Preface
The Cadeniai Union, due to its failure to gain broad support from the Lithuanian giants, lost its raison d'être for Sweden and also influenced Sweden's policy towards Lithuania. Sweden's tax policy, military brutality, and religious conflicts between Sweden and Lithuania exacerbated the tensions between the two sides, leaving the Cadeniai League vulnerable.
At the same time, Sweden reached the peak of its domination in the Baltic through the Cadeniai League, which had gained the de jure basis for ruling Lithuania. The expansion of Sweden's interests in the Baltic Sea and Lithuania upset the balance of the Baltic political situation and caused hostility towards Sweden in other Baltic states.
The focus of the contradictions in the Baltic region gradually changed from the struggle between the Cossacks, Russia, and Sweden for Poland and the Lithuanian Commonwealth to the struggle for dominance of the Baltic Sea. Changes in the political landscape within and outside the Federation led to the rapid collapse of the fragile Caedaeno Alliance.
Sweden's tax policy is at odds with Lirui's
The supply of the Swedish army is a big problem. During the reign of King Gustav Vasa, Sweden began to become a centralized military state. The Swedish army was further expanded under John III, reaching 24,500 men in peacetime, and further increased in wartime.
In order to solve the urgent problem of military salaries in Sweden, Karl X decided to tax taxes in Lithuania.
Sweden's tax policy led to the first conflict between Sweden and the Lithuanian nobility. On 27-28 November 1655, the first meeting of the Advisory Committee was held in Zagare, Lithuania. The meeting decided on the stationing of Swedish troops in Lithuania and the taxation of taxes.
At the meeting, the Lithuanian nobility and clergy agreed to pay three taxes for the new Grand Duke: a special military tax, a royal tax, and a contribution tax. The special military tax is a special tax during the war and is provided by the royal family, nobility, and the clergy. The royal tax, since 1629, was paid by the nobility, the clergy, the townspeople and the peasants. The contribution tax was levied on the supply of the Swedish army in Samojia.
The heavy taxation of Sweden hit the Lithuanians, who wanted to live on an equal footing with the Swedes rather than be colonized and oppressed by the Swedish.
Dissatisfaction of the Lithuanian aristocracy with Sweden's harsh tax system spread. As a result of the war, part of the property of the Lithuanian nobles was plundered by the Ukrainian-Russian coalition forces, and some were burned, and the taxes they could pay were very limited. And the Swedish government's tax policy was unreasonable, requiring the payment of taxes for the whole of 1655, which further exacerbated the financial crisis of the aristocracy.
The Swedish authorities saw Lithuania as a conquered colony and deprived Lithuania of more food and money to feed the army. The pro-Swedish Lithuanian aristocracy, on the other hand, saw the alliance as a merger of two equal states. Sweden's tax policy led to the transfer of some people back to Poland, some to Moscow's aid, and of course some remained loyal to Sweden. There is no doubt that the number of pro-Swedish factions among the Lithuanian nobility was further reduced.
As de la Galdi said in a letter to King Carl X Gustav on April 17, 1656, "almost all the Lithuanians became enemies".
The atrocities of the Swedish army contradicted Liri
The brutality of the Swedish army created new problems for the Swedish and Lithuanian nobility. Although, nominally, the Advisory Council is the highest authority of the Swedish-Lithuanian government, the power of this country is in the hands of the military.
Sweden signed an annexation treaty with Lithuania, but Sweden did not seriously consider the preconditions for its integration with Lithuania and did not take into account the feelings of the Lithuanians. The merger was in a sense tinged with great great-power, so it not only caused a split within the Lithuanian nobility, but also exacerbated the conflict between the Lithuanian nobility and Sweden.
Sweden's harsh tax policies and the brutality of its soldiers sparked the conflict between Sweden and Lithuania. Discontent spread quickly, and Liwan was the first to resist. In August 1655, most of the Lithuanian army formed a revolt coalition under the command of Pavel Saha. In the fall, the nobility and commoners organized partisans to fight against the Swedish army.
On December 31, 1655, Lachville died. The loss of the leader of the Lithuanian separatists further weakened the pro-Swedish faction. The majority of Lithuanians had already returned to the Polish Confederation at the end of 1655, and a few continued to serve Sweden.
The role of the Caedaenian Union in changing the political balance in the Baltics
In order to give international legitimacy to the Cadenian League, about 1,060 nobles and clergy of the Lithuanian aristocracy made a public statement. "The statement is addressed to European countries, explaining to them the reasons, purpose and nature of the union of Lithuania with Sweden.
A short version of the statement was published on August 15, 1655, in Latin and German. A month later, the Manifesto of the Union was translated into the Dutch edition and published in Amsterdam. In 1655, a number of newspapers appeared in Italy and Milan about the Caederino League. At the beginning of 1656, the Declaration of the Union appeared in Hamburg.
France still has a copy of the August Declaration. Britain was also an important avenue for the spread of the Covenant. Thus, in late 1655 and early 1656, Litto and the Swedish leaders completed the task of spreading the news of the alliance to Europe.
The Cadeniai Union received enormous international attention, alarming the whole of Europe and also affecting the political balance in the Baltics.
With the formation of the Cadeniai Union, the entire Grand Duchy of Lithuania was to be united with Sweden, with the exception of no part. With the help of the Lithuanian Protestant magnate, Sweden obtained a legitimate legal right to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Samogitia region, Belarus, Ukmag, Ampt and Kaunas and Slutsk are under Swedish protection. Thus, after October 20, 1655, all the shores of the Baltic Sea came under the control of the Swedish Empire, and the Baltic Sea became the "inner lake" of Sweden.
