Hunger War
Part of thePolish–Teutonic Wars
Date Summer 1414 Location State of the Teutonic Order Result Mediation at theCouncil of Constance
Belligerents
Kingdom of Poland Grand Duchy of Lithuania	Teutonic State
Commanders and leaders
Jogaila Vytautas	Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg

TheHunger War^[1] (German:Hungerkrieg,Polish:Wojna głodowa) orFamine War^[2] was a brief conflict between the alliedKingdom of Poland, andGrand Duchy of Lithuania, against theTeutonic Knights in summer 1414 in an attempt to resolve territorial disputes. The war earned its name from destructivescorched earth tactics followed by both sides. While the conflict ended without any major political results, famine and plague swept through Prussia. According toJohann von Posilge, 86 friars of the Teutonic Order died from plague following the war.^[3] In comparison, approximately 200 friars perished in theBattle of Grunwald of 1410, one of the biggest battles in medieval Europe.^[1]

After thePolish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War of 1410–1411 not all issues between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Teutonic Knights were settled. The most contentious matter was the border betweenSamogitia andPrussia. Grand Duke of LithuaniaVytautas the Great demanded the entire right bank of theNeman River including the town of Memel (Klaipėda). The Knights demanded that after deaths of Vytautas andJogaila, King of Poland, Samogitia would pass to them.^[4]Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, agreed to mediate the dispute and appointedBenedict Makrai to hear the arguments. On 3 May 1413, Benedict made the decision and recognized the right bank of the Neman River, including Klaipėda, to Lithuania.^[4] The Knights refused to accept this decision and Teutonic Grand MasterHeinrich von Plauen ordered Teutonic armies into northern Poland. The army, commanded byMichael Küchmeister von Sternberg, returned into Prussia after just 16 days of campaign.^[5] The knights did not believe that the Order, still recovering from the defeat in theBattle of Grunwald in 1410, was ready for another war with Poland.^[1] Küchmeister deposed von Plauen and became the Grand Master. He attempted to reopen the negotiations with Poland in May 1414.^[6] As King Jogaila demanded to reinstate von Plauen and refused any attempts at a compromise, the talks broke down.^[7]

In the summer of 1414, armies of King Jogaila and Grand Duke Vytautas invadedPrussia, ruled by themonastic state. They advanced throughOsterode (Ostróda) intoWarmia, plundering villages and burning crops.^[8] The Teutonic Knights chose to concentrate their defensive efforts in Culmerland (Chełmno Land). The Knights remained intheir castles and refused an open battle after realizing the superiority of Polish and Lithuanian forces in a potential pitched battle.^[9] Küchmeister deployedscorched earth tactics hoping to deprive invading armies of food and supplies. This tactic later resulted in a famine and plague in the region.^[9] The invaders themselves were not able or willing to seek a decisive military victory via lengthy sieges of Teutonic castles.Papal legate William of Lausanne proposed resolving the conflict through diplomacy and a two-year truce was signed in Strasburg (nowBrodnica) in October.^[10] Jogaila and Vytautas agreed to present their case to theCouncil of Constance.^[4] However, the territorial disputes were not resolved until theTreaty of Melno in 1422.

• 1414 in Europe
• 15th century in Poland
• Wars involving the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
• Wars involving Poland
• Wars involving the Teutonic Order
• Conflicts in 1414
• 15th century in the State of the Teutonic Order
• Polish–Teutonic wars

• CS1 Lithuanian-language sources (lt)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing German-language text
• Articles containing Polish-language text