title: Phlogiston theory

text: Johann Heinrich Pott, a student of one of Stahl's students, expanded the theory and attempted to make it much more understandable to a general audience. He compared phlogiston to light or fire, saying that all three were substances whose natures were widely understood but not easily defined. He thought that phlogiston should not be considered as a particle but as an essence that permeates substances, arguing that in a pound of any substance one could not simply pick out the particles of phlogiston. Pott also observed the fact that when certain substances are burned they increase in mass instead of losing the mass of the phlogiston as it escapes; according to him, phlogiston was the basic fire principle and could not be obtained by itself. Flames were considered to be a mix of phlogiston and water, while a phlogiston-and-earthy mixture could not burn properly. Phlogiston permeating everything in the universe, it could be released as heat when combined with acid. Pott proposed the following properties:


title: Phlogiston theory

text: Pott's formulations proposed little new theory; he merely supplied further details and rendered existing theory more approachable to the common man.


title: Phlogiston theory

text: Johann Juncker also created a very complete picture of phlogiston. When reading Stahl's work, he assumed that phlogiston was in fact very material. He therefore came to the conclusion that phlogiston has the property of levity, or that it makes the compound that it is in much lighter than it would be without the phlogiston. He also showed that air was needed for combustion by putting substances in a sealed flask and trying to burn them.


title: Phlogiston theory

text: Guillaume-François Rouelle brought the theory of phlogiston to France, and he was a very influential scientist and teacher so it gained quite a strong foothold very quickly. Many of his students became very influential scientists in their own right, Lavoisier included. The French viewed phlogiston as a very subtle principle that vanishes in all analysis, yet it is in all bodies. Essentially they followed straight from Stahl's theory.


title: Phlogiston theory

text: Giovanni Antonio Giobert introduced Lavoisier's work in Italy. Giobert won a prize competition from the Academy of Letters and Sciences of Mantua in 1792 for his work refuting phlogiston theory. He presented a paper at the of Turin on March 18, 1792, entitled ("Chemical examination of the doctrine of phlogiston and the doctrine of pneumatists in relation to the nature of water"), which is considered the most original defense of Lavoisier's theory of water composition to appear in Italy.


title: Phlogiston theory

text: Eventually, quantitative experiments revealed problems, including the fact that some metals gained weight after they burned, even though they were supposed to have lost phlogiston.


title: Phlogiston theory

text: Some phlogiston proponents, like Robert Boyle, explained this by concluding that phlogiston has negative weight; others, such as Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, gave the more conventional argument that it is lighter than air. However, a more detailed analysis based on Archimedes' principle, the densities of magnesium and its combustion product showed that just being lighter than air could not account for the increase in weight. Stahl himself did not address the problem of the metals that burn gaining weight, but those who followed his school of thought were the ones that worked on this problem.


title: Phlogiston theory

text: During the eighteenth century, as it became clear that metals gained weight after they were oxidized, phlogiston was increasingly regarded as a "principle" rather than a material substance. By the end of the eighteenth century, for the few chemists who still used the term phlogiston, the concept was linked to hydrogen. Joseph Priestley, for example, in referring to the reaction of steam on iron, while fully acknowledging that the iron gains weight after it binds with oxygen to form a calx, iron oxide, iron also loses "the basis of inflammable air (hydrogen), and this is the substance or principle, to which we give the name phlogiston". Following Lavoisier's description of oxygen as the "oxidizing principle" (hence its name, from Ancient Greek: , "sharp"; , "birth" referring to oxygen's supposed role in the formation of acids), Priestley described phlogiston as the "alkaline principle."


title: Phlogiston theory

text: Phlogiston remained the dominant theory until the 1770s when Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier showed that combustion requires a gas that has weight (specifically, oxygen) and could be measured by means of weighing closed vessels. The use of closed vessels by de Lavoisier and earlier, by the Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov, also negated the buoyancy that had disguised the weight of the gases of combustion and culminated in the principle of mass conservation. These observations solved the mass paradox and set the stage for the new oxygen theory of combustion. The British chemist Elizabeth Fulhame demonstrated through experiment that many oxidation reactions occur only in the presence of water, that they directly involve water, and that water is regenerated and is detectable at the end of the reaction. Based on her experiments, she disagreed with some of the conclusions of Lavoisier as well as with the phlogiston theorists that he critiqued. Her book on the subject appeared in print soon after Lavoisier's execution for Farm-General membership during the French Revolution.


title: Phlogiston theory

text: Experienced chemists who supported Stahl's phlogiston theory attempted to respond to the challenges suggested by Lavoisier and the newer chemists. In doing so, phlogiston theory became more complicated and assumed too much, contributing to the overall demise of the theory. Many people tried to remodel their theories on phlogiston in order to have the theory work with what Lavoisier was doing in his experiments. Pierre Macquer reworded his theory many times, and even though he is said to have thought the theory of phlogiston was doomed, he stood by phlogiston and tried to make the theory work.


title: Ines Rau

text: Ines-Loan Rau (born 1990) is a French model. She was "Playboy" magazine's Playmate of the Month for November 2017 and the first openly transgender Playmate.


title: Ines Rau

text: Rau transitioned and underwent sex reassignment surgery at the age of 16, after being inspired by the life story of English trans model Caroline "Tula" Cossey.


title: Ines Rau

text: After turning 18, Rau started dancing for DJs in Ibiza, during which she became friends with David Guetta. In 2013, at age 23, she first posed nude with Tyson Beckford for a spread in "OOB", a French luxury magazine, shortly after coming out as transgender. In May 2014, she first appeared in "Playboy"s "A-Z issue" in a spread titled "Evolution" that aimed to depict the growing acceptance of gender identities beyond the male-female binary. She became the second transgender woman to be featured in "Playboy" after Cossey in 1981 and the first who came out voluntarily (Cossey was outed against her will and reappeared in the magazine in 1991).


title: Ines Rau

text: Following her magazine appearances, Rau worked as a model for Nicole Miller, Alexis Bittar and Barneys New York. She also appeared in "Vogue Italia" and in a campaign for Balmain.


title: Ines Rau

text: In October 2017, Cooper Hefner, son of "Playboy" founder Hugh Hefner, announced that Rau would appear as "Playmate of the Month" in the magazine's November/December 2017 issue, making her the first openly transgender woman to be featured this way. Hefner likened the choice to feature Rau to his father's decision to feature Jennifer Jackson as the first African-American model to appear in "Playboy" as a Playmate in 1965.


title: Ines Rau

text: Following her coming-out, Rau became more active campaigning for transgender rights. In 2016, she appeared on the TF1 news format "Sept à Huit" on an episode focused on her life.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: The original incarnation of Viacom Inc. (derived from "Video & Audio Communications") was an American media conglomerate based in New York City. It began as CBS Television Film Sales, the broadcast syndication division of the CBS television network in 1952; it was renamed CBS Films in 1958, renamed CBS Enterprises in 1968, renamed Viacom in 1970, and spun off into its own company in 1971. Viacom was a distributor of CBS television series throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and also distributed syndicated television programs.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In 1999, Viacom acquired the parent company of CBS, the former Westinghouse Electric Corporation, which had been renamed CBS Corporation in 1997. Viacom was split into the second CBS Corporation and Viacom incarnations, and ceased operations in 2006. The spin-off was structured so that CBS Corporation would be the legal successor to the first Viacom, with the second Viacom being an entirely separated company. The two companies eventually re-merged in 2019, leading to the formation of ViacomCBS, now known as Paramount.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: The Viacom's origin story set on March 16, 1952 — when CBS founded its broadcast syndication division, CBS Television Film Sales. It renamed as CBS Films in October 1958. On December 1, 1967, it again renamed as CBS Enterprises Inc.. On July 6, 1970, it announced that CBS Enterprises would be spin out from its parent company, and the same month the division was incorporated as Viacom, and spun off on January 1, 1971, amid new FCC rules forbidding television networks from owning syndication companies (the rules were later repealed).


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In addition to CBS TV series syndication rights, Viacom also held cable systems with 90,000 cable subscribers, at that time the largest in the US. In 1976, Viacom started Showtime, a pay movie channel, with Warner-Amex taking a half-share ownership. The company went into original programming production starting in the late 1970s until the early 1980s with middling results.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: Viacom's first broadcast station acquisition came in 1978 when the company purchased WHNB-TV in New Britain, Connecticut, changing its call letters to WVIT. Two years later Viacom added the Sonderling Broadcasting chain, giving it radio stations in New York City, Washington, D.C., Houston, and San Francisco, and one television station, WAST (now WNYT) in Albany, New York.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In 1983 Viacom purchased KSLA in Shreveport, Louisiana, and WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York, in separate transactions. This was followed in 1986 with CBS-owned KMOX-TV in St. Louis; with the purchase, that station's call letters were changed to KMOV.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: Also in 1983, Viacom reacquired its premium channel Showtime, and later merged it with Warner-Amex's The Movie Channel forming Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: Between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, Viacom syndicated several shows produced by Carsey-Werner Productions, namely "The Cosby Show", "A Different World" and "Roseanne".


