ABRIDGED HISTORY
OF UKRAINE - PART FOUR.
Loosely
translated and abridged by George Skoryk from "HISTORY OF UKRAINE"
by Mykhaylo Hrushevs'kyi
IV. Cossack PERIOD (1599-1711).
Bohdan
Khmelnytskyi
Although
Zholkewski failed to destroy the Cossacks, he left them
considerably weakened and divided, often fighting among
themselves. Hetman Samiylo Kishka united all the Cossack forces
and, after leading them in a successful naval expeditions against
the Turks and land raids on Moldova. This helped to restore the
former Cossack spirit and power.
In 1599, the
Polish king, having difficulty with a war with the Walachians in
Moldova, had to rehabilitate Cossacks in order to secure their
help. Later he would use them in a war with Sweden. Kishka died in
one of the battles with the Swedes but the Cossacks continued to
fight under the other hetmans. When this war ended in 1603,
Cossacks demanded and obtained equal status with the Polish
military units and secured authority over large area of Ukraine
adjacent to the Dnipro river.
Cossack power
continued to grow with raids on lands controlled by Moscow—by
helping the numerous pretenders for Moscow throne (1604-1613)—and
the Black Sea expeditions, in their boats called Chaykas. These
took place on coast of Turkey, Crimea and the mouth of Danube in
Moldova (1613-1618). Each 'Chayka' was manned by about 60 Cossacks
and was armed with 4 to 6 cannons. With fleets of between 30 and
80 Chaykas, the Cossacks destroyed or captured many Turkish
galleons and plundered Turkish cities during times when the whole
of Europe was trembling against the might of the Turkish Empire.
It is
estimated that the number of Cossacks fluctuated between 10,000
and 40,000 depending on circumstances. Their centre was the Sitch—an
armed camp in Zaporizhia, located "beyond the cascades" of the
river Dnipro. The Cossack Army was divided into regiments,
consisting of between 500 and 4000 men, led by colonels. Each
regiment had its own banner, trumpeter and drummer. Regiments were
divided into companies of 100 men led by captains which were
further subdivided into 'kurins' of 10 men led by 'atamans'. There
was also a small artillery force and orchestra. The Commander in
Chief was a hetman, elected by and responsible to Cossack Council
called the Rada.
In the spring
of 1618 hetman Petro Sahaydachnyi with force of about 20,000
Cossacks marched on Moscow, conquering many towns and fortresses
on the way. Near Moscow he joined up with Polish forces under
prince Wladyslaw, who pretended for Moscow throne. They failed to
capture Moscow, but managed to secure peace terms favorable to
Poland.
The Poles, no
longer endangered by its enemies, again turned their attention to
pacification of the Cossacks. Sahaydachnyi wanted to avoid
hostilities and in 1619 agreed to reduction of Cossack force to
3,000. This did not please Zaporozhtsi (Cossacks in Zaporizhia),
who then replaced Sahaydachnyi by hetman Borodawka. Sahaydachnyi,
who retained control of Cossacks on the mainland, dedicated
himself to promotion and defense of Ukrainian culture and
Orthodox faith by diplomatic means; Borodawka continued with
traditional raids on Turkey.
When, in
1620, Poland got into difficulties in war with Turks (in Moldova
the Polish army was defeated and Zholkewski killed), Poles again
called on Cossack help. Borodawka was keen to oblige but
Sahaydachnyi, pointing out the unfair treatment of Ukrainians,
tried to restrain the Cossacks until they received a better deal
from the Polish king. However, the Cossacks became impatient and
under Borodawka marched on Moldova to fight the Turks. They lost
many men and blamed it on Borodawka's inefficient leadership and
strategy. When Sahaydachnyi returned from his negotiations with
the king, the Cossacks dismissed, tried and executed Borodawka and
elected Sahaydachnyi as
hetman of all Cossacks.
In 1621 a big
battle against the Turks took place on the South side of the
Dnister River near Khotyn with participation of 40,000 Cossacks
and 35,000 Polish soldiers. It ended with the retreat of the
Turkish army. Cossacks got full credit for this victory but very
little in way of compensation and again the Poles insisted on the
reduction of their numbers.
Sahaydachnyi,
wounded in Khotyn battle, died on 10th April 1622. Under his
successors Cossacks continued to defend Orthodox faith, resisted
exploitation of Ukrainian land and peasants by the Polish
landowners and terrorized the Turks with their raids across Black
Sea. Polish king, although unable to suppress the Cossacks,
continued with a policy of conversion of the Ukrainian population
to Catholicism by persecution of people of the Orthodox faith. In
1924 Orthodox Church authorities asked Moscow for help but Moscow
was not strong enough to get involved in hostilities with Poland.
