Samogitian and Semigalian victory
128-955: The Lithuanian Armed Forces ( Lithuanian : Lietuvos ginkluotosios pajėgos ) are the military of Lithuania . The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces , the Lithuanian Naval Force , the Lithuanian Air Force and the Lithuanian Special Operations Force . In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (which is under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior in peacetime) becomes part of
256-493: A Lithuanian peasant. — Antoine Meillet Among Indo-European languages, Lithuanian is conservative in its grammar and phonology, retaining archaic features otherwise found only in ancient languages such as Sanskrit (particularly its early form, Vedic Sanskrit ) or Ancient Greek . Thus, it is an important source for the reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European language despite its late attestation (with
384-652: A Proto-Balto-Slavic stage, from which the Baltic languages retain exclusive and non-exclusive lexical, morphological, phonological and accentual isoglosses in common with the Slavic languages , which represent their closest living Indo-European relatives. Moreover, with Lithuanian being so archaic in phonology, Slavic words can often be deduced from Lithuanian by regular sound laws ; for example, Lith. vilkas and Polish wilk ← PBSl. *wilkás (cf. PSl. *vьlkъ ) ← PIE *wĺ̥kʷos , all meaning " wolf ". Initially, Lithuanian
512-620: A battlegroup in Lithuania which was led by Germany. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Lithuania rapidly increased the defence spending, becoming one of the top spenders by GDP in the NATO military alliance. The following years marked major acquisitions, including M142 HIMARS with the ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles , additional NASAMS medium-range air defence systems and artillery ammunition. In 2023, Lithuanian leadership approved
640-824: A new campaign. Volkwin targeted Samogitia , planning to conquer the coast of the Baltic Sea and connect with the Teutonic Knights in Prussia . The Sword-Brothers wanted to keep expanding along the Daugava River and were reluctant to march against Samogitia. In the fall of 1236, a party of crusaders from Holstein arrived in Riga and demanded to be led into a battle. Volkwin gathered a large war party, which included troops from Pskov Republic , Livonians , Latgallians , Curonians , and Estonians . Crossing
768-516: A result of a decrease in the usage of spoken Lithuanian in the eastern part of Lithuania proper, in the 19th century, it was suggested to create a standardized Lithuanian based on the Samogitian dialect. Nevertheless, it was not accomplished because everyone offered their Samogitian subdialects and the Eastern and Western Aukštaitians offered their Aukštaitian subdialects. In the second half of
896-594: A significant part of Livonia as part of Swedish Livonia . In the first half of the 17th century, Smolensk returned to Lithuania following the Smolensk War . The Commonwealth's military weakness in the middle and late 17th century was evidenced in the Deluge . In 1655, the much-smaller Lithuanian army could not defend the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius against Muscovite attack. This was the first time that Vilnius
1024-627: A single language. At a minimum, transitional dialects existed until the 14th or 15th century and perhaps as late as the 17th century. The German Livonian Brothers of the Sword occupied the western part of the Daugava basin, which resulted in colonization of the territory of modern Latvia (at the time it was called Terra Mariana ) by Germans and had a significant influence on the language's independent development due to Germanisation (see also: Baltic Germans and Baltic German nobility ). There
1152-592: A single sound, the velar fricative [ x ] , while dz and dž are pronounced like straightforward combinations of their component letters (sounds): Dz dz [ dz ] (dzė), Dž dž [ dʒ ] (džė), Ch ch [ x ] (cha). The distinctive Lithuanian letter Ė was used for the first time in the Daniel Klein 's Grammatica Litvanica and firmly established itself in Lithuanian since then. However, linguist August Schleicher used Ë (with two points above it) instead of Ė for expressing
1280-879: A spirited fight against the Imperial Russian Army and the Prussian Army in the Kościuszko Uprising . In addition to regular forces, many ad hoc units such as the Vilnian National Guard also fought, as well as many irregular units. In the end, the Uprising was defeated and much of the remainder of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army was lost in the Battle of Praga on 4 November 1794. With the uprising defeated,
1408-881: Is a paramilitary organization that cooperates with the Armed Forces, but it is not part of them. However, during the state of war , its armed formations fall under the command of the Armed Forces. The same applies to the State Border Guard Service and the Public Security Service . The core of the Lithuanian Land Force structure is the Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf (MIB "Iron Wolf") consisting of four mechanized infantry battalions and an artillery battalion , supported by
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#17327718954121536-878: Is a translation dating from about 1503–1525 of the Lord's Prayer , the Hail Mary , and the Nicene Creed written in the Southern Aukštaitian dialect. On 8 January 1547 the first Lithuanian book was printed – the Catechism of Martynas Mažvydas . At the royal courts in Vilnius of Sigismund II Augustus , the last Grand Duke of Lithuania prior to the Union of Lublin , both Polish and Lithuanian were spoken equally widely. In 1552 Sigismund II Augustus ordered that orders of
1664-644: Is an integral part of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The LAF is formed by professional military servicemen and non-military personnel. Units are located at various bases across Lithuania: The initial formation of the LAF was the 2nd transport squadron with the transfer of 20 An-2 aircraft from civilian to military use, with initial basing at the Barysiai Airport on 27 April 1992. These were joined by four L-39C Albatros aircraft to be used by
1792-442: Is augmented by the fact that Proto-Balto-Slavic is easily reconstructible with important proofs in historic prosody. The alleged (or certain, as certain as historical linguistics can be) similarities due to contact are seen in such phenomena as the existence of definite adjectives formed by the addition of an inflected pronoun (descended from the same Proto-Indo-European pronoun), which exist in both Baltic and Slavic yet nowhere else in
1920-549: Is divided into West, North and South; Aukštaitian into West (Suvalkiečiai), South ( Dzūkian ) and East. Lithuanian uses the Latin script supplemented with diacritics . It has 32 letters . In the collation order, y follows immediately after į (called i nosinė ), because both y and į represent the same long vowel [ iː ] : In addition, the following digraphs are used, but are treated as sequences of two letters for collation purposes. The digraph ch represents
2048-533: Is flexible which makes it easy to form squadrons intended for concrete operations and missions from its elements. The Special Operations Force can be called upon inside the territory of Lithuania when law enforcement agencies lack or do not have the necessary capabilities to react to terrorist attacks. The capabilities of special forces make them the main national response force responsible for counter-terrorism operations and operations to prevent violations of sovereignty. The Special Operations Force Squadron "Aitvaras"
