Alternative History
United Commonwealths of Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Livonia, and Polotsk
Timeline: An Honorable Retelling
Flag of the United Commonwealths (An Honorable Retelling) Herb Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodow (Alex K)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: 
Pro Fide, Lege et Rege
"For Faith, Law, and King"
Anthem: 
Gaude Mater Polonia
"Rejoice, oh Mother Poland"
Location of Lublin (An Honorable Retelling)
Location of the United Commonwealths (green)
CapitalKraków
Largest city Minsk
Official languages Polish • Lithuanian • Latvian • Polotskan • Yiddish
Demonym Commonwealther • Polish • Lithuanian • Courlander • Polotskan
Constituent countries Poland
Lithuania
Courland
Livonia
Polotsk
Government Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy
 -  Monarch Alexander II
 -  Prime Minister Magdalena Biejat
Legislature Sejm
 -  Upper house Senate
 -  Lower house Chamber of Deputies
Establishment
 -  Union of Lublin 1 July 1569 
 -  Union of Vilnius 11 March 1575 
 -  Current constitution 25 September 1819 
Currency Złoty (PLN)
Date formats dd/mm/yy
Drives on the right
Calling code +48

The United Commonwealths of Poland, Lithuania, Courland, Livonia, and Polotsk, commonly referred to as the United Commonwealths (UC or U.C.), is a sovereign state in Eastern Europe. It is made up of four constituent countries: the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, and the Principality of Polotsk. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Ukraine to the southeast, Esti to the north; Dacia and Hungary to the south; Czechoslovakia to the southwest; and Germany to the west.

Poland and Lithuania entered into a personal union in 1386 following the marriage of Polish queen Jadwiga and Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila, with Bohemia also being inherited in the 15th century. An actual union was formed in 1569 between the three kingdoms, originally with Sigismund II originally being the singular ruler of the commonwealth. However, the Radziwiłł uprising led to the establishment of a triarchy among the three kingdoms. Later in 1657, the Ukrainian Hetmanate was established as a fourth member of the Commonwealth. The nation underwent a decline in the late-18th and early-19th centuries, especially following the Second Great War, and after the Third Great War lost Ukraine as an independent state. However, since the mid-20th century, the United Commonwealths have reemerged as an influential power in geopolitics.

The United Commonwealths is a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy and a developed country. It ranks high in international measures of quality of life, income and wealth, human rights, innovation, and education. The United Commonwealths is also sometimes called the "Nation of the Eastern Arts", being the home to many film studios. The nation is a member of the League to Enforce Peace, the Global Treaty Organization, the European Community and the Visegrád Group.

History[]

Early history (1569-1700)[]

Sigismund picture

Sigismund II, King of Poland and Bohemia, and Grand Duke of Lithuania

On 10 January 1569, envoys from Poland, Lithuania, and Bohemia held a meeting in Lublin regarding a potential political union between their three nations after many decades of being connected via personal union in an attempt to secure a proper common front against the rising Tsardom of Russia. However, no agreement was reached, with one of the primary points of contention being the issue of allowing Poles to settle and own land in Lithuania and Bohemia. In response to this proposal, while the Bohemian delegation led by High Chancellor John of Waldstein, hoping to secure a better agreement, the Lithuanian delegation led by Grand Chancellor Mikołaj Radziwiłł on 1 March.

In retaliation, king Sigismund II annexed Podlachie, Volhynian, Bracław, and the Kiev Voivodeships to the Polish Crown on 6 June with support from the Rus' nobles, and threatened to enforce the union in contumaciam. This pressured the Lithuanians to return to the Sejm under the leadership of Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz to continue negotiations, using slightly different tactics. Though the Polish szlachta wanted full incorporation of Lithuania and Bohemia into the Polish Crown, the Lithuanians and Bohemians continued to oppose that and would only agree to a federation. By 28 June, all issues were mostly resolved, and a federation of three equal nations was agreed upon; the Union of Lublin was firmly signed on 1 July by Sigismund II, officially creating the United Commonwealths, establishing a unified General Sejm and a common foreign policy; despite the militaries remaining de-jure separate, the Lithuanian and Bohemian armies were under obligation to join a war involving the Polish army, further weakening the constituents' autonomy.

In 1572, Sigismund II passed away, resulting in his only son Sigismund III becoming king of the three nations. However, his rule was ineffective due to him being ill and weak, resulting in him being unable to fully assert control over the restless Lithuanian nobles, who sought an opportunity to reassert their own independence. On 19 September 1573, the Lithuanian nobles in the General Sejm stormed out and restored the Lithuanian Seimas, meeting to formally revoke the Union of Lublin and restore an independent Lithuanian state; they also rejected Sigismund III as Lithuanian Grand Duke, instead nominating Mikołaj Radziwiłł as the new Grand Duke, thus jumpstarting the Radziwiłł revolt, which threatened to tear the Commonwealth apart. Due to Sigismund III being heavily ill at this time, Polish Chancellor Walenty Dembiński decided to take matters into his own hands and demanded the Polish army to mobilise; however, the army was poorly trained, under neglect ever since the ascension of Sigismund III, and thus failed to put down the revolt. In early 1574, the rebelling Lithuanian army stormed into the Polish territories annexed from Lithuania in 1569, angering the local Rus' nobles, who promptly took up arms against the Lithuanians; this indirectly helped the Polish army gain a slight advantage over the rebels, but by mid-1574, a stalemate had formed.