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Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (Poland-Lithuania)
Establishment
November 1561: The weakened Livonian Order was dissolved by the second Treaty of Vilnius in 1561. Its lands were secularised as the Duchy of Livonia and Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and assigned to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
A series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe from the 16th to the 18th century.
1.1.Livonian War
Was a war fought over the control of Old Livonia. The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Union (later Commonwealth) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland. Old Livonia was finally partitioned between Sweden, Poland-Lithuania and Denmark-Norway.
1.1.1.Partition of Livonia
Was the partition of Old Livonia between Denmark, Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1.1.2.Polish and Swedish counterattack (Livonian War)
Were the military operations of Sweden and Poland-Lithuania against the Russian invasion.
December 1577: By November, Lithuanian forces moving northward had captured Dünaburg.
1.1.2.1.Treaty of Yam-Zapolsky
The Truce or Treaty of Yam-Zapolsky (Ям-Запольский) or Jam Zapolski, signed on 15 January 1582 between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia, was one of the treaties that ended the Livonian War.
January 1582: The Truce or Treaty of Yam-Zapolsky, signed on 15 January 1582 between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia, was one of the treaties that ended the Livonian War. In the terms of the treaty, Russia renounced its claims to Livonia and Polotsk but conceded no core Russian territories as Batory and returned the territories his armies had been occupying.
1.2.Russo-Polish War (1654-1667)
Was a major conflict between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that ended with significant Russian territorial gains.
1.2.1.Truce of Andrusovo
The Truce of Andrusovo established a thirteen-and-a-half year truce, signed in 1667 between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which had fought the Russo-Polish War since 1654 over the territories of modern-day Ukraine and Belarus.
January 1667: The peace negotiations in 1664-1667 involved the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, led by Duke Jacob Kettler, and Left-Bank Ukraine, led by Hetman Ivan Briukhovetsky. The Treaty of Andrusovo ended the conflict and transferred Smolensk and Left-Bank Ukraine to Courland and Semigallia.
1.3.Second Northern War
Was a war between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden (along with their respective allies) over the hegemony in the Baltic Sea.
June 1656: In May 1656, Alexis of Russia declared war on Sweden. He invaded Livonia with 35,000 men and took Dünaburg.
1.4.Great Northern War
Was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.
1.4.1.Phase 1: Swedish Dominance
Was the first phase of the Great Northern War, characterized by Swedish victories.
1.4.1.1.War against Augustus II
Was a military campaign initiated by Sweden during the Great Northern war. The goal of the campaign was the overthrow of Augustus II the Strong, who was at the same the Elector fo Saxony and the King of Poland-Lithuania.
January 1702: King Charles XII of Sweden took Mitau, the capital of the Duchy of Courland, and thus took the whole Duchy.
1.4.2.Phase 2: Sweden Defending itself
Was the second phase of the Great Northern War. It consisted in the counterattack of all the countries that Sweden had invaded during the first phase of the war.
August 1709: After the Russian army invaded Poland and Peter I negotiated with his former ally, the Elector of Saxony canceled the Peace of Altranstädt with Sweden in August. On August 20, 1709, Saxon troops invaded Poland again. The weak Swedish troops under the command of General Krassow retreated with 9000 men to Stettin and Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania. The Polish king Stanislaus I Leszczynski, who was enthroned by the Swedes, fled to Stockholm via Stettin and Kristianstad.
1.4.3.Peace Treaties of the Great Northern War
Were the peace treaties that ended the Great Northern War.
1.4.3.1.Peace of Nystad
Was a treaty that ended the Great Northern War between the Tsardom of Russia and the Swedish Empire.
September 1721: In the Nystad Peace Treaty (1721), Sweden ceded the areas of Ingria, Livonia, Estonia, the islands of Ösel and Dagö, and South Karelia to Russia.
Was a War between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Sweden caused by disputes over the Duchies of Livonia and Estonia.
September 1617: In July 1617, Swedish forces led by King Gustavus Adolphus occupied the Livonian coast from Grobiņa to Pärnu.
October 1617: In 1617, the Swedish Empire, under the leadership of King Gustavus Adolphus, gained military control over Livonia, with the exception of the city of Riga.
