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128-733: Lithuania existed as an independent state from the beginning of the 13th century until 1569, when it entered into a union with Poland, forming the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . The Commonwealth ceased to exist after the Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century. Most of the Lithuanian territory was incorporated into the Russian Empire . A Lithuanian independence movement arose during

256-499: A company store , owned by their employers. A specific kind of truck system, in which credit advances are made against future work, is known in the U.S. as debt bondage . Many scholars have suggested that employers use such systems to exploit workers and/or indebt them. This could occur, for example, if employers were able to pay workers with goods which had a market value below the level of subsistence , or by selling items to workers at inflated prices. Others argue that truck wages were

384-642: A personal union since the Krewo Agreement of 1385 and the subsequent marriage of Queen Jadwiga of Poland to Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania , who was crowned jure uxoris King of Poland. Their descendant, Sigismund II Augustus , enforced the merger to strengthen frontiers of his dominion and maintain unity as he remained childless. His death in 1572 marked the end of the Jagiellonian dynasty and introduced an elective monarchy , whereupon members of domestic noble families or external dynasties were elected to

512-583: A public relations backlash might occur: the Central Powers realized that the Allies could use such territorial expansion in their propaganda . Lengthy debates between German military leaders (who favored open annexation) and the civilian administration (which leaned towards a more subtle strategy) resulted in a resolution that declared that the military administration governing occupied territories would grant some semblance of autonomy to their populations. The plan

640-466: A revolt , and, with the help of Denmark , blockaded maritime trade to neutral Elbląg (Elbing). Báthory, unable to penetrate the city's extensive fortifications, succumbed to the demands for greater privileges and freedoms. However, his successful Livonian campaign ended in the annexation of Livonia and the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (modern-day Estonia and Latvia , respectively), thus expanding

768-660: A centuries-long tradition of a nobles' democracy ( Golden Liberty ). Henry already posed as a candidate before Sigismund's death and received widespread support from the pro-French factions. The choice was a political move aimed at curtailing Habsburg hegemony, ending skirmishes with the French-allied Ottomans , and profiting from the lucrative trade with France. It was also believed that an Austrian Archduke could be too powerful and attempt to limit noble privileges. French envoys had also offered large amounts of bribes, amounting to several hundred thousand ecus . Upon ascending

896-504: A century, from the mid-17th century to the end of the 18th, while its neighbours stabilised their internal affairs and increased their military might. The Commonwealth did eventually make a serious effort to reform its political system, adopting in 1791 the Constitution of 3 May 1791 , which historian Norman Davies calls the first of its kind in Europe. The revolutionary Constitution recast

1024-555: A contract with merchants of Gdańsk, who controlled 80% of this inland trade, to ship the grain north to that seaport on the Baltic Sea . Countless rivers and waterways in the Commonwealth were used for shipping purposes, including the Vistula , Pilica , Bug , San , Nida , Wieprz , and Neman . The rivers had relatively developed infrastructure, with river ports and granaries . Most of

1152-663: A convenient way for isolated communities, such as during the early colonial settlement of North America, to operate when official currency was scarce. By the early 20th century, truck systems were widely seen, in industrialised countries, as exploitative; perhaps the most well-known example of this view was a 1947 U.S. hit song " Sixteen Tons ". Many countries have Truck Act legislation that outlaws truck systems and requires payment in cash. Though most closely associated with Medieval Europe, governments throughout human history have imposed regular short stints of unpaid labour upon lower social classes. These might be annual obligations of

1280-719: A debt, or transportation to a desired country. While historically unfree labour was frequently sanctioned by law, in the present day most unfree labour now revolves around illegal control rather than legal ownership, as all countries have made slavery illegal. As mentioned above, there are several exceptions of unfree or forced labour recognised by the International Labour Organization : Some countries practise forms of civil conscription for different major occupational groups or inhabitants under different denominations like civil conscription , civil mobilization , political mobilisation etc. This obligatory service on

1408-648: A few weeks or something similarly regular that lasted for the labourer's entire working life. As the system developed in the Philippines and elsewhere, the labourer could pay an appropriate fee and be exempted from the obligation. A form of forced labour in which peasants and members of lower castes were required to work for free existed in India before independence. This form of labour was known by several names, including veth , vethi , vetti-chakiri and begar . Another historically significant example of forced labour

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1536-831: A joint study of historians featuring Zhifen Ju, Mark Peattie , Toru Kubo, and Mitsuyoshi Himeta, more than 10 million Chinese were mobilised by the Japanese army and enslaved by the Kōa-in for slave labour in Manchukuo and north China. The U.S. Library of Congress estimates that in Java , between 4 and 10 million romusha ( Japanese : "manual labourer") were forced to work by the Japanese military. About 270,000 of these Javanese labourers were sent to other Japanese-held areas in South East Asia. Only 52,000 were repatriated to Java, meaning that there

1664-445: A long period of prosperity, the Commonwealth entered a period of protracted political, military, and economic decline. Its growing weakness led to its partitioning among its neighbours, Austria , Prussia , and Russia , during the late 18th century. Shortly before its demise, the Commonwealth adopted a major reform effort and enacted the 3 May Constitution , which was the first codified constitution in modern European history and

1792-493: A mass scale were opened to satisfy the demands of the nobility as consumers. At the height of the Great Northern War a coalition ( Warsaw Confederation ) against Augustus II was formed by Stanisław Leszczyński and other magnates sponsored by Sweden. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formally neutral at this point, as Augustus entered the war as Elector of Saxony. Disregarding Polish negotiation proposals supported by

1920-418: A mixture of: The end of the Jagiellonian dynasty in 1572 – after nearly two centuries – disrupted the fragile equilibrium of the Commonwealth's government. Power increasingly slipped away from the central government to the nobility. When presented with periodic opportunities to fill the throne, the szlachta exhibited a preference for foreign candidates who would not establish

