The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which existed from the mid-13th century to the late 18th century, encompassed all Belarusian lands, except for the Belarusian part of the Tver Principality. From the time of Grand Duke Gediminas, Pskov belonged to the united Belarusian state. In 1396-97, the Principality of Ryazan was annexed to Lithuania. Aukštota, one of the two parts of present-day Lithuania, was incorporated into Lithuania during the reign of the first ruler, Mindaugas. In the mid-14th century, Ukrainian lands entered the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and under Algirdas, its borders expanded to the northern shores of the Black Sea, from the confluence of the Dnieper into it to the confluence of the Desna. In 1411, Samogitia (Žemaitija) was annexed to Lithuania.
In the 15th century and at the beginning of the 16th, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost many lands. First of all, Turkey conquered the shores of the Black Sea. The Grand Duchy of Ryazan became dependent on Moscow in 1483 and was completely liquidated by it in 1520. Moscow seized lands near the upper Oka in 1503. During this time, Smolensk, Bryansk, and Seversk were lost, but at the beginning of the 17th century, they returned to the Belarusian state. This was the case until 1667 when they were lost as a result of the Treaty of Andrusovo. During the war with Moscow from 1558-82 and with Sweden and Denmark, after the Union of Lublin, the following territories passed to Poland: Ukrainian lands, as well as Podlasie, the southern part of eastern Polesie. In 1772, during the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, lands to the east of the Dvina, Druja, and Dnieper passed to Russia. In the second partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1793, Russia annexed the Minsk Voivodeship, part of Vilnius, Novogrudok, and Brest. As a result of the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Lithuanian land and part of the Belarusian ethnographic space passed to Russia, except for Bialystok, which was annexed to Prussia, and the Biała Podlaska County, which was annexed to Austria. Bialystok was transferred to Russia in 1807, and the Biała Podlaska County was annexed to the Kingdom of Poland – the so-called Congress Kingdom.
An article about Belarusian-Lithuanian relations was published in the newspaper “Batskaushchyna,” prompted by the appearance in the then Lithuanian newspaper “Teviškas Žiburiai,” which was also published in emigration – in Canada, of an article by a Lithuanian, Mr. Almus, who decided to honor the 60th anniversary of the Belarusian-Lithuanian intellectual Alexander Ruzhantsov with a series of publications dedicated specifically to Belarusian-Lithuanian relations. (On Belarusian-Lithuanian relations, in: “Batskaushchyna,” Munich, Nos. 39-40 (221-222), 31.10.1954, pp. 2-3; No. 41 (223), 7.11.1954, pp. 1-2)
For this purpose, he conducted a survey of 5 Belarusians, 5 Lithuanians, 1 Latvian, and 1 Estonian. However, among the Belarusians, only 2 responded to the questions posed. “Batskaushchyna” presents the results of this survey. One of the questions concerned the view of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: was it a commonwealth, or is it a shared heritage?
Belarusian responses were dual. According to Yan Stankevich, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a Krivich-Belarusian state with preserved significant local self-governance and several autonomous territories, such as Samogitia, Polotsk land, and Vitebsk land. Given that there was always Lithuanian territory in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (up to 1411 without Samogitia), it should also be preserved as a heritage of the Lithuanians. The question of Belarusian statehood in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania should not affect the relations between the Krivichs and Lithuanians, but the Krivichs must regard the Duchy as their state; otherwise, they should abandon objective research of their past – believes Yan Stankevich.
In turn, Dr. G. views the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a common Belarusian-Lithuanian state, which was initially governed by Lithuanians, in the middle period by Belarusians, and finally by Polonized Belarusian-Lithuanian nobility.
In this regard, the Lithuanian thesis was as follows: the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the early 15th-16th centuries was, by its nature, a commonwealth. The forms of life born from history were inviolable and united all in a single interest. Later, after the union, the distinctions disappeared, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became a homogeneous noble republic. In this aspect, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is a common heritage. However, the heirs of the title remain Lithuanians due to the name and center of the old state, as well as because there were Lithuanian leaders in it (there, Nos. 39-40 (221-222), 31.10.1954, p. 3).
To clarify how each understands the heritage of the statehood of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Almus inquired whose legal system is reflected in the Lithuanian Statute, but about this – in a week.