to religion at the time? What was the reilgious status of the Lithuanian sectors? -Editalicus : Good point. I believe it was rather pluralism until the times of counter-reformation (when with the support of Vasa dynasty, catholicism gained an upper hand in the PLC), but I am not sure how was it reflected in law. --User:Piotrus 17:43, 18 Sep 2004 (UTC) I have done some more digging and I have grown somewhat more skeptical. Perhaps the relation between Poland-Lithuania and the Eastern Orthodox church and many of the more western Protestant sects might have been closer to something like the relationship between the Byzantine Empire and the Roman Catholic church and the Monophystites and Nestorians in the early middle ages. There were times in which Poland-Lithuania might have extended all the way to include Odessa. I will see if I can find much on Algirdas or earlier. User:Editalicus 01:32, 19 Sep 2004 (UTC) == FAC discussion == If any, please post here IF this is not applicable on FAC own discussion page. I intend to develop this article further with subarticles for each section, but I believe it may be considered for FA in its present state. --User:Piotrus 12:24, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC) == Tone == I feel that there may be a slightly "pro-Commonwealth" bias in this article. I am by no means an expert on the subject, my knowledge based largely on a survey course on eastern European history in the earlymodern period. However, it seems to me, that comments such as these are common: "At a time when most European countries were headed in the direction of centralisation, absolute monarchy and religious and dynastic warfare, the Commonwealth experimented with decentralisation, federation, democracy, religious tolerance and pacifism (since Sejm usually vetoed the monarchs' war declarations, it constitutes an interesting argument in favor of the democratic peace theory)." This seems to be quite positive toned, which is not necessarily bad. However, the article as a whole seems to gloss over the fact that the noble class dominated the state, and calling it "democratic" is fairly exaggerated. I realise that, for its time, it may have been quite democratic. HOwever, it was still dominated by a small portion of the population, AND as the main point, my understanding is that the peasants of the area had relatively fewer rights than many other areas of Europe, so an argument could be made that it was less democratic. I am willing to be corrected on this point, but felt I should bring it up, in case it does have some merit. User:Peregrine981 14:27, Dec 22, 2004 (UTC) : I admit I find the Commonwealth very interesting and it might have resulted in some bias in the article. I did want to underline the importance of the 'noble's democracy' and while the Commonwealth was definetly not democratic by today's standards, it was quite distinct from its conetmporary countries. In the end, 10% of its population (szlachta) lived in a democracy, compared to roughly nobody in other European countries. As for the peasant situation, the return to serfdom is mentioned in the lead. Feel free to improve that and expand the article with Commonwealth faults, I'd be happy for some assistance here. --User:Piotrus 14:54, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::I shall certainly do what I can. I will be out of town for a week or so starting this weekend, so I may not get a chance to do anything too soon, but I will keep an eye on things when I come back. I'm quite impressed with this article overall! As to the democracy, I suppose you could say it was democratic in a way. I was taught that the most notable aspect of the commonwealth was the weakness of the central regime as compared to the nobility, and this had its benefits and weaknesses, and one weakness was the inability to inforce "impartial" justice for non-nobles, or to introduce policy that went against their wishes... I suppose these ideas are somewhat covered in the article. User:Peregrine981 05:26, Dec 23, 2004 (UTC) I also have a feeling there is a bias. Contradictory passages at times: "Its powerful parliament (the Sejm) was dominated by nobles who were reluctant to wage offensive wars... The Commonwealth was mostly victorious ... and even managed for a time to take Moscow during the Russian Time of Troubles." Sigizmund's interference into the Russian civil war was a definite offensive action, which had its large part in shaping less than amicable relations between the two countries. May be this passage about the non-agressive nature of the 17-th century PLC can be toned down. : Well, all of that is true. Sejm blocked many agression wars - which was unique, cause in most countris of that time, when king (sultan, tsar...) decided he wanted a war, he would wage it, no questons asked. True, PLC Sejm didn't block Dimitriads - but it is rather an exception that proves the rule. PLC was a very 'pacifist' country if compared to its contemporaries. --User:Piotrus ^{User_talk:Piotrus} 12:21, 8 May 2005 (UTC) Another example is the claim of religious tolerance. Although largely true, it has to be qualified: the role that the Catholisism of the nobility and