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104-501: The Goštautai were one of the most influential Lithuanian magnate families of the 15th and early 16th centuries. Their only serious rivals were the Kęsgailos , and from the end of the 15th century the fast rising in power and influence Radvila family clan . It appears from the Latin original spelling of their name Gastoldus which is a variation of castaldius that they had been close to

208-412: A two-front war with Russia and France. Like Russia, Germany decided to follow its two-front plans despite the one-front war. Germany declared war on France on August 3, 1914, one day after issuing an ultimatum to Belgium demanding the right of German troops to pass through as part of the planned pincer action of the military. Finally, Britain declared war on Germany for violating Belgian neutrality. Thus

312-538: A Latin formula gente Lithuanus, natione Polonus ( Lithuanian by birth, Polish by nationality ) was common in Lithuania Proper and the former Samogitian Eldership . With Polish culture developing into one of the primary centers of resistance to the Russian Empire, Polonization in some regions actually strengthened in response to official policies of Russification . An even larger percentage of Lithuanian nobility

416-510: A day by 1915. Both sides also began drawing on larger numbers of soldiers. The British Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener , appealed for hundreds of thousands of soldiers, which was met with an enthusiastic response. 30 new British divisions were created. The response by volunteers allowed the British to put off the introduction of conscription until 1916 . New Zealand followed suit , with Canada also eventually introducing conscription with

520-433: A force of 2 million U.S. soldiers joined in the war effort. Poland partly mobilized its troops on August 24, 1939, and fully mobilized on August 30, 1939, following the increased confrontations with Germany since March 1939 . On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, which prompted both France and Britain to declare war on Germany. However, they were slow to mobilize, and by the time Poland had been overrun by

624-478: A member by virtue of holding the relevant office. Possession of the princely title gave the right to participate in wider councils, called Sejm ( сеймь , сoймь ) a term borrowed from Polish. Their position grew especially during the period when the Grand Duke was also King of Poland and was away from the country for long periods. Crucial to this was the privilege of 1492, which gave the council enormous influence over

728-463: A modern sense. In Lithuanian the name of the clan is rendered Goštautai or Gostautai ( singular , Goštautas or Gostautas ); in Polish the forms Gastold or Gasztołd are used. Contemporary written sources use different forms of the name; latest English sources use both forms, Polish Gasztold and Lithuanian Gostautas . Lithuanian nobility Initially, the privileged social group of

832-583: A modern, industrialized nation preparing for war. "Colonials" served under British command though, perhaps owing to the limited autonomy granted to the Dominions regarding their respective mobilizations, the Dominions eventually compelled the British government to overrule the objections of some British commanders and let the Dominion forces serve together instead of being distributed amongst various British divisions. The "colonials" would go on to be acknowledged by both

936-486: A motive of crossed arrows. According to the Union of Horodło of 1413, 47 Lithuanian and Samogitian noble houses adopted Polish nobility coat of arms . As the nobility expanded during the following centuries more coats of arms were created. Military mobilization Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation ) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war . The word mobilization

1040-676: A personal dialogue with the German Emperor in an attempt to avoid war with Germany. However, Nicholas was advised that attempts to improvise a partial mobilization would lead to chaos and probable defeat if, as pessimists on the Russian side expected, no amount of diplomacy could convince the Germans to refrain from attacking Russia whilst she was engaged with Germany's ally. On July 29, 1914, the Tsar ordered full mobilization, then changed his mind after receiving

1144-509: A telegram from Kaiser Wilhelm. Partial mobilization was ordered instead. The next day, the Tsar's foreign minister , Sergey Sazonov once more persuaded Nicholas of the need for general mobilization, and the order was issued that day, July 30. In response, Germany declared war on Russia. Germany mobilized under von Moltke the Younger 's revised version of the Schlieffen Plan , which assumed

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1248-533: Is firmly located in the East. In the Second Polish Republic , Lithuanians lived mainly in the counties on the border with Lithuania: Święciany , Vilnius - Trakai and Suwałki , and almost all of them were rural people engaged in agriculture . At the beginning of the 20th century, descendants of former noble Lithuanians were most likely to call themselves Poles. Only a part of the nobility, openly referring to

1352-624: The January Uprising , imperial officials announced that "Lithuanians are Russians seduced by Poles and Catholicism" and banned press in the Lithuanian language and started the Program of Restoration of Russian Beginnings . Over the course of time, the Lithuanian nobility increasingly developed a sense of belonging to the Polish nation. During the 19th century, a self-designation, often represented using

1456-486: The Lithuanian language was just a morphed Latin language. By that time, the upper nobility and the ducal court already used Polish as their first language. The last Grand Duke known to have spoken Lithuanian was Casimir IV Jagiellon (1440-1492). In 1595 Mikalojus Daukša addressed Lithuanian nobility calling for the Lithuanian language to play a more important role in state life. The usage of Lithuanian declined, and