2176-637: Is known that Jogaila , being ethnic Lithuanian by the male-line , himself knew and spoke Lithuanian with Vytautas the Great , his cousin from the Gediminids dynasty. During the Christianization of Samogitia none of the clergy, who arrived to Samogitia with Jogaila, were able to communicate with the natives, therefore Jogaila himself taught the Samogitians about Catholicism ; thus he
2304-498: Is largely phonemic, i.e., one letter usually corresponds to a single phoneme (sound). There are a few exceptions: for example, the letter i represents either the vowel [ ɪ ] , as in English sit , or is silent and merely indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized . The latter is largely the case when i occurs after a consonant and is followed by a back or a central vowel , except in some borrowed words (e.g.,
2432-605: Is responsible for special reconnaissance , direct actions , and military support. It is also in charge of other tasks, e.g., protection of VIPs in peacetime. Its core is based on the Special Purpose Service, Vytautas the Great Jaeger Battalion and Combat Divers Service. Lithuanian Air Force Special Operations Element is subordinate to the Unit at the level of operations management . Its structure
2560-495: Is responsible for combat forces, search and rescue , and intelligence operations. Male conscription is in place since 2015, when it was reinstated after being ended in 2008, due to concerns about the geopolitical environment in light of the Russo-Ukrainian War . In early 2022, Lithuania's defence budget for 2022 was approximately € 1.05 billion, but it was increased to €1.5 billion on 17 March 2022. In 2024,
2688-775: Is structured like this: 14,500 in the Army, 1,500 in the Air Force, 700 in the Navy, and 6,300 in other units. The other units includes the Logistics Support Command (1,400), Training and Doctrine Command (1,500), the Special Operations Force (unknown) as well as the battalions of HQ and Military Police (2,600). b. The paramilitary includes 10,600 of the Riflemen's Union and 3,550 of
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#17327718954122816-508: Is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of the official languages of the European Union . There are approximately 2.8 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 1 million speakers elsewhere. Around half a million inhabitants of Lithuania of non-Lithuanian background speak Lithuanian daily as a second language. Lithuanian is closely related to neighbouring Latvian , though
2944-655: The Aizkraukle (1279). However they were less successful against enemy fortifications, especially brick castles. Eventually the front lines stabilised over time, and the one against the Livonian Order more or less followed the modern Latvia–Lithuania border , while the one against the Teutonic Order was close to the Nemunas . A castle system fortified the Lithuanian side of the border along the river. Over
3072-513: The Battle of Blue Waters (1362/63), Battle of Grunwald (1410), Battle of Orsha (1514) and Battle of Kircholm (1605). Similarly to other medieval European states, the army was raised by the nobility during the Late Middle Ages. By the 17th century, it was mostly outclassed by professional forces and a standing army was instituted. From the 12th century's end and into the 13th century, Lithuania frequently went to war against
3200-708: The Compendium Grammaticae Lithvanicae singled out that the Lithuanians of the Vilnius Region ( Latin : in tractu Vilnensi ) tend to speak harshly, almost like Austrians , Bavarians and others speak German in Germany . Due to the historical circumstances of Lithuania , Lithuanian-speaking territory was divided into Lithuania proper and Lithuania Minor , therefore, in the 16th–17th centuries, three regional variants of
3328-764: The Galindai ( Γαλίνδαι ) and Sudinoi ( Σουδινοί ), in the 2nd century AD. Lithuanian originated from the Eastern Baltic subgroup and remained nearly unchanged until c. 1 AD, however in c. 500 AD the language of the northern part of Eastern Balts was influenced by the Finnic languages , which fueled the development of changes from the language of the Southern Balts (see: Latgalian , which developed into Latvian , and extinct Curonian , Semigallian , and Selonian ). The language of Southern Balts
3456-582: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1/3 residents in Lithuania proper and up to 1/2 residents in Samogitia ) and 53% of residents in Lithuania Minor (more than 90% of the deceased were Prussian Lithuanians ). Since the 19th century to 1925 the amount of Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania Minor (excluding Klaipėda Region ) decreased from 139,000 to 8,000 due to Germanisation and colonization . As
3584-666: The Hussite Wars . In 1435, Sigismund Kęstutaitis ' army defeated the opposing army, which included troops of the Livonian Order , led by Švitrigaila in the Battle of Wiłkomierz . This century was marked by war of Lithuania against Muscovy and the Crimean Khanate , against whom they won the Battle of Kletsk in 1506. The strengthening Grand Duchy of Moscow starting in the late 15th century waged unceasing wars over Lithuania's eastern territories. In 1514, during
3712-811: The January Uprising , Mikhail Muravyov , the Russian Governor General of Lithuania , banned the language in education and publishing and barred use of the Latin alphabet altogether, although books continued to be printed in Lithuanian across the border in East Prussia and in the United States . Brought into the country by book smugglers (Lithuanian: knygnešiai ) despite the threat of long prison sentences, they helped fuel growing nationalist sentiment that finally led to
3840-751: The Lithuanian People's Army in 1940 under the People's Government of Lithuania . Despite Soviet deportations from Lithuania , armed Lithuanian resistance lasted until the 1950s. Following the restoration of independence , the defence forces were formally reestablished on 25 April 1990 with the creation of the Department of National Defence. After the January Events , the Voluntary National Defence Service
3968-587: The Lithuanian nobility to participate in the social-political life of the state. In 1599, Mikalojus Daukša published his Postil and in its prefaces he expressed that the Lithuanian language situation had improved and thanked bishop Merkelis Giedraitis for his works. In 1776–1790 about 1,000 copies of the first Catholic primer in Lithuanian – Mokslas skaitymo rašto lietuviško – were issued annually, and it continued to be published until 1864. Over 15,000 copies appeared in total. In 1864, following
Lithuanian Armed Forces - Misplaced Pages Continue
4096-601: The Lithuanians . The lack of strength was a result of internal conflicts with the Bishopric of Riga . Besides that, the Livonian Sword Brothers had still little knowledge of the lands lying south of the order's territory. Volkwin delayed starting military actions for an entire summer, hoping to escape a risky operation into unexplored lands. However, the insistence of Pope Gregory IX forced him to lead