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In 1985, Viacom acquired Showtime/The Movie Channel, Inc. from Warner-Amex, ending the joint venture. Around the same time, Viacom bought MTV Networks, which owned MTV, VH-1, and Nickelodeon. This led to Viacom becoming a mass media company rather than simply a distribution company, and completed in 1986.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In 1986, movie theater owner National Amusements bought controlling interest in Viacom, which brought Sumner Redstone to the company.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In 1987, Viacom sought to expand its horizons by launching the new Viacom Network Enterprises division, which was led by Ronald C. Bernard, in order to develop and exploit properties outside of the core cable business and the company would ride herd on diverse enterprises as Viacom's pay-per-view venture, Viewer's Choice, Satellite Direct, Inc. and SMA TV, and handle strategic planning and new business development for Viacom Networks Group, and would develop merchandising, licensing and home video business around the two Viacom subsidiaries it was currently operating, Showtime-The Movie Channel, Inc. and MTV Networks.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: Redstone retained the Viacom name and made a string of large acquisitions in the early 1990s, announcing plans to merge with Paramount Communications (formerly Gulf+Western), parent of Paramount Pictures, in 1993, and buying the Blockbuster Video chain in 1994. The acquisition of Paramount Communications in July 1994 made Viacom one of the world's largest entertainment companies. Also in 1993, WTXX entered into a part-time local marketing agreement with Viacom's NBC station WVIT.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: The Paramount and Blockbuster acquisitions gave Viacom access to large television holdings: An archive of programming controlled by Aaron Spelling's company which included, along with his own productions, the pre-1973 ABC and NBC libraries under Worldvision Enterprises and Republic Pictures; and an expanded group of television station properties which merged Viacom's five existing outlets into Paramount's seven-station group. Viacom used some of these stations to launch the UPN network, which started operations in January 1995 as a joint venture with Chris-Craft Industries. Shortly afterward, Viacom/Paramount spent the next two years selling off its non-UPN affiliated stations to various owners. In 1997, Viacom exited the broadcast radio business, albeit temporarily, when it sold the majority of its stations to Chancellor Media, a predecessor company of iHeartMedia.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In 1999, Viacom made its biggest acquisition to date by announcing plans to merge with its former parent CBS Corporation. The merger was completed in May 2000, bringing CBS Cable's channels TNN (now Paramount Network) and Country Music Television (CMT) under Viacom's MTV Networks wing, as well as CBS's production units and TV distributors Eyemark Entertainment (formerly Group W Productions) and King World under the main wing.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In 2001, Viacom completed its purchase of BET Holdings, the owners of the Black Entertainment Television (BET) network. As with CBS Cable, it was immediately integrated into MTV Networks, causing some outcry among BET workers in the Washington DC area (where BET was based before the merger). As a result, BET was separated from MTV Networks, into a division known as BET Networks.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: Although a majority economic interest in Viacom was held by independent shareholders, the Redstone family maintained 71-percent voting control of the company through National Amusements' holdings of Viacom's stock.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In 2002, Viacom's MTV Networks International bought independently run Dutch music video channel TMF, which at the time was broadcasting in Belgium and the Netherlands. In June 2004, MTVNI bought VIVA Media AG, the German equivalent to MTV. The same month, plans were announced to dispose of Viacom's interest in Blockbuster later that year by means of an exchange offer; the spinoff of Blockbuster was completed in October.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: Also in 2002, Viacom acquired the remaining shares of Infinity Broadcasting radio chain, which resulted in Viacom's return to operating radio stations after it originally exited the broadcast radio business in 1997. In April 2003, Viacom acquired the remaining ownership shares of Comedy Central from then-AOL Time Warner, integrating Comedy Central into MTV Networks.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: From its formation until 1995, Viacom operated several cable television systems generally located in the Dayton, San Francisco, Nashville and Seattle metropolitan areas. Several of these were originally independent systems that CBS acquired in the 1960s. The division was known as "Viacom Cablevision" until the early 1990s, when it was renamed to "Viacom Cable". By 1995, Viacom Cable had about 1.1 million subscribers. Viacom sold the division to TCI in 1995. Viacom's cable assets are now part of Comcast.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In March 2005, the company announced plans of looking into splitting into two publicly traded companies under the continuing ownership of National Amusements because of a stagnating stock price. The internal rivalry between Les Moonves and Tom Freston, longtime heads of CBS and MTV Networks respectively, and the controversy of Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, which resulted in MTV being banned from producing any more Super Bowl halftime shows, were also seen as factors. After the departure of Mel Karmazin in 2004, Redstone, who served as chairman and chief executive officer, decided to split the offices of president and chief operating officer between Moonves and Freston. Redstone was set to retire in the near future, and a split would be a creative solution to the matter of replacing him.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: The split was approved by Viacom's board on June 14, 2005, and took effect on January 3, 2006, and effectively reversed the Viacom-CBS merger of 1999. The existing Viacom was renamed CBS Corporation (thus restoring its pre-merger name) and was headed by Moonves. It was intended to include Viacom's slower-growing businesses, namely CBS, The CW (a merger of UPN and The WB), CBS Radio (since sold to Entercom on November 17, 2017), Simon & Schuster (to be sold to Penguin Random House), CBS Outdoor (formerly Viacom Outdoor), Showtime Networks, CBS Television Studios, CBS Television Distribution and CBS Studios International.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: In addition, CBS Corporation was given Paramount Parks, which it later sold to amusement park operator Cedar Fair on June 30, 2006, and the CBS College Sports Network, now known as the CBS Sports Network.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: Additionally, a spun-off company was created that took the Viacom name, which was headed by Freston. It comprised MTV Networks, BET Networks, Paramount Pictures, and Paramount Pictures' home entertainment operations. These businesses were categorized as the high-growth businesses. National Amusements continued to be the controlling shareholder of the two companies formed after the split. In September 2006, Redstone fired Freston and named Philippe Dauman as the head of Viacom.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: On August 13, 2019, CBS and Viacom officially announced their re-merger deal; the combined company would be called ViacomCBS, with Bob Bakish as president and CEO and Shari Redstone as the chairwoman of the new company. On December 4, 2019, the deal was completed.


title: Viacom (1952–2006)

text: Viacom was initially founded in 1971, but was reincorporated in 1986. Effective January 1, 2006, this corporate entity changed its name to CBS Corporation. The present firm known as Viacom was also established at that date and is a new spin-off company created during the CBS–Viacom split.


title: General Schedule (US civil service pay scale)

text: The General Schedule (GS) is the predominant pay scale within the United States civil service. The GS includes the majority of white collar personnel (professional, technical, administrative, and clerical) positions. , 71 percent of federal civilian employees were paid under the GS. The GG pay rates are identical to published GS pay rates.


text: The remaining 29 percent were paid under other systems such as the Federal Wage System (WG, for federal blue-collar civilian employees), the Senior Executive Service and the Executive Schedule for high-ranking federal employees, and other unique pay schedules used by some agencies such as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the Foreign Service. , some federal employees were also paid under Pay Bands.


text: The GS was enacted into law by the Classification Act of 1949, which replaced Classification Act of 1923. The GS is now codified as part of Chapter 53 of Title 5 of the United States Code sections 5331 to 5338 (). The pay scale was originally created with the purpose of keeping federal salaries in line with equivalent private sector jobs. Although never the intent, the GS pay scale does a good job of ensuring equal pay for equal work by reducing pay gaps between men, women, and minorities, in accordance with another, separate law, the Equal Pay Act of 1963.


text: Prior to January 1994, GS personnel were generally paid the same amount (for a given grade and step) regardless of where they worked. This system ignored the growing reality of regional differences in salaries and wages across the United States, and this led to a perception that in many locations federal civil service salaries were increasingly uncompetitive with those in the private sector, thus affecting recruiting and retention efforts by federal agencies. In January 1994, the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA) introduced a "locality pay adjustment" component to the GS salary structure. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have complained about the methodology used to compute locality adjustments and the projected cost of closing the pay gap (as determined by FEPCA) between federal salaries and those in the private sector. In December 2007, the President's Pay Agent reported that an average locality pay adjustment of 36.89% would be required to reach the target set by FEPCA (to close the computed pay gap between federal and non-federal pay to a disparity of 5%). By comparison, in calendar year 2007, the average locality pay adjustment actually authorized was 16.88%. As a result, FEPCA has never been fully implemented.


text: The United States Office of Personnel Management administers the GS pay schedule on behalf of other federal agencies.


text: Changes to the GS must normally be authorized by either the president (via Executive Order) or by Congress (via legislation). Normally, the President directs annual across-the-board pay adjustments at the beginning of a calendar year after Congress has passed the annual appropriations legislation for the federal government.


text: Under FEPCA, the Bureau of Labor Statistics conducts annual surveys of wages and salaries paid to non-federal workers in designated locality pay areas. Surveys are used to determine the disparity, if any, between federal and non-federal pay in a given locality pay area. The Federal Salary Council (created by FEPCA) prepares recommendations concerning the composition of the designated locality pay areas and the annual comparability adjustment for each area, as well as an adjustment for all other workers outside these areas, referred to as "Rest of U.S.". The council's recommendations are transmitted to the President's Pay Agent (also created by FEPCA), which then establishes, modifies, or disestablishes individual locality pay areas and makes the final recommendation on pay adjustments to the president, who may either accept the agent's recommendations or (in effect) reject them through the submission of an alternative pay plan.


text: FEPCA also provides for an automatic annual across-the-board adjustment of GS pay rates. A common misconception is that the annual federal pay adjustments are determined according to cost of living fluctuations and other regional considerations. In fact, the across-the-board adjustments to the GS (but not locality pay) are determined according to the rise in the cost of employment as measured by the Department of Labor's Employment Cost Index, which does not necessarily correlate to the better-known Consumer Price Index, which tracks consumer prices.


text: The GS is separated into 15 grades (GS-1, GS-2, etc. up to GS-15); each grade is separated into 10 steps. At one time, there were also three GS "supergrades" (GS-16, GS-17 and GS-18); these were eliminated under the provisions of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 and replaced by the Senior Executive Service and the more recent Senior Level (non-supervisory) pay scale.


text: Most positions in the competitive service are paid according to the GS. In addition, many positions in the excepted service use the GS as a basis for setting pay rates. Some positions in the excepted service use the grade designator "GG"—for example, "GG-12" or "GG-13". The GG pay rates are generally identical to published GS pay rates.


text: The GS-1 through GS-7 range generally marks entry-level positions, while mid-level positions are in the GS-8 to GS-12 range and top-level positions (senior managers, high-level technical specialists, or physicians) are in the GS-13 to GS-15 range. A new GS employee is normally employed in the first step of their assigned GS grade, although the employer has discretion to, as a recruiting incentive, authorize initial appointment at a higher step (other agencies may place the employee at a higher grade). In most professional occupations, entry to mid-level positions are classified at two-grade intervals—that is, an employee would advance from GS-5 to GS-7, then to GS-9 and finally to GS-11, skipping grades 6, 8 and 10.