1560-630: The Military Service Act in 1917. On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the war on the Allied side. At the entrance, the U.S. only could mobilize its army of 107,641 soldiers, ranked only seventeenth in size worldwide at the time. The United States Navy quickly mobilized, adding 5 dreadnoughts to the Allied navy. However, conscription quickly ensued. By March 1918, 318,000 U.S. soldiers had been mobilized to France. Eventually, by October 1918,

1664-660: The Militia (Canada's peacetime army); in 1920 the Otter Commission was compelled to sort out which units would perpetuate the units that served in the trenches—the CEF or the prewar Militia. A unique solution of perpetuations was instituted, and mobilization during the Second World War did not repeat Sir Sam Hughes' model, which has been described by historians as being more closely akin to ancient Scottish clans assembling for battle than

1768-513: The President of Russia , announced a partial mobilization on 21 September 2022 of existing reservists , most particularly those that have military experience. According to claims of the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu , 300,000 reservists would be mobilized. Economic mobilization is the preparation of resources for usage in a national emergency by carrying out changes in the organization of

1872-400: The President of Ukraine , signed a decree on February 24, 2022 on the general mobilization of the population in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Conscripts and reservists were called up over the next 90 days to "ensure the defense of the state, maintaining combat and mobilization readiness". Men between the ages of 18 and 60 were prohibited from leaving the country. Vladimir Putin ,

1976-605: The Union of Horodło (1413) forty-five Polish families adopted forty-seven Lithuanian Catholic families, lending them their coats of arms. It is assumed that the representatives of Lithuanian nobility gathered in Horodło constituted the elite of that time on which Vytautas based his authority. The adoption of Polish coats of arms, an important marker of nobility with a well-established tradition in Western Europe, elevated this narrow group above other privileged population groups. Despite

2080-503: The magnates and later, within the Russian Empire, of princes. Over time, the vast majority of the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania voluntarily became Polonized and recognized Polish national thought as a natural continuation of Greater Lithuanian national thought . Despite the term, Lithuanian nobility doesn’t mean the same as the nobility of todays Lithuania , as the terms "Lithuanians" and "Lithuanian" have changed over

2184-725: The Axis powers, only minor operations had been carried out by the French at the Saar River . Canada actually carried out a partial mobilization on August 25, 1939, in anticipation of the growing diplomatic crisis . On September 1, 1939, the Canadian Active Service Force (a corps-sized force of two divisions) was mobilized even though war was not declared by Canada until September 10, 1939. Only one division went overseas in December 1939, and

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2288-579: The British and German high commands as being elite British units. In May 1918, when command of the Australian Corps passed from William Birdwood to John Monash , it became the first British Empire formation commanded totally free of British officers. On May 23, 1915, Italy entered World War I on the Allied side. Despite being the weakest of the big four Allied powers, the Italians soon managed to populate its army from 560 to 693 infantry battalions in 1916;

2392-542: The Catholic Church had a Polish character, it became an element integrating both the conscious classes and the popular masses, who began to identify with Polishness through their religion. The January Uprising of 1863-1864 and the wave of post-uprising repressions were a great shock for the people of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, under the influence of painful experiences, the sense of community between Lithuanianness and Polishness became even stronger, and

2496-678: The Catholic faith were adopted by Polish noble families and received Polish coats of arms . With the Union of Lublin , nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the nobility of the Kingdom of Poland became a common entity of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , which had one of the largest percentages of nobility in Europe, with szlachta constituting close to 10% of the population, but in some constituent regions, like Duchy of Samogitia, it

2600-559: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and safeguarded its sovereignty vis-à-vis the Kingdom of Poland. Gradually Polonization spread to a broader population, and for the most part, the Lithuanian nobility became part of both nations’ szlachta . The middle nobility adopted the Polish language in the 17th century, while the minor rural nobles remained bilingual up to the period when the question of language related-nationality appeared. The Lithuanian nobles did preserve their national awareness as members of

2704-632: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was called boyars . Boyars became part of the szlachta (nobility) during the Union of Horodło on October 2, 1413, initiating nobility in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania following the Western European model (with a hereditary system of heraldic identification), as well as an increase in the position of the Greater Lithuanian nobility. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania adopted Polish institutions of castellans and voivodes , and 47 selected boyars of Grand Duchy of Lithuania of

2808-502: The Grand Duchy, and in most cases recognition of their Lithuanian family roots; their leaders would continue to represent the interests of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the General sejm and in the royal court . Lithuanian language was used during Kościuszko Uprising in the proclamations calling to rise up For our freedom and yours . And Lithuanian nobles did rise to fight for the independence of their nation. In Lithuania proper ,