2048-441: A nobleman's landholding comprised a folwark , a large farmstead worked by serfs to produce surpluses for internal and external trade. This economic arrangement worked well for the ruling classes and nobles in the early years of the Commonwealth, which was one of the most prosperous eras of the grain trade . The economic strength of Commonwealth grain trade waned from the late 17th century on. Trade relationships were disrupted by

2176-519: A series of blows during the following decades. Władysław's brother, John II Casimir , proved to be weak and impotent. The multicultural and mega-diverse federation already suffered domestic problems. As persecution of religious and ethnic minorities strengthened, several groups started to rebel. A major rebellion of self-governed Ukrainian Cossacks inhabiting south-eastern borderlands of the Commonwealth rioted against Polish and Catholic oppression of Orthodox Ukraine in 1648, in what came to be known as

2304-608: A state that was unusual for its time, although somewhat similar political systems existed in the contemporary city-states like the Republic of Venice . Both states were styled "Serenissima Respublica" or the " Most Serene Republic ". At a time when most European countries were headed toward centralization , absolute monarchy and religious and dynastic warfare, the Commonwealth experimented with decentralization , confederation and federation, democracy and religious tolerance . This political system unusual for its time stemmed from

2432-416: A strong and long-lasting dynasty . This policy often produced monarchs who were either totally ineffective or in constant debilitating conflict with the nobility. Furthermore, aside from notable exceptions such as the able Stefan Batory from Transylvania (1576–86), the kings of foreign origin were inclined to subordinate the interests of the Commonwealth to those of their own country and ruling house. This

2560-451: A substantial increase in the power of the Polish magnates , and the transformation of szlachta democracy into magnate oligarchy . The Commonwealth's political system was vulnerable to outside interference, as Sejm deputies bribed by foreign powers might use their liberum veto to block attempted reforms. This sapped the Commonwealth and plunged it into political paralysis and anarchy for over

2688-468: A term used from 1573 on), included: The three regions (see below) of the Commonwealth enjoyed a degree of autonomy . Each voivodship had its own parliament (sejmik), which exercised serious political power, including choice of poseł ( deputy ) to the national Sejm and charging of the deputy with specific voting instructions. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had its own separate army, treasury and most other official institutions. Golden Liberty created

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2816-579: A voluntary basis. Although personal benefits may be realised, it may be performed for a variety of reasons including citizenship requirements, a substitution of criminal justice sanctions, requirements of a school or class, and requisites for the receipt of certain benefits. During the Cold War in some communist countries like Czechoslovakia , the German Democratic Republic or the Soviet Union

2944-577: Is a term to define the recruiting, harbouring, obtaining and transportation of a person by use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjecting them to involuntary acts, such as acts related to commercial sexual exploitation (including forced prostitution ) or involuntary labour. The archetypal and best-known form of unfree labour is chattel slavery , in which individual workers are legally owned throughout their lives, and may be bought, sold or otherwise exchanged by owners, while never or rarely receiving any personal benefit from their labour. Slavery

3072-499: Is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution , detention , or violence , including death or other forms of extreme hardship to either themselves or members of their families. Unfree labour includes all forms of slavery , penal labour , and the corresponding institutions, such as debt slavery , serfdom , corvée and labour camps . Many forms of unfree labour are also covered by

3200-401: Is estimated that in the last 50 years more than 50 million people have been sent to Chinese laogai camps. A more common form in modern society is indenture, or bonded labour , under which workers sign contracts to work for a specific period of time, for which they are paid only with accommodation and sustenance, or these essentials in addition to limited benefits such as cancellation of

3328-585: Is executed only in a handful of communities in Germany and currently none in Austria. Beside the conscription for military services, some countries draft citizens for paramilitary or security forces , like internal troops , border guards or police forces . While sometimes paid, conscripts are not free to decline enlistment. Draft dodging or desertion are often met with severe punishment. Even in countries which prohibit other forms of unfree labour, conscription

3456-481: Is generally justified as being necessary in the national interest and therefore is one of the five exceptions to the Forced Labour Convention , signed by the most countries in the world. Community service is a paying job performed by one person or a group of people for the benefit of their community or its institutions. Community service is distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed on

3584-626: Is mandatory to join the so-called Militia Fire Brigades , as well as the obligatory service in Swiss civil defence and protection force. Conscripts in Singapore are providing the personnel of the country's fire service as part of the national service in the Civil Defence Force . In Austria and Germany citizens have to join a compulsory fire brigade if a volunteer fire service can not be provided, due to lack of volunteers. In 2018 this regulation

3712-499: The Danube River , never again to threaten central Europe. John Sobieski's death in 1696 arguably ended the period of national sovereignty, and Poland's relative authority over the region dwindled swiftly. By the 18th century, destabilization of its political system brought the Commonwealth to the brink of civil war and the state became increasingly susceptible to foreign influence. The remaining European powers perpetually meddled in

3840-632: The Four-Year Sejm 's May Constitution , came too late. The country was partitioned in three stages by the Russian Empire, the German Kingdom of Prussia , and the Austrian Habsburg monarchy . By 1795, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had been completely erased from the map of Europe. Poland and Lithuania were not re-established as independent countries until 1918. The political doctrine of

3968-611: The Henrician Articles , which tightly circumscribed royal authority. The country also exhibited unusual levels of ethnic diversity and great religious tolerance by European standards, guaranteed by the Warsaw Confederation Act of 1573 , though the practical degree of religious freedom varied. Poland acted as the dominant partner in the union. Polonization of nobles was generally voluntary, but state efforts at religious conversion were sometimes resisted. After

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4096-654: The Khmelnytsky Uprising . It resulted in a Ukrainian request, under the terms of the Treaty of Pereyaslav , for protection by the Russian Tsar. In 1651, in the face of a growing threat from Poland, and forsaken by his Tatar allies, Khmelnytsky asked the Tsar to incorporate Ukraine as an autonomous duchy under Russian protection. Russian annexation of Zaporizhian Ukraine gradually supplanted Polish influence in that part of Europe. In