text: Permanent employees below step 10 in their grade normally earn step increases after serving a prescribed period of service in at least a satisfactory manner. The normal progression is 52 weeks (one year) between steps 1–2, 2–3, and 3–4, then 104 weeks (two years) between steps 4–5, 5–6, and 6–7, and finally 156 weeks (three years) between steps 7–8, 8–9, and 9–10. However, an employee can be rewarded for outstanding work performance via a "quality step increase" ("QSI"), which advances the employee one step within grade regardless of time at the previous step. (When a QSI is awarded, the date of the QSI becomes the starting date for the next step increase, which (if future step increases are awarded on the normal progression) will shorten the overall time for an employee to reach the final step within a grade.)


text: Depending on the agency and the work description, a GS position may provide for advancement within a "career ladder," meaning that an employee performing satisfactorily will advance between GS grades, normally on an annual basis, until he(she) has reached the top GS grade for that job (which represents full performance). Advancement beyond the top grade (to either a specialized technical position or to a managerial position) would be subject to competitive selection.


text: Not all positions, however, provide for such a "career ladder," thus requiring employees who seek advancement to consider other career paths, either within their agency or outside it.


text: An example is the "career ladder" for auditors within the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). The traditional "entry level" grade within DCAA is the GS-7 level (some employees come in either at the lower GS-5 level or higher GS-9 or GS-11 levels) and the "career ladder" is GS-7 to GS-9 to GS-11 and finally to GS-12, with the employee expected to advance between grades after one year and to reach the GS-12 level after three years. Beyond the GS-12 level, advancements to the higher levels (GS-13, GS-14, and GS-15, most of which are managerial positions) are based on competitive selections.


text: Furthermore, if an employee is promoted to a grade which is not part of the career ladder (such as a promotion to a supervisory position), the employee's salary is set at the step within the higher grade nearest the employee's current salary (but never below the current salary), plus additional steps to reward the employee for the promotion and to account for the increased responsibilities that go along with the new position. As an example (and not including locality adjustments), an employee at GS-12 Step 10 (base salary $) being promoted to a GS-13 position would initially have his/her salary set at GS-13 Step 4 (base salary $, as it is the nearest salary to GS-12 Step 10 but not lower than it), and then have his/her salary adjusted to a higher step (such as GS-13 Step 6, having a base salary of $).


text: The base salary is based on a table compiled by Office of Personnel Management (the 2022 table is shown below), and is used as the baseline for the locality pay adjustment. The increases between steps for Grades GS-1 and GS-2 varies between the steps; for Grades GS-3 through GS-15 the increases between the steps are the same within the grade, but increase as the grade increases. The table is revised effective January of each year to reflect the basic cost of living adjustment (known as the General Schedule Increase).


text: Some positions have their own unique GS scales. One notable example being patent examiner positions who can receive a supplement of more than 50% from the standard GS scale. Under the laws governing special GS scales, employees whose positions are covered by those scales earn either the special scale salary, or the standard GS scale salary plus a locality adjustment (see below), whichever is higher.


text: The second component of the GS salary, the locality pay adjustment, was introduced in 1994 as part of the Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA). Prior to FEPCA, all GS employees received the same salary regardless of location, which failed to reflect both the disparity between public sector and private sector pay as well as differences in cost of living in major metropolitan areas. As noted earlier, an employee in a position with a special GS scale does not receive a locality adjustment unless the pay under the special scale is lower than using the locality pay adjustment.


text: Under FEPCA, specified metropolitan areas, plus Alaska and Hawaii, are designated to receive pay adjustments in excess of the general adjustment provided to the "Rest of U.S.". Salary adjustments in other U.S. Territories and for overseas employees are separate from this adjustment. , 52 areas, plus the entire states of Alaska and Hawaii, have been designated to receive this excess adjustment.


text: FEPCA places a cap on the total salary of highly paid employees (mainly those at the higher GS-15 Grade steps) – the total base pay plus locality adjustment cannot exceed the salary for employees under Level IV of the Executive Schedule.


text: The locality pay adjustment is counted as part of the "high-3" salary in calculating Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) annuities, as well as the baseline for individuals having a percentage of salary deducted for deposit into the Thrift Savings Plan.


text: Personnel based outside the United States (e.g. U.S. territories, foreign overseas areas) receive a lower locality adjustment (4.76% for 2010). However, they may also receive certain non-taxable allowances such as cost-of-living allowances, post allowances and housing allowances in accordance with other laws, such as the Foreign Service Act. Federal civilian workers based in CONUS do not normally receive housing allowances or government-furnished housing. Also, some civilian personnel stationed overseas do not receive housing allowances; this may include military dependents working in federal civilian positions overseas, military members that left the service while overseas and were hired into an overseas position, and U.S. citizens hired into overseas positions while traveling abroad.


text: In contrast, the tax-free allowances paid during overseas assignments (especially the housing allowances) are generally considered to be an incentive to serve overseas, as they can be quite generous. While this situation may be advantageous to some personnel during their assignment overseas, these tax-free allowances are not considered to be part of one's salary, therefore they are not counted when computing a civil service annuity at retirement. CONUS locality adjustments, however, are counted when computing annuities.


text: Employees stationed in Alaska and Hawaii were formerly considered OCONUS and received a cost of living adjustment, but are being phased into the domestic locality pay system.


text: Note:"Employees of the U.S. Government are not entitled to the foreign earned income exclusion or the foreign housing exclusion/deduction under section 911 because 'foreign earned income' does not include amounts paid by the U.S. Government as an employee. But see Other Employment, later"


text: Protocol Precedence Lists for civilian and military personnel have been developed by each of the Department of Defense organizations to establish the order of government, military, and civic leaders for diplomatic, ceremonial, and social events. Protocol is a code of established guidelines on proper etiquette. Precedence is defined as priority in place, time, or rank. In the government, military and diplomatic corps, precedence among individuals' positions plays a substantial role. Equivalency between civilian pay grades and military rank is only for protocol purposes and informally for delegated supervisory responsibilities. While the authority of military rank extends across services and within each service, the same does not exist for civilian employees and therefore, there is no equivalency of command or supervisory authority between civilian and military personnel external to the local organization. The "Department of the Army Protocol Precedence List" is developed by the Army Protocol Directorate. Another form of the Army "Precedence List" can be found in Appendix D of DA PAM 600-60: A Guide to Protocol and Etiquette for Official Entertainment. The Department of the Navy "Civilian and Military Pay Grades" list can be found in Annex D of OPNAVINST 1710.7A: Social Usage and Protocol. The Department of the Air Force "Military and Civilian Rank Equivalents" can be found in Attachment 10 of AFI 34-1201. Consolidated DOD lists have been compiled by JMAR.


text: The comparison of GS and military ranks with respect to financial accounting has different rules than those treating protocol. According to DoD 7000.14-R Financial Management Regulation Volume 11A, Chapter 6 Appendix B (November 2019):


text: In recent years, there have been several attempts to eliminate the GS and replace it with various pay systems emphasizing "pay for performance" (i.e., a system in which pay increases are awarded based more on merit and work performance and less on seniority and length of service). The pay structure which enables this is typically known as pay banding. The best known efforts in this area are the pay systems created for the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense (the National Security Personnel System) in 2002 and 2003, respectively. These efforts were challenged by federal labor unions and other employee groups. Many supervisory and non-bargaining-unit employees, however, were converted from their GS positions into equitable NSPS positions. As part of his fiscal 2007 and 2008 budget proposals, President George W. Bush proposed the eventual elimination of the GS to be replaced by a pay-for-performance concept throughout the Executive Branch of the government. The Office of Management and Budget prepared draft legislation, known as the "Working for America Act", but Congress has not implemented the proposal. President Barack Obama signed the legislation repealing the NSPS system on October 29, 2009. Under the terms of the 2010 Defense Authorization Act, Public Law 111-84, all employees under NSPS must be converted back to their previous pay system not later than January 1, 2012. The law also mandates that no employees lose pay as a result of this conversion. In order to ensure this, a set of conversion rules has been developed. In most cases, if an employee's current NSPS salary falls between two step levels of the GS grade to which their position is classified, their salary will be increased to the higher step. Employees whose salary was increased beyond the GS step 10 amount while under NSPS will be placed on retained pay, meaning they will receive 50% of the annual cost of living increase until the GS table catches up to the level of salary they are earning.


title: Club soda

text: Club soda is a manufactured form of carbonated water, commonly used as a drink mixer. Sodium bicarbonate, potassium sulfate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium citrate, or sodium citrate is artificially added to replicate constituents commonly found in natural mineral waters and offset the acidity of introducing carbon dioxide gas (which creates low 3-4 ph carbonic acid when dissolved in water).


title: Club soda

text: Naturally effervescent "Selters" water from Germany gave rise to the generic use of the term for carbonated water, particularly from a soda siphon, in the United States as "seltzer water". Seltzer water is artificially carbonated but lacks added minerals.


title: Club soda

text: English chemist Joseph Priestley discovered an artificial method for producing carbonated water, described in a pamphlet called "Directions for Impregnating Water with Fixed Air," published in 1772. The pamphlet explained the process of dripping sulfuric acid onto chalk, which produced carbon dioxide (CO) that was captured in a bowl of agitated water. Priestley thought such carbonated water was a cure for scurvy and proposed the process to Captain James Cook to prevent scurvy during his second voyage to the South Seas. Priestley never realized the commercial potential of his product, though he did refer to it as his "happiest discovery."


title: Club soda

text: In 1783, Johann Jacob Schweppe, a jeweler and amateur scientist of Geneva, began the commercial production of carbonated mineral water by dissolving the CO under pressure. In 1807, Benjamin Silliman, a Yale chemistry professor, began producing carbonated water under pressure and selling it in New Haven, Connecticut. In the 1830s, Anyos Jedlik of Hungary opened a large-scale carbonated water factory. The original trademarked club soda was made by Cantrell & Cochrane of Dublin, Ireland in 1877. The 'club' refers to the Kildare Street Club in Dublin, which commissioned them to produce it.


title: Club soda

text: The dissolved gas in carbonated water acts as a temporary surfactant, causing it to be recommended as a household remedy for removing stains, particularly those of red wine.