2912-545: The Grand Dukes and that their function was to oversee ducal demesne . Most power family gained during the reign of Casimir Jagiellon . The castaldius of Vytautas , Andrius Goštautas might have been a voivode of Vilnius and Kreva , and father of Jonas, appears to have been the precursor of the family growth. The majority of the family's possessions (lands) were in the western part of the Duchy and eastern ethnic Lithuania. After

3016-711: The Great Powers could only afford to keep a fraction of these men in uniform in peacetime, the rest were reservists with limited opportunities to train. Maneuvering formations of millions of men with limited military training required intricate plans with no room for error, confusion, or discretion after mobilization began. These plans were prepared under the assumption of worst-case scenarios . For example, German military leaders did not plan to mobilize for war with Russia whilst assuming that France would not come to her ally's aid, or vice versa. The Schlieffen Plan therefore dictated not only mobilization against both powers, but also

3120-473: The Holshansky played a significant role on the side of the grand dukes, starting from Jogaila and Vytautas, being in the strict power elite. Apart from them, these were the families descended from Gediminas family: Olelkovich , Belsky , Kobryński and Zasławski. The princes of ethnically Ruthenian origin were excluded from the strict power elite and found their place in it only at the end of the 15th century. Then

3224-1034: The Lithuanian language, subsequent to the partitions of the Commonwealth left most of the former Grand Duchy under control of the Russian Empire . The situation worsened during the years of tsar Nicholas I of Russia 's rule. After the November uprising imperial officials wanted to minimize the social base for another potential uprising and thus decided to reduce the noble class. During the period 1833–1860, 25,692 people in Vilna Governorate and 17,032 people in Kovno Governorate lost their noble status. They could not prove their status with monarchs' privileges or land ownership. They did not lose personal freedom, but were assigned as one steaders Russian : однодворцы in rural areas and as citizens in towns. In view of

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3328-403: The Lithuanian nobility during the interbellum and after World War II emigrated to Poland, many were deported to Siberia during the years 1945–53 of Soviet occupation, many manors were destroyed. The Association of Lithuanian Nobility was established in 1994. Lithuanian and Samogitian families possessed heraldry predating formal Christianization. The most archaic type of post-1413 heraldry has

3432-466: The Polish language became the predominant administrative language in the 16th century, eventually replacing Ruthenian as the official language of the Grand Duchy in 1697. Nonetheless, spoken Lithuanian was still common in the Grand Duchy courts during the 17th century. At first, only Lithuanian magnate families were affected by Polonization, although many of them like the Radziwiłłs remained loyal to

3536-419: The Polish nobility . The process accelerated after the Union of Lublin (1569), resulting in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Lithuanian nobility polonised , replacing Lithuanian and Ruthenian languages with Polish although the process took centuries. In the 16th century, a newly established theory amongst Lithuanian nobility was popular, claiming that Lithuanian nobility was of Roman extraction, and

3640-638: The Polish title "książę", which in Ruthenian texts was translated as "knyazhe". As a result, the poorer prince families that still used the title of knyaz fell completely into insignificance, and the Lithuanian magnate elite consisted of "princes and lords" ( Polish : "książąt i panów" ). Following his distribution of state land, the Grand Duke became dependent on powerful landowners, who began demanding greater liberties and privileges. The nobles were granted administrative and judicial power in their domains and increasing rights in state politics. The legal status of

3744-585: The Polonization of the nobility, gentry and townspeople was practically complete by the early 19th century, relegating the Lithuanian language to the status of a peasant's tongue. The processes of Polonization and russification were partially reversed with the Lithuanian National Revival . Despite origins from mostly the non-noble classes, a number of nobles re-embraced their Lithuanian roots. The lesser Lithuanian nobility, still partially preserving

3848-565: The Royal Union of the Lithuanian Boyars ( Lithuanian : Lietuvos bajorų karališkoji sąjunga ) was established in Vilnius in 1994 which continues the interwar period Society traditions, perform legitimation processes of historical Lithuanian nobles, organize ceremonies of awarding acts of recognition of nobility and unites thousands of Lithuanian nobles. However, the criteria for belonging to

3952-578: The Russian Stavka 's war planning assumed that war against either Austria-Hungary or Germany would mean war against the other power. Although the plan allowed flexibility as to whether the main effort would be made against Germany or Austria-Hungary, in either case units would be mobilized on the frontiers of both Powers. On July 28, 1914, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (William's cousin) ordered partial mobilization against Austria-Hungary only. While war with Austria-Hungary seemed inevitable, Nicholas engaged in

4056-642: The UK). Canada also enacted the National Resources Mobilization Act in 1940, which among other things compelled men to serve in the military, though conscripts mobilized under the NRMA did not serve overseas until 1944. Conscripts did, however, serve in the Aleutian Islands Campaign in 1943 though the anticipated Japanese defense never materialized due to the evacuation of the enemy garrison before