Later, in 1624, the Cossacks secured an unexpected alliance with
the Crimean
Tatars, who rebelled against the Turkish sultan. While the Turks
sailed against the Tatar rebels, the Cossacks twice raided
Constantinople and plundered both shores of Bosphorus. They then
returned and helped the Tatars to expel the Turks from Crimea,
thus securing friendly neighbors in their struggle against Turks
and Poles.
Unfortunately, in 1625, when many Cossacks were away on one of
their maritime expeditions against the Turks; Polish hetman
Konietspolski attacked and forced Cossack hetman Zhmaylo to accept
terms, whereby the Cossack register was to be reduced to 4,000
men. The Cossacks did not like this compromise and replaced
Zhmaylo by hetman Doroshenko. Doroshenko was a capable leader and
administrator and maintained a reasonably peaceful relationships
with Polish authorities. He even managed to restrain
'unregistered' Cossacks from raids on Turkey. However when Turks
attacked Crimea, the Cossacks went to help the Tatars and
Doroshenko fell in one of the battles there.
Succeeding
Cossack hetmans continued to uphold peaceful conditions until 1629
when Konietspolski returned from war with Sweden and settled his
soldiers on Ukrainian land, who started to make trouble. He also
tried to eliminate the 'unregistered' Cossacks.
In the spring
of 1630, Cossacks from Zaporizhia led by hetman Taras Fedorowych
went on the march and caught up with the Polish forces and the
'registered' Cossacks stationed in Korsun. The Cossacks from
Korsun went over to Fedorowych, citizens rebelled and the Polish
soldiers had to flee. This signaled a general uprising, which
eventually turned into a war in defense of the Orthodox faith.
The reaction
of the Polish administration was brutal and widespread.
Konietspolski enlisted a notorious hood, Lashch, to attack and
massacre people in churches, towns and villages. However, this
made the Cossacks, and Ukrainian population at large, more
determined to get rid of the Polish yoke.
A decisive
battle took place in mid 1630 near Peryaslav where the Polish
forces suffered a major defeat and Konietspolski had to make peace
with the Cossacks.
After death of Polish king Sigismund III Vasa (in April 1632)
Ukrainian nobles and politicians intensified their efforts to gain
a better deal for Ukraine by diplomatic means. The new king,
Ladislas IV, was more sympathetic to their cause, mainly in order
to counteract the influence from Moscow on Ukrainian scene.
Although the Catholic Church and the landowners resisted any
concessions, Ukrainians managed to make some progress in spiritual
and cultural fields under the newly elected archbishop Petro
Mohyla.
The new king
appreciated the Cossack's potential and used them in wars with
Turkey, Moscow and Sweden. The Cossacks proved themselves to be
just as efficient fighters on the Baltic Sea as on the Black Sea;
but the polish senate did not want war with Turkey and constructed
a fortress called Kodak near Zaporizhia in order to block the
Cossack access to the Black Sea. This fortress was destroyed by
Cossacks led by hetman Sulyma in 1635, but 'registered'
Cossacks, in order to avoid retaliation, captured Sulyma and
handed him over to the Poles. In spite of his distinguished
service in war with Turks and efforts of the king and pope to save
him, Sulyma was executed and his body was cut up and hung on four
corners of Warsaw streets.
The betrayal
of Sulyma did not gain Cossacks much reward from Poles. This led
to an uprising under hetman Pavliuk in 1637, but Polish field
marshal Pototski suppressed it. Another unsuccessful attempt to
overthrow Polish occupation was made by the Cossacks, in 1638,
under hetmans Ostryanin and Hunya. After that the Cossack movement
fell under Polish control, Kodak fortress was rebuilt and it
appeared that the Poles might have finally gained unchallenged
domination of Ukraine.
A lengthy
period of peace, which followed, made it easier for the Poles to
maintain control over Ukraine. Cossacks were no longer needed as a
defense force. The Polish senate and nobles managed to curtail
king Ladislas' ambitions for aggressive wars. Polish soldiers were
on hand to keep a lid on the simmering discontent of the Ukrainian
population.
Deprived of
protection from the Cossacks, peasants were exploited on land as
serfs, city dwellers were reduced to a state grudging conformity.
Political, cultural and religious matters were under Polish
control and commerce was predominantly in hands of Jewish
merchants, storekeepers and innkeepers.
