Poland should be more aggressive against the Kremlin propaganda being peddled to justify its dangerous foreign policy and follow the lead of Lithuanian conservative MP, Matas Maldeikis, who called out Russian aggression recently on social media.
Maldeikis’ remarks were composed in English, and as such have received far more exposure, reaching many people in several countries. This is a skillful parody of the Kremlin’s historic propaganda, which uses an artificially crafted version of the history of the Rus region to justify all of its aggressive actions. It is also a parody of the current threats of Russian diplomacy.
When it comes to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the history of its long existence debunks the lies of the Russian ideology of “collecting historically Russian lands,” as well as the theses that Belarusians and Ukrainians are actually Russians.
The Kremlin has even tried to erase the Grand Duchy from history by claiming that the 1410 Battle of Grunwald was a Russian victory. This is a revision of history to which we must respond decisively with the tool that is truth.
Following the unification of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland as a result of the 1569 Union of Lublin, one of the largest states in Europe was formed at the time — the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, also known in Poland as the First Polish Republic.
As a result of the First Partition by Russia, Austria and Prussia in 1772, it started to lose importance on the continent until it vanished from the map of Europe for 123 years following the Third Partition in 1795.