The signing of the Cadenière not only cemented Sweden's gains in the Thirty Years' War, but also further expanded its domination on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, where Sweden reached the peak of its domination: Sweden realized its dream of the Baltic Sea as the internal lake of Sweden.
Sweden controlled the eastern Baltic territory, which stretched from the Gulf of Finland to Estonia, Livonia, Courland, northern Lithuania, Greater Poland, Royal Prussia, and Pomerania in Sweden.
Only Danzig and the Duchy of Prussia remained an enclave outside Swedish control. The principality of Prussia also turned to Sweden under pressure from the Swedish forces in Lachville. The turn of the principality of Prussia to Sweden fulfilled Sweden's desire to dominate the Baltic Sea, bringing the Swedish Empire to its political zenith.
The expansion of Sweden's interests in the Baltics and Lithuania inevitably aroused the jealousy of the other Baltic states, which led to a new struggle for dominance over the Baltics.
The Samogitia uprising and the decline of the Cadeniai Alliance
Although Lithuania and Sweden signed the Treaty of Cadeniai and formed a coalition government, this did not guarantee that both sides would effectively comply with the coalition agreement.
On the one hand, Sweden argues that the Cadeniai Union has not received broad support from Lithuania and that the alliance lacks effectiveness; On the other hand, the Cadeniai alliance was originally the result of a compromise between a group of Lithuanian magnates, and although it was a helpless choice to deal with the political crisis of the time, this alliance did not satisfy all the nobles.
Among them, the royalists and pro-Russians led by Goszewski were the most compromised factions of the alliance, and they continued to seek assistance from Poland and Russia after the union.
The religious factor was the basic cause of the conflict between Sweden and Lithuania after the formation of the Cadeniai Union. The anti-Swedish revolt showed some of the characteristics of the war of religion between Catholicism and Protestantism. The Cadeniai Union promised to guarantee the policy of freedom of religion desired by the Lithuanian aristocracy, but in practice a policy of religious tolerance was difficult to achieve.
This contradiction was epitomized by the entry of the Lithuanian army into northern Lithuania. The religious policy of the Lithuanian army caused serious conflicts between the Lithuanian nobility and Sweden in the looting of Catholic churches, murder of Catholic priests, Lutheran prayers in Catholic churches, and the establishment of military fortifications in new dioceses.
The anti-Swedish uprising had a negative impact on both the pro-Swedish faction and Sweden. Samogitia was regained under the control of the Federation and became a strategic base for the Federation army. The loss of Samogitia meant the defeat of Swedish policy in Lithuania, Prussia and Courland, and the disappearance of the Swedish zone of control that stretched from Livonia to Poland.
This seriously hampered the communication between Karl X and the Swedish army in Livonia, affecting the war between Sweden and Russia. Sweden lost 1,700 soldiers in the course of the uprising, which was a heavy blow to Sweden. The Swedish soldiers, who retreated from Lithuania, also suffered from starvation and disarmament.
As a result of the rebellion, the army in Livonia became powerless in the event of a Russian offensive. In addition, in the course of the uprising, many nobles switched to the side of the Polish king, and the Protestant nobility was oppressed and lost its political influence. After the summer of 1656, only Stexke remained under Swedish protection.
The Battle of Brest and the restoration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The change in the political situation in 1656 was very unfavorable for Sweden: in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden continued to fight Poland, and there were numerous uprisings in Samogitia and Lithuania; On the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, Russia has already begun to attack Livonia, and Denmark is also moving at the same opportunity. In order to change the unfavorable situation for Sweden, Sweden must find new allies.
On December 6, 1656, after long negotiations, the anti-Polish coalition led by Sweden~ signed a military agreement to divide Poland and the Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sweden gained control of the principalities of Prussia, Kuyawi, northern Masovi, and Livonia. Brandenburg received Greater Poland, and Prussia gained independent status. Ukraine will be ruled by the Cossacks. Southeastern Poland was ruled by the Grand Duke of Transylvania. Boguslav, Ratchville got the province of Novograd.
In the spring of 1657, Sweden and Transylvania planned a joint action against the Confederation. On May 16, 1657, Brest signed a surrender agreement. After the surrender of Brest, Sweden handed Brest over to Transylvania, causing a conflict in the Union. On May 27, 1657, the Swedish army left Brest.
The withdrawal of Swedish troops changed the geopolitical balance in Eastern Europe and made the situation completely in favor of the side of the anti-Swedish coalition. On June 22, 1657, Polish troops surrounded the retreating Transylvanian army in the Galicia region, and the army of the King of Transylvania surrendered and had to retreat from Brest.
After the defeat of Brest, Lachville terminated its cooperation with Sweden.
In October 1657, the Lithuanians launched a successful campaign against Sweden in Livonia, and the main Swedish army retreated. In 1660, the Swedish army was outnumbered, and with the mediation of France, Sweden negotiated with Poland and Lithuania.
The death of Charles X paved the way for the end of the Northern War. The Treaty of Oliva of May 1660 concluded on the basis of "the restoration of everything to its pre-war state" - Jan Kaczmierz (childless) renounced the claim to the hereditary Swedish throne for his descendants.
The peace treaty restored the original borders between the two countries, Poland still possessed the southeastern parts of Courland and Rivland, Sweden assumed the obligation to protect the freedom of trade in the Baltic Sea, and Poland guaranteed religious freedom to the Protestants of Prussia in the principality.
The Polish-Swedish War ended half a century of conflict between Poland and Sweden, Lithuanian separatism was again defeated, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was retained.
Divisions within the Caedaeno League, combined with military pressure from Denmark, Russia, and Poland, led to the complete collapse of the Caedenia League.