4160-415: The ages". Another opportunity to prove nobility were the military musterings, the first one organised in 1528, where a register of those capable to fight was prepared. A listing in such a register was legal proof of nobility. Initially, a group distinguished by prestige were the princely families, which members bore the title of knyaz . These were mostly, at least according to tradition, the descendants of

4264-460: The army had grown in size from 1 million to 1.5 million soldiers. On August 17, 1916, Romania entered the war on the Allied side, mobilizing an army of 23 divisions. Romania was quickly defeated however by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria . Bulgaria went so far as to ultimately mobilize 1.2 million men, more than a quarter of its population of 4.3 million people, a greater share of its population than any other country during

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4368-610: The beginning of World War I , since in 1914, under the laws and customs of warfare then observed (not to mention the desire to avoid compromising national security), general mobilization of one nation's military forces was invariably considered an act of war by that country's likely enemies. In 1914, the United Kingdom was the only European Great Power without conscription . The other Great Powers ( Austria-Hungary , Italy , France , Germany and Russia ) all relied on compulsory military service to supply each of their armies with

4472-545: The belief in the identity of both elements became almost a patriotic axiom. Additionally, in the second half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century, the process of linguistic Polonization of the rural population accelerated rapidly, especially in the Vilnius region . In the consciousness of the general Polish society at that time, the multi-ethnic heritage of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

4576-623: The centuries . As cultural homogenization and linguistic Polonization of the nobility progressed, the concept of Lithuanian began to mean simply regional difference within the uniform political nation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . The main Polonizing factors, as in other areas of the First Republic of Poland , were the church , the manor and the city , where the lower social classes adopted and thereby took over

4680-501: The course of the 15th century, it changed its meaning to refer to the masses of ordinary nobility who could stand up to fight when called upon. There were also social groups that were personally free but had no military commitments. Such a group were, for example, putnie boyars, who served as grand-ducal envoys and were in charge of road maintenance. A significant group of boyars were service boyars who did not own allodial land, but only service estates, which they received and owned only by

4784-655: The course of wars in the 15th and 16th centuries. Some families became extinct, and with the restriction of the circle of inheritance, their estates were incorporated into the grand-ducal domain. In 1499 Alexander regulated the legal system of the few remaining appanages, the magnates ruling them were given the full ius ducale . This was of little political significance since the princes as a political class were of little importance. Regarding Lithuania proper, not counting descendants of Gediminas seven princely families are known: Borowski , Dowgowd, Giedraitis/ Giedrojć , Jamontowicz, Holshansky , Sudemund, Świrski . They also used

4888-488: The cultural patterns of the higher classes. Already in 1576, seven years after the conclusion of the Union of Lublin , Augustyn Rotundus , a historiographer of Greater Lithuania at that time, wrote that the Lithuanian language previously used by some citizens of Grand Duchy of Lithuania was used by peasants , while the nobility widely adopted Polish . However, it should be mentioned that this process took place without orders or prohibitions, without coercion, mainly under

4992-609: The death of the last scion of the family, Stanislovas Goštautas , the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus inherited his possessions as a matter of right, per the law of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Goštautai family name may be found in numerous renderings: Gasztold , Gasztołd , Gasztołt , Gashtold , Gastoldus , Gastold , Gastołd , Gosztold , Gosztowd , Gosztowt , Gosztowtt , Gochtovtt , Gasztowt , Gaszdtowt , Gasztowtt , Gasthawdus , Gostautas and Goštautas ; these are all different renderings of

5096-512: The dynasties who accepted the authority of Gediminids. However, only those who owned land in Lithuania proper, who were of Lithuanian origin and who had accepted Catholicism in 1386, had any influence on central state policy. The Ruthenian princes had influence only on the local situation in their lands. They varied considerably in terms of wealth and importance, some of them wielding huge estates, while others possessed their land on service tenure from

5200-419: The efficacy of the new " precision rifle " developed by the monarchy, officers were forced to only speak German when giving orders to their men. Even one Austrian officer commented at Solferino that his troops could not even comprehend the command, "Halt." This demonstrates the communicative problems that arose quickly with the advent of the mass army. Intricate plans for mobilization contributed greatly to

5304-606: The entangling alliances of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente directed the intricate plans for mobilization. This brought all of the Great Powers of Europe into the Great War without actually utilizing the provisions of either alliance. The mobilization was like a holiday for many of the inexperienced soldiers; for example, some Germans wore flowers in the muzzles of their rifles as they marched. Trains brought soldiers to

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5408-606: The establishment of a unified state, they gradually became subordinates to greater Dukes, and later to the King of Lithuania . After Mindaugas' death, all Lithuanian rulers held the title Grand Duke ( Lithuanian : Didysis kunigaikštis ), or king , which was the title sometimes used by Gediminas and several others. Ethnic Lithuanian nobility had different names than common people, as their names consisted of two stems . Greater noble families generally used their predecessor's Lithuanian pagan given names as their family names ; this