4224-619: The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic , was a federative real union between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , existing from 1569 to 1795. This state was among the largest and most populated countries of 16th- to 17th-century Europe. At its peak in the early 17th century,

4352-692: The Ottoman Empire . In 1683, the Battle of Vienna marked the final turning point in the 250-year struggle between the forces of Christian Europe and the Islamic Ottomans. For its centuries-long opposition to Muslim advances, the Commonwealth would gain the name of Antemurale Christianitatis (bulwark of Christianity). During the next 16 years, the Great Turkish War would drive the Turks permanently south of

4480-730: The Pacific War (such as the Burma Railway ). Roughly 4,000,000 German POWs were used as "reparations labour" by the Allies for several years after the German surrender; this was permitted under the Third Geneva Convention provided they were accorded proper treatment. China's laogai ("labour reform") system and North Korea 's kwalliso camps are current examples. About 12 million forced labourers, most of whom were Poles and Soviet citizens ( Ost-Arbeiter ) were employed in

4608-631: The Polish Enlightenment began to sprout. In 1764, aristocrat Stanisław August Poniatowski was elected monarch with the connivance and support of his former lover Catherine the Great , a German noblewoman who became Empress of Russia. Poniatowski's attempts at reform were met with staunch resistance both internally and externally. Any goal of stabilizing the Commonwealth was dangerous for its ambitious and aggressive neighbours. Like his predecessors, he sponsored artists and architects. In 1765 he founded

4736-581: The Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations (1791). In the preamble of the Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations (1791) the dualistic nature of the state was confirmed and separate monarchial titles of Stanisław August Poniatowski were included: King of Poland ( Polish : Krol Polski ) and Grand Duke of Lithuania ( Polish : Wielki xiązę litewski ), also the land envoys of the Polish Crown and

4864-528: The Spanish Empire , or the work of Indigenous Australians in northern Australia on sheep or cattle stations ( ranches ), from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century. In the latter case, workers were rarely or never paid, and were restricted by regulations and/or police intervention to regions around their places of work. In late 16th century Japan, "unfree labour" or slavery was officially banned; but forms of contract and indentured labour persisted alongside

4992-535: The Third Statute of Lithuania in which it was stated that the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth is a federation of two countries – Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland where both countries have equal rights within it. In the 17th century and later it was also known as the 'Most Serene Commonwealth of Poland' ( Polish : Najjaśniejsza Rzeczpospolita Polska , Latin : Serenissima Res Publica Poloniae ),

5120-635: The Thirty Years' War ; this neutrality spared the country from the ravages of a political-religious conflict that devastated most of contemporary Europe. During this period, Poland was experiencing a cultural awakening and extensive developments in arts and architecture; the first Vasa king openly sponsored foreign painters, craftsmen, musicians and engineers, who settled in the Commonwealth at his request. Sigismund's eldest son, Ladislaus succeeded him as Władysław IV in 1632 with no major opposition. A skilled tactician, he invested in artillery , modernised

5248-495: The Union of Vilnius and Radom and the Union of Grodno . Lithuania's vulnerable position and rising tensions on its eastern flank persuaded the nobles to seek a closer bond with Poland. The idea of a federation presented better economic opportunities, whilst securing Lithuania's borders from hostile states to the north, south and east. Lesser Lithuanian nobility were eager to share the personal privileges and political liberties enjoyed by

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5376-610: The United Kingdom , the so-called Bevin Boys , had been conscripted for the work in coal mines . In Belgium in 1964, in Portugal and in Greece from 2010 to 2014 due to the severe economic crisis , a system of civil mobilisation was implemented to provide public services as a national interest. In Switzerland in most communities for all inhabitants, no matter if they are Swiss or not, it

5504-655: The Warsaw Corps of Cadets , the first state school in Poland for all classes of society. In 1773 the king and parliament formed the Commission of National Education , the first Ministry of Education in European history. In 1792, the king ordered the creation of Virtuti Militari , the oldest military decoration still in use. Stanisław August also admired the culture of ancient kingdoms, particularly Rome and Greece; Neoclassicism became

5632-466: The bourgeoisie , resulted in a fairly slow process of urbanization and thus a rather slow development of industries . The nobility could also regulate the price of grain for their advantage, thus acquiring much wealth. Some of the largest trade fairs in the Commonwealth were held at Lublin . Several ancient trading routes such as the Amber Road ( Pic. 4 ) extended across Poland–Lithuania, which

5760-457: The 1569 Union of Lublin the Grand Duchy of Lithuania remained a separate state from the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland with its own name, laws, and territory. The name 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów ) came into force during the reign of Stephen Báthory (since 1582, and was officially used until 1795). On 28 January 1588, Sigismund III Vasa has confirmed

5888-582: The 16th century. From Gdańsk, ships carried cargo to the major ports of the Low Countries , such as Antwerp and Amsterdam . The land routes, mostly to the German provinces of the Holy Roman Empire such as the cities of Leipzig and Nuremberg , were used for the export of live cattle (herds of around 50,000 head) hides , salt, tobacco, hemp and cotton from the Greater Poland region. In turn,

6016-709: The 19th century, based on concepts of national self-determination that were formalized in Woodrow Wilson 's Fourteen Points speech in January 1918. During the course of World War I , the German Army invaded Russia and soon entered the territory which comprised Lithuania. In 1915, the Germans assumed control and organized a military administration known as Ober Ost (short for der Oberbefehlshaber der gesamten deutschen Streitkräfte im Osten : "supreme command of all German forces in

6144-646: The Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (C105), one of the fundamental conventions of the ILO. According to the ILO Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour (SAP-FL), global profits from forced trafficked labour exploited by private agents are estimated at US$ 44.3 billion per year. About 70% of this value (US$ 31.6 billion) comes from trafficked victims. At least the half of this sum (more than US$ 15 billion) comes from industrialised countries. Trafficking