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: As a composer, Kajiura is known for her unique and distinctive musical motifs and leitmotifs and for her distinctive fusion of contemporary classical music and electronic music.


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: She was born on August 6, 1965, in Tokyo, Japan. She has been into music since 1972 and accompanying her father on the piano. Her family later moved to West Germany because of her father's work. Kajiura wrote her first composition when she was seven years old titled " Thank you, Good-bye" as a farewell for her grandmother before leaving Japan.


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: Kajiura moved back to Japan when she was in middle school and later graduated from college. She began working as a systems engineering programming until 1992 that she decided to focus more on music.


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: In 2002, See-Saw participated in another Mashimo's project, ".hack//Sign" During the production of the series, Kajiura met Emily Bindiger and impressed by her vocals, offered her to perform over 10 of the series' insert songs. She has also jokingly called Bindiger "her English teacher" at Anime Expo 2003.


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: One of Kajiura's solo projects includes FictionJunction. The project involves collaboration with artists such as Yuuka Nanri, Asuka Kato, and Kaori Oda. FictionJunction Yuuka, with Nanri as the vocalist, is the most prolific of these collaborations. In 2004, the duo produced the opening and ending songs for Kōichi Mashimo's "Madlax" and in the next year, published their first collaborative album, "Destination".


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: In October 2007, it was announced that Yuki Kajiura would be attending the performances of the Eminence Orchestra's concert, 'A Night in Fantasia 2007 – Symphonic Anime Edition', as a special guest.


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: The 2014 series Aldnoah.Zero's opening theme "Heavenly Blue" was composed by Kajiura and was performed by Kalafina.


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: In July 2016, Aniplex of America announced that the “Yuki Kajiura LIVE ~featuring SWORD ART ONLINE~” concert that took place in March 2016 in Japan would be having an additional date on January 14, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, but was later canceled due to visa issues.


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: In December 2017, a source reported to a news site, Sponchi Annex that Kajiura was planning to leave her agency, Spacecraft Produce, over contract disputes. In February 2018, Kajiura herself confirmed via her Twitter that she has officially left her agency.


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: Kajiura has performed internationally at various anime conventions including Anime Expo 2003, Anime Boston 2009 (with Kalafina), Anime Expo 2012 (with FictionJunction), and Anime Expo 2018 (as part of Anisong World Matsuri).


title: Yuki Kajiura

text: On February 22, 2018, her contract ended with SpaceCraft Produce after being a talent for 25 years. She is now represented by FictionJunction Music, a talent agency she founded herself.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The flag of Sicily (; ) shows a "triskeles" symbol (a figure of three legs arranged in rotational symmetry), and at its center a Gorgoneion (depiction of the head of Medusa) and a pair of wings and three wheat ears.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The flag is characterized by the presence of the triskeles in its middle, the (winged) head of Medusa and three wheat ears, representing the extreme fertility of the land of Sicily, The triskelion symbol is said to represent the three capes (headlands or promontories of the island of Sicily), namely: Pelorus (Peloro, Tip of Faro, Messina: North-East); Pachynus (Passero, Syracuse: South); and Lilybæum (Lilibeo, Cape Boeo, Marsala: West), which form three points of a triangle from the historical three valli of the island.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The flag is bisected diagonally into regions colored red, the color of Palermo, and yellow, the color of Corleone. These are the two cities that started the revolution of the Sicilian Vesper. The flag was used during the medieval revolution of the Vespers.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The Triskeles-with-Gorgoneion symbol is found in antiquity, depicted on coins minted in Syracuse in the 4th century BC.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The emblem was included in the design of the Army Gold Medal awarded to British Army majors and above who had taken a key part in the Battle of Maida (1806).


title: Flag of Sicily

text: It was at this time referred to as "the sign of the Trinacria", Sicily being referred to by its ancient name,


title: Flag of Sicily

text: "Trinacria" ("having three headlands"). The name had been revived during the Aragonese period of the Kingdom of Sicily following the Sicilian Vespers (1282).


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The diagonal division in red and yellow goes back to 1943 when it was used by the separatist movement led by Andrea Finocchiaro Aprile.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The addition of a pair of wings to the head of the Gorgon is modern (1848), the three ears of corn were added in the 1940s.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: A gonfalon combining the coats of arms of Norman Sicily, the Hohenstaufen emperors, and the Aragonese kingdom of Sicily with the triskeles emblem was adopted by the Sicilian Regional Assembly in 1990. The present design became the official public flag of the Autonomous Region of Sicily on 4 January 2000, after the passing of an apposite law which advocates its use on public buildings, schools, city halls, and all the other places in which Sicily is represented.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of the Italian peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of the southern peninsula.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: Manfred, King of Sicily, crowned King of Sicily in 1258, changed the field of the coat of arms of Hohenstaufen family from gold to silver. In 1266 Manfred was killed in the Battle of Benevento, and Sicily was occupied by the French under the command of Charles of Anjou. The banner was lowered, but the black eagle from Swabia on a white background appeared on Sicilian flags for centuries.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: Charles I used the standard of the House of Anjou. The Angevins lost power on the island after the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers in 1282. Thereafter the old Kingdom of Sicily was centered on the mainland, with its capital at Naples, and although informally called 'Kingdom of Naples' it was still known formally as 'Kingdom of Sicily'. Thus, there were two "Sicilies" — the island kingdom, however, was often called "Sicily beyond the Lighthouse" or "Trinacria", by terms of a treaty between the two states.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The next king of Sicily island was Peter III of Aragon of the House of Barcelona. Since Peter III was Manfred's son-in-law, he restored the coat of arms with the black eagle and added four red stripes on a yellow background from his own coat of arms. Until 1296, the coat of arms and the banner derived from it were usually quartered.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: In 1296, the quartering of the Swabian and Aragonese arms was changed to the Saint Andrew's cross, with stripes at the top and bottom, and with eagles on the right and left. The function of the flag also changed gradually: initially it was a banner of war later it became a flag raised by Sicilian merchant ships. Perhaps by mistake, due to its rather complicated design, this flag was often depicted with shoulder positions swapped (eagles up and down and stripes right and left).


title: Flag of Sicily

text: In the 17th century, the design was significantly simplified: the white fabric was crossed by four horizontal stripes alternating red and yellow, above and below two small black eagles (in a more modern style). The flag probably survived until 1800 - or at least no later than October 2, 1817, when the Sicilian flags were abolished - though it continued to appear on the cards for many years. The logo of the separatist party "Free Sicilians" alludes to this flag.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The Royal Sicilian Regiment was a light infantry regiment recruited from Sicily that served with the British Army during the Napoleonic wars, from 1806 to its disbandment in 1816.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: On 27 May 1848, Trinacria, a symbol of freedom in the pre-Roman period and during the uprising of Vespers, was placed at the center of the Italian tricolor and was adopted by the Sicilian Parliament as the symbolic flag of the island.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: After Operation Husky Sicilian separatists created two organizations: party MIS and paramilitary Voluntary Army for the Independence of Sicily.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: The first MIS flag closely resembled the current flag of Sicily, although it had many variants. MIS stopped using it around 1946, but the flag did not disappear.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: EVIS flag consists of Senyera and the blue canton with Trinacria. The flag symbolized the group's very pro-American position. When the EVIS disappeared after the war, the flag was taken over by MIS, which strengthened the separatist symbolism.


title: Flag of Sicily

text: Sicily adopted its first official flag in 1995. The difference from the current flag was that there was a coat of arms instead of a Trinacria. The coat of arms consisted of four fields: 1 Hauteville family, 2 Manfred's eagle, 3 Trinacria, and 4 Red Bars. The flag changed in 2000 to the current design.


title: Craig Dawson

text: Craig Dawson (born 6 May 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for English Premier League club West Ham United. He has previously played for Radcliffe Borough, Bolton Wanderers, Rochdale, West Bromwich Albion, and Watford.


title: Craig Dawson

text: Dawson started his career at the youth club Heywood St James, before joining Rochdale St Clements. At the age of 16, whilst working as a glass collector in his local pub in Rochdale, Dawson was approached by Radcliffe Borough chairman Bernard Manning Jr, son of Bernard Manning, later making his debut for the club in a game against Salford City in the middle of the 2007–08 season. Following a loan spell at Clipstone, Dawson became a first-team regular after just a few games at Radcliffe. In the two seasons he was at the club he made 95 appearances and scored 15 goals. In the season he left, he was voted the Player of the season by Radcliffe. In 2017, Dawson was included in the Northern Premier League's Greatest 100 Players for the 50th Anniversary of the league, ranking in 14th overall.


title: Craig Dawson

text: In February 2009, Dawson signed for his local club Rochdale on a two-year contract for a fee of £12,000, despite a bid of £30,000 from Crewe Alexandra. Although a Rochdale player, Dawson stayed at Radcliffe on loan until the end of the season. Dawson made his debut for Rochdale reserves, scoring a header from a corner against Manchester City. Dawson was set to make his debut in the second half of the 2008–09 season; however, was set back by injury. Dawson finally got his Rochdale debut on 8 August 2009, starting in the League Two clash with Port Vale at Vale Park. The match ended in a 1–1 draw. Dawson's second game was at Hillsborough Stadium in the League Cup against Sheffield Wednesday. Despite conceding three goals, Rochdale fans gave Dawson rave reviews and named him the man of the match.


title: Craig Dawson

text: He scored 10 goals in all competitions during the 2009–10 season and won a place in the League Two PFA Team of the Year.