5512-678: The exclusive right to this term. However, attempts were made to create organizations of native Lithuanians of noble descent. On April 4, 1928, the Lithuanian Boyars Society ( Lithuanian : Lietuvos bajorų draugija ) was established, which operated until 1940. Upon adoption of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania in 1990 and this way ending the Soviet occupation of Lithuania ,

5616-448: The fact that some of them abandoned the Horodło coats of arms and replaced them with others, the political significance of this gesture did not lose its significance. In the system built by Vytautas, central offices were restricted to Catholics only, which excluded nobles of Ruthenian origin. The basis of the Grand Duke's power was the lands of Lithuania proper, basically the provinces of Trakai and Vilnius. Nobles from this region constituted

5720-661: The front lines of battle. The Germans timetabled the movements of 11,000 trains as they brought troops across the Rhine River . The French mobilized around 7,000 trains for movement. Horses were also mobilized for war . The British had 165,000 horses prepared for cavalry , the Austrians 600,000, the Germans 715,000, and the Russians over a million. Britain's Dominions including Australia , Canada , New Zealand and South Africa were compelled to go to war when Britain did. However, it

5824-712: The functioning and competing associations of the Lithuanian nobility gather in their ranks representatives of the minor nobility, most often descending from their families on the distaff side . Prior to the baptism by Mindaugas , lesser members of the nobility were called bajorai (singular - bajoras ) and greater nobles, kunigai (singular - kunigas ), related to the Old German : kunig , meaning "king", or Lithuanian : kunigaikštis , usually translated as duke , Latin : dux . These positions evolved from tribal leaders and were chiefly responsible for waging wars and organizing raids operations into enemy territories. Following

5928-551: The government hoped to follow a "limited liability" war policy. When France was invaded in May 1940, the Canadian government realized that would not be possible and mobilized three additional divisions, beginning their overseas employment in August 1940 with the dispatch of the 2nd Canadian Division (some units of which were deployed to Iceland and Newfoundland for garrison duty before moving to

6032-449: The grace of the Grand Duke. As the role and wealth of the great magnates increased, the service boyars put themselves at the service of the lords and princes in exchange for tenures. The process of the formation of the noble estate in Lithuania accelerated after the union with Poland when there arose a desire to equalize the legal system of both countries. Nobility, or szlachta , in Poland

6136-419: The grand duke or another prince (so-called 'service princes' - князя слчжбовiе ). The most powerful princes retained almost total power in their lands, recognising the supremacy of the grand dukes. Vytautas began a policy of limiting the power of the princes and incorporating their appanages into the domain. Many princes died in civil wars after his death. Many appanages, lying in the east, were lost to Moscow in

6240-645: The great Lithuanian families living in today's Lithuania, Stefania Maria Romer, died in 2012. Meanwhile, in Poland, about 2,000 Polish families with Lithuanian origins live and use the Polish language, including the Radziwiłł , Czartoryski , Tyszkiewicz , Sanguszko , Sapieha , Giedroyć , Piłsudski , Puzyna , Woroniecki and Romer families. The president of the Genealogical and Heraldic Society of Lithuania , Czesław Malewski, commented that currently there are no famous families left in Lithuania, and

6344-528: The history of the "peoples" inhabiting the eastern lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth constituted an integral part of the history of Poles. The local "peoples" (especially Lithuanians and Belarusians ) were perceived at best as "younger brothers", naturally subordinated to the Polish national interest. It was therefore necessary to educate them and guide them in the right direction, because they were not yet mature enough to make independent decisions. "Our Polish paternalism - writes Roman Wapiński -

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6448-401: The influence of civilizational domination and administrative influence (there is also no evidence of administrative coercion). Polonization processes led to the fact that already in the 17th century, Lithuanian landowners called themselves gente Lithuani, natione Poloni ( Latin : Lithuanians by birth, Poles by nationality ). In 1697, in the entire Grand Duchy of Lithuania, at the request of

6552-487: The introduction of the railways in the 19th century. A number of technological and societal changes promoted the move towards a more organized way of deployment. These included the telegraph to provide rapid communication, the railways to provide rapid movement and concentration of troops, and conscription to provide a trained reserve of soldiers in case of war. The Roman Republic was able to mobilize at various times between 6% (81–83 BCE) to as much as 10% (210s BCE) of

6656-566: The landings. Service in the Aleutians was not considered "overseas" as technically the islands were part of North America. The United Kingdom mobilized 22% of its total population for direct military service, more than any other nation in the WWII era. Up to 34 million soldiers served in the Red Army during World War II, representing the largest military force in world history. Volodymyr Zelenskyy ,