6272-624: The Americas rendered the Commonwealth's supplies less crucial which resulted in financial losses. Augustus III spent little time in the Commonwealth, instead preferring the Saxon city of Dresden . He appointed Heinrich von Brühl as viceroy and minister of Polish affairs who in turn left the politics to Polish magnate families, such as the Czartoryskis and the Radziwiłłs . It was also during this period that

6400-481: The Americas, Asia, or Europe, where their status as slaves was almost always inherited by their descendants. The term "slavery" is often applied to situations which do not meet the above definitions, but which are other, closely related forms of unfree labour, such as debt slavery or debt-bondage (although not all repayment of debts through labour constitutes unfree labour). Examples are the Repartimiento system in

6528-461: The Commonwealth entirely ceased to exist only four years after its adoption. The economy of the Commonwealth was predominantly based on agricultural output and trade, though there was an abundance of artisan workshops and manufactories – notably paper mills , leather tanneries , ironworks , glassworks and brickyards . Some major cities were home to craftsmen, jewellers and clockmakers. The majority of industries and trades were concentrated in

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6656-478: The Commonwealth imported wine, beer, fruit, exotic spices, luxury goods (e.g. tapestries , Pic. 5 ), furniture, fabrics as well as industrial products like steel and tools. The agricultural sector was dominated by feudalism based on the plantation system ( serfs ). Slavery was forbidden in Poland in the 15th century, and formally abolished in Lithuania in 1588, replaced by the second enserfment. Typically

6784-459: The Commonwealth of the Polish Kingdom, or the Commonwealth of Poland. Western Europeans often simplified the name to 'Poland' and in most past and modern sources it is referred to as the Kingdom of Poland, or just Poland. The terms 'Commonwealth of Poland' and 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów , Latin : Res Publica Utriusque Nationis ) were used in

6912-406: The Commonwealth spanned nearly 1,000,000 km (390,000 sq mi) and supported a multi-ethnic population of approximately 12 million as of 1618. The official languages of the Commonwealth were Polish and Latin , with Catholicism as the state religion. The Commonwealth was established as a single entity by the Union of Lublin on 1 July 1569. The two nations had previously been in

7040-618: The Commonwealth was our state is a republic under the presidency of the King . Chancellor Jan Zamoyski summed up this doctrine when he said that Rex regnat et non-gubernat ("The King reigns but [ lit. 'and'] does not govern"). The Commonwealth had a parliament, the Sejm, as well as a Senat and an elected king ( Pic. 1 ). The king was obliged to respect citizens' rights specified in King Henry's Articles as well as in pacta conventa , negotiated at

7168-454: The Commonwealth's influence into the Baltics . Most importantly, Poland gained the Hanseatic city of Riga on the Baltic Sea . In 1587, Sigismund Vasa – the son of John III of Sweden and Catherine Jagiellon – won the election, but his claim was overtly contested by Maximilian III of Austria , who launched a military expedition to challenge the new king. His defeat in 1588 at the hands of Jan Zamoyski sealed Sigismund's right to

7296-533: The Conference were held behind closed doors and no German representatives participated. A number of speeches were delivered during the early sessions of the council that denounced the German occupation, mentioning forced labor , heavy requisitions, and rampant deforestation . The Conference, however, concentrated on three main questions: In regard to the future of Lithuania, the Conference announced that an independent state, based on democratic principles, needed to be declared. In response to various schemes to re-create

7424-401: The Council of Lithuania when it declared the Act of Independence of Lithuania . The national minorities were promised freedom for their cultural needs. In later years national minorities were granted the same rights as Lithuanians and in some cases extra representation in the government: after the war ended, the Council of Lithuania was expanded to include Jewish and Belarusian representatives;

7552-434: The East or to the South as to the West, recognizes the possibility for the future state of Lithuania to enter into a certain relationship, still to be determined, with Germany, without harming its own independent development. East, South, and West in this context referred to Russia, Poland, and Germany, respectively. This carefully balanced passage was a response to German demands to declare loyalty to Germany. It did not please

7680-446: The East"). At first, the Germans simply exploited Lithuania for the benefit of their war effort. As the war progressed, it became evident that the two-front war that Germany was engaged in would necessitate a compromise peace with the Russian Empire. This necessitated a re-thinking of strategies concerning the occupied territories in the east. An openly pursued goal of annexation gave way to a more guarded policy after Germany perceived that

7808-404: The German war economy inside Nazi Germany. More than 2000 German companies profited from slave labour during the Nazi era, including Daimler , Deutsche Bank , Siemens , Volkswagen , Hoechst , Dresdner Bank , Krupp , Allianz , BASF , Bayer , BMW , and Degussa . In particular, Germany's Jewish population was subject to slave labour prior to their extermination. In Asia, according to

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7936-417: The Germans and they did not allow the publication of the resolution. At the end of the proceedings, the conference elected twenty members to the Council of Lithuania to act as the executive authority of the Lithuanian people. The council was empowered to carry out the resolution adopted by the Conference, i.e. to negotiate with the Germans and declare an independent Lithuania. The Social Democratic members of

8064-613: The Global Economy (1999), there are now an estimated 27 million slaves in the world. Blackbirding involves kidnapping or trickery to transport people to another country or far away from home, to work as a slave or low-paid involuntary worker. In some cases, workers were returned home after a period of time. Serfdom bonds labourers to the land they farm, typically in a feudal society. Serfs typically have no legal right to leave, change employers, or seek paid work, though depending on economic conditions many did so anyway. Unlike chattel slaves, they typically cannot be sold separately from

8192-498: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( Polish : posłow ziemskich Korony Polskiey, y Wielkiego Xięstwa Litewskiego ) were mentioned. The English term Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and German Polen–Litauen are seen as renderings of the 'Commonwealth of Two Nations' variant. Other informal names include the 'Republic of Nobles' ( Polish : Rzeczpospolita szlachecka ) and the 'First Commonwealth' ( Polish : I Rzeczpospolita ) or 'First Polish Republic' ( Polish : Pierwsza Rzeczpospolita ),

