Not only the Nordic countries formed unions during the Middle Ages. Poland-Lithuania joined forces, establishing a powerful kingdom reaching from the Baltic coast to the Black Sea. The union between the two countries lasted for many hundreds of years.
This kingdom was also a strong military power which waged war on the Teutonic Knights, the Russians, the Ottomans, the Mongolians and the Tartars of the Crimea. The wars made the aristocracy rich and the peasantry poor. The peasants were very heavily taxed and forced into serfdom. This was almost a form of slavery as the peasants were totally dependent on their lords.
Not only the Nordic countries formed unions during the Middle Ages. Poland-Lithuania joined forces, establishing a powerful kingdom reaching from the Baltic coast to the Black Sea. The union between the two countries lasted for many hundreds of years.
This kingdom was also a strong military power which waged war on the Teutonic Knights, the Russians, the Ottomans, the Mongolians and the Tartars of the Crimea. The wars made the aristocracy rich and the peasantry poor. The peasants were very heavily taxed and forced into serfdom. This was almost a form of slavery as the peasants were totally dependent on their lords.