title: Craig Dawson

text: On 31 August 2010, Dawson signed for Premier League club West Bromwich Albion for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract. He made his competitive Baggies debut in a 4–1 League Cup win at AFC Bournemouth in August 2011 and the following day was called up into the England under-21's squad by Stuart Pearce, who watched him from the stands at the Dean Court on his debut. On 26 July 2011, Dawson was rewarded with a new-and-improved Albion contract. On 21 February 2012, the centre-half penned a three-and-a-half-year deal to June 2015, plus a further year's option in the club's favour. Dawson made his first Premier League start on 17 September 2011, away from home against Swansea City as a fill-in central defender for the suspended Gabriel Tamaş in a disappointing 3–0 defeat. He re-appeared in the starting eleven for the game against Manchester City in which West Brom went on to lose 4–0. Again, Dawson appeared in the next league game against Queens Park Rangers, West Brom went on to win the game 1–0. On 28 September 2014, Dawson scored his first Premier League goal for West Brom in a 4–0 home win against Burnley He scored his next goal of the season in a 1–2 loss to West Ham United on 2 December 2014.


title: Craig Dawson

text: After the arrival of new Albion manager Tony Pulis at the start of 2015, Dawson became a regular feature in the starting lineup. While not chipping in with any more goals that season, Dawson played his part in the team achieving survival. During the 2015–16 season, Dawson was again a regular starter. His first goal of the season came in a 2–3 loss to Everton on 28 September 2015. His next goal came in a 2–2 draw away at Liverpool on 13 December 2015. On 18 February 2016, he signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until the summer of 2018. Two weeks after signing his contract extension he scored a goal in a 3–2 home win against Crystal Palace. He was also involved in the winning goal for Saido Berahino. On 25 April 2016, he became the fourth Premier League player of the season to score an own goal and a goal in the same match in a 1–1 draw away to Tottenham.


title: Craig Dawson

text: On 18 March 2017, he scored two headers from corners, as West Brom defeated Arsenal 3–1 in the Premier League, being named man of the match in the process.


title: Craig Dawson

text: Dawson made 28 league appearances for West Brom in the 2017–18 season as they were relegated from the Premier League. He subsequently handed in a transfer request and refused to travel to Portugal for the club's training camp.


title: Craig Dawson

text: Immediately after signing for West Brom, he was loaned back to Rochdale for the remainder of the 2010–11 season.


title: Craig Dawson

text: On 23 January 2013, despite interest from Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, Leeds United, and Nottingham Forest, Championship club Bolton Wanderers won the race to sign Dawson on loan for the rest of the season. On 23 February, Dawson scored twice in a 4–1 win against Hull City.


title: Craig Dawson

text: Just three days later on 26 February, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 home win against Peterborough United. He scored for the third successive match on 2 March, scoring the winning goal in a 3–2 win against Barnsley.


title: Craig Dawson

text: On 1 July 2019, Dawson signed for Premier League club Watford for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract.


title: Craig Dawson

text: Dawson scored his first goal for the club on 20 June 2020, An overhead kick against Leicester City. Dawson made 29 appearances for Watford in the 2019–20 season as they were relegated to the Championship. At the start of the 2020–21 season, and the appointment of a new manager, Vladimir Ivić, his selection for the team became less likely following the signings of Francisco Sierralta and William Troost-Ekong.


title: Craig Dawson

text: On 12 October 2020, Dawson signed for West Ham on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. The club retained an option to make the transfer permanent at the end of the loan. Dawson did not make his West Ham debut until 29 December 2020; being named as Man of the Match for his performance in a 0–0 draw away to Southampton. On 11 January 2021, he scored his first goal for West Ham, against Stockport County, in the third round of the FA Cup as West Ham won 1–0. It was his first FA Cup goal for over 10 years since scoring for Rochdale against FC United of Manchester in November 2010. On 26 January 2021, he scored his first Premier League goal for West Ham, in a 3–2 away win against Crystal Palace.


title: Craig Dawson

text: On 6 April 2021, it was announced that Dawson would join West Ham United permanently at the end of the 2020–21 season on a two-year contract.


title: Craig Dawson

text: Following a long-term injury in November 2021 to regular centre-back, Angelo Ogbonna, Dawson was drafted in as a regular replacement. He scored his first Premier League goal of the 2021–22 season; a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2–2 draw away at Leicester City on 13 February 2022. Six days later, Dawson scored his fiftieth goal in professional football as he headed in the opener at home to Newcastle United. Dawson earned particular praise for his performances in West Ham’s Europa League campaign. In a quarter-final game on 14 April against Lyon he scored the first goal in a 3–0 win in France and made more blocks than any other player despite taking blows to the face. His performances gained him cult status with the West Ham fans who dubbed him “Ballon D’awson”. By April 2022, following further injuries to centre-backs Kurt Zouma and Issa Diop, Dawson was the only available recognised centre-back at the club. After his sending-off in an away game at Chelsea on 24 April, West Ham were left without any regular centre-backs for the following match. Following West Ham’s Europa League campaign, in which they were knocked out in the semi-final, Dawson was named in the Europa League Team of the Season, alongside teammate Declan Rice.


title: Craig Dawson

text: Dawson scored two goals on his England under-21 debut against Azerbaijan on 1 September 2011. He played 15 matches for England U21s, scoring six goals.


title: Craig Dawson

text: On 2 July 2012, Dawson was selected by Stuart Pearce for the 2012 Great Britain Olympic football team. He featured in the 1–0 victory over Uruguay as a last minute substitution for goalscorer Daniel Sturridge.


title: Craig Dawson

text: He also featured in the Olympic quarter-final against South Korea, coming on as a substitute for an injured Micah Richards, and scoring in the penalty shoot-out.


title: Craig Dawson

text: Prior to becoming a professional footballer, Dawson played for Rochdale Cricket Club as a batsman, having trials with Lancashire County Cricket Club.


title: B minor

text: B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major.


title: B minor

text: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The B harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:


title: B minor

text: Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (1739–1791) regarded B minor as a key expressing a quiet acceptance of fate and very gentle complaint, something commentators find to be in line with Bach's use of the key in his "St John Passion". By the end of the Baroque era, however, conventional academic views of B minor had shifted: Composer-theorist Francesco Galeazzi (1758–1819) opined that B minor was not suitable for music in good taste. Beethoven labelled a B-minor melodic idea in one of his sketchbooks as a "black key".


title: History of Lithuania

text: The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded many thousands of years ago, but the first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD. Lithuanians, one of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands and established the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th century (and also a short-lived Kingdom of Lithuania). The Grand Duchy was a successful and lasting warrior state. It remained fiercely independent and was one of the last areas of Europe to adopt Christianity (beginning in the 14th century). A formidable power, it became the largest state in Europe in the 15th century through the conquest of large groups of East Slavs who resided in Ruthenia. In 1385, the Grand Duchy formed a dynastic union with Poland through the Union of Krewo. Later, the Union of Lublin (1569) created the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that lasted until 1795, when the last of the Partitions of Poland erased both Lithuania and Poland from the political map. After the dissolution, Lithuanians lived under the rule of the Russian Empire until the 20th century, although there were several major rebellions, especially in 1830–1831 and 1863.


title: History of Lithuania

text: On 16 February 1918, Lithuania was re-established as a democratic state. It remained independent until the outset of World War II, when it was occupied by the Soviet Union under the terms of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Following a brief occupation by Nazi Germany after the Nazis waged war on the Soviet Union, Lithuania was again absorbed into the Soviet Union for nearly 50 years. In 1990–1991, Lithuania restored its sovereignty with the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. Lithuania joined the NATO alliance in 2004 and the European Union as part of its enlargement in 2004.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The first humans arrived on the territory of modern Lithuania in the second half of the 10th millennium BC after the glaciers receded at the end of the last glacial period. According to the historian Marija Gimbutas, these people came from two directions: the Jutland Peninsula and from present-day Poland. They brought two different cultures, as evidenced by the tools they used. They were traveling hunters and did not form stable settlements. In the 8th millennium BC, the climate became much warmer, and forests developed. The inhabitants of what is now Lithuania then traveled less and engaged in local hunting, gathering and fresh-water fishing. During the 6th–5th millennium BC, various animals were domesticated and dwellings became more sophisticated in order to shelter larger families. Agriculture did not emerge until the 3rd millennium BC due to a harsh climate and terrain and a lack of suitable tools to cultivate the land. Crafts and trade also started to form at this time.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Speakers of North-Western Indo-European might have arrived with the Corded Ware culture around 3200/3100 BC.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The first Lithuanian people were a branch of an ancient group known as the Balts. The main tribal divisions of the Balts were the West Baltic Old Prussians and Yotvingians, and the East Baltic Lithuanians and Latvians. The Balts spoke forms of the Indo-European languages. Today, the only remaining Baltic nationalities are the Lithuanians and Latvians, but there were more Baltic groups or tribes in the past. Some of these merged into Lithuanians and Latvians (Samogitians, Selonians, Curonians, Semigallians), while others no longer existed after they were conquered and assimilated by the State of the Teutonic Order (Old Prussians, Yotvingians, Sambians, Skalvians, and Galindians).