4224-596: The Lithuanian–Soviet War and the war against the Bermontians , Lithuania lost large chunks of territory, including its capital Vilnius in the Polish–Lithuanian War . Armoured equipment in the interwar period ,primarily consisted of light tanks and armored cars : French Renault FT-17s , British Vickers Carden-Loyd M1934s and M1936s , Swedish Landsverk-181 , and German Ehrhardt E-V/4 . In 1935,
4352-411: The Magistrate of Vilnius be announced in Lithuanian, Polish, and Ruthenian. The same requirement was valid for the Magistrate of Kaunas . In the 16th century, following the decline of Ruthenian usage in favor of Polish in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Lithuanian language strengthened its positions in Lithuania due to reforms in religious matters and judicial reforms which allowed lower levels of
4480-465: The Russian and Ukrainian territory. Hydronyms and archaeology analysis show that the Slavs started migrating to the Baltic areas east and north-east directions in the 6–7th centuries, before then, the Baltic and Slavic boundary was south of the Pripyat River . In the 1960s, Vladimir Toporov and Vyacheslav Ivanov made the following conclusions about the relationship between the Baltic and Slavic languages: These scholars' theses do not contradict
4608-401: The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR restored Lithuanian as the official language of Lithuania, under from the popular pro-independence movement Sąjūdis . On 11 March 1990, the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania was passed. Lithuanian was recognized as sole official language of Lithuania in the Provisional Basic Law (Lithuanian: Laikinasis Pagrindinis Įstatymas ) and
4736-413: The United States , Uruguay , and Spain . 2,955,200 people in Lithuania (including 3,460 Tatars ), or about 86% of the 2015 population, are native Lithuanian speakers; most Lithuanian inhabitants of other nationalities also speak Lithuanian to some extent. The total worldwide Lithuanian-speaking population is about 3,200,000. Lithuanian is the state language of Lithuania and an official language of
4864-410: The comparative method . Lithuanian is spoken mainly in Lithuania . It is also spoken by ethnic Lithuanians living in today's Belarus , Latvia , Poland , and the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, as well as by sizable emigrant communities in Argentina , Australia , Brazil , Canada , Denmark , Estonia , France , Germany , Iceland , Ireland , Norway , Russia , Sweden , the United Kingdom ,
4992-444: The industrialization in the Soviet Union ). Russian consequently came into use in state institutions: the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania (there were 80% Russians among the 22,000 Communist Party members in the Lithuanian SSR in 1948), radio and television (61–74% of broadcasts were in Russian in 1970). Lithuanians passively resisted Russification and continued to use their own language. On 18 November 1988,
5120-578: The Žemaitija Motorized infantry Brigade, which has three battalions and one artillery battalion as well. The third, Aukštaitija Light Infantry Brigade, is a reserve formation with active training. Its command, signal and logistic units are manned by professional soldiers. The Volunteer Forces form another brigade-size force, consisting of six territorial units. Other auxiliary units include Juozas Vitkus Engineer Battalion and Juozas Lukša Land Force Training Center . The Lithuanian Land forces use equipment compatible with NATO standards. Since 2007,
5248-467: The 13th–16th centuries under the influence of Curonian . Lithuanian dialects are closely connected with ethnographical regions of Lithuania . Even nowadays Aukštaitians and Samogitians can have considerable difficulties understanding each other if they speak with their dialects and not standard Lithuanian, which is mandatory to learn in the Lithuanian education system. Dialects are divided into subdialects. Both dialects have three subdialects. Samogitian
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5376-414: The 14th century, the Teutonic and Livonian orders organised raids into Lithuania. Lithuanians reciprocated by raiding their respective territories, but the Lithuanian raids were fewer in number. The Lithuanians won the Battle of Medininkai (1320), but lost the Battle of Strėva (1348). More and more, the Teutonic Order destroyed the Lithuanian castle system along the Nemunas and built their own castles near
5504-453: The 18th century, was successful due to many publications and research. In contrast, the development of Lithuanian in Lithuania proper was obstructed due to the Polonization of the Lithuanian nobility , especially in the 18th century, and it was being influenced by the Samogitian dialect. The Lithuanian-speaking population was also dramatically decreased by the Great Northern War plague outbreak in 1700–1721 which killed 49% of residents in
5632-432: The 19th century, when the Lithuanian National Revival intensified, and the preparations to publish a Lithuanian periodical press were taking place, the mostly south-western Aukštaitian revival writers did not use the 19th-century Lithuanian of Lithuania Minor as it was largely Germanized . Instead, they used a more pure Lithuanian language which has been described by August Schleicher and Friedrich Kurschat and this way
5760-530: The 1st fighter (training) squadron. These were in addition to Mil Mi-8 helicopters and a short-range transport aircraft L-410 , all of which went through a capital overhaul, upgrade and modernisation in the 2000s. Following the initial acquisitions, the LAF began its aircraft's modernisation by ordering three C-27J Spartan transporters in 2006. In 2013, three Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin helicopters were acquired from France and, in 2020, Lithuania announced an order or four Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from
5888-401: The Baltic and Slavic languages closeness and from a historical perspective, specify the Baltic-Slavic languages' evolution. So, there are at least six points of view on the relationships between the Baltic and Slavic. However, as for the hypotheses related to the "Balto-Slavic problem", it is noted that they are more focused on personal theoretical constructions and deviate to some extent from
6016-403: The Baltic languages form their own distinct branch of the family of Indo-European languages , and Endzelīns thought that the similarity between Baltic and Slavic was explicable through language contact. There is also an opinion that suggests the union of Baltic and Slavic languages into a distinct sub-family of Balto-Slavic languages amongst the Indo-European family of languages. Such an opinion
6144-428: The Brigade's ability to cooperate with the forces of other NATO members. Baltic Air Policing was established by NATO allies since Lithuania and the other Baltic states do not have capabilities to secure their airspace. Fighter jets of NATO members are permanently deployed in Zokniai airport near the city Šiauliai to provide cover for the Baltic states airspace. In 2013, NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence
6272-462: The Constitution of 1992, written during the Lithuanian constitutional referendum . Lithuanian is one of two living Baltic languages , along with Latvian , and they constitute the eastern branch of Baltic languages family. An earlier Baltic language, Old Prussian , was extinct by the 18th century; the other Western Baltic languages, Curonian and Sudovian , became extinct earlier. Some theories, such as that of Jānis Endzelīns , considered that