An incident
in 1646 started a chain of significant events with great
consequences. The farm of Cossack captain, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi,
was destroyed and his family harmed by local government officials
in Subotiv. Angry and distraught, Bohdan decided to organize an
uprising. Conditions for it were very ripe, and in 1647
Kmelnytskyi went to the Sitch where he was elected as Cossack
hetman. Fueled by rumors of imminent war, volunteers streamed to
Zaporizhia to join the free Cossack forces. This alarmed Polish
authorities and an army, which included 'registered' Cossacks was
sent to restore Polish control. However these Cossacks went over
to Khmelnytskyi and the Polish force was annihilated on the
steppes near Zaporizhia in May 1648. Cossack victories, with
popular support continued. Even the Tatars, who were dissatisfied
with their treatment by the Poles, joined in. Marching westward,
the main Cossack force reached and besieged the city of Lviv and
the fortress town Zamostc. Practically the whole of Ukraine fell
under Cossack control.
In the
meantime king Ladislas IV died and his brother king Casimir V made
peace with Cossacks, agreeing to all their demands. Victorious
Khmelnytskyi with his army retreated and in January 1649 entered
the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv to a triumphal acclaim as liberator.
When the king's emissaries arrived in Kyiv they insisted that
Ukraine must remain part of Polish Kingdom and offered only to
increase number of 'registered' Cossacks and concessions to the
Orthodox Church. This angered Khmelnytskyi because he now wanted
full independence and freedom for all Ukrainian people. He told
the emissaries that he would liberate the whole of Ukraine and
said, "standing on the river Vistula I will say 'sit there and be
quiet Poles' and I will expel all dukes and princess beyond the
Vistula and if they start to bolt I will even find them there for
sure". He then set out to create an independent Ukrainian Cossack
State.
In response
the Polish army marched on Ukraine. After encountering a large
force of Cossacks and Tatars they retreated to a strong fortress
Zbarazh and were besieged there. Cossacks near Zboriv blocked
their reinforcements. The Poles where nearly defeated there but
were saved by the Tatars, who defected from the Cossacks after
generous promises from the Poles. Faced with the combined force of
Poles and Tatars, Khmelnytskyi had to settle for the increase of
the Cossack register to 40,000 and concessions to the Orthodox
Church only (Treaty of Zboriv in Aug 1649).
This did not
satisfy the Ukrainian population and soon Khmelnytskyi had to
fight again for their freedom. After coaxing the Tatars again over
to his side he defeated the Polish army at Korsun in 1650. However
later he was again betrayed by the Tatars and in August 1651 had
to make another agreement with Poland, this time decreasing
Cossack register to 20,000 and without concessions to the Orthodox
Church.
This
agreement was treated by Khmelnytskyi only as a period of respite
and in spring 1652, with Tatar participation, he went on the march
again. After a period of bloody and exhaustive battles and another
betrayal by the Tatars, Khmelnytskyi decided to seek help from
Moscow. In January 1654 he met with emissaries from Moscow in
Peryaslav who promised help in defense of Ukraine from Poland if
the Cossacks swore allegiance to their tsar. An agreement was
reached based on set of conditions, which in effect guarantied
Ukraine independence, connected to Moscow only by virtue of common
monarch. It worked well in a military sense as the Poles were
expelled from Ukraine and Belarus, however there was no consensus
in the political sphere. Ukrainians wanted relationships with
Moscow as equal, independent partners, whereas Moscow considered
Ukraine as an acquisition of another country by its growing
empire.
Khmelnytskyi
was very disappointed by such attitude and behavior from his
allies and began to look around for other friends. In 1655 Swedish
king Karl X requested and obtained Cossack help in his war with
Poland. When the Swedes occupied northern Poland, the Polish king
made peace with Moscow and tried also to attract the Cossacks over
to his side. But Khmelnytskyi, because of previous experience with
Poland and Moscow, decided to stick with Sweden and at the
beginning of year 1657 resumed hostilities with Poland.
Unfortunately Khmelnytskyi got very sick and the Cossacks led by
colonel Zhdanovytch, unable to achieve any significant victories,
returned home. Khmelnytskyi died on 27th June 1657. See also:
http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\K\H\KhmelnytskyBohdan.htm
He wanted his
son to succeed him but, as Yurasj was yet to young and
inexperienced. The Cossacks elected Ivan Vyhowskyi as their
hetman. At first Vyhowskyi conducted a neutral policy toward
Poland, Moscow and Sweden but eventually, aggressive behavior of
Muscovites on Ukrainian territory pushed him toward Poland. In
September 1658, in Haydach, he signed an accord by which Ukraine
fell under jurisdiction of the Polish king, albeit as an
autonomous country.
