Battle of Grunwald
The Battle of Grunwald was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Władysław II Jagiełło, and Grand Duke Vytautas, decisively defeated the German Teutonic Order, led by Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen. Most of the Teutonic Order's leadership was killed or taken prisoner.
Although defeated, the Teutonic Order withstood the subsequent siege of the Malbork Castle and suffered minimal territorial losses at the Peace of Thorn, with other territorial disputes continuing until the Treaty of Melno in 1422. The order, however, never recovered their former power, and the financial burden of war reparations caused internal conflicts and an economic downturn in the lands controlled by them. The battle shifted the balance of power in Central and Eastern Europe and marked the rise of the Polish–Lithuanian union as the dominant regional political and military force.
The battle was one of the largest in medieval Europe. The battle is viewed as one of the most important victories in the histories of Poland and Lithuania. It is also commemorated in Ukraine and Belarus. For centuries, it has been reinterpreted in that part of Europe as an inspiration of romanticism and national pride, becoming a larger symbol of struggle against foreign invaders. During the 20th century, the battle was used in Nazi German and Soviet propaganda campaigns before and during World War II. Only in postwar decades have historians moved towards a dispassionate, scholarly assessment of the battle, reconciling the previous narratives, which differed widely by nation.
Names and sources
Names
Traditionally, the battle's location was thought to be in the territory of the monastic state of the Teutonic Order, on the plains between three villages: Grünfelde to the west, Tannenberg to the northeast and Ludwigsdorf to the south. However, research by Swedish historian and archaeological excavations in 2014–2017 proved that the actual site was south of Grünfelde. Władysław II Jagiełło referred to the site in Latin as in loco conflictus nostri, quem cum Cruciferis de Prusia habuimus, dicto Grunenvelt. Later, Polish chroniclers interpreted the word Grunenvelt as Grünwald, meaning "green forest" in German. The Lithuanians followed suit and translated the name as Žalgiris. The name Žalgiris was first used by Maironis in 1891. The Germans named the battle after Tannenberg. Thus, there are three commonly used names for the battle:,,. Its names in the languages of other involved peoples include,,,,.Historical context
Lithuanian Crusade and Polish–Lithuanian union
In 1230, the Teutonic Order, a crusading military order, moved to Chełmno Land and launched the Prussian Crusade against the pagan Prussian clans. With support from the pope and Holy Roman Emperor, the Teutons conquered and converted the Prussians by the 1280s and shifted their attention to the pagan Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For about 100 years, the order raided Lithuanian lands, particularly Samogitia, as it separated the order in Prussia from their branch in Livonia. While the border regions became an uninhabited wilderness, the order gained very little territory. The Lithuanians first gave up Samogitia during the Lithuanian Civil War in the Treaty of Dubysa.In 1385, Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania agreed to marry Queen Jadwiga of Poland in the Union of Kreva. Jogaila converted to Christianity and was crowned King of Poland and became known as Władysław II Jagiełło, thus creating a personal union between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The official Lithuanian conversion to Christianity removed the religious rationale for the order's activities in the area. Its grand master, Conrad Zöllner von Rothenstein, supported by Hungarian King Sigismund of Luxemburg, responded by publicly contesting the sincerity of Jogaila's conversion, bringing the charge to a papal court. The territorial disputes continued over Samogitia, which had been in Teutonic hands since the Peace of Raciąż in 1404. Poland also had territorial claims against the order in Dobrzyń Land and Gdańsk, but the two states had been largely at peace since the Treaty of Kalisz. The conflict was also motivated by trade considerations: the order controlled the lower reaches of the three largest rivers in Poland and Lithuania.
War, truce and preparations
In May 1409, an uprising in Teutonic-held Samogitia started. Lithuania supported it and the order threatened to invade. Poland announced its support for the Lithuanian cause and threatened to invade Prussia in return. As Prussian troops evacuated Samogitia, Teutonic Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen declared war on the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on 6 August 1409. The order hoped to defeat Poland and Lithuania separately, and began by invading Greater Poland and Kuyavia, catching the Poles by surprise. The order burned the castle at Dobrin, captured Bobrowniki after a 14-day siege, conquered Bydgoszcz and sacked several towns. The Poles organized counterattacks and recaptured Bydgoszcz. The Samogitians attacked Memel. However, neither side was ready for a full-scale war.Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, agreed to mediate the dispute. A truce was signed on 8 October 1409 and was set to expire on 24 June 1410. Both sides used this time to prepare for war, gathering troops and engaging in diplomatic maneuvering. Both sides sent letters and envoys accusing each other of various wrongdoings and threats to Christendom. Wenceslaus, who received a gift of 60,000 florins from the order, declared that Samogitia rightfully belonged to the order and only Dobrzyń Land should be returned to Poland. The order also paid 300,000 ducats to Sigismund of Hungary, who had ambitions regarding the Principality of Moldavia, for mutual military assistance. Sigismund attempted to break the Polish–Lithuanian alliance by offering Vytautas a king's crown; Vytautas' acceptance would have violated the terms of the Ostrów Agreement and created Polish-Lithuanian discord. At the same time, Vytautas managed to obtain a truce from the Livonian Order.