6400-487: The European Union . In the Compendium Grammaticae Lithvanicae , published in 1673, three dialects of Lithuanian are distinguished: Samogitian dialect ( Latin : Samogitiae ) of Samogitia , Royal Lithuania ( Latin : Lithvaniae Regalis ) and Ducal Lithuania ( Latin : Lithvaniae Ducalis ). Ducal Lithuanian is described as pure ( Latin : Pura ), half-Samogitian ( Latin : SemiSamogitizans ) and having elements of Curonian ( Latin : Curonizans ). Authors of
6528-422: The European languages of the participants in the Council of Constance in 1414–1418. From the middle of the 15th century, the legend spread about the Roman origin of the Lithuanian nobility (from the Palemon lineage ), and the closeness of the Lithuanian language and Latin, thus this let some intellectuals in the mid-16th century to advocate for replacement of Ruthenian with Latin, as they considered Latin as
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#17327718954126656-418: The German historian Friedrich Benninghoven proposed Jauniūnai village in Joniškis district , Lithuania as the battle site. The theory gained some academic support and in 2010 the Lithuanian government sponsored construction of the memorial in Jauniūnai – a 29-metre (95 ft) tall sundial , a pond, and a park of oaks. The village of Pamūšis , situated some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of Janiūnai on
6784-473: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland ended with the Third Partition , and their respective armies being disbanded. After Lithuania's restoration on 16 February 1918, the country immediately began creating an army. The Ministry of Defence's first order, issued on 23 November 1918, is considered to mark the establishment of the modern Lithuanian Armed Forces. The newly-formed army almost immediately fought three wars of independence . Having won
6912-498: The Indo-European family (languages such as Albanian and the Germanic languages developed definite adjectives independently), and that is not reconstructible for Proto-Balto-Slavic, meaning that they most probably developed through language contact. The Baltic hydronyms area stretches from the Vistula River in the west to the east of Moscow and from the Baltic Sea in the north to the south of Kyiv . Vladimir Toporov and Oleg Trubachyov (1961, 1962) studied Baltic hydronyms in
7040-574: The Land Forces could at any given time be deployed for international operations, while half of the Land Forces would be prepared to deploy outside Lithuania's borders. The volunteers have already successfully participated in international operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq. In May 2023, the State Defence Council approved the plan to form an army division , based on the three army brigades. The division-sized unit would have enhanced capabilities, including new tank, reconnaissance, engineering and artillery battalions. The Lithuanian Air Force (LAF)
7168-405: The Latvians Campaign against the Lithuanians The Battle of Saule ( Lithuanian : Saulės mūšis / Šiaulių mūšis ; German : Schlacht von Schaulen ; Latvian : Saules kauja ) was fought on 22 September 1236, between the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and pagan troops of Samogitians and Semigallians . Between 48 and 60 knights were killed, including the Livonian Master, Volkwin . It
7296-406: The Lithuanian State Border Guard Service which, since the 2000s, uses helicopters EC-120 , EC-135 and EC-145 . The Navy has over 600 personnel. The Navy consists of the Warship Flotilla, the Sea Coastal Surveillance System, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Divers Team, the Naval Logistic Service, Training Center and Maritime Rescue Coordination Center. The flotilla is the core component of
7424-463: The Lithuanian Armed Forces according to the Constitution of Lithuania . Ministry of National Defence is directly responsible for the organisation of the defence system. Chief of Defence ( Lithuanian : Kariuomenės vadas ) is subordinate to the Minister of National Defence. Defence Staff ( Lithuanian : Gynybos štabas ) of the Armed Forces is responsible for the preparation of defence and mobilisation plans. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of
7552-486: The Lithuanian Armed Forces. The purpose of the Lithuanian Armed Forces are to be the principal deterrent against any security threat to the nation. Lithuania's defence system is based on the concept of "total and unconditional defence" mandated by Lithuania's National Security Strategy . The goal of Lithuania's defence policy is to prepare their society for general defence and to integrate Lithuania into Western security and defence structures. The Ministry of National Defence
7680-445: The Lithuanian Land Force, Lithuanian Air Force, Lithuanian Naval Force, Lithuanian Special Operations Force and other units: Logistics Command, Training and Doctrine Command, Headquarters Battalion, Military Police . Directly subordinated to the Chief of Defence are the Special Operations Force and Military Police. The Reserve Forces are under command of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces . Lithuanian Riflemen's Union
7808-426: The Lithuanian ones. As the German and Livonian orders were constantly reinforced by Christian European countries, it became increasingly difficult to defend Lithuania solely by military means. A new generation of the Lithuanian Grand Dukes, Jogaila and Vytautas the Great , used not only military, but also diplomatic and political means, for example Lithuanian baptism in 1387, to protect Lithuania. Meanwhile on
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#17327718954127936-428: The Lithuanians felled them with long spears." The exact location where the battle took place is unknown. The Chronicum Livoniae by Hermann de Wartberge mentioned that the battle was fought in terram Sauleorum . Traditionally, this was identified with Šiauliai ( German : Schaulen , Latvian : Šauļi ) in Lithuania or with the small town of Vecsaule near Bauska in what is today southern Latvia . In 1965
8064-413: The Livonian War, the Treaty of Vilnius . made Livonia part of Lithuania in 1561 with the Union of Lublin concluded in 1569. In the late 1570s and early 1580s, the Lithuanian and Polish armies cooperated in Stephen Báthory's incursions into Russia . The 17th century was marked by wars against Sweden, the Tsardom of Muscovy and the Ottoman Empire . The Lithuanian army and the Polish army fought against
8192-407: The Navy and consists of the Mine Countermeasures Squadron, the Patrol Ships Squadron, and the Harbour Boats Group. The current Commander in Chief of the Lithuanian Navy is Rear Admiral Kęstutis Macijauskas. The Naval base and Headquarters are located in the city of Klaipėda . The Navy uses patrol ships for coastal surveillance. The four newly acquired Flyvefisken -class patrol vessels replaced
8320-408: The Ottoman forces notably at both Battles of Khotyn in 1621 and 1673 . During the war with Sweden from 1600 to 1629, the Lithuanian army defeated Swedish forces three times their number at the Battle of Kircholm in 1605. However, this war highlighted the Commonwealth's difficulty recruiting and retaining enough troops, better arming its soldiers with firearms and bettering their use. Sweden seized
