Poland-Lithuania

Poland-Lithuania (: Rzeczpospolita Polska-Litwa, : Lenkijos-Lietuva Žečpospolita), officially the Federal Republic of Poland-Lithuania, is a   located in, bordered by Germany to the west, the  and  to the south,  and  to the east, and  to the north. As a sovereign state, Poland-Lithuania consists of two constituent countries - Poland and Lithuania - each of which has its own government overseen by a joint Polish-Lithuanian parliament headed by the president. Having a land area of 424,598.43 square kilometers, Poland-Lithuania is the fifth largest country in (after ) and 59th in the world (after ). Poland-Lithuania has a population of approximately 44,914,730, slightly larger than that of, with a largely and , the later being seen along the coast of the. The capital and largest city of Poland-Lithuania is Warsaw, with other major settlements including Vilnius,, , and Królewiec.

The establishment of the independent and  in 1025 and 1253 respectively preceded the formation of a Polish-Lithuanian state, which would be informally established following the  in 1386 and subsequent marriage of  and. An official union of the two states would be established following the  in 1569, in which Poland and Lithuania voluntarily formed an alliance known as the. The Commonwealth continued to consolidate power as one of the largest countries in Europe throughout the middle ages, adopting an unusually liberal political system and having a highly diverse ethnic populace.

During the First World War, Poland-Lithuania became embroiled in the conflicts of the Eastern Front as Germany declared war on the allied powers. The Treaty of Versailles in 1918 resulted in the return of much of eastern and  to Poland-Lithuania, which had been previously annexed by  and  respectively. In September 1939, the German launched a joint invasion of Poland-Lithuania with the, culminating in Poland-Lithuania's ultimate annexation. During the war, Poland-Lithuania was the site of the majority of used by the  to conduct a mass genocide, with over 7 million Polish-Lithuanians being killed. After the defeat of Germany in 1945, the Polish-Lithuanian SSR was established as a Soviet Republic of the. Following the, Poland-Lithuania re-established itself as the democratic Federal Republic of Poland-Lithuania. Shortly after, the Polish-Lithuanian government headed by Józef Kaszka spearheaded the development of an Intermarium Alliance between the former communist nations of Eastern Europe with the goal of strengthening economic redevelopment in the region.

Since the establishment of Intermarium, Poland-Lithuania has developed a strong economy and political presence in. As a key power in the Intermarium Alliance, Poland-Lithuania is a member of the European Union and the League of Nations and maintains a high, , level of education, health, and political and economic freedoms. The Polish-Lithuanian government provides universal free and  for its citizens, and is a leading center for scientific research globally. With its complex history and ethnic diversity, Poland-Lithuania remains a developing center of culture throughout Europe and the world.

Formation of the Commonwealth and Early Modern Era

 * See Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Poland-Lithuania during the Early Modern Period.

In 1569, the facilitated the formation of a  union of the   and the  as the, formalising the de facto  of the Polish and Lithuanian monarchies established in the earlier marriage of  and Grand-Duke  in 1386. The Commonwealth existed as an monitored by a legislative  largely governed by the nobility (). The legalisation of free religious practice under the promoted increased stability within the Commonwealth and sustained its highly diverse and multi-ethnic population. During the next hundred years, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth continued to coalesce power in Eastern Europe, becoming a major regional power. of annexed Commonwealth territories, including modern day Belarus and Ukraine further spread Polish influence throughout Europe, having an area of over a million square kilometres at the Commonwealth's largest extent in 1618.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth found itself involved in a number of internal succession crises under the reign of the as well as in major conflicts with, , the  and other neighbouring territories. Poland-Lithuania's dominance as an Eastern European power was further enforced following the conquest of under  and subsequent  of Russia. Poland-Lithuania entered its period of greatest prestige and political dominance with the reign of Sigismund III Vasa in the early 17th century, whose successful invasion of and political reforms secured the perpetuation of the Commonwealth until the First World War. The increased consolidation of power with the monarch and away from the increasingly disjointed  facilitated the development of a stronger Polish-Lithuanian political foundation from which the invasions of, , , , and the could be withstood.

In 1648, the  erupted in the south, resulting in the forceful succeeding of the  from Poland-Lithuania. As a result, Poland-Lithuania lost its territories in modern day Ukraine to the Hetmanate, which would later become a protectorate of following the  of 1654. Shortly after the Cossack uprising, a massed Swedish invasion of Poland led to the devastating Second Northern War, which ravaged much of northern and western Poland. Following the Polish victory at the Battle of Łódź and subsequent, Poland-Lithuania ceded much of its northern territories in to Sweden. Polish-Lithuanian power diminished throughout the end of the 18th century with further losses of land in the east, although remained largely in tact under the rule of Alexander II Casimir and Sigismund IV. Under the reign of, Poland-Lithuania briefly re-established itself as a military power in Eastern Europe following victory against the Ottoman Empire in the.

Following the end of Sobieski's reign, increased political tensions within the Sejm led to the establishment of the Polish-Lithuanian Constitution under Casimir V Rzecznik, declaring Poland-Lithuania a constitutional monarchy. The reforms ended many of '' which had previously been held by the szlachta and led to the assimilation of more power with the monarch. Further changes to the Polish-Lithuanian political landscape, including changes to monarchical title and reductions of Lithuanian sovereignty were met with some hostility, although following the Wars of Constitution in 1697-1700 the constitution was permanently established.

The period of time immediately following the establishment of the constitution included a number of particularly destructive wars with Poland-Lithuania's neighbors, , and. Under Władysław V Rzecznik, Poland-Lithuania successfully defeated a coalition of anti-constitutional aligned with Russia despite some territorial losses in modern-day Belarus. soon reached Poland-Lithuania, which experienced a period of rapid population growth, economic and cultural development, and progress in education, the sciences, and intellectual life. The capital was changed from to Warsaw, which became an increasingly important center of commerce and the arts as Poland-Lithuania developed.

Following the defeat of in the 6th coalition, Poland-Lithuania, which had historically been a close ally of France, suffered significant territorial losses under the. As a result of the act, much of the country's east was seized by Russia, and Poland-Lithuania's possessions in modern-day  were taken by the, and the vitally important port of  was lost to. In particular, the seizure of Gdańsk and subsequent removal of all Polish sea ports lead to a significant decrease in the amount of sea-based trade able to be conducted within Poland-Lithuania, resulting in a slow economic decline culminating in the early 20th century.

Areas of Poland-Lithuania under control of foreign powers, particularly eastern Pomerania and Lithuania, experienced a period of small-scale insurrections which ultimately resulted in further intensification of Prussian and Russian control in the western and easternmost regions of Poland-Lithuania. Territories which had been lost to Austria-Hungary, which had largely been populated by non-ethnic poles, did not experience similar revolutions until the and, which saw a rise in nationalist ethnic groups and the establishment of. By 1860, Poland-Lithuania felt itself being strangled by foreign powers, which placed large restrictions on the exercising of regional power by the Polish-Lithuanian constitutional government. A period of peace beginning in the 1870s saw the increased modernisation of the Polish-Lithuanian economy with the rise of. Polish-Lithuanian national patriotism also experienced a significant boom, with many notable national cultural figures, including the painter Michal Włodarczyk and writers Talja Żebrowski and Jedrik Mieszkowski living during this period. By the end of the 19th century, international tensions between Poland-Lithuania,, , and had peaked, resulting in the eventual attempted invasion of Poland-Lithuania by Germany in the first world war and subsequent bloody fighting on the eastern front.