6760-446: The local Lithuanian nobility, Polish was introduced as the official language instead of the previously existing Ruthenian language . In the 18th century, the Polonization of the lands within the borders of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a completed process, and the Polonization of Vilnius was a state of affairs. Despite the lack of their own state, the conviction of the permanent nature of Lithuania's relationship with Poles and

6864-419: The millions of men they believed they would need to win a major war. France enacted the " Three Year Law " (1913) to extend the service of conscripted soldiers to match the size of the German army, as the French population of 40 million was smaller than the German population of 65 million people. The Anglo-German naval arms race began, sparked by the German enactment of the Second Naval Law . Each of

6968-452: The modern national movements of Lithuania and Belarus and fought for Poland in 1918-1920. The landowning nobles in the new Lithuanian state saw themselves predominately as Poles of Lithuanian background. During the interbellum years the government of Lithuania issued land reform limiting manors with 150 hectares of land while confiscating land from those nobles who were fighting alongside the Polish in Polish-Lithuanian War . Many members of

7072-452: The national economy. It is reorganizing the functioning of the national economy to use resources most effectively in support of the total war effort. Typically, the available resources and productive capabilities of each nation determined the degree and intensity of economic mobilization. Thus, effectively mobilizing economic resources to support the war effort is a complex process, requiring superior coordination and productive capability on

7176-413: The nobility and landed gentry and among the intelligentsia. The fall of the First Polish Republic and unsuccessful armed uprisings led to the strengthening of the Polonization processes of the small nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, identifying spiritually and culturally with Polish traditions. Post-uprising repression resulted in the Catholic Church becoming the mainstay of Polishness. Because

7280-445: The nobility grew and the burdens and freedoms of the peasantry were reduced, these linguistic differences began to gain importance. Around the beginning of the 16th century, groups of boyars spared no effort to prove their noble status. The grand ducal council resolved that nobility had to be attested by the testimony of two neighbours, of undoubtedly noble lineage, saying that the applicant's family had been "boyars and shliakhta through

7384-503: The nobility of this organization are treated liberally, accepting members who can prove their descent only through the female line . Therefore, the Royal Union of the Lithuanian Boyars has no chance of acceptance by international associations . According to Professor Grzegorz Błaszczyk , the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania belongs primarily to the descendants of old Greater Lithuanian families, most of whom were Polonized and still live in Poland today. The last representative of

7488-549: The nobility was almost all Lithuanian or Samogitian, with territorial expansion more Ruthenian families joined the nobility. As early as the 16th century, several Ruthenian noble families began to call themselves gente Ruthenus, natione Lithuanus . A good example is the Chodkiewicz family, which attributed its ancestry to the House of Gediminas . The term boyar , boiarstvo ( bajorai ) originally denoted all those who fought. Over

7592-600: The nobility was based on several privileges, granted by the Grand Dukes: Most of the nobility rights were retained even after the third partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. The nobility was particularly numerous in the ethnically Lithuanian lands and is estimated to have constituted about 10-11%, while in the Ruthenian lands of the Grand Duchy only about 3-4%. The nobility in Samogitia

7696-456: The order of attack—France would be attacked first regardless of the diplomatic circumstances. To bypass the fortified Franco-German frontier, the German forces were to be ordered to march through Belgium . Whether or not Russia had committed the first provocation, the German plan agreed to by Emperor William II called for the attack on Russia to take place only after France was defeated. Similarly,

7800-425: The political elite of the country. New terms emerged for all those of noble birth: shliakhta (from Polish : szlachta ; Lithuanian : šlėkta ) in Ruthenian and nobiles in Latin. The term zemianin  [ pl ] ( Lithuanian : ziemionys ) began to denote the nobles who possessed land. Szlachta itself was stratified into several categories . As the privileges and political importance of

7904-476: The politics of the Grand Duchy. Practically giving it full control over the actions of the ruler. While in Poland at that time the limitation of royal power was associated with an increase in the role of the ordinary nobility, in the Grand Duchy, where nobility assemblies ( sejmiks ) did not exist, full power passed into the hands of the great lords. Grand Duchy of Lithuania offices were held almost exclusively by magnates. Potent Radziwiłł family (Radvila) received

8008-448: The population lived in the lands directly under the Grand Duke's rule, by 1528 this figure had fallen to 30%. It is estimated that 5% of the land was owned by the Church, while as much as 65% of the land was then in the hands of 13 thousand of noble families (6 thousand of them were of Lithuanian origin). Most of it was owned by a small group of several dozen families of lords, which constituted

8112-591: The problems in modern army mobilization. Prussia began to realize the future of mobilizing mass armies when Napoleon III transported 130,000 soldiers to Italy by military railways in 1859. French caravans that carried the supplies for the French and Piedmontese armies were incredibly slow, and the arms inside these caravans were sloppily organized. These armies were in luck, however, in that their Austrian adversaries experienced similar problems with sluggish supply caravans (one of which apparently covered less than three miles per day). Not only did Prussia take note of