8448-436: The Polish Ł for the first sound and regular L (without a following i) for the second: łupa , lutas . During the Lithuanian National Revival in the 19th century the Polish Ł was abolished, while digraphs sz , cz (that are also common in the Polish orthography ) were replaced with š and č from the Czech orthography because formally they were shorter. Nevertheless, another argument to abolish sz and cz
8576-406: The Polish courtiers. Casimir IV Jagiellon's son Saint Casimir , who was subsequently announced as patron saint of Lithuania, was a polyglot and among other languages knew Lithuanian. Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon also could understand and speak Lithuanian as multiple Lithuanian priests served in his royal chapel and he also maintained a Lithuanian court. In 1501, Erazm Ciołek , a priest of
8704-459: The Polish dialect in the Vilnius Region and in the northeastern areas in general are very interesting variant of the Polish language as this dialect developed in a foreign territory which was mostly inhabited by the Lithuanians who were Belarusized (mostly) or Polonized, and to prove this Otrębski provided examples of Lithuanianisms in the Tutejszy language . In 2015, Polish linguist Mirosław Jankowiak [ pl ] attested that many of
8832-427: The State Border Guard Service. c. The number of 1.05 billion is without including military pensions. When the military pensions are included, the military budget reaches 1.12 billion. Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( endonym : lietuvių kalba , pronounced [lʲiəˈtʊvʲuː kɐɫˈbɐ] ) is an East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family . It
8960-531: The Sword-Brothers at the battle of Saule: "More heathens arrived. The next day the Christians thought to ride away early, but they had to fight the pagans though they did not want to. In the swamp, they could offer but weak resistance, and they were cut down like women. I lament the deaths of so many heroes who were so easily slain. The Master and his Brothers put up a heroic defense until their horses were slain and even then fought on foot and felled many men before they were vanquished. Finally, and with great difficulty,
9088-412: The USA. Simultaneously, new medium-range and long-range radars were acquired for the Airspace Surveillance and Control Command . Air space is patrolled by jet fighters from other NATO members and they are based in Zokniai Air Base , near the city of Šiauliai (see Baltic Air Policing ). The external border of the European Union (with Kaliningrad and Belarus ) is patrolled by the Aviation Unit of
9216-878: The Vilnius Cathedral, explained to the Pope that the Lithuanians preserve their language and ensure respect to it ( Linguam propriam observant ), but they also use the Ruthenian language for simplicity reasons because it is spoken by almost half of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A note written by Sigismund von Herberstein in the first half of the 16th century states that, in an ocean of Ruthenian in this part of Europe, there were two non-Ruthenian regions: Lithuania and Samogitia where its inhabitants spoke their own language, but many Ruthenians were also living among them. The earliest surviving written Lithuanian text
9344-511: The Vilnius Region's inhabitants who declare Polish nationality speak a Belarusian dialect which they call mowa prosta (' simple speech '). Currently, Lithuanian is divided into two dialects: Aukštaitian (Highland Lithuanian), and Samogitian (Lowland Lithuanian). There are significant differences between standard Lithuanian and Samogitian and these are often described as separate languages. The modern Samogitian dialect formed in
9472-464: The Vilnius Region, especially when Vilnius Voivode Ludwik Bociański issued a secret memorandum of 11 February 1936 which stated the measures for suppressing the Lithuanians in the region. Some Lithuanian historians, like Antanas Tyla [ lt ] and Ereminas Gintautas, consider these Polish policies as amounting to an " ethnocide of Lithuanians". Between 1862 and 1944, the Lithuanian schools were completely banned in Lithuania Minor and
9600-435: The acquirement of a foreign speech." Lithuanian was studied by several linguists such as Franz Bopp , August Schleicher , Adalbert Bezzenberger , Louis Hjelmslev , Ferdinand de Saussure , Winfred P. Lehmann and Vladimir Toporov , Jan Safarewicz, and others. By studying place names of Lithuanian origin, linguist Jan Safarewicz [ pl ] concluded that the eastern boundaries of Lithuanian used to be in
9728-778: The alliance in 2004. It has modernised its armed forces and participated in various international missions including the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan . Conscription ended in September 2008, but was reintroduced in 2015 due to deteriorating geopolitical environment after the Russia's military intervention in Ukraine . NATO also responded by establishing the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence in 2017 with
9856-795: The budget was raised to €2.3 billion and is projected to reach 3.03% of GDP. The Lithuanian military originates in the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, active from the 13th century to 1795. After the Union of Lublin in 1569, the Lithuanian Army remained equal to the Polish Crown army in the military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until the Third Partition in 1795. The Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army fought in many major battles, such as
9984-658: The common language emerged. Lithuanians in Lithuania Minor spoke Western Aukštaitian dialect with specifics of Įsrutis and Ragainė environs (e.g. works of Martynas Mažvydas , Jonas Bretkūnas , Jonas Rėza , and Daniel Klein 's Grammatica Litvanica ). The other two regional variants of the common language were formed in Lithuania proper: middle, which was based on the specifics of the Duchy of Samogitia (e.g. works of Mikalojus Daukša , Merkelis Petkevičius , Steponas Jaugelis‑Telega , Samuelis Boguslavas Chylinskis , and Mikołaj Rej 's Lithuanian postil ), and eastern, based on
10112-566: The country and the Lithuanian magnates ' private armies supported different sides. Throughout the 18th century, many confederations in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth sought different political goals. The Bar Confederation (1768–1772), which happened partly in Lithuania, attempted but failed to stem the increasing influence of Imperial Russia and the First partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth followed. In
10240-647: The country opened an advanced military research laboratory, specialising in chemical materials for ammunition as well as defence against chemical warfare . The construction of the laboratory was supervised by Juozas Vėbra . In 1940, Lithuania had a considerable Air Force , consisting of 118 aircraft with about half of them designed and produced locally. During the World War II , Lithuania was invaded by both Nazis and Soviets , which eventually concluded in Soviet occupation . The Lithuanian Armed Forces transformed into
10368-562: The defence framework of the Nordic countries . In November 2012, the three countries agreed to create a joint military staff in 2013. Future co-operation will include sharing of national infrastructures for training purposes and specialisation of training areas (BALTTRAIN) and collective formation of battalion-sized contingents for use in the NATO rapid-response force . Lithuanian soldiers have taken part in international operations since 1993. From