October 1618: Military operations by Polish-Lithuanian forces led by Radziwill resulted in the recapture of almost all towns and strongholds occupied by Sweden, except for Pärnu.
Was a war in a long-running series of conflicts between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Swedish Empire. It began with a Swedish invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian fiefdom Livonia.
November 1621: The swedish King Gustavus Adolphus invaded the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. He successfully captured the capital, Mitau (now Jelgava), without facing any resistance from the local defenders.
January 1622: In 1622, Janusz Radziwiłł, a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman and military commander, recaptured Mitau (now Jelgava) from the Swedish forces.
September 1625: Mitau (today jelgava) conquered by sweden.
September 1625: King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden captured the fortress of Bauska in present-day Latvia.
Was a war between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden.
4.1.Truce of Altmark
Was the treaty that ended the Polish-Swedish War (1626-1629).
September 1629: After the Truce of Altmark, Sweden returned all the regions it had occupied in Prussia.
Was a major European conflict sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II of Poland.
5.1.Treaty of Vienna (1738)
Was the treaty that ended the War of the Polish Succession. Augustus III was officially confirmed as King of Poland.
November 1738: The Treaty of Vienna ended the War of the Polish Succession, confirming Augustus as king of Poland and uniting Poland with Saxony in personal union.
Russia instigated a coup that made Poland its factual protectorate.
September 1764: Poland was in personal union with Saxony until Russia orchestrated a coup, effectively making it its protectorate (A Russian-backed coup in Poland, instigated by the Czartoryskis, resulted in the election of Stanislaus II Augustus Poniatowski as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania on 7 September 1764 as Stanisław II). For this reason the war of Bar is to be considered a rebellion that takes place parallel to the partition of Poland (first partition).
January 1638: In 1637, the Duchy of Courland colonized Tobago, making it the second smallest European nation to establish a presence in America. The colonization was led by Duke Jacob Kettler of Courland, who aimed to establish a profitable colony for his nation.
January 1640: The first Couronian colony in Tobago, established by Duke Jacob Kettler of Courland, was blockaded by the Spanish in 1639. This prevented the colony from developing further and ultimately led to its demise.
January 1652: The first European settlers on the island came from the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, a vassal state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
May 1654: On 20 May 1654, the ship The Arms of the Duchess of Courland arrived carrying 45 cannon, 25 officers, 124 Couronian soldiers and 80 families of colonists to occupy Tobago. Captain Willem Mollens declared the island New Courland.
October 1654: Forts Lampsinsberg, Beveren, and Bellavista were conquered by British and destroyed by French.
December 1659: Taken by the more numerous Dutch settlers, who surrounded Fort James and forced Hubert de Beveren, Governor of the Couronians, to surrender. The merchant fleet and factories were destroyed. Courland officially yielded New Courland on 11 December 1659.
January 1660: The Dutch briefly held Jacob Fort from 1659.
May 1660: Tobago was returned to Courland.
January 1663: The Dutch brothers Adrian and Cornelius Lampsins were granted the title of Barons of Tobago.
January 1681: Tobago was regained again just for a short period at the end of Duke Jacob's rule with an attempt in July 1680 at a new colony which also later failed.
January 1684: A final Courlander attempt to settle the island of Tobago took place in 1687.
January 1684: New Courland (Tobago) was abandoned in 1683.
January 1691: The island was abandoned to itself from March 1683 to June 1686. In 1689 the Curlanders left Tobago definitively: in May of the following year, the island was sold.
March 1795: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (Poland-Lithuania) was annexed by the Russian Empire in the Third Partition of Poland.
Disestablishment
March 1795: The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (Poland-Lithuania) was annexed by the Russian Empire in the Third Partition of Poland.
Selected Sources
Bradford, J.C. (2004): International Encyclopedia of Military History, Routledge, p. 554
Poten, B. (1879): Handwörterbuch der gesamten Militärwissenschaften, Velhagen & Klasing, p. 202
Rambaud, A. (1890): Recueil des instructions données aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France depuis les traités de Westphalie jusqu'à la Révolution française, Ancienne Librairie Germer Baillière et Cie., p. 232.
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