the Orthodoxy of the peasantry played in the Khmelnitsky uprising has to be at least mentioned. User:Gaidash 14:27, May 8, 2005 : Well, feel free to instert this. Counterreformation was one of the resons for the donwfall of the religious tolerance and Commonwealth itself (or so Jasienica argues). --User:Piotrus ^{User_talk:Piotrus} 12:21, 8 May 2005 (UTC) Seems clear to me that, like today's parliaments and other legislatures, the Sejm was a check on the abuse of executive power (and, indeed, is one of the precedents often cited for separation of powers, etc.) but equally clear that, of course, the Commonwealth was not incapable of ever pursuing aggressive war or religious intolerance, any more than that could be said of modern democracies. -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 20:26, May 8, 2005 (UTC) == Name Change? == Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_%28common_names%29, in part because it makes the article more likely to be found from a google search. Thus, here the article on the country whose capital is Moscow is located at "Russia" (55.7 milion hits on google), not "Russian Federation" (7.8 million hits). In my admittedly somewhat limited experience, I've found the simpler form "Poland-Lithuania" to be considerably more common in English-language material, and the territory is usually marked as such on maps, etc. Unfortunately, the "google test" for "Poland-Lithuania" is difficult to apply as google does not seem to distinguish between "Poland-Lithuania", "Poland, Lithuania", and "Poland/Lithuania", and from the 42,600 hits for "Poland-Lithuania", one can only estimate from the first few pages that perhaps a little more than 60%, about 26,000 pages, are referencing the Commonwealth. This is considerably more than the 14,100 hits found for "Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth". What do you think?--User:Pharos 06:07, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC) :I was thinking about moving this article to its more correct name Republic of Both Nations, which is a better translation of the original name, but I'm afraid this name is rarely used in English. As to Poland-Lithuania I have no fixed opinion yet. From one POV it would be similar to other articles on states that are placed at their shortened names rather than full names. On the other hand however, the articles on historical states are often located at their full names, to avoid ambiguate names. Duchy of Athens (not Athens), Congress Poland (not Poland), Republic of Texas (not Texas or Tejas) or Weimar Republic (not Germany) are a good example. What do the rest of folks think? User:Halibutt">User:Halibutt|User:Halibutt 08:49, Dec 23, 2004 (UTC) ::Perhaps we should ask on some historical usenet group and/or do a poll? Untill we have some telling numbers, I'd vote to leave the article where it is. --User:Piotrus 14:17, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC) == "Good job"! == Bravo! Good job! You managed to write an article about Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narod�w without mentioning Belarus and Litvins (Belarusans) a single time. Amazing job. Only Polish "historians" could write such a "great" article. Wow! Impressive. --User:Rydel 00:07, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) : I'd appreciate your 'praise' more if you had actually cared to *read* the article, as Belarus is mentioned twice, once in the lead, and second time in the beginning of the 'Provinces and geography' section. It seems enough to me, given that that state didn't exist until 20th century as a separate entity. The article also has sections on culture and demography mentionig distinct cultures of the Commonwealth. When you are done insulting others, feel free to do something constructive, like wrie a new article or improve existing one. --User:Piotrus 12:39, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::Indeed, Rydel, you too did a great job writing a great comment without reading the article. But seriously, there's noone here trying to offend anyone or erase anyone from any story. Perhaps you haven't noticed, but Poles are mentioned only once in the article - as a slight minority in GDL... What a bias... User:HalibuttUser talk:Halibutt 13:40, Dec 26, 2004 (UTC) : Piotrus, I did read the article, of course. I was exaggerating a bit when I said "not a single time". But in my opinion, it should be renamed to "Polish-Commonwealth-the-Polish-perspective" or something. :'"given that that state didn't exist until 20th century as a separate entity"' - don't pretend you don't understand. I'm not talking about modern Lukashenka's Belarus, I'm talking about the Litvin part of the commonwealth (Lithuanian-Litvin-Belarusan), the Grand duchy. :'When you are done insulting others' - I was not insulting anyone. I just expressed an opinion that the article only presented 50% of the two peoples, namely "1 people". ;) And therefore appears to be not NPOV. :'feel free to do something constructive, like wrie a new article or improve existing one' - I don't think I have the expertise and the capacity to do that. But I did study history in high school, and of course we studied