Historical calendar – the anniversary of the conflict of Grunwald. It was an epic triumph of the Polish-Lithuanian armed forces over the boisterous Teutonic Order.
Today, in our Calendar, we will look at the events that led to the conflict of Grunwald and its consequences.
The conclusion of peace with the Golden Orda, and later with Moscow in 1408 are 2 large successes of the Jagiellonian politics, which allowed for the free redirection of all forces to the trial with the Teutonic Knights. From that point on, the Polish ruler besides sought a military confrontation. On purpose, unrest was fueled on the territories occupied by the Teutonic Knights Sad, turning this land back into an arena of endless driveway warfare, bleeding out spiritual forces.
In retaliation for the aid of the insurgents, the Order seized Polish grain ships for Lithuania, arguing that they were carried arms for rebels. The answer to this act was the support of Smudges by Witold's troops in the spring of 1409. The Order of Teutonic Knights saw no another choice but to declare war on Poland and Lithuania, which put these countries in a privileged propaganda position conducting a defence war, or just according to the teachings of the Church.
Both sides began preparing for the final trial, enlisted soldiers were carried out, and increased intelligence activities aimed at discerning the forces and intentions of the opponent. 1 of the successes of Teutonic Knights is the fast run of 1409, the final consequence of which was the looting of Dobrzyń Land and the capture of the march of the city and castle in Bydgoszcz. The success was the consequence of an efficient action of the agentura, which recognized the roads and convenient river crossings in time and gave announcement of the insignificant Polish forces in the city.
As the Teutonic papers indicate, there were many Bydgoszcz townsmen on the services of the Order, as well as advanced officials of the site with Bernard's burgarab at the head. The second most likely gave the castle to the Teutonic Knights for money. The traitor was later thrown into prison by Jagiello. Bydgoszcz was reflected in early October.
The first phase of the conflict ended with a truce on October 8, 1409. It was to last until June 24 of the following year. Polish-Lithuanian Command was determined to proceed the fight. It led the Teutonic Knights, as to the anticipation of amicably ending the dispute, at the same time consistently implementing the pre-established plan of armed action. Jagiełło and Witold decided to concentrate all their forces on the territory of Mazovia to make a swift and massive attack straight on the capital of the spiritual state. The maneuver was to succeed, thanks to the usage of an innovative thought of building a pontoon bridge on the Vistula.
The bridge was built in Kozienice by the carpenter master Jarosław throughout the winter. Meanwhile, Polish spies affirmed the Order in the belief that the expected concentration of allies' troops in Bydgoszcz and Lithuania in spring. The actions of the royal agents were effective adequate that even in the beginning of July 1410, erstwhile the Polish-Lithuanian army moved from Mazowsza towards Malbork, the Teutonic Command continued to keep crucial forces in Pomerania against a threat that did not exist.
Not without importance for the success of Polish intelligence activities was created in 1397 in order to fight the oppression of the Teutonic Order organization called Lizard Union.
The Polish website's plan turned out to be very well prepared. The synchronisation of activities was so perfect that the pontoon bridge, which was flowing from the Kozienic region, was assembled under Czerwiński precisely at the time of the arrival of the allied troops. The crossing lasted 3 days. Then the troops went under the castle in Kurzętnik, but on the news of the approaching forces of the enemy, they withdrew from their effort to gain it.
Soon, both armies met in fields close the village of Grunwald. The Polish-Lithuanian troops had about 33,000 people, consisted of light Lithuanian, dense Polish and dense Czech, Smolensk and Tatar regiments.
The lie of communist propaganda is to present in the descriptions of the conflict the alleged engagement of the peasant infantry. The expedition from 1410 was an expedition outside the state, so it did not presume the participation of peasants who were only obliged to defend their native land. The spiritual troops in the force of about 27,000 were mostly made up of selective, heavy-armed driving.
The Teutonic Knights were supported by a large group of knights from Western Europe and modern for those times, artillery weapons, which Poles had little. The Polish side had a numerical advantage, but better weapons were the domain of the opponent. July 15, 1410 was a hot day.
The king ordered his army to halt in the woods and perceive to 2 Holy Masses, while the Teutonic Knights sweated in the strongest confederate sun. Patience paid off – the upset Master of the Order sent a message with 2 bare swords to provoke Jagiello to attack.
This 1 took them calmly and ordered the troops to leave the forest. She was the first to attack light Lithuanian, Tatar and Smolenian regiments. This attack struck an enemy infantry but broke down in a clash with a dense crusade, which was most likely calculated into the conflict plan. The Lithuanians began to flee, and a large part of the Knights of Teutonic Knights followed them.
At this point, Poles who faced the main forces of Master Jungingen attacked. Jagiełło, a model of Asian chieftains did not straight participate in the battle. He commanded the full operation from the hill and reinforced the affected sections with the waste. shortly Polish forces began to prevail, surrounded and killed spiritual troops.
Returning from the pursuit of the Lithuanians, the crusader's ride got into 2 fires the minute Witold's subjects besides returned to the battlefield. Polish-Lithuanian triumph was complete. Most of the spiritual leaders died in the battle, and the Grand Master Jungingen died.
However, the reorganization of forces and the further march on Malbork of Polish forces lasted besides long and allowed the Teutonic Knights to cool off defeat and organize defence of the capital. Malbork's powerful walls sustained a two-month siege. The Polish-Lithuanian camp was affected by the deterioration of weather, pestilence and deficiency of success. On 19 September Jagiełło began retreat. The Teutonic Knights, with the aid of reinforcements from Inflant, attacked the retreating Polish army, but suffered another defeat. The conflict took place under the Crown on October 10, 1410.
The Malbork Castle was 1 of the strongest fortresses in the world.Peace negotiations began, which culminated with the signing of the alleged I Toruń Peace in February 1411. Despite his triumph at Grunwald, Jagiełło won only the return of the Dobrzyń Land and Zmuda and the payment by the Teutonic Knights of 6,000,000 Czech pennies.
The triumph war, despite tiny territorial acquisitions, was of large propaganda importance and echoed throughout Europe. She showed that the Order of Teutonic Knights is simply a force that can be broken and that it does not have expected divine legitimacy for its actions. From this perspective, the 1410 run marked the beginning of the end of the spiritual state.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.
