The Treaty of Pereyaslav (Russian: Переяславская рада, Ukrainian: Переяславська рада) is known in history more as the Council of Pereiaslav.
Council of Pereyalslav was a meeting between the representative of the Russian Tsar, Prince Vasili Baturlin who presented a royal decree, and Bohdan Khmelnytsky as the leader of Cossack Hetmanate. During the council Bohdan Khmelnytsky with his troops accepted the allegiance of the Tsardom of Russia. The document itself, also known as the March Articles and Articles of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, for unknown reasons has not survived.
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In 1653 Bohdan Khmelnytsky sent a diplomatic delegation which included his military starshyna Hryhoriy Huletsky and his secretary-general (pysar) Ivan Vyhovsky with petition for a military alliance. To review the petition on October 1, 1653 a council was gathered in the Palace of Facets (Pomegranate Chamber) consisting of Patriarch of Moscow Nikon with various other clergy, boyars, okolnichy, noblemen, and others.[1][2] The decision of the Council was declared on October 4 in the Golden Chamber of Kremlin Palace. The Hetman's ambassadors were informed that Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich satisfies the petition of the Zaporizhian Host and accepts the alliance.
To the Zaporizhian Host was sent the Russian delegation that included such major figures as boyars Vasiliy Buturlin and Ivan Alferyev, and dyak Larion Lopukhin. Among other members there was prince Grigoriy Romodanovskiy. For protection along with the delegation was sent a riflemen prikaz of Artamon Matveyev.
Participants in the preparation of the treaty at Pereyaslav included Hetman, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and numerous Cossacks pledged alliance with the Russian Crown on January 8, 1654 in the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in Pereyaslav. After that several cities that subordinated to the Hetman pledged their alliance as well (some 166 cities). At the Pereyaslav council were formulated the articles of the treaty and a new delegation was sent to Moscow with a military judge Samoilo Bohdanovych and the Pereiaslav Colonel Pavlo Teteria.
Eleven articles of Bohdan Khmelnytsky were delivered to Moscow on March 12, 1654. The next day the delegation was met in the Kremlin Armoury by Vasiliy Buturlin, okolnichy Pyotr Golovin, and the Duma clerk Almaz Ivanov. Some additional articles were received vocally and were requested to be annotated.
The original copies of the treaty did not survive, and the exact nature of the relationship stipulated by this treaty between Ukraine and Russia is a matter of scholarly controversy. The treaty led to the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate in left-bank Ukraine, and to the outbreak of the Russo-Polish War (1654-1667).
The outcome of the treaty differed from Khmelnytsky's intentions; originally a political manoeuvre intended only to secure the support of powerful allies, it revealed the full extent of its far-reaching consequences over time.[3] Major results of the treaty included the separation of Ukraine from formerly dominant Catholic Poland, the re-strengthening of Orthodoxy in the historic center of Ukraine, and the eventual domination of Ukraine by neighboring Orthodox Russia, with Ukrainian clergy dominating the church.
In the long run, the consequences for Ukraine were pivotal. Polish colonization and Polonization of the upper class soon became replaced by a systematic process of Russification, culminating in the Ems Ukaz of 1876, which restricted the printing of books in Ukrainian language. Further consequences included the disbandment of the Zaporizhian Host and reinstating serfdom in Ukraine.
For Russia, the treaty eventually led to the acquisition of Ukraine, providing a justification for the ambitious title of Russian tsars and emperors, The Ruler of All Rus’. Russia, being at that time the only part of the former Kievan Rus' which was not occupied by a foreign power, considered itself as legitimate successor and reunificator of former Rus' lands.
For Poland, the treaty provided one of the early signs of its gradual decline and eventual demise by the end of the 18th century.
This treaty is seen by Ukrainian nationalists as a sad occasion of the lost chance for Ukrainian independence. The "Rainbow" monument in the Ukrainian capital Kiev being colloquially referred to as "Yoke of the Peoples" further demonstrates the controversial nature of the treaty. Pro-Russian Ukrainian parties, on the other hand, celebrate the date of this event and renew calls for the re-unification of the three Eastern Slavic nations: Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
In 2004, after the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the event, the administration of president Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine established January 18 as the official date to commemorate the event, a move which created controversy. Previously, in 1954, the anniversary celebrations included the transfer of Crimea from the Russian Republic to the Ukrainian Republic of the Soviet Union.