8216-436: The problems in transporting supplies to armies, but it also took note of the lack of communication between troops, officers, and generals. Austria's army was primarily composed of Slavs , but it contained many other ethnicities as well. Austrian military instruction during peacetime utilized nine different languages, accustoming Austrian soldiers to taking orders only in their native language. Conversely, in an effort to augment

8320-425: The relatively few hereditary noble titles in the Kingdom of Poland were bestowed by foreign monarchs. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had one of the largest percentages of nobility in Europe, with szlachta (nobility) constituting close to 10% of the population, but in some constituent regions, like Duchy of Samogitia , it was closer to 12%. However, the high nobility was extremely limited in number, consisting of

8424-518: The representatives of powerful Volhynian families: Sanguszko , Czartoryski , Ostrogski and Zasławski found their place in the power elite. Since the reign of Vytautas, documents began to distinguish a group of great lords, calling them in Latin baro (pl. barones ), dominus (pl. domini ) or, in Ruthenian texts, "great boyars" ( боярe великie ). Soon, the borrowed from Polish term "pan" (plural "pany", пан ; ponai or didikai ), literally meaning "lord" gained popularity. This new elite

8528-443: The rights of landowners to pass on their estates. Although allodial land ownership was previously known in the Grand Duchy, its prevalence increased significantly in the following period. Similarly, the new law of inheritance led to a decline in the importance, outside Kaunas district and Samogitia, of clan kinships, in favour of more nuclear families. This led to a rapid change in the structure of land ownership. While in 1386 80% of

8632-439: The ruling elite. The situation began to change in the 1430s when nobility privileges began to be extended to the Ruthenian nobility. The cementing of the new elite was strengthened by the emergence of the institution of the council. Initially, it had no institutionalized form but gathered the ruler's closest associates. However, from 1430 onwards, it began to take shape as a permanent institution, to which one automatically became

8736-511: The same distorted pagan given name of Goštautai's ancestor, mentioned in written sources as Johann Gastawd . Upon the baptism he retained his pagan Lithuanian name (which may be reconstructed as *G ā staŭtas) and passed it on to his descendants; that was a common practice of the rising Lithuanian nobility subsequent to the Christianization of Lithuania . Hence at first such names were used much like patronymics rather than surnames in

8840-430: The seventeenth century possessed an average of 20,000 men. A military force of this size requires around 20 tons of food per day, shelter, as well as all the necessary munitions, transportation (typically horses or mules), tools, and representative garments. Without efficient transportation, mobilizing these average-sized forces was extremely costly, time-consuming, and potentially life-threatening. Soldiers could traverse

8944-426: The state or ethnic sense. The Lithuanian nobility felt united with the Polish nobility as part of one political nation of the Commonwealth, enjoying privileges, freedom and equality. In this sense, they often referred to themselves as "Polish nobility" or outright "Poles". At the same time, separatism and the defense of Lithuanian national separateness within the federation state were very strong. The Lithuanian nobility

9048-401: The terrain to get to war fronts, but they had to carry their supplies. Many armies decided to forage for food; however, foraging restricted movement because it is based on the presumption that the army moves over land possessing significant agricultural production. However, due to new policies (like conscription), greater populations, and greater national wealth, the nineteenth-century army

9152-429: The territorial integrity of their common, although enslaved, homeland was strengthening in the minds of all Poles. In the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the cultural unity of inhabitants was strengthening, and many traditionally understood Lithuanians discovered a modern national identity - they became Poles . It should be noted, however, that the described processes took place almost exclusively within

9256-468: The title knyaz, which is probably a rendering of the Lithuanian kunigas , which in pagan times probably belonged to every person of noble status. It is not clear whether they owed their princely dignity to their former status as sovereigns or to their connection and affinity with the ruling family established in the 14th century (this is confirmed at least for the Gedraitis and Holshanskys). Among them, only

9360-720: The title of the prince ( German : Reichsfürst ; Polish : książę ) from the Holy Roman Emperor in 1518, similarly some other families received titles of counts ( Goštautai /Gasztołd in 1529/30; Ilinicz in 1553; Chodkiewicz in 1568; possibly Kęsgailos /Kieżgajło in 1547) from the Emperor. The elevation of the Radziwiłł family resulted in the abandonment of the title of "knyaz" by those Ruthenian families that still retained significant power, wealth and often appanages (for example Wiśniowiecki , Ostrogski , Zbaraski ). They adopted instead

9464-475: The total Roman population, in emergencies and for short periods of time. This included poorly-trained militia . The Confederate States of America is estimated to have mobilized about 11% of its free population in the American Civil War (1861–1865). The Kingdom of Prussia mobilized about 6–7% of its total population in the years 1760 and 1813. The Swedish Empire mobilized 7.7% in 1709. Armies in

