In order to further their war efforts against the (pagan) Lithuanian state, the Teutonic Knights instituted a series of crusades, enlisting support from other European countries. Their incursions into Poland in the 14th century gave them control of major towns such as Chełmno and Pomorze. They stayed on, and, under a papal edict which gave them effective carte blanche to act as they wished, established a power base in the region, occupying the Baltic coastal regions of what are now Latvia Lithuania and Estonia, and showed every signs of further expansion. In the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights had been invited to the lands surrounding Chełmno to assist in the expulsion of the ( pagan) Prussians. The battle is also called Žalgirio mūšis ( Battle of Žalgiris) by Lithuanians, Bitwa pod Grunwaldem ( Battle of Grunwald) by Poles, Гру́нвальдзкая бі́тва ( Battle of Grunwald) by Belarusians or Schlacht bei Tannenberg ( Battle of Tannenberg/Stebark) by Germans, Grünwald suğışı by Tatars. The names Žalgiris (from Lithuanian žalia giria) and Grunwald (from German Grünewald), are both tentatively translated as Green forest. The nearest city of any size was Dąbrówno (Gilgenburg in German). The battle was fought in the plains between the now Polish villages of Grunwald (Žalgiris in Lithuanian), Stębark ( Tannenberg in German) and Łodwigowo (Ludwigsdorf in German) in what was then Teutonic Order territory. The few eyewitness accounts of the battle are contradictory. In the battle the Teutonic Order state was defeated and never recovered its former influence. The Battle of Grunwald took place on Jbetween the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on one side, and the Knights of the Teutonic Order on the other. For the 1914 battle at the same location, refer to Battle of Tannenberg (1914)
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