The proposed federation was meant to emulate the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, that, from the end of the 16th century to the end of the 18th, had united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Intermarium complemented Piłsudski's other geopolitical vision, Prometheism, whose goal was the dismemberment of the Russian Empire and that Empire's divestment of its territorial acquisitions."Released in November 1918, returned to Warsaw, assumed command of the Polish armies, and proclaimed an independent Polish republic, which he headed." ([http://www.bartleby.com/65/pi/Pilsudsk.html Piłsudski, Joseph in Columbia Encyclopedia)</ref>Timothy Snyder, "Sketches from a Secret War: A Polish Artist's Mission to Liberate Soviet Ukraine", Yale University Press, 2005, , (p.41, p.42, p.43)</ref>Richard K Debo, "Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918–1992", Google Print, p. 59, McGill-Queen's Press, 1992, .</ref>James H. Billington, "Fire in the Minds of Men", p. 432, Transaction Publishers, </ref>