Chmielnicki Uprising

Chmielnicki Uprising or Chmielnicki Rebellion is the name of a civil war in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years 1648–1654. It was waged between the forces loyal to the Commonwealth and Ukrainian Cossacks led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky. In the end, the Commonwealth not only lost parts of its territory to the Russian Empire, but was weakened at the moment of invasion by Sweden: The Deluge.

Background

For centuries after the creation of the Commonwealth, the Orthodox people of Ruthenia had felt oppressed by the Polish szlachta, Catholic priests and Jewish traders. Although Ruthenian nobility enjoyed full rights, they quickly absorbed Polish culture and therefore were alienated from the common people; the advent of the Counter-Reformation worsened the relationship between the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Unwilling to attend to the details of administration themselves, Polish magnates often made Jewish traders their go-betweens in transactions with the peasants of Ukraine. The magnates sold and leased certain privileges to the Jews for a lump sum and, while enjoying themselves at their courts, left it to the Jewish leaseholders and collectors to become objects of hatred to the oppressed and long-suffering peasants.

Chmielnicki's role

Although Khmelnytsky's personal resentment influenced his decision to rid Ukraine of Polish and Ruthenian magnates and Jews, it seems that his ambition to become the ruler of Ukraine was the main motive that led him to instigate an uprising of the Ruthenian people against them, known after him as the Chmielnicki Uprising.

Khmelnytsky told the people that the Poles had sold them as slaves "into the hands of the accursed Jews." With this as their battle-cry, the Cossacks killed a huge number of Jews during the years 1648–1649. The precise number of dead may never be known, but estimates range from a minimum 100,000 to well over 1,000,000 Jews killed.

The Uprising

These events initiated a series of campaigns (which coincided with the period in Polish history known as The Deluge, a Swedish invasion of the Commonwealth) that temporarily freed Ukraine from Polish domination but in short time subjected it to Russian domination. Successes at Zhovti Vody , Korsun' and Pilavtsi (respectively, in Polish, Żółte Wody, Korsuń, and Piławce) against Hetman Mikołaj Potocki led to Khmelnytsky being paid off by the Polish king and gaining numerous privileges for the Cossacks under the Treaty of Zborov . When hostilities resumed, however, Khmelnytsky's forces were betrayed by their former allies the Tatars, suffered a massive defeat in 1651 at the Battle of Beresteczko, and were forced at Bila Tserkva (Biała Cerkiew) to accept a loser's treaty. A year later, the Cossacks had their revenge at the Battle of Batoh .

The Aftermath

Ukraine was still perilously weak, and in 1654 Khmelnytsky persuaded the Cossacks to ally with the Russian tsar in the highly controversial Treaty of Pereyaslav which led to incorporation of the Ukraine into Muscovy.