our common state Rzecz Pospolita for several weeks. And we had a different perspective. :At the minimum, if nothing else, I would like to see a paragraph on polonization: how Litvin schlachta abandoned Old Ruthenian and switched to Polish. Also I would not mind seeing a paragraph about how this dual state caused a big problem of self-identification and national identity for our people from the Litvin part - such as [[Adam Mickiewicz] with "Litwo, ojczyzno moje" and Tadeusz Kosciuszko with statements that "I was born Litvin". --User:Rydel 14:29, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) :::I see "Polish perspective" in only one place - "While the Commonwealth's first century was a Golden Age for both Poland and Lithuania..." - neither Lithuanian historiography, nor common people affected by this historiography find Commonwealth's first century a Golden Age for Lithuania. Indeed, exactly in 1569 Grand Duchy lost about 1/3 of its territory to Poland, and the Lublin union is usually considered a start of decay of Grand Duchy in Lithuania. However I am not sure how to correct the current article to avoid this Polish POV. ::::That's interesting. I'd like to read more about Lithuanian point of view. I thought that the union and Commonwealth were beneficial for them - after all, wasn't the main reason for it - from their perespective - that they could not stand alone against Teutonic Order and Muscovy? --User:Piotrus 12:25, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC) ::::: It was beneficial for both of them, but modern historians, or rather nationalistic instincts tend to make Poland look more like an occupier than an equal partner in the Commonwealth. Almost every type of state has a Golden Age, and it is rather accepted that the Commonwealth's Golden Age was during this period, whether it was good for Lithuanians apart from the Commonwealth is, in my view, an improper interpretatation or view.User:Milicz 20:44, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC) :::"Remarkable religios tolerance" is a huge exaggeration - tolerance prevailed only at certain time periods followed by persecutions of anabaptists and other denominations. User:Dirgela 06:45, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC) ::::Well, it was remarkable compared to its contemporary countries. Consider: counter-reformance limited to word propaganda only, both catholics and protestants in high official positions, catholic churches and believers coexisting peacefully not only with protestants, but greekocatholics, Jews synagogues and even muslims! And no Jews prosecution, so common in other places then. True, from the late 17th century this started to slowly dissapear - as did most of everything in the PLC at that time. But the 16th and first half of 17th century, it was 'remarkable'. --User:Piotrus 12:25, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC) ::I have no desire nor time to start an argument here, since I believe any kind of flames are a giant waste of time for all parties considered. This is why I wont explain how you insulted me or others with your comments, especially as you admited yourself you exaggerated. Adressing your more concrete comments: :: ''in my opinion, it should be renamed to "Polish-Commonwealth-the-Polish-perspective" or something'' - let me disagree. As Halibutt mentions, Poland is not dominating the article. It mentions various cultures and regions. And as a sidenote, Poland - the Crown - was an important part of the Commonwealth and its dominant culture. What criteria do you use for determining that the article is biased in Poland's favour? It would immensly help if you listed them instead of relying soley on 'your opinion'. :: ''And we had a different perspective'' - great. Care to share the details of it? Other then it being diffrent? :: ''I would like to see a paragraph on polonization'' - are you sure you *read* the article? Please reread section Demographics and religion. It is already there. Feel free to expand it or write an article about polonization and ilink it. Just in case, let me copy'n'paste the relevant paragraph here: ''The population of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was never either overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nor Polish. This circumstance resulted from Poland's federation with Lithuania, where ethnic Poles were a distinct minority. To be Polish was then much less an index of ethnicity than of rank; it was a designation largely reserved for the landed noble class, which included members of Polish and non-Polish origin alike. Generally speaking, the ethnically non-Polish noble families of Lithuania adopted the Polish language and culture. As a result, in the eastern territories a Polish or Polonized aristocracy dominated a peasantry whose great majority was neither Polish nor Catholic. Moreover, the decades of peace brought huge colonization efforts to Ukraine, heightening the tensions among peasants, Jews and nobles. The tensions were aggravated by conflicts between Eastern Orthodoxy and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church following the Union of Brest, and by several Cossack uprisings. In