8320-490: The Kingdom of Poland; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was more rural and its economy was driven by farming and clothmaking. Mining developed in the south-west region of Poland which was rich in natural resources such as lead , coal, copper and salt. The currency used in Poland–Lithuania was the złoty (meaning "the golden") and its subunit, the grosz . Foreign coins in the form of ducats , thalers and shillings were widely accepted and exchanged. The city of Gdańsk had

8448-415: The Lithuanian aspirations; however no elections were allowed to take place. The Organizing Committee of the Conference ( Ausschuss ) met in Vilnius on 1–4 August 1917. At the start of the meeting, the military authorities presented an ultimatum that any future conferences would need to declare loyalty to Germany and agree to annexation. Since no elections had been held the representatives had to be invited by

8576-484: The Organizing Committee, which included Mykolas Biržiška , Petras Klimas , Antanas Smetona , Jonas Stankevičius , and Jurgis Šaulys . The Committee strove to choose representatives from a wide political, professional, and social spectrum. In total 264 representatives were selected, five to eight from each county ( Lithuanian : apskritis ). 214 of them attended the conference that convened on 18 September 1917, and remained in session until 22 September. The meetings of

8704-410: The Poles to take and occupy Moscow for the next two years. The disgraced Vasili IV of Russia was transported in a cage to Warsaw where he paid a tribute to Sigismund; Vasili was later murdered in captivity. The Commonwealth forces were eventually driven out on 4 November 1612 (celebrated as Unity Day in Russia). The war concluded with a truce that granted Poland–Lithuania extensive territories in

8832-427: The Polish szlachta , but did not accept Polish demands for the incorporation of the Grand Duchy into Poland as a mere province, with no sense of autonomy. Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł (Radvila Rudasis) and his cousin Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł , two prominent nobles and military commanders in Lithuania, vocally opposed the union. A fierce proponent of a single unified Commonwealth was Sigismund II Augustus , who

8960-418: The Relief of War Sufferers , an organization that helped war victims and mobilized political activists, then entered into negotiations between the Lithuanians and the occupational authorities. The Committee demanded that the Germans agree to permit a national convention, elected directly by the people. After lengthy negotiations, the parties reached an agreement that a conference could convene that would represent

9088-452: The Swedish parliament, Charles crossed into the Commonwealth and vanquished the Saxe-Polish forces at the Battle of Kliszów in 1702 and at the Battle of Pułtusk in 1703. Charles then succeeded in dethroning Augustus and coercing the Sejm (parliament) to replace him with Stanisław in 1704. Augustus regained the throne in 1709, but his own death in 1733 sparked the War of the Polish Succession in which Stanisław once more attempted to seize

9216-601: The army and fiercely defended the Commonwealth's eastern borders. Under the Treaty of Stuhmsdorf , he reclaimed regions of Livonia and the Baltics which were lost during the Polish-Swedish wars. Unlike his father who worshipped the Habsburgs, Władysław sought closer ties with France and married Marie Louise Gonzaga , daughter of Charles I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua , in 1646. The Commonwealth's power and stability began waning after

9344-459: The ascendance of the szlachta noble class over other social classes and over the political system of monarchy. In time, the szlachta accumulated enough privileges (such as those established by the Nihil novi Act of 1505) that no monarch could hope to break the szlachta's grip on power. The Commonwealth's political system is difficult to fit into a simple category, but it can be tentatively described as

9472-477: The assembly in protest. Sigismund II used his authority as grand duke and enforced the Act of Union in contumaciam . In fear, the absent nobles promptly returned to the negotiations. The Union of Lublin was passed by the gathered deputies and signed by attendees on 1 July, thus creating the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sigismund's death in 1572 was followed by an interregnum during which adjustments were made to

9600-608: The conference were dissatisfied with the composition of this council, since it included only two members of that party, and of the twenty members, six were Roman Catholic priests . Two of the priests then resigned; their places were taken by Stanisław Narutowicz and Jonas Vileišis . Five months later, on 16 February 1918, the Council of Lithuania issued the Act of Independence of Lithuania . Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , formally known as

9728-534: The conservative magnates and Pope Innocent XII , who in turn voiced their endorsement. Imperial Russia and Habsburg Austria also contributed by financing Frederick, whose election took place in June 1697. Many questioned the legality of his elevation to the throne; it was speculated that the Prince of Conti had received more votes and was the rightful heir. Frederick hurried with his armies to Poland to quell any opposition. He

9856-450: The constitution as the "contagion of democratic ideas". Meanwhile, Prussia and Austria used it as a pretext for further territorial expansion. Prussian minister Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg called the constitution "a blow to the Prussian monarchy", fearing that a strengthened Poland would once again dominate Prussia. In the end, the 3 May Constitution was never fully implemented, and

9984-408: The constitutional system; these adjustments significantly increased the power of the Polish nobility and established a truly elective monarchy . On 11 May 1573, Henry de Valois , son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici , was proclaimed King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in the first royal election outside Warsaw . Approximately 40,000 nobles cast a vote in what was to become

10112-577: The country's affairs. Upon the death of a king, several royal houses actively intruded in the hope of securing votes for their desired candidates. The practice was common and apparent, and the selection was often the result of hefty bribes directed at corrupt nobles. Louis XIV of France heavily invested in François Louis, Prince of Conti , in opposition to James Louis Sobieski , Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria and Frederick Augustus of Saxony . The latter's conversion from Lutheranism to Catholicism awed

10240-576: The country. Russia feared the revolutionary implications of the 3 May Constitution's political reforms and the prospect of the Commonwealth regaining its position as a European power. Catherine the Great regarded the May constitution as fatal to her influence and declared the Polish constitution Jacobinical . Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin drafted the act for the Targowica Confederation , referring to