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Baltic tribes did not maintain close cultural or political contacts with the Roman Empire, but they did maintain trade contacts (see Amber Road). Tacitus, in his study "Germania", described the Aesti people, inhabitants of the south-eastern Baltic Sea shores who were probably Balts, around the year 97 AD. The Western Balts differentiated and became known to outside chroniclers first. Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD knew of the Galindians and Yotvingians, and early medieval chroniclers mentioned Prussians, Curonians and Semigallians.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Lithuania, located along the lower and middle Neman River basin, comprised mainly the culturally different regions of Samogitia (known for its early medieval skeletal burials), and further east Aukštaitija, or Lithuania proper (known for its early medieval cremation burials). The area was remote and unattractive to outsiders, including traders, which accounts for its separate linguistic, cultural and religious identity and delayed integration into general European patterns and trends.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Lithuanian language is considered to be very conservative for its close connection to Indo-European roots. It is believed to have differentiated from the Latvian language, the most closely related existing language, around the 7th century. Traditional Lithuanian pagan customs and mythology, with many archaic elements, were long preserved. Rulers' bodies were cremated up until the Christianization of Lithuania: the descriptions of the cremation ceremonies of the grand dukes Algirdas and Kęstutis have survived.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Lithuanian tribe is thought to have developed more recognizably toward the end of the first millennium. The first known reference to Lithuania as a nation ("Litua") comes from the Annals of the Quedlinburg monastery, dated 9 March 1009. In 1009, the missionary Bruno of Querfurt arrived in Lithuania and baptized the Lithuanian ruler "King Nethimer."


title: History of Lithuania

text: From the 9th to the 11th centuries, coastal Balts were subjected to raids by the Vikings, and the kings of Denmark collected tribute at times. During the 10–11th centuries, Lithuanian territories were among the lands paying tribute to Kievan Rus', and Yaroslav the Wise was among the Ruthenian rulers who invaded Lithuania (from 1040). From the mid-12th century, it was the Lithuanians who were invading Ruthenian territories. In 1183, Polotsk and Pskov were ravaged, and even the distant and powerful Novgorod Republic was repeatedly threatened by the excursions from the emerging Lithuanian war machine toward the end of the 12th century.


title: History of Lithuania

text: In the 12th century and afterwards, mutual raids involving Lithuanian and Polish forces took place sporadically, but the two countries were separated by the lands of the Yotvingians. The late 12th century brought an eastern expansion of German settlers (the Ostsiedlung) to the mouth of the Daugava River area. Military confrontations with Lithuanians followed at that time and at the turn of the century, but for the time being the Lithuanians had the upper hand.


title: History of Lithuania

text: From the late 12th century, an organized Lithuanian military force existed; it was used for external raids, plundering and the gathering of slaves. Such military and pecuniary activities fostered social differentiation and triggered a struggle for power in Lithuania. This initiated the formation of early statehood, from which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania developed.


title: History of Lithuania

text: From the early 13th century, frequent foreign military excursions became possible due to the increased cooperation and coordination among the Baltic tribes. Forty such expeditions took place between 1201 and 1236 against Ruthenia, Poland, Latvia and Estonia, which were then being conquered by the Livonian Order. Pskov was pillaged and burned in 1213. In 1219, twenty-one Lithuanian chiefs signed a peace treaty with the state of Galicia–Volhynia. This event is widely accepted as the first proof that the Baltic tribes were uniting and consolidating.


title: History of Lithuania

text: From the early 13th century, two German crusading military orders, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and the Teutonic Knights, became established at the mouth of the Daugava River and in Chełmno Land respectively. Under the pretense of converting the population to Christianity, they proceeded to conquer much of the area that is now Latvia and Estonia, in addition to parts of Lithuania. In response, a number of small Baltic tribal groups united under the rule of Mindaugas. Mindaugas, originally a "kunigas" or major chief, one of the five senior dukes listed in the treaty of 1219, is referred to as the ruler of all Lithuania as of 1236 in the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle.


title: History of Lithuania

text: In 1236 the pope declared a crusade against the Lithuanians. The Samogitians, led by Vykintas, Mindaugas' rival, soundly defeated the Livonian Brothers and their allies in the Battle of Saule in 1236, which forced the Brothers to merge with the Teutonic Knights in 1237. But Lithuania was trapped between the two branches of the Order.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Around 1240, Mindaugas ruled over all of Aukštaitija. Afterwards, he conquered the Black Ruthenia region (which consisted of Grodno, Brest, Navahrudak and the surrounding territories). Mindaugas was in process of extending his control to other areas, killing rivals or sending relatives and members of rival clans east to Ruthenia so they could conquer and settle there. They did that, but they also rebelled. The Ruthenian duke Daniel of Galicia sensed an occasion to recover Black Ruthenia and in 1249–1250 organized a powerful anti-Mindaugas (and "anti-pagan") coalition that included Mindaugas' rivals, Yotvingians, Samogitians and the Livonian Teutonic Knights. Mindaugas, however, took advantage of the divergent interests in the coalition he faced.


title: History of Lithuania

text: In 1250, Mindaugas entered into an agreement with the Teutonic Order; he consented to receive baptism (the act took place in 1251) and relinquish his claim over some lands in western Lithuania, for which he was to receive a royal crown in return. Mindaugas was then able to withstand a military assault from the remaining coalition in 1251, and, supported by the Knights, emerge as a victor to confirm his rule over Lithuania.


title: History of Lithuania

text: On 17 July 1251, Pope Innocent IV signed two papal bulls that ordered the Bishop of Chełmno to crown Mindaugas as King of Lithuania, appoint a bishop for Lithuania, and build a cathedral. In 1253, Mindaugas was crowned and a Kingdom of Lithuania was established for the first and only time in Lithuanian history. Mindaugas "granted" parts of Yotvingia and Samogitia that he did not control to the Knights in 1253–1259. A peace with Daniel of Galicia in 1254 was cemented by a marriage deal involving Mindaugas' daughter and Daniel's son Shvarn. Mindaugas' nephew Tautvilas returned to his Duchy of Polotsk and Samogitia separated, soon to be ruled by another nephew, Treniota.


title: History of Lithuania

text: In 1260, the Samogitians, victorious over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Durbe, agreed to submit themselves to Mindaugas' rule on the condition that he abandons the Christian religion; the king complied by terminating the emergent conversion of his country, renewed anti-Teutonic warfare (in the struggle for Samogitia) and expanded further his Ruthenian holdings. It is not clear whether this was accompanied by his personal apostasy. Mindaugas thus established the basic tenets of medieval Lithuanian policy: defense against the German Order expansion from the west and north and conquest of Ruthenia in the south and east.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Mindaugas was the principal founder of the Lithuanian state. He established for a while a Christian kingdom under the pope rather than the Holy Roman Empire, at a time when the remaining pagan peoples of Europe were no longer being converted peacefully, but conquered.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Mindaugas was murdered in 1263 by Daumantas of Pskov and Treniota, an event that resulted in great unrest and civil war. Treniota, who took over the rule of the Lithuanian territories, murdered Tautvilas, but was killed himself in 1264. The rule of Mindaugas' son Vaišvilkas followed. He was the first Lithuanian duke known to become an Orthodox Christian and settle in Ruthenia, establishing a pattern to be followed by many others. Vaišvilkas was killed in 1267. A power struggle between Shvarn and Traidenis resulted; it ended in a victory for the latter. Traidenis' reign (1269–1282) was the longest and most stable during the period of unrest. Tradenis reunified all Lithuanian lands, repeatedly raided Ruthenia and Poland with success, defeated the Teutonic Knights in Prussia and in Livonia at the Battle of Aizkraukle in 1279. He also became the ruler of Yotvingia, Semigalia and eastern Prussia. Friendly relations with Poland followed, and in 1279, Tradenis' daughter Gaudemunda of Lithuania married Bolesław II of Masovia, a Piast duke.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Pagan Lithuania was a target of northern Christian crusades of the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. In 1241, 1259 and 1275, Lithuania was also ravaged by raids from the Golden Horde, which earlier (1237–1240) debilitated Kievan Rus'. After Traidenis' death, the German Knights finalized their conquests of Western Baltic tribes, and they could concentrate on Lithuania, especially on Samogitia, to connect the two branches of the Order. A particular opportunity opened in 1274 after the conclusion of the Great Prussian Rebellion and the conquest of the Old Prussian tribe. The Teutonic Knights then proceeded to conquer other Baltic tribes: the Nadruvians and Skalvians in 1274–1277 and the Yotvingians in 1283. The Livonian Order completed its conquest of Semigalia, the last Baltic ally of Lithuania, in 1291.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The family of Gediminas, whose members were about to form Lithuania's great native dynasty, took over the rule of the Grand Duchy in 1285 under Butigeidis. Vytenis (r. 1295–1315) and Gediminas (r. 1315–1341), after whom the Gediminid dynasty is named, had to deal with constant raids and incursions from the Teutonic orders that were costly to repulse. Vytenis fought them effectively around 1298 and at about the same time was able to ally Lithuania with the German burghers of Riga. For their part, the Prussian Knights instigated a rebellion in Samogitia against the Lithuanian ruler in 1299–1300, followed by twenty incursions there in 1300–15. Gediminas also fought the Teutonic Knights, and besides that made shrewd diplomatic moves by cooperating with the government of Riga in 1322–23 and taking advantage of the conflict between the Knights and Archbishop Friedrich von Pernstein of Riga.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Gediminas expanded Lithuania's international connections by conducting correspondence with Pope John XXII as well as with rulers and other centers of power in Western Europe, and he invited German colonists to settle in Lithuania. Responding to Gediminas' complaints about the aggression from the Teutonic Order, the pope forced the Knights to observe a four-year peace with Lithuania in 1324–1327. Opportunities for the Christianization of Lithuania were investigated by the pope's legates, but they met with no success. From the time of Mindaugas, the country's rulers attempted to break Lithuania's cultural isolation, join Western Christendom and thus be protected from the Knights, but the Knights and other interests had been able to block the process. In the 14th century, Gediminas' attempts to become baptized (1323–1324) and establish Catholic Christianity in his country were thwarted by the Samogitians and Gediminas' Orthodox courtiers. In 1325, Casimir, the son of the Polish king Władysław I, married Gediminas' daughter Aldona, who became queen of Poland when Casimir ascended the Polish throne in 1333. The marriage confirmed the prestige of the Lithuanian state under Gediminas, and a defensive alliance with Poland was concluded the same year. Yearly incursions of the Knights resumed in 1328–1340, to which the Lithuanians responded with raids into Prussia and Latvia.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The reign of Grand Duke Gediminas constituted the first period in Lithuanian history in which the country was recognized as a great power, mainly due to the extent of its territorial expansion into Ruthenia. Lithuania was unique in Europe as a pagan-ruled "kingdom" and fast-growing military power suspended between the worlds of Byzantine and Latin Christianity. To be able to afford the extremely costly defense against the Teutonic Knights, it had to expand to the east. Gediminas accomplished Lithuania's eastern expansion by challenging the Mongols, who from the 1230s sponsored a Mongol invasion of Rus'. The collapse of the political structure of Kievan Rus' created a partial regional power vacuum that Lithuania was able to exploit. Through alliances and conquest, in competition with the Principality of Moscow, the Lithuanians eventually gained control of vast expanses of the western and southern portions of the former Kievan Rus'. Gediminas' conquests included the western Smolensk region, southern Polesia and (temporarily) Kyiv, which was ruled around 1330 by Gediminas' brother Fiodor. The Lithuanian-controlled area of Ruthenia grew to include most of modern Belarus and Ukraine (the Dnieper River basin) and comprised a massive state that stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea in the 14th and 15th centuries.


