Expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Timeline

1. 1330–1333Polotsk · BelarusIn the early 1330s Gediminas conquered the Principality of Polotsk and Vitebsk and other areas, pushing Lithuanian power up the upper Dnieper and filling the power vacuum left in Kievan Rus' after the Mongol invasions.
2. 1335Vilnius · LithuaniaIn 1335 Gediminas wrote to Pope John XXII and various European rulers, declaring his willingness to accept Christianity in exchange for support for an anti-Teutonic alliance; meanwhile he continued expanding south, with his power reaching areas south of the Pripet Marshes.
3. 1336–1340Kiev · UkraineBy around 1340 Lithuania had established control over Kiev, Smolensk, and the trade routes along the northern Black Sea coast; the grand duchy reached its territorial peak, becoming one of the largest European states between the Baltic and the Black Sea.