Deluge (history)
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Habsburg Austria
Tsardom of Russia
Greater Poland (Opaliński's Union of Ujście)
Constantin Şerban. Prince of WallachiaIn the history of Poland and Lithuania, the Deluge (Polish: Potop, in full in Polish: Potop Szwedzki [Swedish Deluge]) commonly refers to a series of wars in the mid-to-late seventeenth century which left the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in ruins.
In a stricter sense, "The Deluge" refers to the Swedish invasion and occupation of the Poland-Lithuania from 1655 to 1660; in a general sense it applies to the series of misfortunes beginning with the Khmelnytskyi Uprising in 1648 and ending as late as 1667.
Before the Deluge, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth formed in terms of territory the largest state in Europe, discounting the fragmented, fractious non-state the Holy Roman Empire. The Commonwealth had a feared army and a large industrious population, giving it a solid claim to status as a regional power— and many would argue as a great power as well, for while it did not possess a strong navy to project power over the oceans, as a geohistoric polity it dominated the smaller states in east/central Europe — only the territorial extent of the Ottoman empire or the combined European dominions of the Spanish empire rivaled it in size and population. But during the wars the Commonwealth lost an estimated one-third of its population (relatively higher losses than during World War II) as well as its status as a great power.[5]
Historical events
- Further information: Khmelnytsky Uprising, Northern Wars, and Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)
The misfortunes began in 1648 when the Ruthenian feudal lord Bohdan Khmelnytsky (also known as "Bohdan Chmielnicki") led a popular uprising of Dnieper Cossacks and Ukrainian peasants discontented with the rule of Polish magnates.
Although the Commonwealth defeated this rebellion in the Battle of Berestechko (1651), the Russians used it as a pretext to justify invading the eastern half of Poland-Lithuania in 1654. The Swedish Empire, which had a long-standing dynastic feud with the Commonwealth and other issues in the Baltic region, also opportunistically invaded and occupied the remaining half in 1655.
Two Polish-Lithuanian noble princes, Janusz Radziwiłł and Bogusław Radziwiłł, subsequently introduced internal dissaffection and dissention into the Commonwealth's troubles and began negotiations with the Swedish king Charles X Gustav of Sweden aimed at breaking up the Commonwealth and the Polish-Lithuanian union. They signed the Kėdainiai Treaty, which envisaged the Radziwiłłs ruling over two Duchies carved out from the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under Swedish vassalage (the Union of Kėdainiai).
The Polish-Lithuanian King John II Casimir had few friends among the nobility (szlachta), as he sympathized with Austria and expressed open contempt of the culture of the nobility (see Sarmatism). Earlier, in 1643, John Casimir had become a member of the Jesuits and received the title of Cardinal. Nevertheless, in December 1646 John Casimir had returned to Poland and, in October 1647, resigned his position of Cardinal to stand in elections for the Polish throne. He succeeded to the throne in 1648. However, the nobility regarded Charles Gustav (King of Sweden and John Casimir's cousin) as the legitimate heir to the Polish-Lithuanian throne.
Many members of the Polish nobility (szlachta), including Deputy Chancellor of the Crown Hieronim Radziejowski and Grand Treasurer of the Crown Bogusław Leszczyński, regarding John II Casimir of Poland as a weak king or as a Jesuit-King, or for other reasons, encouraged Charles Gustav to claim the Polish crown.
Poznań Voivod Krzysztof Opaliński surrendered Great Poland to Charles Gustav (1655), and quickly, other areas surrendered also. Almost the whole country followed suit, but several places still resisted, most remarkably and symbolically Jasna Góra. Led by The Grand Prior Augustyn Kordecki, the garrison of the most famous sanctuary-fortress of Poland held off its enemies (November 1655 to January 1656). The Tyszowce Confederation (29 December 1655) proclaimed support for John Casimir, who had taken refuge in Silesia.
Spontaneous uprisings started all over the region, attacking the dispersed occupation forces — who, in their turn, retaliated. The uprisings soon merged under the leadership of Polish military leader Stefan Czarniecki and Grand Hetman of Lithuania Jan Paweł Sapieha, who started organised counterattacks in order to eliminate those loyal to Charles Gustav. In the end, John II Casimir's supporters crowned him in Lwów Cathedral in 1656 (Lwów Oath).
The Commonwealth forces drove back the Swedes 1657 and finally defeated the Russians in 1662. The War for Ukraine ended with the Treaty of Andrusovo of 13 January, 1667. (Poland-Lithuania profited from Turkish intervention in the Russo-Turkish War (1568–1570) due to Ottoman links with the Crimea). The Commonwealth also defeated forces from Brandenburg-Prussia and Transylvania, but the Duchy of Prussia gained a formal recognition of independence outside of the Polish state.
The Deluge brought to an end the era of Polish tolerance, with most of the invaders non-Catholic. The expulsion of the Polish brethren (1658) symbolised this. During the Deluge, many thousands of Polish Jews also fell victim to pogroms initiated by rebelling Cossacks.
With the Treaty of Hadiach on September 16, 1658, the Polish Crown elevated the Cossacks and Ruthenians to a position equal to that of Poland and Lithuania in the Polish-Lithuanian Union, and in fact transformed the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth into a Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Trojga Narodów, "Commonwealth of Three Nations"). Supported by Cossack Ataman Ivan Vyhovsky and the starshyna, this treaty changed the face of Eastern Europe. However, Russia refused to recognize the treaty and maintained its claims to Ukraine.
The Deluge in fiction
Henryk Sienkiewicz describes The Deluge in his novel of the same title.
James Michener describes The Deluge in his novel Poland.
Jerzy Hoffman directed the film The Deluge (Potop) in 1974, a classic historical work. It starred Daniel Olbrychski as Andrzej Kmicic, a patriot who valiantly fought against the Swedish invasion. The film received a nomination for an Oscar in 1974, but lost to the Italian film Amarcord.
Notes
- ↑ Ervin Liptai: Military history of Hungary, Zrínyi Military Publisher, 1985. ISBN 9633263379
- ↑ Ervin Liptai: Military history of Hungary, Zrínyi Military Publisher, 1985. ISBN 9633263379
- ↑ László Markó: Lordships of the Hungarian State, Magyar Könyvklub Publisher, 2000. ISBN 963 547 085 1
- ↑ László Markó: Lordships of the Hungarian State, Magyar Könyvklub Publisher, 2000. ISBN 963 547 085 1
- ↑ About Poland
See also
- Nobles' Democracy
- Northern Wars
- Treaty of Hadiach
- Treaty of Oliva
- Kostka-Napierski Uprising
- The Deluge (novel)
- Tatar invasions
External links
- Potop at the Internet Movie Database
- Map of area occupied by Transylvania in 1657
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