9568-518: The traditions of historical Lithuania, trying to reconcile Lithuanianness with Polishness, called themselves " old Lithuanians ", " historical Lithuanians " or " The Mickiewicz's " (i.e. - such as in Adam Mickiewicz , from the first words of the invocation from the poem Pan Tadeusz: "O Lithuania, my country ... " ). In turn, the representatives of the former " Semigalian people ", now "nationalized", called themselves Lithuanians , additionally reserving

9672-409: The war. The production of supplies gradually increased throughout the war. In Russia, the expansion of industry allowed a 2,000 percent increase in the production of artillery shells – by November 1915, over 1,512,000 artillery shells were being produced per month. In France, a massive mobilization by the female population to work in factories allowed the rate of shell production to reach 100,000 shells

9776-420: Was Polonised and adopted Polish identity by the late 19th century. A Russian census in 1897 showed that 27.7% of nobility living within modern Lithuania's borders recognized Lithuanian as the mother language. This number was even higher in Kovno Governorate , where 36.6% of nobility identified the Lithuanian language as their mother language. Most descendants of the Lithuanian nobility remained ill-disposed to

9880-505: Was already a well-established estate, its legal position was consolidated in the 14th century. At this point, it was basically impossible to enter the noble status otherwise than by birth. The development of the idea of corona regni aroused among the nobility a notion of being the main unifying force of the kingdom and responsible for its rule. Lithuanian nobles aspired to this position. Privileges of 1387 and 1413 gave legal security of tenure to holders of allodial land and recognized in law

9984-447: Was closer to 12%. However, the high nobility was extremely limited in number, consisting of the magnates and later, within the Russian Empire, of princes. Families of the nobility were responsible for military mobilization and enjoyed Golden Liberty ; some were rewarded with additional privileges for success on the battlefield. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, ducal titles were mostly inherited by descendants of old dynasties while

10088-400: Was composed of an average of 100,000 men. For example, in 1812 Napoleon led an army of 600,000 to Moscow while feeding off plentiful agricultural products introduced by the turn of the century, such as potatoes. Despite the advantages of mass armies, mobilizing forces of this magnitude took much more time than it had in the past. The Second Italian War of Independence illustrated all of

10192-595: Was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army . Mobilization theories and tactics have continuously changed since then. The opposite of mobilization is demobilization . Mobilization institutionalized the Levée en masse (engl. mass levy of conscripts ) that was first introduced during the French Revolution . It became an issue with the introduction of conscription , and

10296-407: Was increasingly identified simply with Polish heritage. Such views were held by the most active and opinion-forming layer of the emerging nation. The intelligentsia grew up in an atmosphere of supremacy of nobility culture, so they easily identified with it. It adopted the nobility's way of perceiving the world, even if it came from other social groups. According to a commonly accepted interpretation,

10400-725: Was largely left up to the individual Dominions to recruit and equip forces for the war effort. Canadian, Australian and New Zealand mobilizations all involved the creation of new field forces for overseas service rather than using the existing regimental structures as a framework. In the case of Canada, the Militia Minister, Sir Sam Hughes , created the Canadian Expeditionary Force by sending telegrams to 226 separate reserve unit commanders asking for volunteers to muster at Valcartier in Quebec. The field force served separately from

10504-410: Was only partly descended from the old princely families that ruled Lithuania in pagan times. To a large extent, these were new families that appeared during the reigns of Jogaila and Vytautas and whose representatives were among the signatories of the Union of Horodło (1413). They owed their position to the generosity of the grand dukes, who rewarded them with offices and land granted in allodium. In

10608-514: Was particularly numerous, but usually, it was a poor nobility living in gentry villages. In the right-bank part of Kaunas county the nobility accounted for as much as 25% of the hearths in the late 18th century. In 1777 there were 16,534 noble houses registered (5.2% of the total) in the whole Grand Duchy. In 1790 the register showed 100 palaces, 9,331 manors, 494 noblemen's houses in towns, and 13,890 houses of noblemen without subjects. Linguistic Polonization did not always mean full Polonization in

10712-410: Was the case with Goštautai , Radvilos , Astikai , Kęsgailos and others. Those families acquired great wealth, eventually becoming magnates . Their representatives are respectively Jonas Goštautas , Radvila Astikas , Kristinas Astikas and Mykolas Kęsgaila . The aforementioned families were granted corresponding Polish coats of arms under the Union of Horodlo in 1413. While at the beginning

10816-442: Was warmly attached to the laws, traditions and symbols of the Grand Duchy. Moreover, the Lithuanian separateness was also defended by the members of ethnically Polish families settling in Lithuania. Following the Union of Horodło (1413), the Lithuanian nobility's rights were equalized with those of the ruling class of the Kingdom of Poland ( szlachta ). During the following centuries, the Lithuanian nobility began to merge with

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