10496-503: The earliest texts dating only to c. 1500 AD , whereas Ancient Greek was first written down about three thousand years earlier in c. 1450 BC). According to hydronyms of Baltic origin, the Baltic languages were spoken in a large area east of the Baltic Sea , and in c. 1000 BC it had two linguistic units: western and eastern. The Greek geographer Ptolemy had already written of two Baltic tribe/nations by name,
10624-544: The eastern Prussian Lithuanians ' dialect spoken in Lithuania Minor . These dialects had preserved archaic phonetics mostly intact due to the influence of the neighbouring Old Prussian , while other dialects had experienced different phonetic shifts . Lithuanian became the official language of the country following the restoration of Lithuania's statehood in 1918. The 1922 Constitution of Lithuania (the first permanent Lithuanian constitution ) recognized it as
10752-590: The face of the possible loss of independence, military reforms in the Four Years' Sejm (1788–1792) significantly expanded the Lithuanian army, which reached a strength of 17,500. Attempts to make the Commonwealth's armies equal those of neighbouring absolute monarchies were unsuccessful and the unsuccessful War of 1792 resulted in the Second Partition . The Polish and Lithuanian armies put up
10880-432: The first consonant in lūpa [ˈ ɫ ûːpɐ] , "lip", is a velarized dental lateral approximant ; on the other hand, the first consonant in liūtas [ˈ lʲ uːt̪ɐs̪] , "lion", is a palatalized alveolar lateral approximant ; both consonants are followed by the same vowel, the long [ uː ] , and no [ ɪ ] can be pronounced in liūtas ). Due to Polish influence , the Lithuanian alphabet included sz , cz and
11008-426: The formation of standard Lithuanian. The conventions of written Lithuanian had been evolving during the 19th century, but Jablonskis, in the introduction to his Lietuviškos kalbos gramatika , was the first to formulate and expound the essential principles that were so indispensable to its later development. His proposal for Standard Lithuanian was based on his native Western Aukštaitian dialect with some features of
11136-529: The fourth war, the Lithuanians triumphed over the numerically larger Muscovite army in the famous Battle of Orsha . However, Lithuania lost a part of its eastern lands, most notably the strategically important fortress of Smolensk . The Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army fought against Muscovy in the Livonian War and won against the Muscovite army, twice its size in the Battle of Ula in 1564. Three years into
11264-564: The front, while the least experienced and lightly armed were in the last row. Furthermore, the Lithuanians were skilled at fighting using spears, especially on horseback. The earliest written mention of such tactics, from 1208, says that Lithuanians on horses threw spears at their enemies. Although the Germans initially had superior weaponry in the 13th century, the Lithuanians won the Battles of Saule (1236), Durbe (1260), Karuse (1270) and
11392-419: The highest population literacy rates: Vilna Governorate (in 1897 ~23.6–50% Lithuanian of whom 37% were literate), Kovno Governorate (in 1897 66% Lithuanian of whom 55.3% were literate), Suwałki Governorate (in 1897 in counties of the governorate where Lithuanian population was dominant, 76,6% of males and 50,2% of females were literate). Jonas Jablonskis (1860–1930) made significant contributions to
11520-680: The independent Republic of Lithuania to the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union . Soviet authorities introduced Lithuanian– Russian bilingualism, and Russian, as the de facto official language of the USSR, took precedence and the use of Lithuanian was reduced in a process of Russification. Many Russian-speaking workers and teachers migrated to the Lithuanian SSR (fueled by
11648-779: The initiative to form the Lithuanian–Polish–Ukrainian Brigade . Soon after the restoration of independence, Lithuania applied for NATO membership in January 1994. Together with another six Central and Eastern European countries, Lithuania was invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in the 2002 Prague summit and became a member of the Alliance in March 2004. Lithuania entered NATO on full-fledged rights immediately after
11776-481: The knights to camp for the night. The next morning, on the day of Saint Maurice , the main pagan forces, possibly led by Duke Vykintas , arrived at the camp. The Lithuanian light cavalry flung javelins at short range, which were highly effective against the unwieldy Livonian heavy cavalry. The swampy terrain was advantageous for the lightly armed pagans. The slaughter of the Christian troops, including Volkwin, sowed
11904-498: The lands of Semigallians, which were not in the order's control, the crusaders marched southward into Samogitia, raiding and plundering local settlements. The locals had only a few days to gather troops for defense. On the knights' northward return, however, they encountered a determined group of Samogitians at a river crossing. Unwilling to risk losing their horses in the swampland, the Holsteiners refused to fight on foot, forcing
12032-740: The language was almost completely eliminated there. The Baltic-origin place names retained their basis for centuries in Prussia but were Germanized (e.g. Tilžė – Tilsit , Labguva – Labiau , Vėluva – Wehliau , etc.); however, after the annexation of the Königsberg region into the Russian SFSR , they were changed completely, regardless of previous tradition (e.g. Tilsit – Sovetsk , Labiau – Polesk , Wehliau – Znamensk , etc.). The Soviet occupation of Lithuania in 1940 , German occupation in 1941 , and eventually Soviet re-occupation in 1944 , reduced
12160-574: The left bank of Daugava were reversed. To commemorate the battle, in 2000 the Lithuanian and Latvian parliaments declared 22 September to be the Baltic Unity Day . The Sword-Brothers were established in 1202 in Riga to conquer and convert pagan Baltic tribes to Christianity . By the 1230s under the leadership of Master Volkwin , the order was coping with strained financial resources, decreasing manpower, and an ill reputation. The order
12288-952: The lifting of the ban in 1904. According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897 (at the height of the Lithuanian press ban), 53.5% of Lithuanians (10 years and older) were literate, while the average of the Russian Empire was only 24–27.7% (in the European part of Russia the average was 30%, in Poland – 40.7%). In the Russian Empire Lithuanian children were mostly educated by their parents or in secret schools by "daractors" in native Lithuanian language, while only 6.9% attended Russian state schools due to resistance to Russification . Russian governorates with significant Lithuanian populations had one of
12416-500: The native language of Lithuanians. Initially, Latin and Church Slavonic were the main written ( chancellery ) languages of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but in the late 17th century – 18th century Church Slavonic was replaced with Polish. Nevertheless, Lithuanian was a spoken language of the medieval Lithuanian rulers from the Gediminids dynasty and its cadet branches: Kęstutaičiai and Jagiellonian dynasties . It
