Lithuanian

The Lithuanian group gathers the Aukštaitians of the uplands and the Samogitians of the lowlands near the Baltic coast, who were united in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Mindaugas, its first ruler, was crowned king in 1253, but the pagan state was a target of crusades by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order and survived them.

Under Gediminas and his sons Algirdas and Kęstutis it expanded over former Kievan Rus' lands, and by 1440 it was the largest state in Europe. Jogaila signed the Union of Krewo in 1386, converted to Christianity and became king of Poland. The Union of Lublin in 1569 joined Lithuania and Poland in a Commonwealth, which the partitions ended in 1795.