The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, officially the Commonwealth of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,[1] also known as the Most Serene Republic (Commonwealth) of the Two (Both) Nations (Peoples), (Polish Pierwsza Rzeczpospolita or Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów; Belarusian ??? ?????????? or ??? ?????????? ??????? ???????; Lithuanian Abieju tautu respublika) or later as the "First Republic", was one of the largest and most populous countries in 16th and 17th-century Europe. [2][3]
The country's political structure—that of a semi-federal, semi-confederal aristocratic republic—was formed in 1569 by the Union of Lublin, which united the Crown of the Polish Kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and lasted in this form until the adoption of the Constitution of May 3, 1791. The Commonwealth covered not only the territories of what is now Poland and Lithuania, but also the entire territory of Belarus and Latvia, large parts of Ukraine and Estonia, and part of present-day western Russia (Smolensk and Kaliningrad oblasts). Originally the official languages of the Commonwealth were Polish and Latin (in the Kingdom of Poland) and Ruthenian and Lithuanian[4] (in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania).
The Commonwealth was an extension of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, a personal union between those two states that had existed from 1386 (see Union of Krewo). The Commonwealth's political system, often called the Noble's democracy or Golden Freedom, was characterized by the sovereign's power being reduced by laws and the legislature (Sejm) controlled by the nobility (szlachta). This system was a precursor of the modern concepts of broader democracy[5] and constitutional monarchy[6][7][8] as well as federation.[9] The two comprising states of the Commonwealth were formally equal, although in reality Poland was a dominant partner in the union.[10] The Roman Catholic Church had a significant influence on the affairs of the Commonwealth, the state however was noted for having religious tolerance,[11] although the degree of it varied with time.[12] Its economy was mainly based on agriculture. While the Commonwealth's first century was a golden age[13][14] for both Poland and Lithuania, the second century was marked by military defeats, a return to serfdom for the peasants (the second serfdom phenomenon[15]), and growing anarchy[8][16] in political life. Shortly before its demise, the Commonwealth adopted the world's second-oldest codified national constitution in modern history.[17]