10368-536: The crown, this time with the support of France. The Pacification Sejm culminated in Augustus III succeeding his father. The relative peace and inactivity that followed only weakened Poland's reputation on the world stage. Aleksander Brückner noted that Polish customs and traditions were abandoned in favour of everything foreign, and neighbouring states continued to exploit Poland to their advantage. Moreover, Western Europe's increasing exploitation of resources in

10496-483: The debate is thus unwarranted. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that at least 12.3 million people are victims of forced labour worldwide; of these, 9.8 million are exploited by private agents and more than 2.4 million are trafficked . Another 2.5 million are forced to work by the state or by rebel military groups. From an international law perspective, countries that allow forced labour are violating international labour standards as set forth in

10624-407: The discussion. These contributions maintain that, because Marxist theory failed to understand the centrality of unfreedom to modern capitalism, a new explanation of this link is needed. This claim has been questioned by Tom Brass . He argues that many of these new characteristics are in fact no different from those identified earlier by Marxist theory and that the exclusion of the latter approach from

10752-409: The dominant form of architectural and cultural expression. Politically, however, the vast Commonwealth was in steady decline and by 1768, it started to be considered by Russians as a protectorate of the Russian Empire despite the fact that it was still an independent state. A majority of control over Poland was central to Catherine's diplomatic and military strategies. Attempts at reform, such as

10880-453: The east and marked its largest territorial expansion. At least five million Russians died between 1598 and 1613, the result of continuous conflict, famine and Sigismund's invasion. The Polish–Ottoman War (1620–21) forced Poland to withdraw from Moldavia in southeastern Europe, but Sigismund's victory over the Turks at Khotyn diminished the supremacy of the Sultanate and eventually led to

11008-763: The ensuing discussion concerned the extent to which different relational forms constituted obstacles to capitalist development, and why. During the 1960s and 1970s, unfree labour was regarded as incompatible with capitalist accumulation, and thus an obstacle to economic growth, an interpretation advanced by exponents of the then-dominant semi-feudal thesis. From the 1980s onwards, however, another and very different Marxist view emerged, arguing that evidence from Latin America and India suggested agribusiness enterprises, commercial farmers and rich peasants reproduced, introduced or reintroduced unfree relations. However, recent contributions to this debate have attempted to exclude Marxism from

11136-502: The erstwhile Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as a Polish–Lithuanian federal state with a hereditary monarchy and abolished many of the deleterious features of the old system. The new constitution: These reforms came too late, however, as the Commonwealth was immediately invaded from all sides by its neighbors, which had been content to leave the Commonwealth alone as a weak buffer state, but reacted strongly to attempts by king Stanisław August Poniatowski and other reformers to strengthen

11264-552: The first governments of Lithuania included Ministries for Jewish and Belarusian affairs; in 1920 the Jewish community was granted national and cultural autonomy with the right to legislate binding ordinances; the Russian Orthodox Church received financial support from the government; Germans, concentrated in the disputed Klaipėda Region , were also granted autonomy. The only sizeable group that did not have extra representation

11392-494: The general population, since they are unable or unlikely to report their conditions to the authorities. Unfree labour re-emerged as an issue in the debate about rural development during the years following the end of the Second World War, when a political concern of Keynesian theory was not just economic reconstruction (mainly in Europe and Asia) but also planning (in developing "Third World" nations ). A crucial aspect of

11520-460: The king was effectively a partner with the noble class and was constantly supervised by a group of senators . The Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones). The foundation of the Commonwealth's political system, the " Golden Liberty " ( Latin : Aurea Libertas or Polish : Złota Wolność ,

11648-471: The land, and have rights such as the military protection of the lord. A truck system, in the specific sense in which the term is used by labour historians , refers to an unpopular or even exploitative form of payment associated with small, isolated and/or rural communities, in which workers or self-employed small producers are paid in either: goods, a form of payment known as truck wages , or tokens, private currency ("scrip") or direct credit, to be used at

11776-562: The latter relatively common in historiography to distinguish it from the Second Polish Republic . In Lithuania, the state is referred to as 'Republic of Both Nations' ( Lithuanian : Abiejų Tautų Respublika ). The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania underwent an alternating series of wars and alliances across the 13th and 14th centuries. The relations between the two states differed at times as each strived and competed for political, economic or military dominance of

11904-533: The murder of Osman II . This secured the Turkish frontier for the duration of Sigismund's rule. In spite of the victories in the Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629) , the exhausted Commonwealth army signed the Treaty of Altmark which ceded much of Livonia to Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus . At the same time, the country's powerful parliament was dominated by nobles ( Pic. 2 ) who were reluctant to get involved in

12032-533: The new monarch. The nobles simultaneously elected Stephen Báthory as co-regent, who ruled jure uxoris . Báthory's election proved controversial – Lithuania and Ducal Prussia initially refused to recognise the Transylvanian as their ruler. Piotr Zborowski supported Bathory as he wanted to promote a princely or ducal candidate. He also endorsed the Duke of Ferrara . The wealthy port city of Gdańsk (Danzig) staged

12160-512: The nobility remained apprehensive believing that William would not secure domestic interests. Instead, they turned to Jogaila , the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Jogaila was a lifelong pagan and vowed to adopt Catholicism upon marriage by signing the Union of Krewo on 14 August 1385. The Act imposed Christianity in Lithuania and transformed Poland into a diarchy , a kingdom ruled over by two sovereigns; their descendants and successive monarchs held

12288-599: The old Grand Duchy of Lithuania or Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , the new state was to be created only in the lands, that were assumed to be ethnically Lithuanian. Lacking real powers to represent the nation (the Conference was not democratically elected by the citizens), it did not specify the foundations of the state or relationships with other countries. These were to be decided by the Constituent Assembly , elected by popular vote. These three principles were echoed by