the west and north, many cities had sizable German minorities, often belonging to Reformed churches.'' :: ''a paragraph about how this dual state caused a big problem of self-identification (...)'' - good addition to the polonization article, but I think it is too detailed for the Commonwealth article itself, given it already mentions most of the related phenomena. :: Finally. As the article became featured, I treat it as a vote of confidence that it is sufficently NPOVed already. Of course, feel free to improve it. And consider, if you don't have ''the expertise and the capacity to do that'', perhaps you are, what a preposterous idea, mistaken or at least slighty biased yourself here? --User:Piotrus 21:17, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) == Congratulations == on well-deserved Featured Article status. I hope my editing yesterday helped. A couple of comments on some recent correspondence: Though neither Belarusian nor Lithuanian, I can see some validity to rydel's overall point. The upper crusts of these two peoples were indeed Polonized under the Commonwealth, due to historical processes. "Polonization" might indeed make an interesting article (as might "Germanization," "Russification," "Americanization," etc.). Another "Polonized Lithuanian" was Jozef Pilsudski--as I sheepishly indicated in a November 14, 2004, revision of my article, in response to an earlier, November 12 revision that noted Pilsudski's Lithuanian extraction. (As of December 12, he has reverted to being simply "Polish.") Questions of national identity can only become more prominent over coming decades, as all Europeans tussle with their senses of self--and with difficulties over literally finding (a) common language(s) that they can adequately master. Again, congratulations! User:Logologist 22:18, 26 Dec 2004 (UTC) Yes, nice job! I was just about to nominate it myself, and discovered I had been beaten to it. --User:P3d0 04:29, Jan 6, 2005 (UTC) ---- Brawo Panowie, artykul pojawil sie na glownej stronie jako "featured article"--User:Emax 00:13, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC) == Map == Why does the map 450px-Pol-lith_commonwealth_map.jpg show the Duchy of Prussia labelled as "RUS"? This is now claimed by Russia as the Kaliningrad Oblast, but historically it was not part of Russia until the second world war. User:Ifdef 19:18, 11 Jan 2005 (UTC) :That's because the map shows the borders of the PLC superimposed on the present-day borders. That's why the Kaliningrad Oblast is marked as Russian. I thought that's quite obvious from the caption, but apparently I was wrong... User:HalibuttUser talk:Halibutt 03:06, Jan 12, 2005 (UTC) ::Oops, you're right. I should learn to read more carefully. Thanks User:Ifdef 16:58, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC) Ok Halibutt, there is an error on this map. Inflanty (Livonia) belonged to Crown and Grand Duchy, so another/yellow color could be used, but Courland could not be a fief of Livonia, since Liviona did not have its own legal identity (in that sense like Crown or Lithuania). Dukes of Courland were vassals of Commonwealth king, I do not remember if as a King of Poland or Grand Duke of Lithuania, but not vassals of Livonia, which was simly one of many voivodships in Commonwealth. Zbyszek == Galicia == Probably ignorant question: I'm surprised by the fact that the place-name "Galicia" does not occur in this article. Was it not used in this period, or what? -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 22:27, Jan 11, 2005 (UTC) :No, it wasn't used in that period. The name "Galicia and Lodomeria" was invented by the Austrians for the chunk of the Commonwealth which they took during the partitions (1772 and 1795). It is a Latinized name for the ancient duchies of Halych and Volodymyr which were briefly under Hungarian domination (hence the Austrian "claims" to them) but later became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and then -- of the PLC. Within the PLC, these territories were part of the province of Lesser Poland (Małopolska). In fact, the name "Galicia" is not widely used by the Poles, except when talking about the period between 1772 and 1918; mostly because its use was part of the partitioners' broader plan to totally eradicate the very name "Poland". – User:Kpalion User talk:Kpalion 03:03, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC) ::I was writing more or less the same when my computer crashed. And no Kpalion beat me to it... Shame on you ;) What can I add? Perhaps that the article on Galicia (Central Europe) is pretty good... User:HalibuttUser talk:Halibutt 03:21, Jan 12, 2005 (UTC) :::I agree that the article on Galicia (Central Europe) is pretty good, but it says that the name is much older, and doesn't really make clear its disuse during the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (although I guess you could get that by reading between the lines). I am not confident enough in this matter to make the edit in Galicia (Central Europe), but perhaps someone else should? -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 19:00, Jan 12, 2005 (UTC) ::::OK, I finally added a new section to the