Wilno Voivodeship

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Wilno Voivodeship

The Wilno Voivodeship (Polish: województwo wileńskie, Lithuanian: Vilniaus vaivadija, Belarusian: Віленскае вайводзтва) (or Vilnius Voivodeship) was the capital voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 15th century and later the capital Voivodeship of Lithuanian part in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until the partitions of Poland in 1795. After Poland and Lithuania regained independence as separate entities in 1918 it was a contensted area between those countries, in 1922 being won over by Poland. Wilno Voivodeship continued to exist as a part of Poland until the annexation of the area by the Soviet Union in the effect of the World War II.

1 Geography and administrative division
2 History
3 Notable Voivodes
4 Reference
5 See also

[edit] Geography and administrative division

Geographically the area was centered around the city of Vilna (Wilno, modern Vilnius), which has always been the capital of the entity and the seat of a voivode. However, the actual shape of the voivodeship varied in time. The early voivodeship that existed until the partitions, was composed of five smaller units of administrative division named powiat (in Lithuanian: plural - pavietai, singular - pavietas), roughly correspondent to British Counties:

Powiat of Wilno-Troki (Vilnius powiat)
Powiat of Oszmiana (Ašmena powiat)
Powiat of Lida (Lyda powiat)
Powiat of Wiłkomierz (Ukmergė powiat)
Powiat of Brasław (Breslauja powiat)

After the territory of the Republic of Central Lithuania was merged with the so-called Wilno Area and formed a new Voivodeship with extended borders. It was divided onto the following powiats:

Powiat of Wilno
Powiat of Brasław
Powiat of Głębokie
Powiat of Mołodeczno
Powiat of Oszmiana
Powiat of Postawy
Powiat of Święciany
Powiat of Wilejka

[edit] History

Main article: History of Vilnius

[edit] Grand Duchy of Lithuania

In 1413 the Union of Horodło introduced the title of voivode to Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Initially the area was centred around two most important and most ancient cities of Lithuania, Troki (modern Trakai) and Vilna (modern Vilnius). Wilno Voideship was the capital Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which Wilno was the capital.

[edit] Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

After the Union of Lublin in 1569 which formed the Commonwealth, Grand Duchy retained much of its autonomy, and Wilno Voivodeship remained its capital voivodeship, just as Wilno remained its capital city, although the capital of the Commonwealth was first in Kraków (Kraków Voivodeship) and later in Warsaw (Masovian Voivodeship).

[edit] Partitions

After the partitions of Poland, the territory of Wilno Voivodship was incorportated into Imperial Russia.

[edit] Second Polish Republic

The Wilno Voivodeship that was formed as the last of the Polish voivodeships in the interbellum, was created in 1923 as a combination of the lands of the former Central Lithuania and the Department of Wilno created in 1920. Populated mostly by Poles and Belarusians, with notable minorities of Jews, Russians and Lithuanians. The biggest voivodeship in terms of area and fifth most populous. In 1939 annexed by the Soviet Union and then divided between the Soviet Union and Lithuania.