The United Commonwealth of Poland, Lithuania and Ruthenia

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The Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth Coat of Arms, adopted in the 19th century

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In the Sixteen Century Kingdom of Poland (frequently refereed to as the Crown) and Grand Duchy of Lithuania were joined in a personal union under the House of Jagiellon and possible real union had been more and more considered. It finally happened when the Union of Lublin was signed July 1, 1569, creating a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

It was a time when the executionist movement was particularly active. The movement, representing middle and petty nobility, sought to curb the power of "magnates" by strengthening the royal authority, a revendication of public and state lands which were illegally held by them, as well as limiting the Papal's influence via Polish and Lithuanian Catholic churches. At the time of the Union the executionists, also known as "popularists" got a clear upper hand. After passing of the last Jagiellonian monarch, King Sigismund August, the Commonwealth became an elective monarchy. After a brief rule of King Henry of Valois, Stefan Batory, the Duke of Prince of Transylvania, was elected and used his newly strenghted royal authority to purge some notable mangates and to bring representatives of middle nobility to positions of power. After Batory's death in 1586, Swedish Prince Sigismund was elected. Unfortunately, he was nowhere as able as a ruler as Batory, being obsessed with his right to the Swedish crown. During a dramatic showdown, Sejm forced Sigismund to renounce these claims, effectively ensuring peace with Sweden.

Sigismund's son, Władysław, proved to be a strong monarch, interested es specially in military affairs. Władysław, greatly esteemed by the Cossacks, succeeded in provoking a victorious war with the Ottoman Empire. An important side effect was ensuring that the Cossacks became a reliable arm of the monarchy. In 1648 disgrunted magnates, led by Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, staged a "rokosz" (that is mutiny), which, to the amazement of Europe, was quickly quelled by the Cossacks and middle nobility. Wiśniowiecki and fellow leaders were publicly executed. Unfortunately, King Władysław passed shortly after.

His brother, Jan Kazimierz, elected to the throne, was a weak leader, but he was effectively aided by the strong-willed Queen Ludwika Maria and the Crown Chancellor, Jerzy Ossoliński. By 1655 the Polish-Lithuanian state was formally transformed into a Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian state. The main opposition against giving Orthodox Ukraine the same legal status came from the Vatican. However, by that year Polish and Lithuanian Catholic Church, while remaining de jure part of the wider Roman Catholic community, essentially evolved in the same way as the French Gallican Rite. King Jan Kazimierz abdicated in 1868, thus ending the rule of Vasas. During a dramatic election the French candidate, Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, a famous military leader, won. Poland-Lithuania-Ruthenia was now being ruled by the House of Bourbon, Condé branch.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Cool work!

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Between Anarchy And Modern Statehood

In the times when a notion of a modern state as we understand it today was still being conceived in pains, it was usually up to a strong monarch to keep the country together and functioning smoothly (or at least able chief minister), as most evident with France. With the royal authority diminished, countries could easily slip into an anarchy, with magnates basically running wild. In two European countries, however, this had been prevented. In England, with the rise of Commons, and in Poland-Lithuania, with the executionist movement and union with Ruthenium.

By 16th century Poland had the widest suffrage of all European nations, with every member of the nobility, that is Szlachta, being entitled to vote in royal elections and to sit in Sejm. Polish-Liuthuanian nobility was, in contract to other countries, quite numerous, sometime estimated at about half a milion people (with only men being counted). These numbers included powerful and ridiculously rich magnates, middle landowners, landless Szlachta pursing careers on other fields (military in particular), ending with titled people living under not better economic conditions than free peasantry. In England we've seen Tudor monarchs such as Henry VIII and Elizabeth I cultivating a bond between the crown and middle classes. In Poland-Lithuania strong monarchs such as Władysław IV of the Great Conde, continued traditions of relying upon middle-to-lower szlachta and free Cossacks in Ukraine.


Political system

While the royal powers were statutory limited, the King-Grand Duke was still head of state, chief executive and commander-in-chief, ruling with his ministers. Whether he'd prefer more personal rule or to rely on able chief minister (like Jan Kazimierz relied on Jerzy Ossoliński) it was up to a person.

A bicameral Sejm was a strong legislative branch, consisting of the Chamber of Envoys (Izba Poselska) and Senate. Envoys were elected by nobility on regional caucuses (Sejmiks), while the Senate evolved from the King's privy council to include certain ministers, Bishops, Voivodes, some Castellans etc.

After elevation of Ruthenium to a third constituent country, Cossacks got a right to elect their Envoys the same way Polish and Lithuanian Nobles did (with Cossack leaders being recognized as nobility). Also, Catholic Bishops in the Senate were now joined by top Orthodox Bishops in Ukraine.

There was one government, but each country had separate institutions, such as Chancellery, Army and the treasury with clear division of powers. For example Grand Crown Chancellor was, among other things, responsible for foreign relations with the west, while his Lithuanian counterpart handles diplomacy with the east.

However around the year of 1701 King Henry II (Henri-Jules, Prince of Condé) and his allies succeeded in effectively merging the Crown and Lithuania in one jurisdiction, similarly to England and Wales. Ruthenium, with it's diffrent character and due to Cossacks position within the state, remained a separate jurisdiction. Also, drawing inspiration from wider enfranchisement among the Cossacks, the movement in Poland and Lithuania began to grand suffrage to townspeople (or at least of upper rank), or even free peasantry (there was still serfdom).

In addition to three constituent countries, the Commonwealth also consisted of the two "royal fiefdoms": Duchy if Prussia (crown's fief) and Duchy of Courland (Lithuanian fief), which were being increasingly governed by the common jurisdiction, with retaining local rulers (though the Commonwealth prevented a personal union between Prussia and Brandenburg).

Kraków remained the official capitol of the Commonwealth, although it was Warsaw where the King, his ministers and Sejm resided ever since Sigismund Vasa moved his court here. Vilnius and Kiev were capitols of Lithuania and Ruthenium respectively.

In 1702, with the merger of Polish and Lithuanian jurisdiction completed, the Commonwealth of Three Nation was formally renamed as the United Commonwealth of Poland, Lithuania and Ruthenium (or simply the United Commonwealth, UC).

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Continue?

[BenBurch]

Poland already had a large share of Belarus.  I'm sure Germany, if lead by a sane man, would have offered control of Lithuania (minus Memel) and the rest of Belarus and western Ukraine in exchange for the corridor and Silesia.

[wxtransit]

Continue?

Yes, please. This looks great!

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Continue?

Yes, please. This looks great!

Ok then.