Der Litauische Blick auf den polnisch-litauischen Staatsverband - "Verlust der Staatlichkeit" oder Bewahrung der Parität

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Abiejų Tautų Respublika (ATR; Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów; Žečpospolita; Sandrauga; Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth); Abiejų Tautų Respublika (ATR; Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów; Žečpospolita; Sandrauga; Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth); Istoriografija; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Lenkijos Karūna; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Lietuvos istoriografija; Liublino unija, 1569 (Union of Lublin); Unija; Historiography; Lithuanian historiography; Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; The Grand Duchy of Lithuania; The Polish Crown; The union; Union of Lublin.

ENIn Lithuanian historiography, the union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish Crown is traditionally considered the major turning point in Lithuanian history. The older Lithuanian historiography saw the beginning of the loss of independent statehood in the Union of Lublin and described the Lithuanian history of the 16th to the 18th Century as a history of decline. Over the past decades, however, this perspective has undergone a significant change, and recent studies have drawn a more differentiated picture. Lithuanian historians now emphasize that Lithuania's administrative and legal autonomy continued to exist well after 1569 and was even developed further. Polish-Lithuanian relations are therefore characterized as federal or even confederal. The Lithuanian high nobility is generally seen as a major centrifugal power, its decline in the 18th Century considered the greatest danger to Lithuanian autonomy. The main factors of Integration, on the other hand, were the common noble way of life, the Polish language, the rooting of the concept of "(Polish) noble freedom" and Poland's role as mediator in taking over European traditions and steps of modernization. Although there can be no doubt about Lithuania's "institutional" autonomy, the character of this autonomy is still largely uncertain. Usually, too little attention is paid to the peculiarity of the pre-modern hierarchical System with its general tendency towards decentralization. Lithuanian historiography has equally neglected the common structures of the Republic of the Nobility. It would also be a future task to examine the European dimension of the Polish-Lithuanian union from a comparative perspective, after it has too often been regarded as a unique historical phenomenon. Such a comparative approach would eventually allow us to gain a better understanding of the history of East Central Europe. [From the publication]