What went wrong?

Lithuanian dukes exploited the power vacuum in Western Rus caused above all by the weakening of the Horde and dying out of the dynasty of the princes of Halich. Now this enlarged but internally frail duchy was surrounded by three established powers (Muscovy, Monastic state of Teutonic Knights and Poland), very interested in expanding into lithuanian territory. The fate of Lithuania, a young, fragile state ruled by a pagan elite, was to either make a deal with one of the neighbours (the choice was really between Muscovy and Poland) or implode (very easy considering the number of offspring Gedyminas left and divide-and-conquer strategy that the neighbours would have pursued).

>>2829341
The country was surrounded by all sorts of powerful kingdoms, empires. Union with Poland was a lesser evil.

>>2829341
Slavs ruined it.

>>2829341
It was sold to Polacks.

>>2829341
s*mogitians

>>2829341
Chr*stians

>>2829341
Memes. Most of southern districts were empty even in 17 century.

Unironically the only reason liths stopped tripping on swamp grass and got their shit together for a few centuries.
No Christians, no Dižkungaitijums Lietuvėniums.

>>2830837
>>2830595

>>2829341
>What went wrong?

Lithuania was strong only thanks to weakness of its neighbors. When Muscowy got its shit together, it started to steamroll Lithuania.

It was literally just a vast amount of nothing aside from Vilnius area and Kiev.