THE MELNO PEACE - BUILDING SUSTAINABLE SECURITY IN CENTRAL EUROPE: A SOCIO-CULTURAL APPROACH

Santrauka

The Melno peace is a peace treaty between the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) and the German (Teutonic) Order signed on September 27, 1422, which established the border between GDL and the Order. It is one of the oldest and most stable cross-border borders in Europe, which has remained unchanged for 600 years. Now it is the state border between the Republic Of Lithuania, the Russian Federation and the external border of the European Union. Such long-term stability of this border leads to the need to reveal the prerequisites and reasons for the observance of the Melno peace.
The long-term nature of the Melno peace is examined not from a historical but from a socio-cultural point of view. This is due to the internal relationship between peace and security. Security is a state of protection and self-protection from dangers and confidence in own knowledge. This threefold interpretation of the meaning of security is conditioned by the fact that security itself expresses a relationship in which there are no threats to the participants in the relationship. Peace is a form of security functioning. This is the absence of violent conflicts between individuals and their groups. The socio-cultural point of view is the interpretation of human relations, their interaction and expression of activity, based on the protection of natural rights.
From a socio-cultural point of view, the signing of the peace of Melno marks the beginning of real integration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into Latin European civilization. This approach differs from the historical approach, since according to it, the integration of GDL begins from 1387, when the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of GDL Jogaila baptized the entire land. However, real conditions for integration were formed and developed only with the weakening of the aggression of the German (Teutonic) Order and its transformation into a secular one, the Duchy of Prussia. The secular Duchy of Prussia actively participated in creating socio-cultural changes in the western part of GDL. The weakening of the Order's power is a primary but insufficient prerequisite for the longevity of the Melno peace. Other reasons for the longevity of the Melno peace are revealed while examining the integration of GDL into European culture and civilization. From a socio-cultural point of view, the integration of GDL into European civilization took place through the development of economic and cultural relations with the states of Central Eastern Europe and targeted adoption of their experience. It was the Melno peace that opened the real paths of integration of GDL into European culture and civilization. The main features of this integration were gradual establishment of sustainable security in Užnemunė (Sudovia), adoption of the western experience of state economic management, changes in law, culture and education in the context of dissemination of Renaissance and Reformation ideas.