Editing Smolensk (section)

=== Between Lithuania and Russia ===
{{Quote box |width=25em |align=right |bgcolor=GhostWhite
|title=Historical affiliations
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{{flagicon image|Royal banner of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.svg}} [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] 1404–1514<br />{{flagicon image|Banner of Dmitry Donskoy.svg}} [[Grand Principality of Moscow]] 1514–1547<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of the Tzar of Muscovia.svg}} [[Tsardom of Russia]] 1547–1611<br />{{flagicon image|Chorągiew królewska króla Zygmunta III Wazy.svg}} [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poland–Lithuania]] 1611–1656<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of the Tzar of Muscovia.svg}} [[Tsardom of Russia]] 1656–1721<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of Russia.svg}} [[Russian Empire]] 1721–1812<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1974, 2020–present).svg}} [[First French Empire|French occupation]] 1812<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of Russia.svg}} [[Russian Empire]] 1812–1917<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of Russia.svg}} [[Russian Republic]] 1917–1918<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of Belarus (1991-1995).svg}} [[Belarusian People's Republic]] 1918–1919<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of the Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR.svg}} [[Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia]] 1919<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1954–1991).svg}} [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] 1919–1922<br />{{flag|Soviet Union}} 1922–1941<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of Germany (1935–1945).svg}} [[Operation Barbarossa|German occupation]] 1941–1943<br />{{flag|Soviet Union}} 1943–1991<br />{{flag|Russia}} 1991–present
}}
Although spared by the [[Mongol invasion of Rus'|Mongol armies]] in 1240, Smolensk paid tribute to the [[Golden Horde]], gradually becoming a pawn in the long struggle between [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] and the [[Grand Principality of Moscow]]. The last sovereign monarch of Smolensk was [[Yury of Smolensk]]; during his reign the city was taken by [[Vytautas the Great]] of Lithuania on three occasions: in 1395, 1404, and 1408. After the city's incorporation into the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], some of Smolensk's [[boyar]]s (e.g., the [[Sapieha family|Sapiehas]]) moved to [[Vilnius]]; descendants of the ruling princes (e.g., the [[Tatishchev family|Tatishchevs]], [[Kropotkin]]s, [[Mussorgsky family|Mussorgskys]], [[Vyazemsky (family)|Vyazemskys]]) fled to [[Moscow]].

Three Lithuanian Smolensk regiments took part in the 1410 [[Battle of Grunwald]] against the [[Teutonic Knights]]. It was a severe blow to Lithuania when the city was [[Siege of Smolensk (1514)|taken]] by [[Vasily III of Russia]] in 1514. To commemorate this event, the [[Tsar]] founded the [[Novodevichy Convent]] in Moscow and dedicated it to the [[icon]] of [[Hodegetria|Our Lady of Smolensk]]. The loss of Smolensk to Moscow was the inspiration for ''[[Stańczyk (painting)|Stańczyk]]'', one of the most famous paintings by Polish painter [[Jan Matejko]].

[[File:Smalensk. Смаленск (1610).jpg|thumb|left|Siege of Smolensk (1609–1611) by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
In order to repel future [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish–Lithuanian]] attacks, [[Boris Godunov]] made it his priority to heavily fortify the city. The [[Smolensk Kremlin|stone kremlin]] constructed in 1597–1602 is the largest in Russia. It features thick walls and numerous watchtowers. Heavy fortifications did not prevent the fortress from being taken by the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in 1611 after [[Siege of Smolensk (1609–1611)|a long twenty-month siege]], during the [[Time of Troubles]] and [[Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618)|Dimitriads]]. Weakened Muscovy temporarily ceded Smolensk land to the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in the [[Truce of Deulino]]. The city was granted [[Magdeburg rights]] in 1611 and was the seat of [[Smolensk Voivodeship]] for the next forty-three years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Никитин |first1=Павел |title=История города Смоленска |date=1848 |publisher=Типография Селивановского |location=Moscow |page=171}}</ref>

To recapture the city, the [[Tsardom of Russia]] launched the so-called "[[Smolensk War]]" against the Commonwealth in 1632. After a defeat at the hands of king [[Władysław IV Vasa|Wladislaw&nbsp;IV]], the city remained in Polish–Lithuanian hands. In 1632, the [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Uniate]] bishop [[Lew Kreuza]] built his apartments in Smolensk; they were later converted into the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] of [[Saint Barbara]]. The [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)|hostilities resumed]] in 1654 when the Commonwealth was being affected by the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]] and the [[Deluge (history)|Swedish deluge]]. After another siege, on 23&nbsp;September 1654, Smolensk was recaptured by Russia. In the 1667 [[Truce of Andrusovo]], the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] renounced its claims to Smolensk.