

The battle started from a diplomatic incident. Map of army movements in the Grunwald campaign. However, the Teutonic Order’s actions finally shifted the battle to the field near Grunwald. The King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania decided that their armies would attack the greatest castle and the capital of the Teutonic Order – Marienburg (Malbork).

The Polish-Lithuanian forces had their strategy ready at the end of 1409. Negotiation attempts with the Teutonic Order failed, so both sides prepared for battle. The Teutonic Order burned the castle at Dobrzyń nad Wisłą and captured Bobrowniki and a few more towns. Jagiełło refused, so the Grand Master decided to attack the Kingdom of Poland. When the conflict grew, Jungingen asked the Polish King to stay neutral and not support Lithuania.

#Battle of tannenberg important full#
By the evening, the field was full of bodies. The battle took just a few hours, but there were countless victims. According to the descriptions, it was a hot and sunny day. Their rivals were the connected forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania led by King Władysław Jagiełło and his brother Vytautas. One group was led by the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Urlich von Jungingen. In the morning, two large armies stood on opposing sides of the field. One of the most important battles between these armies took place on July 15, 1410. During medieval times, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had one main enemy – the Teutonic Order.