12416-411: The one hand has been implemented due to long-lasting labour strikes , during wartime or economic crisis, to provide basic services like medical care, food supply or supply of the defence industry. On the other hand, this service can be obligatory to provide recurring and inevitable services to the population, like fire services, due to lack of volunteers. Between December 1943 and March 1948 young men in

12544-701: The period's penal codes' forced labour. Somewhat later, the Edo period 's penal laws prescribed "non-free labour" for the immediate families of executed criminals in Article 17 of the Gotōke reijō (Tokugawa House Laws), but the practice never became common. The 1711 Gotōke reijō was compiled from over 600 statutes that were promulgated between 1597 and 1696. According to Kevin Bales in Disposable People: New Slavery in

12672-442: The privilege of minting its own coinage. In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko began issuing the first Polish banknotes. The country played a significant role in the supply of Western Europe by the export of grain (rye), cattle (oxen), furs, timber, linen , cannabis , ash , tar , carminic acid and amber . Cereals, cattle and fur amounted to nearly 90% of the country's exports to European markets by overland and maritime trade in

12800-491: The refurbishment of the Warsaw Royal Castle into a modern palatial residence. Countless landmarks and monuments in the city bear a name referencing the Saxon kings, notably Saxon Garden , Saxon Axis and the former Saxon Palace . The period saw the development of urban planning, street allocation, hospitals, schools ( Collegium Nobilium ), public parks and libraries ( Załuski Library ). First manufactories producing on

12928-449: The region. In turn, Poland had remained a staunch ally of its southern neighbour, Hungary . The last Polish monarch from the native Piast dynasty, Casimir the Great , died on 5 November 1370 without fathering a legitimate male heir. Consequently, the crown passed onto his Hungarian nephew, Louis of Anjou , who ruled the Kingdom of Hungary in a personal union with Poland . A fundamental step in developing extensive ties with Lithuania

13056-563: The river shipping moved north, southward transport being less profitable, and barges and rafts were often sold off in Gdańsk for lumber. Grodno become an important site after formation of a customs post at Augustów in 1569, which became a checkpoint for merchants travelling to the Crown lands from the Grand Duchy. Urban population of the Commonwealth was low compared to Western Europe. Exact numbers depend on calculation methods. According to one source,

13184-527: The second in modern world history after the United States Constitution . The official name of the state was the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( Polish : Królestwo Polskie i Wielkie Księstwo Litewskie , Lithuanian : Lenkijos Karalystė ir Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė , Latin : Regnum Poloniae Magnusque Ducatus Lithuaniae ). The Latin term was usually employed in international treaties and diplomacy. By concluding

13312-760: The state use of convict labour. Australia received thousands of convict labourers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who were given sentences for crimes ranging from those now considered to be minor misdemeanours to such serious offences as murder, rape and incest. A considerable number of Irish convicts were sentenced to transportation for treason while fighting against British rule in Ireland . More than 165,000 convicts were transported to Australian colonies from 1788 to 1868. Most British or Irish convicts who were sentenced to transportation, however, completed their sentences in British jails and were not transported at all. It

13440-656: The term forced labour , which is defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as all involuntary work or service exacted under the menace of a penalty. However, under the ILO Forced Labour Convention of 1930, the term forced or compulsory labour does not include: If payment occurs, it may be in one or more of the following forms: Unfree labour is often more easily instituted and enforced on migrant workers, who have travelled far from their homelands and who are easily identified because of their physical, ethnic, linguistic, or cultural differences from

13568-460: The throne for life. The Commonwealth's parliamentary system of government and elective monarchy , called the Golden Liberty , was an early example of constitutional monarchy . The General Sejm , the bicameral Parliament , held legislative power; its lower house was elected by all szlachta (some 15% of the population). The king and his government were bound by a constitutional statute,

13696-746: The throne of Poland and Sweden. Sigismund's long reign marked an end to the Polish Golden Age and the beginning of the Silver Age. A devout Catholic, he hoped to restore absolutism and imposed Roman Catholicism during the height of the Counter-Reformation . His intolerance towards the Protestants in Sweden sparked a war of independence , which ended the Polish–Swedish union . As a consequence, he

13824-497: The throne, Henry signed the contractual agreement known as the Pacta conventa and approbated the Henrician Articles . The Act stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In June 1574, Henry abandoned Poland and headed back to claim the French crown following the death of his brother and predecessor, Charles IX . The throne

13952-482: The time of his election. The monarch's power was limited in favour of a sizable noble class. Each new king had to pledge to uphold the Henrician Articles, which were the basis of Poland's political system (and included near-unprecedented guarantees of religious tolerance ). Over time, the Henrician Articles were merged with the pacta conventa, specific pledges agreed to by the king-elect. From that point onwards,

14080-404: The titles of king and grand duke respectively. The ultimate clause dictated that Lithuania was to be merged in perpetuity ( perpetuo applicare ) with the Polish Kingdom; however, this did not take effect until 1569. Jogaila was crowned as Władysław II Jagiełło at Wawel Cathedral on 4 March 1386. Several minor agreements were struck before unification, notably the Union of Kraków and Vilnius ,

14208-502: The urban population of the Commonwealth was about 20% of the total in the 17th century, compared to approximately 50% in the Netherlands and Italy ( Pic. 7 ). Another source suggests much lower figures: 4–8% urban population in Poland, 34–39% in the Netherlands and 22–23% in Italy. The Commonwealth's preoccupation with agriculture, coupled with the nobles' privileged position when compared to

14336-425: The wars, and the Commonwealth proved unable to improve its transport infrastructure or its agricultural practices. Serfs in the region were increasingly tempted to flee. The Commonwealth's major attempts at countering this problem and improving productivity consisted of increasing serfs' workload and further restricting their freedoms in a process known as export-led serfdom. The owner of a folwark usually signed

