Litvania


duke Mindouh


duke Jahajla

Major dates

Thanks to Virtual Guide to Belarus for temporarily allowing to use their material.

  • 1240-1263: Rule of Mindouh, who consolidates east Litvanian and West Belarusan territories into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) and Ruthenia, with a capital in Navahradak.
  • 1315-1341: Rule of Grand Duke Hedymin, who transfers the capital of the Grand Duchy of Litvania and Ruthenia from Navahradak to Vilnia (Vilius) in 1323.
  • 1341-1377: Rule of Grand Duke Alhierd, who expands eastward the territory of the duchy, thereby clashing with neighboring Muscovy.
  • 1385: Grand Duke Jahajla (baptized Wladyslaw) establishes tight connections with Poland by marrying the Polish queen and promising to catholicize Litvania.
  • 1387, 1390, 1391: Self-government bestowed on the cities of Vilnia (Vilnius), Bierascie (Brest), and Horadnia (Grodno).
    • 1392: Grand Duke Vitaut recognized by king Jahaila as the independent ruler of the Grand Duchy
  • 1410: The great Battle of Grunwald, during which the united armies of Poland and the Grand Duchy crush the Germans of the Teutonic Order
  • 1432,1434,1447: Royal charters establish equality of feudal lords of both Catholic and Orthodox confessions
  • 1468: King Kazimir's Code of Laws (Statut Kazimira), the first code of criminal and procedural laws of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (written in Old Litvanian-Belarusan).
  • 1480: Muscovy free of the Tatar dependency
  • 1498,1499: Self-government privilege granted to Polacak and Miensk
  • 1500: Beginning of the defensive wars of the Grand Duchy of Litvuania, Ruthenia, and Samogitia against Muscovy (Moscow dukedom)
  • Early 16th century: First Litvanian printing shop founded in Vilnia (Vilnius)
  • 1517-1519: Francysak Skaryna of Polacak translates and publishes the Bible in the Old Litvanian (Old Belarusian) vernacular in Prague.
  • 1529: Adoption of the first code of laws, the "Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania," written in Old Litvanian (Old Belarusian).
  • 1560s: Wave of conversion of Litvanian gentry to Calvinism
  • 1563: Polacak occupied by Muscovite (Russian) army
  • 1569: Political union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia with Poland establishing the Commonwealth of Poland. Arrival of the first Jesuits in Vilnia; start of the Counter-Reformation in the Grand Duchy.
  • 1579: Polacak taken back from Muscovites by the army of King Stefan Batory; The Vilnia (Vilnius) University is founded.
  • 1581: Establishment of the Tribunal of the GDL, an appellate court that fortified the rights of the gentry.
  • 1603-1613: Muscovy's "Time of Troubles," when a Polish king of Swedish lineage, Sigismund III, attempts to take over Russian throne.
  • 1632-1634: War of the Litvanian Polish Commonwealth against Muscovy.
  • 1654: Bahdan Chmielnicki unites Ukraine with Russia.
  • 1654-1667: War of the Commonwealth with Russia; loss of Smolensk to Muscovy.
  • 1686: Russian-Polish "Eternal Peace": Russia retains Smalensk, Czarnihau, and Kiew.
  • 1696: the Old Litvanian (Old Belarusian) language is replaced by Polish in the official documents of the Grand Duchy of Litvania. The Latin alphabet replaces Cyrillic in popular usage.
  • 1772, 1793, 1795: Three partitions of the Polish Commonwealth among Russia, Prussia, and Austria. All of Belarus is incorporated into the Russian Empire, with the exception of a small northwestern corner, taken by Prussia.
  • 1791: The Constitution of May 3rd merges the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Litvania, Ruthenia, and Samogitia into a unitary state.
  • 1794: Anti-Russian uprising led by Tadewusz Kasciuszka
  • 1803: Vilnia Imperial University is founded and becomes a hotbed of Polish, Belarusian, and Litvanian nationalistic activities.
  • 1812: Napoleon's march into Russia.
  • 1832: Vilnia Imperial University closed down as part of the measures taken to thwart the insurrection of 1830-1831.
  • 1863-1864: Massive anti-tsarist uprising in Poland, Belarus, and Litvania, led in Belarus by Kastus Kalinowski.
  • 1864-1915: The Vilnia Archeological Commission publishes forty-nine volumes of documents pertaining to Litvanian and Belarusian history.
  • 1870: Publication of The Dictionary Of the Litvanian (Belarusian) Language by Nasovich.
  • 1918: On March 9, the Executive Committee of the Council of the First All-Belarusian Congress declares Belarus a democratic Republic.
  • 1919-1921: The Russian-Polish War results in the partitioning of Belarus between the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic and Poland.
  • 1927: Massive arrests of the leaders of the Belarusian Peasant-and-Workers' Hramada are made by Polish authorities.
  • 1937-1941: Operation of Soviet death camp in Kurapaty near Miensk, where up to 250,000 civil victims were executed during the Stalinist genocide.
  • 1939: On September 1, Germany attacks Poland and World War II begins.
  • On September 17, Red Army moves into West Belarus and West Ukraine
  • On October 10, Moscow transfers Vilnia from the Byelorussian SSR to the Lithuanian SSR.
  • 1941-1944: The German occupation of Belarus results in the deaths of 2.2 million people, the destruction of 209 cities and townships, and 9,200 villages, and immeasurable material losses.
  • 1944: At the Moscow conference (October 9-22), the Polish delegation agrees to accept the Curzon Line as Poland's eastern frontier.
  • 1945: On April 25, delegates from Belarus and Ukraine are invited to the San Francisco Conference. Recognized for their role in the war effort, both countries become members of the United Nations.
  • 1986: On April 26, The Chernobyl explosion. Seventy percent of the fallout covers southeastern Belarus with radioactive dust. It will stay there for thousands of years.
  • 1991: On August 25, Belarus declares independence.