title: History of Lithuania

text: In the 14th century, many Lithuanian princes installed to govern the Ruthenia lands accepted Eastern Christianity and assumed Ruthenian custom and names in order to appeal to the culture of their subjects. Through this means, integration into the Lithuanian state structure was accomplished without disturbing local ways of life. The Ruthenian territories acquired were vastly larger, more densely populated and more highly developed in terms of church organization and literacy than the territories of core Lithuania. Thus the Lithuanian state was able to function because of the contributions of the Ruthenian culture representatives. Historical territories of the former Ruthenian dukedoms were preserved under the Lithuanian rule, and the further they were from Vilnius, the more autonomous the localities tended to be. Lithuanian soldiers and Ruthenians together defended Ruthenian strongholds, at times paying tribute to the Golden Horde for some of the outlying localities. Ruthenian lands may have been ruled jointly by Lithuania and the Golden Horde as condominiums until the time of Vytautas, who stopped paying tribute. Gediminas' state provided a counterbalance against the influence of Moscow and enjoyed good relations with the Ruthenian principalities of Pskov, Veliky Novgorod and Tver. Direct military confrontations with the Principality of Moscow under Ivan I occurred around 1335.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Around 1318, Gediminas' elder son Algirdas married Maria of Vitebsk, the daughter of Prince Yaroslav of Vitebsk, and settled in Vitebsk to rule the principality. Of Gediminas' seven sons, four remained pagan and three converted to Orthodox Christianity. Upon his death, Gediminas divided his domains among the seven sons, but Lithuania's precarious military situation, especially on the Teutonic frontier, forced the brothers to keep the country together. From 1345, Algirdas took over as the Grand Duke of Lithuania. In practice, he ruled over Lithuanian Ruthenia only, whereas Lithuania proper was the domain of his equally able brother Kęstutis. Algirdas fought the Golden Horde Tatars and the Principality of Moscow; Kęstutis took upon himself the demanding struggle with the Teutonic Order.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The warfare with the Teutonic Order continued from 1345, and in 1348, the Knights defeated the Lithuanians at the Battle of Strėva. Kęstutis requested King Casimir of Poland to mediate with the pope in hopes of converting Lithuania to Christianity, but the result was negative, and Poland took from Lithuania in 1349 the Halych area and some Ruthenian lands further north. Lithuania's situation improved from 1350, when Algirdas formed an alliance with the Principality of Tver. Halych was ceded by Lithuania, which brought peace with Poland in 1352. Secured by those alliances, Algirdas and Kęstutis embarked on the implementation of policies to expand Lithuania's territories further.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Bryansk was taken in 1359, and in 1362, Algirdas captured Kyiv after defeating the Mongols at the Battle of Blue Waters. Volhynia, Podolia and left-bank Ukraine were also incorporated. Kęstutis heroically fought for the survival of ethnic Lithuanians by attempting to repel about thirty incursions by the Teutonic Knights and their European guest fighters. Kęstutis also attacked the Teutonic possessions in Prussia on numerous occasions, but the Knights took Kaunas in 1362. The dispute with Poland renewed itself and was settled by the peace of 1366, when Lithuania gave up a part of Volhynia including Volodymyr. A peace with the Livonian Knights was also accomplished in 1367. In 1368, 1370 and 1372, Algirdas invaded the Grand Duchy of Moscow and each time approached Moscow itself. An "eternal" peace (the Treaty of Lyubutsk) was concluded after the last attempt, and it was much needed by Lithuania due to its involvement in heavy fighting with the Knights again in 1373–1377.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The two brothers and Gediminas' other offspring left many ambitious sons with inherited territory. Their rivalry weakened the country in the face of the Teutonic expansion and the newly assertive Grand Duchy of Moscow, buoyed by the 1380 victory over the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo and intent on the unification of all Rus' lands under its rule.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Algirdas died in 1377, and his son Jogaila became grand duke while Kęstutis was still alive. The Teutonic pressure was at its peak, and Jogaila was inclined to cease defending Samogitia in order to concentrate on preserving the Ruthenian empire of Lithuania. The Knights exploited the differences between Jogaila and Kęstutis and procured a separate armistice with the older duke in 1379. Jogaila then made overtures to the Teutonic Order and concluded the secret Treaty of Dovydiškės with them in 1380, contrary to Kęstutis' principles and interests. Kęstutis felt he could no longer support his nephew and in 1381, when Jogaila's forces were preoccupied with quenching a rebellion in Polotsk, he entered Vilnius in order to remove Jogaila from the throne. A Lithuanian civil war ensued. Kęstutis' two raids against Teutonic possessions in 1382 brought back the tradition of his past exploits, but Jogaila retook Vilnius during his uncle's absence. Kęstutis was captured and died in Jogaila's custody. Kęstutis' son Vytautas escaped.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Jogaila agreed to the Treaty of Dubysa with the Order in 1382, an indication of his weakness. A four-year truce stipulated Jogaila's conversion to Catholicism and the cession of half of Samogitia to the Teutonic Knights. Vytautas went to Prussia in seek of the support of the Knights for his claims, including the Duchy of Trakai, which he considered inherited from his father. Jogaila's refusal to submit to the demands of his cousin and the Knights resulted in their joint invasion of Lithuania in 1383. Vytautas, however, having failed to gain the entire duchy, established contacts with the grand duke. Upon receiving from him the areas of Grodno, Podlasie and Brest, Vytautas switched sides in 1384 and destroyed the border strongholds entrusted to him by the Order. In 1384, the two Lithuanian dukes, acting together, waged a successful expedition against the lands ruled by the Order.


title: History of Lithuania

text: By that time, for the sake of its long-term survival, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had initiated the processes leading to its imminent acceptance of European Christendom. The Teutonic Knights aimed at a territorial unification of their Prussian and Livonian branches by conquering Samogitia and all of Lithuania proper, following the earlier subordination of the Prussian and Latvian tribes. To dominate the neighboring Baltic and Slavic people and expand into a great Baltic power, the Knights used German and other volunteer fighters. They unleashed 96 onslaughts in Lithuania during the period 1345–1382, against which the Lithuanians were able to respond with only 42 retributive raids of their own. Lithuania's Ruthenian empire in the east was also threatened by both the unification of Rus' ambitions of Moscow and the centrifugal activities pursued by the rulers of some of the more distant provinces.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Lithuanian state of the later 14th century was primarily binational, Lithuanian and Ruthenian (in territories that correspond to the modern Belarus and Ukraine). Of its 800,000 square kilometers total area, 10% comprised ethnic Lithuania, probably populated by no more than 300,000 inhabitants. Lithuania was dependent for its survival on the human and material resources of the Ruthenian lands.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The increasingly differentiated Lithuanian society was led by princes of the Gediminid and Rurik dynasties and the descendants of former "kunigas" chiefs from families such as the Giedraitis, Olshanski and Svirski. Below them in rank was the regular Lithuanian nobility (or boyars), in Lithuania proper strictly subjected to the princes and generally living on modest family farms, each tended by a few feudal subjects or, more often, slave workers if the boyar could afford them. For their military and administrative services, Lithuanian boyars were compensated by exemptions from public contributions, payments, and Ruthenian land grants. The majority of the ordinary rural workers were free. They were obligated to provide crafts and numerous contributions and services; for not paying these types of debts (or for other offences), one could be forced into slavery.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Ruthenian princes were Orthodox, and many Lithuanian princes also converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, even some who resided in Lithuania proper, or at least their wives. The masonry Ruthenian churches and monasteries housed learned monks, their writings (including Gospel translations such as the Ostromir Gospels) and collections of religious art. A Ruthenian quarter populated by Lithuania's Orthodox subjects, and containing their church, existed in Vilnius from the 14th century. The grand dukes' chancery in Vilnius was staffed by Orthodox churchmen, who, trained in the Church Slavonic language, developed Chancery Slavonic, a Ruthenian written language useful for official record keeping. The most important of the Grand Duchy's documents, the Lithuanian Metrica, the Lithuanian Chronicles and the Statutes of Lithuania, were all written in that language.


title: History of Lithuania

text: German, Jewish and Armenian settlers were invited to live in Lithuania; the last two groups established their own denominational communities directly under the ruling dukes. The Tatars and Crimean Karaites were entrusted as soldiers for the dukes' personal guard.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Towns developed to a much lesser degree than in nearby Prussia or Livonia. Outside of Ruthenia, the only cities were Vilnius (Gediminas' capital from 1323), the old capital of Trakai and Kaunas. Kernavė and Kreva were the other old political centers. Vilnius in the 14th century was a major social, cultural and trading center. It linked economically central and eastern Europe with the Baltic area. Vilnius merchants enjoyed privileges that allowed them to trade over most of the territories of the Lithuanian state. Of the passing Ruthenian, Polish and German merchants (many from Riga), many settled in Vilnius and some built masonry residencies. The city was ruled by a governor named by the grand duke and its system of fortifications included three castles. Foreign currencies and Lithuanian currency (from the 13th century) were widely used.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Lithuanian state maintained a patrimonial power structure. Gediminid rule was hereditary, but the ruler would choose the son he considered most able to be his successor. Councils existed, but could only advise the duke. The huge state was divided into a hierarchy of territorial units administered by designated officials who were also empowered in judicial and military matters.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Lithuanians spoke in a number of Aukštaitian and Samogitian (West-Baltic) dialects. But the tribal peculiarities were disappearing and the increasing use of the name "Lietuva" was a testimony to the developing Lithuanian sense of separate identity. The forming Lithuanian feudal system preserved many aspects of the earlier societal organization, such as the family clan structure, free peasantry and some slavery. The land belonged now to the ruler and the nobility. Patterns imported primarily from Ruthenia were used for the organization of the state and its structure of power.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Following the establishment of Western Christianity at the end of the 14th century, the occurrence of pagan cremation burial ceremonies markedly decreased.