12544-509: The older Storm -class patrol boats and Grisha-class corvettes . The Lithuanian Special Operations Force of Lithuanian Armed Forces has been in operation de facto since 2002 and it was established de jure on 3 April 2008, when amendments of National Defence System organisation and military service law came into force. The Special Operations Force is formed from the Special Operations Unit. The Special Operations Force
12672-776: The other side of Lithuania, the Golden Horde's army was destroyed in the Battle of Blue Waters (1362-1363). In 1368, 1370, and 1372, the Lithuanian Grand Duke Algirdas led the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army on military expeditions against Muscovy. However, the Battle of the Vorksla River (1399) was a decisive victory for the Golden Horde. Finally, the German Teutonic Order was crushed in the Battle of Grunwald (1410) (known as Battle of Žalgiris in Lithuanian historiography), which
12800-416: The plans to form an army division , based on the three army brigades. As part of the plan, the country also decided to acquire Leopard 2 tanks. In 2023, Germany agreed to deploy a brigade in Lithuania on a permanent basis. The Bundeswehr brigade, named Panzerbrigade 45, is scheduled to be deployed by 2027 and will consist of around 5000 troops. The President of Lithuania is the commander-in-chief of
12928-648: The procedures of joining the North Atlantic Treaty were completed and acquired rights to participate in the political decision-making process of the Alliance. Integration into the military structures of NATO became a long-term task of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Mechanised Infantry Brigade "Iron Wolf" was affiliated to the Danish Division based on agreements signed by Denmark and Lithuania in August 2006. Lithuanian Armed Forces started to boost
13056-547: The same. In the Grammatica Litvanica Klein also established the letter W for marking the sound [v], the use of which was later abolished in Lithuanian (it was replaced with V , notably by authors of the Varpas newspaper). The usage of V instead of W especially increased since the early 20th century, likely considerably influenced by Lithuanian press and schools. The Lithuanian writing system
13184-589: The seeds of confusion in the Livonian ranks. The lightly armed native forces under the command of the Brothers soon fled from the battle. Almost all members of the order, including Volkwin, died in the battle. Those crusaders and knights who tried to flee to Riga were allegedly killed by the Semigallians. Only every tenth Crusader reached Riga. The Livonian Rhymed Chronicle described the pagan's defeat of
13312-801: The shape of zigzags through Grodno , Shchuchyn , Lida , Valozhyn , Svir , and Braslaw . Such eastern boundaries partly coincide with the spread of Catholic and Orthodox faith, and should have existed at the time of the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387 and later. Safarewicz's eastern boundaries were moved even further to the south and east by other scholars (e.g. Mikalay Biryla [ be ] , Petras Gaučas [ lt ] , Jerzy Ochmański [ pl ] , Aleksandras Vanagas , Zigmas Zinkevičius , and others). Proto-Balto-Slavic branched off directly from Proto-Indo-European, then sub-branched into Proto-Baltic and Proto-Slavic . Proto-Baltic branched off into Proto-West Baltic and Proto-East Baltic. The Baltic languages passed through
13440-499: The sole official language of the state and mandated its use throughout the state. The improvement of education system during the interwar period resulted in 92% of literacy rate of the population in Lithuania in 1939 (those still illiterate were mostly elderly). Following the Żeligowski's Mutiny in 1920, Vilnius Region was detached from Lithuania and was eventually annexed by Poland in 1922. This resulted in repressions of Lithuanians and mass-closure of Lithuanian language schools in
13568-695: The specifics of Eastern Aukštaitians, living in Vilnius and its region (e.g. works of Konstantinas Sirvydas , Jonas Jaknavičius , and Robert Bellarmine 's catechism ). In Vilnius University , there are preserved texts written in the Lithuanian language of the Vilnius area, a dialect of Eastern Aukštaitian, which was spoken in a territory located south-eastwards from Vilnius: the sources are preserved in works of graduates from Stanislovas Rapolionis -based Lithuanian language schools, graduate Martynas Mažvydas and Rapalionis relative Abraomas Kulvietis . The development of Lithuanian in Lithuania Minor, especially in
13696-738: The standard assault rifle is the German Heckler & Koch G36 . Units are supplied with modern variants of anti-tank weapons ( M72 LAW , Carl Gustaf , AT4 , FGM-148 Javelin ) as well as man-portable air-defense systems ( PZR Grom , RBS-70 , FIM-92 Stinger ). Modern armoured equipment includes: Oshkosh L-ATV armoured cars , Boxer infantry fighting vehicles (local designation IVF "Vilkas") armed with Spike-LR anti-tank missiles and PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers . Lithuanian Land forces have carried out major modernization and acquired more new weapons and heavier armour. Lithuania has been restructuring its armed forces so that one-tenth of
13824-885: The summer of 2005 until 2014, Lithuania has been part of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF), leading a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the town of Chaghcharan in the province of Ghor . The PRT included personnel from Denmark , Iceland and the US. There have also been special operation forces units in Afghanistan. They were placed in Kandahar province. Since joining international operations in 1993, Lithuania has lost two soldiers. 1st Lt. Normundas Valteris fell in Bosnia (17 April 1996), Sgt. Arūnas Jarmalavičius in Afghanistan (22 May 2008). a. The 23,000
13952-415: The two languages are not mutually intelligible. It is written in a Latin script . In some respects, some linguists consider it to be the most conservative of the existing Indo-European languages , retaining features of the Proto-Indo-European language that had disappeared through development from other descendant languages . Anyone wishing to hear how Indo-Europeans spoke should come and listen to
14080-536: The western and southwestern Rus' states, Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia and Duchy of Masovia , and also devastated the lands along the Daugava and elsewhere. From the early 1200s, Lithuanians fought against the Swordbrothers , then from 1237 against the Livonian Order , and from the second half of the 13th century's against the State of the Teutonic Order. Fighting on Lithuania's northern and western frontiers
14208-411: The writings has survived. The first recorded Lithuanian word, reported to have been said on 24 December 1207 from the chronicle of Henry of Latvia , was Ba , an interjection of a Lithuanian raider after he found no loot to pillage in a Livonian church. Although no writings in Lithuanian have survived from the 15th century or earlier, Lithuanian ( Latin : Lingwa Lietowia ) was mentioned as one of
14336-462: The written language of Lithuania Minor was transferred to resurgent Lithuania. The most famous standardizer of the Lithuanian, Jonas Jablonskis , established the south-western Aukštaitian dialect, including the Eastern dialect of Lithuania Minor, as the basis of standardized Lithuanian in the 20th century, which led to him being nicknamed the father of standardized Lithuanian. According to Polish professor Jan Otrębski 's article published in 1931,
