Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars

The Muscovite-Lithuanian Wars (Russian: Русско-литовские войны, Polish: Wojny moskiewskie, also known as Russo-Lithuanian Wars, or just either Muscovite Wars or Lithuanian Wars) refer to a series of wars between Grand Duchy of Lithuania, allied with the Kingdom of Poland, and Muscovite Russia. After several defeats at the hands of Ivan III and Vasily III, the Lithuanians were increasingly reliant on Polish aid, which eventually became an important factor in the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the first series of wars in the 15th century the Lithuanians gained control of a lot of East Slavic territories, from Kiev to Mozhaisk, but over the course of the series of wars, particularly in the 16th century, the Muscovites were able to expand their domain westwards, taking control of much of the lands that were once part of Kievan Rus.

14th century prelude

Russia and Lithuania has been involved in a series of conflicts since the reign of Gediminas, who defeated a coalition of Ruthenian princes on the Irpen River and seized Kiev, the former capital of Kievan Rus. By the mid-century, expanding Lithuania had absorbed Chernigov and Severia. Algirdas, the successor of Gediminas, forged an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Tver and untertook three expeditions against Moscow, attempting to take advantage of the youth of the Muscovite ruler, Dmitry Ivanovich, who nevertheless succeeded in fending off these encroaches.

The Muscovites however wished to gain control of all East Slavic territories, particularly ones that once were part of Kievan Rus, many of which were at that time under control of Lithuania (including today's territories of Belarus and Ukraine). Further, Muscovy wished to expand its access to the Baltic Sea, an increasingly important trade route. Thus the conflict between Lithuania and Muscovy was only just beginning.

Vasily I vs. Vytautas

Conflicts resumed during the reign of Dmitry's son Vasily I, who was married to the only daughter of Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania. In 1394, Vytautas devastated the Grand Duchy of Ryazan, leaving many settlements in ashes. In 1402, he quarrelled with his son-in-law over control of the Duchy of Smolensk. After Vytautas captured his capital, Yuri of Smolensk fled to Vasily's court and tried to enlist his assistance in regaining Smolensk. Vasily hesitated until Vytautas advanced on Pskov. Alarmed by Lithuania's continuing expansion, Vasily sent an army to aid the Pskovians against his father-in-law. The Russian and Lithuanian armies met near the Ugra River but neither commander ventured to commit his troops to battle. A peace ensued, whereby Vytautas kept Smolensk.

First war (1492-94)

The roles switched during the reign of Ivan III who set out to regain the family possessions of the House of Rurik, the lands formerly making up the state of Kievan Rus. Ivan constructed an alliance with Mengli Girai, the khan of Crimea, and attacked Southern Lithuania in 1492. The Russians managed to take hold of many towns, until a truce was concluded in 1494. Under the terms of the truce Alexander of Lithuania married Elena, daughter of Ivan III.

Second war (1500-03)

Hostilities were renewed in 1499, whereupon the Russians promptly overran such citadels as Toropets and Dorogobuzh but failed to take Smolensk. After Ivan dealt a crippling blow to Lithuanians at the Battle of Vedrosha, they were constrained to cede to Russia the lands around the upper Oka River, the cities of Vyazma, Chernihiv and Novhorod-Siverskyi with nearby lands (near Desna River), as well as the lands east of Smolensk (approximatly a third of the lands of Grand Duchy of Lithuania). After this series of defeats the magnates of Lithuania, which was in personal union with the Kingdom of Poland, requested Polish aid. Poland agreed to lend its Lithuanian ally aid, which would lead to a long series of wars between Poland (allied with Lithuania) and Russia.

Third war (1507-08)

File:Battle of Orsza.png

Battle of Orsha in 1514. Unknown painter, oil on canvas, around 1520s.

In the meantime, king Alexander died and the thrones of Poland and Lithuania where inherited by Sigismund I the Old; Muscovy in turn was inherited by Vasili III. The Crimean khan was not pleased with the successes of Muscovy and decided to switch his alligiance to Poland. Before Sigismund would become fully involved in the conflict, the Lithuanian magnate Michael Glinski rebelled and attempted to turn Vilnius to Russia in 1507.

The war lasted until 1508, with Glinski being defeated at Vilnius, and subsequently at Minsk and Orsha, and retreating together with his slowly moving Russian allies before the advancing Polish-Lithuanian army; the war eventually ended with the inconclusive 'eternal peace treaty' on 8 October 1508 which maintained the territorial accords of the 1503 treaty.

Fourth war (1512-22)

In 1512 Russia invaded the Grand Duchy of Lithuania again. At first the Russians failed to capture Smolensk, but succeeded two years later, when in 1514 the Russian army, assisted by Glinski, took hold of the key city after three months of siege. Thereupon Russia suffered a series of defeats in the field; first in 1512 Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Konstanty Ostrogski, ravaged Severia and defeated a 6,000-strong Muscovite force, and in 1514 after taking Smolensk again the Russians suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Orsha (on September 8), whose importance was magnified by anti-Russian propaganda in Europe.