title: History of Lithuania

text: As the power of the Lithuanian warlord dukes expanded to the south and east, the cultivated East Slavic Ruthenians exerted influence on the Lithuanian ruling class. They brought with them the Church Slavonic liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Christian religion, a written language (Chancery Slavonic) that was developed to serve the Lithuanian court's document-producing needs for a few centuries, and a system of laws. By these means, Ruthenians transformed Vilnius into a major center of Kievan Rus' civilization. By the time of Jogaila's acceptance of Catholicism at the Union of Krewo in 1385, many institutions in his realm and members of his family had been to a large extent assimilated already into the Orthodox Christianity and became Russified (in part a result of the deliberate policy of the Gediminid ruling house).


title: History of Lithuania

text: Catholic influence and contacts, including those derived from German settlers, traders and missionaries from Riga, had been increasing for some time around the northwest region of the empire, known as Lithuania proper. The Franciscan and Dominican friar orders existed in Vilnius from the time of Gediminas. Kęstutis in 1349 and Algirdas in 1358 negotiated Christianization with the pope, the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish king. The Christianization of Lithuania thus involved both Catholic and Orthodox aspects. Conversion by force as practiced by the Teutonic Knights had actually been an impediment that delayed the progress of Western Christianity in the grand duchy.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Jogaila, a grand duke since 1377, was himself still a pagan at the start of his reign. In 1386, agreed to the offer of the Polish crown by leading Polish nobles, who were eager to take advantage of Lithuania's expansion, if he become a Catholic and married the 13-year-old crowned king (not queen) Jadwiga. For the near future, Poland gave Lithuania a valuable ally against increasing threats from the Teutonic Knights and the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Lithuania, in which Ruthenians outnumbered ethnic Lithuanians by several times, could ally with either the Grand Duchy of Moscow or Poland. A Russian deal was also negotiated with Dmitry Donskoy in 1383–1384, but Moscow was too distant to be able to assist with the problems posed by the Teutonic orders and presented a difficulty as a center competing for the loyalty of the Orthodox Lithuanian Ruthenians.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Jogaila was baptized, given the baptismal name Władysław, married Queen Jadwiga, and was crowned King of Poland in February 1386.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Jogaila's baptism and crowning were followed by the final and official Christianization of Lithuania. In the fall of 1386, the king returned to Lithuania and the next spring and summer participated in mass conversion and baptism ceremonies for the general population. The establishment of a bishopric in Vilnius in 1387 was accompanied by Jogaila's extraordinarily generous endowment of land and peasants to the Church and exemption from state obligations and control. This instantly transformed the Lithuanian Church into the most powerful institution in the country (and future grand dukes lavished even more wealth on it). Lithuanian boyars who accepted baptism were rewarded with a more limited privilege improving their legal rights. Vilnius' townspeople were granted self-government. The Church proceeded with its civilizing mission of literacy and education, and the estates of the realm started to emerge with their own separate identities.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Jogaila's orders for his court and followers to convert to Catholicism were meant to deprive the Teutonic Knights of the justification for their practice of forced conversion through military onslaughts. In 1403 the pope prohibited the Order from conducting warfare against Lithuania, and its threat to Lithuania's existence (which had endured for two centuries) was indeed neutralized. In the short term, Jogaila needed Polish support in his struggle with his cousin Vytautas.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Lithuanian Civil War of 1389–1392 involved the Teutonic Knights, the Poles, and the competing factions loyal to Jogaila and Vytautas in Lithuania. Amid ruthless warfare, the grand duchy was ravaged and threatened with collapse. Jogaila decided that the way out was to make amends and recognize the rights of Vytautas, whose original goal, now largely accomplished, was to recover the lands he considered his inheritance. After negotiations, Vytautas ended up gaining far more than that; from 1392 he became practically the ruler of Lithuania, a self-styled "Duke of Lithuania," under a compromise with Jogaila known as the Ostrów Agreement. Technically, he was merely Jogaila's regent with extended authority. Jogaila realized that cooperating with his able cousin was preferable to attempting to govern (and defend) Lithuania directly from Kraków.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Vytautas had been frustrated by Jogaila's Polish arrangements and rejected the prospect of Lithuania's subordination to Poland. Under Vytautas, a considerable centralization of the state took place, and the Catholicized Lithuanian nobility became increasingly prominent in state politics. The centralization efforts began in 1393–1395, when Vytautas appropriated their provinces from several powerful regional dukes in Ruthenia. Several invasions of Lithuania by the Teutonic Knights occurred between 1392 and 1394, but they were repelled with the help of Polish forces. Afterwards, the Knights abandoned their goal of conquest of Lithuania proper and concentrated on subjugating and keeping Samogitia. In 1395, Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia, the Order's formal superior, prohibited the Knights from raiding Lithuania.


title: History of Lithuania

text: In 1395, Vytautas conquered Smolensk, and in 1397, he conducted a victorious expedition against a branch of the Golden Horde. Now he felt he could afford independence from Poland and in 1398 refused to pay the tribute due to Queen Jadwiga. Seeking freedom to pursue his internal and Ruthenian goals, Vytautas had to grant the Teutonic Order a large portion of Samogitia in the Treaty of Salynas of 1398. The conquest of Samogitia by the Teutonic Order greatly improved its military position as well as that of the associated Livonian Brothers of the Sword. Vytautas soon pursued attempts to retake the territory, an undertaking for which needed the help of the Polish king.


title: History of Lithuania

text: During Vytautas' reign, Lithuania reached the peak of its territorial expansion, but his ambitious plans to subjugate all of Ruthenia were thwarted by his disastrous defeat in 1399 at the Battle of the Vorskla River, inflicted by the Golden Horde. Vytautas survived by fleeing the battlefield with a small unit and realized the necessity of a permanent alliance with Poland.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The original Union of Krewo of 1385 was renewed and redefined on several occasions, but each time with little clarity due to the competing Polish and Lithuanian interests. Fresh arrangements were agreed to in the "unions" of Vilnius (1401), Horodło (1413), Grodno (1432) and Vilnius (1499). In the Union of Vilnius, Jogaila granted Vytautas a lifetime rule over the grand duchy. In return, Jogaila preserved his formal supremacy, and Vytautas promised to "stand faithfully with the Crown and the King." Warfare with the Order resumed. In 1403, Pope Boniface IX banned the Knights from attacking Lithuania, but in the same year Lithuania had to agree to the Peace of Raciąż, which mandated the same conditions as in the Treaty of Salynas.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Secure in the west, Vytautas turned his attention to the east once again. The campaigns fought between 1401 and 1408 involved Smolensk, Pskov, Moscow and Veliky Novgorod. Smolensk was retained, Pskov and Veliki Novgorod ended up as Lithuanian dependencies, and a lasting territorial division between the Grand Duchy and Moscow was agreed in 1408 in the treaty of Ugra, where a great battle failed to materialize.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The decisive war with the Teutonic Knights (the Great War) was preceded in 1409 with a Samogitian uprising supported by Vytautas. Ultimately the Lithuanian–Polish alliance was able to defeat the Knights at the Battle of Grunwald on 15 July 1410, but the allied armies failed to take Marienburg, the Knights' fortress-capital. Nevertheless, the unprecedented total battlefield victory against the Knights permanently removed the threat that they had posed to Lithuania's existence for centuries. The Peace of Thorn (1411) allowed Lithuania to recover Samogotia, but only until the deaths of Jogaila and Vytautas, and the Knights had to pay a large monetary reparation.


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Union of Horodło (1413) incorporated Lithuania into Poland again, but only as a formality. In practical terms, Lithuania became an equal partner with Poland, because each country was obliged to choose its future ruler only with the consent of the other, and the Union was declared to continue even under a new dynasty. Catholic Lithuanian boyars were to enjoy the same privileges as Polish nobles ("szlachta"). 47 top Lithuanian clans were colligated with 47 Polish noble families to initiate a future brotherhood and facilitate the expected full unity. Two administrative divisions (Vilnius and Trakai) were established in Lithuania, patterned after the existing Polish models.


title: History of Lithuania

text: Vytautas practiced religious toleration and his grandiose plans also included attempts to influence the Eastern Orthodox Church, which he wanted to use as a tool to control Moscow and other parts of Ruthenia. In 1416, he elevated Gregory Tsamblak as his chosen Orthodox patriarch for all of Ruthenia (the established Orthodox Metropolitan bishop remained in Vilnius to the end of the 18th century). These efforts were also intended to serve the goal of global unification of the Eastern and Western churches. Tsamblak led an Orthodox delegation to the Council of Constance in 1418. The Orthodox synod, however, would not recognize Tsamblak. The grand duke also established new Catholic bishoprics in Samogitia (1417) and in Lithuanian Ruthenia (Lutsk and Kyiv).


title: History of Lithuania

text: The Gollub War with the Teutonic Knights followed and in 1422, in the Treaty of Melno, the grand duchy permanently recovered Samogitia, which terminated its involvement in the wars with the Order. Vytautas' shifting policies and reluctance to pursue the Order made the survival of German East Prussia possible for centuries to come. Samogitia was the last region of Europe to be Christianized (from 1413). Later, different foreign policies were prosecuted by Lithuania and Poland, accompanied by conflicts over Podolia and Volhynia, the grand duchy's territories in the southeast.