14464-431: Was a spoken language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Duchy of Prussia , while the beginning of Lithuanian writing is possibly associated with the introduction of Christianity in Lithuania when Mindaugas was baptized and crowned King of Lithuania in 1250–1251. It is believed that prayers were translated into the local dialect of Lithuanian by Franciscan monks during the baptism of Mindaugas, however none of
14592-480: Was able to communicate in the Samogitian dialect of Lithuanian. Soon afterwards Vytautas the Great wrote in his 11 March 1420 letter to Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor , that Lithuanian and Samogitian are the same language. The use of Lithuanian continued at the Lithuanian royal court after the deaths of Vytautas the Great (1430) and Jogaila (1434). For example, since the young Grand Duke Casimir IV Jagiellon
14720-500: Was caused by independent parallel development, and the Proto-Balto-Slavic language did not exist. An attempt to reconcile the opposing stances was made by Jan Michał Rozwadowski . He proposed that the two language groups were indeed a unity after the division of Indo-European, but also suggested that after the two had divided into separate entities (Baltic and Slavic), they had posterior contact. The genetic kinship view
14848-775: Was deployed to Afghanistan on the Operation Enduring Freedom . From 2005 to 2006 its squadrons were on standby in NATO Response Force . Lithuania has been a member of NATO military alliance since 2004. In the European Union , Lithuanian Armed Forces have also taken part in the Nordic Battle Group since 2008. Lithuanian Armed Forces also participate in the Joint Expeditionary Force formed in 2014. In 2009, to encourage regional cooperation, Lithuania joined
14976-596: Was established in Vilnius . Following the 2016 Warsaw summit , NATO Enhanced Forward Presence was deployed in the Baltic States with the multinational battalion battle group in Lithuania being led by Germany . Lithuania also cooperates with the two other Baltic states – Latvia and Estonia in several trilateral Baltic defence co-operation initiatives: In January 2011, the Baltic states were invited to join Nordic Defence Cooperation ,
15104-472: Was fascination with the Lithuanian people and their language among the late 19th-century researchers, and the philologist Isaac Taylor wrote the following in his The Origin of the Aryans (1892): "Thus it would seem that the Lithuanians have the best claim to represent the primitive Aryan race , as their language exhibits fewer of those phonetic changes, and of those grammatical losses which are consequent on
15232-468: Was first represented by August Schleicher . Some supporters of the Baltic and Slavic languages unity even claim that Proto-Baltic branch did not exist, suggesting that Proto-Balto-Slavic split into three language groups: East Baltic , West Baltic and Proto-Slavic . Antoine Meillet and Jan Baudouin de Courtenay , on the contrary, believed that the similarity between the Slavic and Baltic languages
15360-633: Was formed of lightly armed volunteers. The Lithuanian Armed Forces were officially restored on 19 November 1992. Western European countries, especially Sweden, helped to arm the initial force by selling or donating excess equipment. Lithuania began the modernisation of its military, becoming the first European country to acquire the US-made FGM-148 Javelin systems in 2001 and the FIM-92 Stinger systems in 2002. Lithuania applied for NATO membership in 1994 and eventually joined
15488-487: Was in conflict with the papacy under Pope Gregory IX and the Holy Roman Emperor , two of its biggest supporters, over Estonia . However, on 19 February 1236, Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull declaring a crusade against Lithuania . Volkwin was reluctant to launch offensive actions against Lithuanian lands. His reluctance was determined by understanding that the order lacked strength to wage war against
15616-463: Was less influenced by this process and retained many of its older features, which form Lithuanian. According to glottochronological research, the Eastern Baltic languages split from the Western Baltic ones between c. 400 BC and c. 600 BC. The differentiation between Lithuanian and Latvian started after c. 800 AD; for a long period, they could be considered dialects of
15744-501: Was occupied by a foreign state. The Swedish and Muscovite armies occupied large parts of Lithuania. Nevertheless, Lithuania succeeded in holding out and liberated Vilnius, Kaunas , Samogitia and the eastern Voivodeships, except for Smolensk Voivodeship and other parts. Militarily speaking, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was weakening however. During the Great Northern War the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army no longer defended
15872-637: Was the earliest large-scale defeat suffered by the orders in Baltic lands. The Sword-Brothers, the first Catholic military order established in the Baltic lands , was soundly defeated and its remnants accepted incorporation into the Teutonic Order in 1237. The battle inspired rebellions among the Curonians , Semigallians , Selonians and Oeselians , tribes previously conquered by the Sword-Brothers. Some thirty years' worth of conquests on
16000-619: Was the largest Middle Age battle in Central and Eastern Europe . In this key battle, the Lithuanian Army was led by Vytautas the Great. Under him, the Lithuanian Army attacked the lands of the Republics of Pskov , in 1426, and Novgorod , in 1428. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had internal civil wars in the first half of the 15th century. The Lithuania Army engaged in biological warfare already in 1422, when it catapulted manure made from infected victims into an opposing Bohemian town as part of
16128-405: Was to distinguish Lithuanian from Polish . The new letters š and č were cautiously used in publications intended for more educated readers (e.g. Varpas , Tėvynės sargas , Ūkininkas ), however sz and cz continued to be in use in publications intended for less educated readers as they caused tension in society and prevailed only after 1906. Battle of Saule Campaign against
16256-765: Was unceasing, the Lithuanian state expanded southwards and eastwards in the Late Middle Ages . The Lithuanian army was mobile, as it had to fight on many fronts: the State of the Teutonic Order to the west, the Livonian Order to the north, the Golden Horde and its vassal Muscovy to the east, and the Tatar khanates to the south. According to 13th-century sources, Lithuanian soldiers rode horses on military expeditions but fought on foot, arranged in three rows during battles. The best-armed and most experienced fought in
16384-677: Was underage, the supreme control over the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was in the hands of the Lithuanian Council of Lords , presided by Jonas Goštautas , while Casimir IV Jagiellon was taught Lithuanian and customs of Lithuania by appointed court officials. During the Polish szlachta 's envoys visit to Casimir in 1446, they noticed that in Casimir's royal court the Lithuanian-speaking courtiers were mandatory, alongside
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