Lithuanian nobility
Families of the nobility were responsible for military mobilization and enjoyed Golden Liberty; some were rewarded with additional privileges for success on the battlefield.
[6] As cultural homogenization and linguistic Polonization of the nobility progressed, the concept of Lithuanian began to mean simply regional difference within the uniform political nation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the cultural unity of inhabitants was strengthening, and many traditionally understood Lithuanians discovered a modern national identity - they became Poles.
[10] The fall of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and unsuccessful armed uprisings led to the strengthening of the Polonization processes of the small nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, identifying spiritually and culturally with Polish traditions.
However, under the influence of painful experiences, the sense of community between Lithuanianness and Polishness became even stronger, and the belief in the identity of both elements became almost a patriotic axiom.
The local "peoples" (especially Lithuanians and Belarusians) were perceived at best as "younger brothers", naturally subordinated to the Polish national interest.
[10] In the Second Polish Republic, Lithuanians lived mainly in the counties on the border with Lithuania: Święciany, Vilnius-Trakai and Suwałki, and almost all of them were rural people engaged in agriculture.
In turn, the representatives of the former "Semigalian people", now "nationalized", called themselves Lithuanians, additionally reserving the exclusive right to this term.
[13][14] However, the criteria for belonging to the nobility of this organization are treated liberally, accepting members who can prove their descent only through the female line.
[15] According to Professor Grzegorz Błaszczyk, the heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania belongs primarily to the descendants of old Greater Lithuanian families, most of whom were Polonized and still live in Poland today.
These positions evolved from tribal leaders and were chiefly responsible for waging wars and organizing raids operations into enemy territories.
[29] The process of the formation of the noble estate in Lithuania accelerated after the union with Poland when there arose a desire to equalize the legal system of both countries.
The development of the idea of corona regni aroused among the nobility a notion of being the main unifying force of the kingdom and responsible for its rule.
Privileges of 1387 and 1413 gave legal security of tenure to holders of allodial land and recognized in law the rights of landowners to pass on their estates.
Similarly, the new law of inheritance led to a decline in the importance, outside Kaunas district and Samogitia, of clan kinships, in favour of more nuclear families.
[34] New terms emerged for all those of noble birth: shliakhta (from Polish: szlachta; Lithuanian: šlėkta) in Ruthenian and nobiles in Latin.
The grand ducal council resolved that nobility had to be attested by the testimony of two neighbours, of undoubtedly noble lineage, saying that the applicant's family had been "boyars and shliakhta through the ages".
However, only those who owned land in Lithuania proper, who were of Lithuanian origin and who had accepted Catholicism in 1386, had any influence on central state policy.
[40] Regarding Lithuania proper, not counting descendants of Gediminas seven princely families are known: Borowski, Dowgowd, Giedraitis/Giedrojć, Jamontowicz, Holshansky, Sudemund, Świrski.
It is not clear whether they owed their princely dignity to their former status as sovereigns or to their connection and affinity with the ruling family established in the 14th century (this is confirmed at least for the Gedraitis and Holshanskys).
[42] Among them, only the Holshansky played a significant role on the side of the grand dukes, starting from Jogaila and Vytautas, being in the strict power elite.
Soon, the borrowed from Polish term "pan" (plural "pany", пан;[33] ponai or didikai), literally meaning "lord" gained popularity.
[50] Possession of the princely title gave the right to participate in wider councils, called Sejm (сеймь, сoймь) a term borrowed from Polish.
[53][54] Following his distribution of state land, the Grand Duke became dependent on powerful landowners, who began demanding greater liberties and privileges.
[60] At first, only Lithuanian magnate families were affected by Polonization,[60] although many of them like the Radziwiłłs remained loyal to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and safeguarded its sovereignty vis-à-vis the Kingdom of Poland.
In Lithuania proper, the Polonization of the nobility, gentry and townspeople was practically complete by the early 19th century, relegating the Lithuanian language to the status of a peasant's tongue.
[65] They did not lose personal freedom, but were assigned as one steaders[clarification needed] Russian: однодворцы in rural areas and as citizens in towns.
[67] With Polish culture developing into one of the primary centers of resistance to the Russian Empire, Polonization in some regions actually strengthened in response to official policies of Russification.
[68] Most descendants of the Lithuanian nobility remained ill-disposed to the modern national movements of Lithuania and Belarus and fought for Poland in 1918-1920.
Many members of the Lithuanian nobility during the interbellum and after World War II emigrated to Poland, many were deported to Siberia during the years 1945–53 of Soviet occupation, many manors were destroyed.
