The
Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) was an Eastern and Central European state from the 12th
[1] /13th century until 1795. It was founded by the
Lithuanians, one of the
pagan Baltic tribes from
Aukštaitija.
[2][3][4] The duchy later expanded to include large portions of the former
Kievan Rus' and other Slavic lands, covering the territory of present-day
Lithuania,
Belarus,
Ukraine,
Latvia and parts of
Moldova,
Poland and
Russia. At its greatest extent in the 15th century, it was the largest state in Europe.
[5] It was a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state with great diversity in languages, religion, and cultural heritage.
Consolidation of the Lithuanian lands began in the late 12th century. Mindaugas, the first Lithuanian ruler, was crowned as King of Lithuania in 1253. The pagan state was involved in the religious crusade with the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. The multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state emerged only at the late reign of Gediminas[6] and continued to expand under his son Algirdas.[7] Algirdas's successor Jogaila signed the Union of Kreva in 1386, bringing two major changes in Lithuanian history conversion into Catholicism and establishment of a dynastic union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.[8]
Reign of Vytautas the Great marked not only the greatest territorial expansion of the Grand Duchy and defeat of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, but also rise of the Lithuanian nobility. After Vytautas's death, Lithuania's relationship with the Kingdom of Poland greatly deteriorated.[9] Lithuanian noblemen, including the Radziwills, attempted to break the personal union with Poland.[10] However, the unsuccessful Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars with the Grand Duchy of Moscow forced the union to remain intact. Eventually, the Union of Lublin of 1569 created a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In this federation, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania maintained its political distinctiveness and had a separate government, laws, army, and treasury.[11] The Commonwealth failed to prevent territorial losses to expanding Russia. After a series of devastating wars, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned between the Russian Empire, Prussia and Austria in 1795.
In other languages, the Grand Duchy is referred to as