Stańczyk by Jan Matejko. The jester is the only person at a royal ball to become worried after the news that the city of Smolensk was captured in 1514 by the Russians reaches the court.

Despite their victory the Polish-Lithuanian army was unable to move quickly enough to recapture Smolensk, although in the previous year (1513) the Polish-Lithuanian army had driven the Russians from Vitebsk and Polotsk. In March 1515 Russia formed an alliance with the Livonian Knights, but again failed to take Vitebsk, while Polish forces took Velikiye Luki and Toropets in 1516. In 1517 the Lithuanian-Polish expedition to Pskov ended in defeat at the siege of Opochka, but in 1518 Russian forces were beaten during the Siege of Polotsk, when according to the legend the Lithuanian forces were inspired by the sight of their patron saint, Saint Casimir.

In 1519 the Russian army ravaged the lands around Kreva and its allies, the Crimean Tartars attacked Lviv and Lublin, but no side could gain advantage. The war lasted until 1520; in 1522 a peace was signed, under the terms of which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was forced to cede to Russia about a quarter of its "Ruthenian" possessions, including Smolensk. The Dnieper River was established as the new border between the countries.

Fifth war (1534-47)

Muscovite campaign against the Lithuanians (1903). Sergei Ivanov, 1903.

Upon Vasily's death, his son and heir, Ivan IV, was only three years old. The regent and government engaged in interfactional strife. The Polish-Lithuanian monarch decided to take advantage of the situation and demanded the return of territories conquered by Vasily III. Grand Hetman Jerzy Radziwiłł launched an offensive with an army 20,000 strong to regain what it has lost in the past decades. The Lithuanian assault on Severia failed when during the winter of 1534-35 three Russian armies under Prince Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky and Prince Vasily Shuisky invaded Lithuania, advancing as far as Vilnius and Navahrudak and building a fortress of Ivangorod on the Sebezh River.

The following year Lithuanians were aided by Crimean Tatars, who ravaged the region of Ryazan, and Poles, commanded by the Great Crown Hetman Jan Tarnowski, whose 7,000 strong force defeated Russians at Starodub and overran Severia with Homel. In response, the Russians routed the 40,000-strong Lithuanian army at Sebezh, built the fortress of Velizh and devastated the suburbs of Vitebsk. The resulting 5-year ceasefire (1537) granted Homel to Lithuania, while Russia kept Sebezh and Velizh. The truce was corroborated five years later, but negotiations for a more permanent treaty failed.

Livonian War

Main article: Livonian War

Siege of Pskov, the last (and unfinished) painting by Karl Brullov.

The next war may be seen as part of the Northern Seven Years' War or the larger Livonian War, as it involved most of the powers around the Baltic Sea. During the reign of Sigismund II Augustus in Poland and Lithuania, Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, invaded Livonia; first in 1568 when the Livonian Knights sought alliance with Poland-Lithuania; the Polish-Lithuanians were able to defend only the southern Livonia.

At first Poland and Lithuania were allied with Denmark and fought against Russia allied with Sweden; after several years the coalitions changed and Poland-Lithuania allied themselves with Sweden agaisnt Russia and Denmark. Eventualy the 1570 ceasefire divided Livonia between the participants, with Lithuania controlling Riga and Russia expanding access to the Baltic sea by taking hold of Narva.

Batory at Pskov, 1579. Painting by Jan Matejko in 1872.

The Lithuanians felt increasingly pressured by the Tsar; further, Lithuanian lesser nobility pressured the king and magnates for gaining the same rights as Polish nobilite (szlachta), i.e. the Golden Freedoms. Eventually, in 1569 the Poles and Lithuanians cemented their alliance with the Union of Lublin, forming the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the next phase of the conflict, in 1577 Ivan IV took opportunity of the Commonwealth internal strife (called the war against Danzig in Polish historiography), and during the reign of Stefan Batory in Poland invaded Livonia, quickly taking almost the entire territory, with the exception of Riga and Reval (now, Tallinn). That war would last from 1577 to 1582.

Stefan Batory replied with a series of three offensives against Russia, trying to cut the Livonia from main Russian territories. During his first offensive in 1579 with 22,000 men he retook Polatsk, during the second, in 1580, with 29,000-strong army he took Velikiye Luki, and in 1581 with a 100,000-strong army he started the Siege of Pskov but failed to take the fortress. The prolonged and inconclusive siege led to negotiations, which with the aid of papal legate Antonio Possevino ended in the peace of Jam Zapolski in which the Tsar renounced his claims to Livonia and Polotsk but conceded no core Russian territories. The peace lasted for quarter a century, until the Poles invaded Russia in 1605.

• 
  Lithuanian state in the 13-15th centuries
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  Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569
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  Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1590s

References

• Template:Polish
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Polish Rennaisance Warfare

External links

• Template:Pl icon Wojny Moskiewskie
• Template:Pl icon Wojny moskiewskie Batorego