Galicia (Central Europe) which explains the history of the ''name'' of Galicia. But history of the region itself still needs to be revised and expanded. Actually, this article isn't pretty nice, it sucks. I hope I'll find some time to work on it (I probably won't have time, but will work on it anyway...) – User:Kpalion User talk:Kpalion 01:57, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC) == Danzig == The City of Danzig, under Polish suzerainty from 1466 until Poland's dissolution in 1795, was allowed by King Sigismund to adopt Lutheranism in the 1570s. Therefore the Commonwealth appears to have embraced Lutheranism, Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism. : Well, one of the Commonwealth claims to fame was its unrivaled religious tolerance, which actually existed even before the Union of Lublin and creatiin of the Commonwealth. On the other hand, it begun to decline in the second part of 17th century, just as the religious restrictions and persecution waned from Western Europe following the end of Thirty's Year War. Starting with the reign of Zygmunt III Waza, Catholicism became a dominant (most pupular) religion in the PLC, but all others (including judaism and even islam) were tolerated. What's your point, actually, dear anon? --User:Piotrus 21:05, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC) == Timeline == I started to prepare a timeline of the PL-C, the draft is available at User:Halibutt/timeline. Please feel free to expand/modify/alter it. User:HalibuttUser talk:Halibutt 10:56, Feb 5, 2005 (UTC) My question is *sort* of related to timelines: What's going on with this back-and-forth between Piotrus and the person identified by IP address? One of them writes that the Commonwealth ended in 1795 with the Third Partition, while the other one claims that the 1791 constitution actually ended the Commonwealth as a commonwealth. While I don't know enough to participate in the *content* of that discussion, I find the *form* of the discussion to be somewhat childish: change, revert, make same change, revert, make same change, revert. I can't tell if the IP-address person is just trying to vandalize the page, or if it's a POV issue, or if there is legitimate disagreement here, but I don't think I will find out if the argument continues only as "Did! Did not! Did! Did not! Did! Did not!" Could someone please enlighten me? Thanks. User:Ifdef 21:02, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC) : I did leave several notes on the anon talk page (User talk:195.68.232.103), but he apparently doesn't read them/choses to disregard them. As far as I can tell, his reasoning is based around his comment: ''in the the May Constitution of Poland of 1791, the Lithuania was incorporated directly into the kingdom of Poland, thus the PLC ended.'' It is wrong, because although Lithuanian autonomy got somewhat limited, the name of the state didn't change (and it wasn't PLC, this is just a rough translation, the most common name used during that time would be just Rzeczpospolita). Besides, the constitution was never enforced and the PLC was destroyed in 1795, not in 1791. While the years 1790-1795 did witness major changes, I have not heard of any name change, and the article (which I wrote for the most part) covers the events and changes until 1795. I'd be happy to hear arguments against the above and see sources contradicting me, until then, I will revert the anon changes as vandalism. --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 23:55, 22 Mar 2005 (UTC) == Lithuanian name for Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth == Originally, country we're talking about is called Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narod�w. In Lithuanian it used to be called as �ečpospolita but nowadays in every book it is called \"Abiejų tautų respublika\" or simply ATR. Shouldn't it be changed in the article? I'm not really confident, because Lithuanians used to call the country \"�ečpospolita\", but ATR is only the modern name for Commonwealth. : Tnx for the note, I update this. Does 'Abiejų tautų respublika' translates into Republic of Two Nations?--User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 00:38, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC) :: It translates to "Republic of Both Nations" User:Ifdef 04:41, 28 Mar 2005 (UTC) ==Federation or confederation?== ===Federation not Confederation=== Please do not continue to replace ''"federal monarchy-republic"'' with ''"confederal monarchy-republic"'' wording. Both federation and confederation have their distinctive meanings (look up their respective definitions). The PLC was under single rule and had a single constitution, which clearly makes it a federation (unlike previous Polish-Lithuanian Union which probably could be considered as confederation. User:Wojsyl 12:21, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC) ===Confederation not "Federation"=== PLC was confederation. There were: 1) ''different'' rulers - Grand Duke and King, ''only it was the same person'' (see personal union); 2) ''different'' teritories; : Sure - as in a province territory. --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 