After suffering a disaster at the battlefield of Durbe in 1260 AD, the Teutonic and Livonian Orders had to contend with a serious uprising by the Baltic Prussian tribes against their rule. At certain moments, the crusader knights seemed doomed to failure, but steady reinforcements, internal disunity between the Prussians, and Lithuanian inactivity allowed them to reoccupy the lands they had lost in a period of around 25 years. After this, the Ordensstaat saw a period of territorial growth and economic development (through the baltic trade), challenging its neighbors, mainly the christianized states of Poland and Lithuania, until they were ground down by battlefield setbacks and the cost of having to fight two such rising powers at the same time.
But what if the Teutonic Knights had been utterly expelled by the Prussian tribes from the eastern Baltic coast by the end of the 13th century? What does this mean for the region's political development?
Would this slow down the Balts' christianization, or further allow them to convert by their own terms and advantages? Obviously, this could mean a survival, and future development (with numerous possibilities), of the non-Germanic Old Prussian language.
Without the threat of the Teutonic Knights at their doorstep, would Poland and Lithuania have as much incentive to centralize? Could this also lead to the Prussians forming a plural amount of states, kingdoms, and confederacies? What do you think?
Does this have any economic effect on the growth of the Hanseatic League, which IOTL had close ties with the Ordensstaat and defended them in times of crisis?
 
Last edited:
If Prussian tribes failed to unite after uprising they'll likely get absorbed by Lithuania sooner or later. Lithuania after swallowing lands of Baltic Prussians and Livonians would have much bigger ethnically Baltic core.
 
If Prussian tribes failed to unite after uprising they'll likely get absorbed by Lithuania sooner or later. Lithuania after swallowing lands of Baltic Prussians and Livonians would have much bigger ethnically Baltic core.
So, could we see a Lithuanian fief in Prussia developing? Would Poland also want a piece of the pie?
Another deduction i'd make would be that the lack of a common enemy in the vein of the Teutonic Knights would cause Poland and Lithuania to develop more separately from each other, and there'd be much less of an incentive to dynastically unite the two countries. What about that?
 
Top