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.

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 Ukraine into Muscovy. Although the Commonwealth tried to regain influence over Cossacks until late 17th century (of note it the Treaty of Hadiach of 1658), Muscovy strengthened its grip on their new Cossack subjects. As Muscovy begun to eclipse the Commonwealth as regional power, it also discarded any pretences of goodwill towards the Cossacks; their autonomy and privileges were drastically stripped and by the time of partitions of Poland ended the existence of the Commonwealth in 1795, Cossacks as a nation were all but gone. In the end, the Chmielnicki Uprising failed to create independent state or save the Cossack nation.

Related Topics:
1654 - Treaty of Pereyaslav - Muscovy - Treaty of Hadiach - 1658 - Partitions of Poland - 1795

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