22:27, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) 3) ''different'' capitals - Vilnius and Cracow (later Warsaw); : The only capital of PLC (after 1569) was Warsaw - since it is where the king resided. --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 22:27, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) 4) ''different'' armies; : Really? Are you refering to pospolite ruszenie or wojsko kwarciane? Sure, there were separate Lithuanian hetmans which tended to be stationed in Lithuania, but the entire army was shuffled to were it was needed, with little regard for its 'home base'. With the exception of separate commander (hetman) and some of his officers, I don't recall any strictly Lithuanian or Polish formations. Lithuanian hetmans look more like provincial commanders of unified army then a commanders of a separate national army. --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 22:27, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) 5) ''different'' coffiers; : Sure. Provincial budget. --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 22:27, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) 6) ''different'' law; : Could you elaborate on that? --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 22:27, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) 7) ''different'' state institutions; : Sure. Provincial ones. --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 22:27, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) 8) other many differencies. There wasn't any single constitution in PLC ''as you state''. : Constitution - not. But there were pacta conventa and varius szlachta privilige acts, which didn't differentiate between Crown or GDL. --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 22:27, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) And please don't change to ''federation'' in article (because ''it isn't truth'') - it is vandalism. Antitutei�as : Please register. You may be taken more seriously then. --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 22:27, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) :Since 1569 Poland and Lithuania has a common Parliament (with representatives of both Poland and Lithuania), common monarch (no, it was not a "personal union" - the monarch was elected and there were no separate elections for Poland and Lithuania) and above all - common foreign policy. User:Wojsyl 19:09, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) Since Lublin union there was ''one monarch'', but ''different offices'' - ''King of Poland'' and ''Grand Duke of Lithuania''. There never was single foreign policy. In ''British Commonwealth'' is ''one monarch'' too. Antitutei�as : Actually a common single policy was one of the bases of PLC. It was the main reason why Lithuanians wanted to the union, as it was the only way to drag Poland into the Lithuanian war against Moscow. For some reason you seem to be the only person believing that GDL had its own foreign policy within PLC. Can you elaborate a bit more on what makes you think so ? User:Wojsyl 19:44, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC) : The line between federation and confederation is a thin one. GDL had significant autonomy, but (after 1569) it did not have its own foreign policy (it was the perogative of the Sejm), although I do recall that some Lithuanians magnates attempted from time to time to break that rule and usually draw PLC into the conflicts with Muscovy, usually with disasterous results (Dimitriads, The Deluge...). IIRC only the Grand Hetmans stationed in the south had perogatives to deal with Ottoman Empire and its vassals without Sejm approval, due to the unstable nature of this border (near constant war tends to create some exceptions). --User:Piotrus User_talk:Piotrus 22:27, 10 Apr 2005 (UTC) ::Following Antitutei�as' logic after the Union of Lublin the PLC was a confederation of 100 different states, since the ruler of that state had many more titles than just ''King of Poland'' and ''Grand Duke of Lithuania''. Which doesn't mean that "Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Livonia, Smolensk, Kyiv, Volhynia, Podlachia or Siewierz and Czernich�w" were separate states. We could argue about Sweden during the times of Sigismund III, but he also held the title of king of the Goths and Vandals. Does it mean that the state of Goths and the state of the Vandals were separate entities as well? User:HalibuttUser talk:Halibutt 01:14, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC) Dear Piotrus. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was ''confederation'' of two sovereign states. There weren't single central gowernment and single capital in PLC. ''Grand Duchy of Lithuania'' and ''Kingdom of Poland'' weren't "provinces" but were the states. The name ''Commonwealth'' is very definite (it was started to use not by polish historians). Commonwealth ''can unite only states, not provinces ''. All your statements simply aren't truth. Ringaudas :Commonwealth is just one of the synonyms to republic in this context. And it comes from the same root as the Polish (and then Lithuanian) terms: the Latin term '