14464-527: The years following, Polish settlers, nobles, Catholics and Jews became the victims of retaliation massacres instigated by the Cossacks in their dominions. The other blow to the Commonwealth was a Swedish invasion in 1655, known as the Deluge , which was supported by troops of Transylvanian Duke George II Rákóczi and Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg . Under the Treaty of Bromberg in 1657, Catholic Poland

14592-511: Was a death rate of 80%. Also, 6.87 million Koreans were forcefully put into slave labour from 1939 to 1945 in both Japan and Japanese-occupied Korea. Kerja rodi ( Heerendiensten ) , was the term for forced labour in Indonesia under Dutch colonial rule . The Khmer Rouge attempted to turn Cambodia into a classless society by depopulating cities and forcing the urban population ("New People") into agricultural communes . The entire population

14720-475: Was a succession crisis arising in the 1380s. Louis died on 10 September 1382 and, like his uncle, did not produce a son to succeed him. His two daughters, Mary and Jadwiga (Hedwig), held claims to the vast dual realm. The Polish lords rejected Mary in favour of her younger sister Jadwiga, partly due to Mary's association with Sigismund of Luxembourg . The future queen regnant was betrothed to young William Habsburg, Duke of Austria , but certain factions of

14848-419: Was childless and ailing. According to historians, it was his active involvement which hastened the process and made the union possible. A parliament ( sejm ) convened on 10 January 1569 in the city of Lublin , attended by envoys from both nations. It was agreed that the merger will take place the same year and both parliaments will be fused into a joint assembly. No independent parliamentary convocation or diet

14976-564: Was common in many ancient societies , including ancient Egypt , Babylon , Persia , ancient Greece , Rome , ancient China , the pre-modern Muslim world , as well as many societies in Africa and the Americas . Being sold into slavery was a common fate of populations that were conquered in wars. Perhaps the most prominent example of chattel slavery was the enslavement of many millions of black people in Africa, as well as their forced transportation to

15104-584: Was crowned as Augustus II in September and Conti's brief military engagement near Gdańsk in November of the same year proved fruitless. The House of Wettin ruled Poland–Lithuania and Saxony simultaneously, dividing power between the two states. In spite of his controversial means of attaining power, Augustus II lavishly spent on the arts and left an extensive cultural and architectural ( Baroque ) legacy in both countries. In Poland, he expanded Wilanów and facilitated

15232-573: Was deposed in Sweden by his uncle Charles IX Vasa . In Poland, the Zebrzydowski rebellion was brutally suppressed. Sigismund III then initiated a policy of expansionism , and invaded Russia in 1609 when that country was plagued by a civil war known as the Time of Troubles . In July 1610, the outnumbered Polish force comprising winged hussars defeated the Russians at the Battle of Klushino , which enabled

15360-460: Was especially visible in the policies and actions of the first two elected kings from the Swedish House of Vasa , whose politics brought the Commonwealth into conflict with Sweden, culminating in the war known as the Deluge (1655), one of the events that mark the end of the Commonwealth's Golden Age and the beginning of the Commonwealth's decline. The Zebrzydowski Rebellion (1606–1607) marked

15488-451: Was forced to become farmers in labour camps . Convict or prison labour is another classic form of unfree labour. The forced labour of convicts has often been regarded with lack of sympathy, because of the social stigma attached to people regarded as common criminals. Three British colonies in Australia – New South Wales , Van Diemen's Land and Western Australia – are examples of

15616-411: Was forced to renounce its suzerainty over Protestant Prussia ; in 1701 the once-insignificant duchy was transformed into the Kingdom of Prussia , which became a major European power in the 18th century and proved to be Poland's most enduring foe. In the late 17th century, the king of the weakened Commonwealth, John III Sobieski , allied with Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I to deal crushing defeats to

15744-402: Was henceforth permitted. Subjects of the Polish Crown were no longer restricted in purchasing land on Lithuanian territory and a single currency was established. Whilst the military remained separate, a unified foreign policy meant that Lithuanian troops were obliged to contribute during a conflict not to their advantage. As a result, several Lithuanian magnates deplored the accords and left

15872-627: Was situated in the heart of Europe and attracted foreign merchants or settlers. Countless goods and cultural artefacts continued to pass from one region to another via the Commonwealth, particularly that the country was a link between the Middle East , the Ottoman Empire and Western Europe. For instance, Isfahan rugs imported from Persia to the Commonwealth were incorrectly known as "Polish rugs" (French: Polonaise ) in Western Europe. Forced labor Forced labour , or unfree labour ,

16000-430: Was subsequently declared vacant. The interregnum concluded on 12 December 1575 when primate Jakub Uchański declared Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor , as the next king. The decision was condemned by the anti-Habsburg coalition, which demanded a "native" candidate, known as "Piasts". As a compromise, on 13 December 1575 Anna Jagiellon – sister of Sigismund Augustus and a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty – became

16128-523: Was that of political prisoners , people from conquered or occupied countries, members of persecuted minorities, and prisoners of war , especially during the 20th century. The best-known example of this are the concentration camp system run by Nazi Germany in Europe during World War II, the Gulag camps run by the Soviet Union , and the forced labour used by the military of the Empire of Japan , especially during

16256-626: Was the Polish minority because of intense conflicts over the Vilnius Region . In response to the ultimatum by the Germans, the following resolution was adopted: If Germany agrees to proclaim the state of Lithuania before the Peace Conference and to support the needs of Lithuania at the Peace Conference, then the Lithuanian Conference, bearing in mind that in normal conditions of peace the interests of Lithuania incline not so much to

16384-603: Was to form a network of formally independent states that would in fact be completely dependent on Germany, the so-called Mitteleuropa . A Vertrauensrat ("Council of Trust" or "Confidential Council") was authorized in May 1917; its membership was to consist of Lithuanians and ethnic minorities in Lithuania. The military administration approached a number of prominent members of the Lithuanian community, including Bishop Pranciškus Karevičius, Antanas Smetona , and Jonas Basanavičius , all of whom refused to participate in their rubber stamp advisory council. The Lithuanian Society for

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