By December 1409, Władysław II Jagiełło and Vytautas had agreed on a common strategy: their armies would unite into a single massive force and march together towards Marienburg, capital of the Teutonic Order. The order, who took a defensive position, did not expect a joint attack and were preparing for a dual invasion—by the Poles along the Vistula River towards Danzig and the Lithuanians along the Neman River towards Ragnit. To counter this perceived threat, Ulrich von Jungingen concentrated his forces in Schwetz, a central location from where troops could respond to an invasion from any direction rather quickly. Sizable garrisons were left in the eastern castles of Ragnit, Rhein near Lötzen and Memel. To keep their plans secret and mislead the order, Władysław II Jagiełło and Vytautas organized several raids into border territories, thus forcing the order to keep their troops in place.
Opposing forces
The precise number of soldiers involved has proven difficult to establish. None of the contemporary sources provided reliable troop counts. Jan Długosz provided the number of banners, the principal unit of each cavalry: 51 for the Teutons, 50 for the Poles and 40 for the Lithuanians. However, it is unclear how many men were under each banner. The structure and number of infantry units and artillery units is unknown. Estimates, often biased by political and nationalistic considerations, were produced by various historians. German historians tend to present lower numbers, while Polish historians tend to use higher estimates. The high-end estimates by Polish historian Stefan Kuczyński of 39,000 Polish–Lithuanian and 27,000 Teutonic men have been cited in Western literature as "commonly accepted".While outnumbered, the Teutonic army had advantages in discipline, military training and equipment. They were particularly noted for their heavy cavalry, although only a small percentage of the Order's army at Grunwald were heavily armoured knights. The Teutonic army was also equipped with bombards that could shoot lead and stone projectiles.
Both armies were composed of troops from several states and lands, including numerous mercenaries, primarily from Silesia and Bohemia. Bohemian mercenaries fought on both sides. The Silesian mercenaries were led in battle by Duke Konrad VII the White, of Oels, who was supported by knights from the Silesian nobility including Dietrich von Kottulin and Hans von Motschelnitz.
Soldiers from twenty-two different states and regions, mostly Germanic, joined the Order's army. Teutonic recruits known as guest crusaders included soldiers from Westphalia, Frisia, Austria, Swabia, Bavaria, and Stettin. Two Hungarian nobles, Nicholas II Garai and Stibor of Stiboricz, brought 200 men for the Order, but support from Sigismund of Hungary was disappointing.
Poland brought mercenaries from Moravia and Bohemia. The Czechs produced two full banners, under the command of John Sokol of Lamberg. Serving among the Czechs was possibly Jan Žižka, future commander of the Hussites. Alexander I of Moldavia commanded an expeditionary corps and the Moldavian king was so brave that the Polish troops and their king honoured him with a royal sword, the Szczerbiec. Vytautas gathered troops from Lithuanian and Ruthenian lands. Among them were three banners from Smolensk led by Władysław II Jagiełło's brother Lengvenis, the Tatar contingent of the Golden Horde under the command of the future Khan Jalal al-Din, and Armenian cavalry troops from Podolia. The overall commander of the joint Polish–Lithuanian force was King Władysław II Jagiełło; however, he did not directly participate in the battle. The Lithuanian units were commanded directly by Grand Duke Vytautas, who was second in command, and helped design the grand strategy of the campaign. Vytautas actively participated in the battle, managing both Lithuanian and Polish units. Jan Długosz stated that the low-ranking swordbearer of the Crown, Zyndram of Maszkowice, commanded the Polish army, but that is highly doubtful. More likely, marshal of the Crown Zbigniew of Brzezia commanded the Polish troops in the field.