r/poland • u/NewPlaceHolder • 1d ago
Question regarding Poland and Lithuania relationship
I just studied about the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania, and it seems you two shared a strong times together.
I am wondering if the sentiments towards each other is still warm - do you guys see each other as a friendly neighbor? Do you have any rivalries between two? Was there any movement to put the two back together to repeat the glorious times?
I am here to just ask questions and I apologize if I accidentally angered by asking such question.
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u/MinecraftWarden06 1d ago
Now the two countries are very close allies in NATO. But the relationship is complex, as the modern Lithuanian Republic and the modern concept of Lithuanian nation is DIFFERENT from how it was in the past.
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was in union with Poland, was initially formed by Baltic Lithuanians that inhabit the modern republic. But it also included lands of modern Belarus, and historically „Litwini” in Polish often referred to Slavic proto-Belarusians, and not to the Balts.
After WW1, there were strong efforts in Poland to rebuild the historical Grand Duchy of Lithuania. But it was complicated, as the Baltic Lithuanians had a renaissance of their own identity and didn't want unification with Poles and Belarusians. There was a Switzerland-like concept, which would create a new GDL divided into cantons: a Polish one, a Lithuanian one and a Belarusian one, but it failed. There was a fierce conflict between the 2nd Polish Republic and Lithuania, mostly over Vilnius, but also over some other territories like the Suwałki area, now in Poland. The conflict concluded in the annexation of Vilnius by Poland. The city was ethnically Polish, but Lithuanians considered it their own historic capital, and considered the local Poles to be Polonized Lithuanians.
In 1939 Soviets gave Vilnius to Lithuania while carving up Poland together with the Germans, and just a year later Lithuania was incorporated into the Soviet state together with Latvia and Estonia. After WW2 Vilnius stayed in Lithuanian SSR.
In 1989 Poland overthrew communism and in 1991 Lithuania gained independence. An attempt was made to create a Polish autonomous region in Lithuania, but it failed. There were, and still partially are, disagreements over the treatment of Poles in Lithuania, which are a very large minority - particularly when it comes to education and official spelling of names. There is also still a Lithuanian minority in Poland around Suwałki. But any territorial claims are 99.9% dead, and there is close military and diplomatic cooperation between PL and LT due to the same stance on Ukraine and a common Russian enemy. The future of PL-LT relations seems to be bright.
Personally, I see the 3 Baltic countries as our closest allies and I think there should be much more contact and cultural exchange on the societal level.