The collapse of the polish lithuanian commonwealth
The polish Lithuanian commonwealth or simply Poland-Lithuania is one of these ufos that make modern European history so fascinating. With its interesting creation, its great history, and finally its dramatic end the polish Lithuanian commonwealth is probably one of the most interesting historical nations of Europe, so let’s have a look at it.
First: What is the polish Lithuanian commonwealth?
The polish Lithuanian commonwealth in a nutshell is the political union of the kingdom of Poland and the grand duchy of Lithuania it begun with the union of Lublin in 1569 and ended in 1795 after the third partition but we will come to that later.
The first thing to know is that the crow of Poland and the crown of Lithuania were already on a dynastic then personal union since 1386 after the marriage between the grand duke of Lithuania: Ladislas 2 or “Jogaila” and the king of Poland: Jadwiga. But the two countries formally united till the treaty of Lublin forming one of Europe’s greatest and most powerful nations. But the question you may ask is why did it collapse?
The first reason that led to the collapse of the polish Lithuanian commonwealth was internal troubles. Indeed the country’s massive population was made of several ethnic groups which had a different culture or religion than the polish Lithuanian ruling class which led to revolts from the Cossacks and the ruthenians in modern day Ukraine which eventually led to the increase of Russian dominance over Crimea and Ruthenia. Then the other major reason that led to the collapse of the polish Lithuanian commonwealth was its involvement in several wars like the great northern war which deteriorated its economy and made him the target of foreign imperialism. And finally the coup de grace that ended the polish Lithuanian commonwealth was foreign invasion, remember when I talked about partitions, this is the name given to a series of simultaneous invasions led by Austria, Prussia, and Russia against the now weak polish Lithuanian commonwealth. These tree major powers divided the lands of the commonwealth between them and in 1795 there was no Poland nor Lithuania left on the map.