With help
from Poland and the Tatars, Vyhowskyi defeated Moscow’s forces in
Ukraine, but in September 1659 a large section of Cossacks
rebelled, accused Vyhowskyi of trying to sell Ukraine to Poland
and elected Yurasj Khmelnytskyi as their hetman. Soon all Cossacks
united under Yurasj and forced Vyhowskyi to resign. After entering
into another treaty with Moscow, the Cossacks and the Russians, in
the summer of 1660, marched on Poland. However this campaign did
not go very well and when the Russian forces were defeated, the
Cossacks had to submit to another union with Poland.
Although
Ukrainians resented Moscow domination, Polish authorities failed
to capitalize on it and did nothing to gain popular support. The
Cossacks on Leevoberezhie (Left Bank), that is on the east side of
river Dnipro, went over to the Moscow side; Yurasj Khmelnychenko
resigned in 1663 and his place was taken by Pawlo Tererya. Tererya
was a Polish supporter therefore he could not extend his authority
to the Left Bank where the Cossacks elected hetman Ivan
Brukhowetskyi.
At the
beginning of 1665 the Cossacks overthrew Teterya, thus freeing
territory on Pravoberezhie (Right Bank), that is on the West Side
of the river Dnipro, from Poland. Unwilling to come under Moscow
domination the Cossacks turned for support from the Tatars by
electing Petro Doroshenko as their hetman In 1667, by the treaty
of Andrysovo, Ukraine was partitioned along the Dnipro River: the
western side (Right Bank) went under Polish control, while the
eastern side (Left Bank), including Kyiv, became the autonomous
hetman state or Hetmanate under Russian protectorate. Zaporizhia
still remained under independent Cossack rule, who elected their
own chieftains and followed their own impetuous policies.
On the Right
Bank, Doroshenko accepted Turkish sultan Mohammed IV as his
superior in exchange for help to liberate Ukraine from domination
by Poland and Moscow. Later, in the spring of 1668, the Cossacks
on the Left Bank rebelled against Moscow resulting in the whole of
Ukraine coming under the control of Petro Doroshenko.
Unfortunately later in 1668, when Doroshenko was occupied with a
family matter, the Russians attacked and once again the Left Bank
fell under their domination, with Demyan Mnohohrishnyi as hetman
of Cossacks of that part of Ukraine. Polish forces also invaded
Ukraine from West but, in the spring of1671, the Turkish sultan
sent in a large army and helped Doroshenko to expel the Poles from
western Ukraine.
Doroshenko
then started negotiations with Mnohohrishnyi about unification of
Ukraine. This did not please Moscow; Mnohohrishnyi was tried (on
trumped up charges) and sentenced to exile. The new Left Bank
hetman Ivan Samoylowytch was hostile to Doroshenko and, with help
from Moscow, marched on Right Bank Ukraine. He received a
considerable support there because the Turks and the Tatars
antagonized the population by trying to promote their Muslim
religion.Doroshenko was this time unable to obtain help from Turks
as they were busy in war with Poland and retreated to his holding
of Chyhyryn. On 15th March 1674. Samoylowytch was proclaimed
hetman of the whole Ukraine under a Moscow protectorate.
This is one
of the best known and loved paintings in Russia and Ukraine. It
shows the Cossacks of Zaporozh'e composing as insulting a reply as
possible to a Turkish demand for surrender (1675).
Doroshenko
was ready to surrender but after receiving support from
Zaporozhtsi, encouragement from Poland and help from Turks decided
to keep on fighting against Samoylowych and his Russian backers.
This war, with raids and plunders by Turks, Tatars and Poles
caused a mass exodus of people from the west to the Left Bank.
Abandoned by his people Doroshenko surrendered in September 1676.
The Turks
then recalled Yurasj Khmelnychenko, who continued to struggle for
the Right Bank until 1681, when the Turks replaced him by the
Walachian
Warlord Duky. In 1683 the Right Bank was taken over by the Poles
under Yan Sobyeski, who was supported by the Cossacks in a war
with the Turks, which figured significantly in the rescue of
Vienna in 1683. For their services, Cossacks were rewarded with
land grants in southern Ukraine. People then began to return from
the east, which further helped Sobyeski to fight the Turks. But
still, the Cossacks resented Polish supremacy and Paliy, with the
other Cossack Colonels, planned an uprising and unification with
the Cossack on the Left Bank.
Over there
Samoylowych tried to avoid anything which may displease Moscow,
but at the price of continuing loss of independence. The Uniate
church disappeared and the Orthodox Kyivan metropolitanate itself
was transferred in 1986 from patriarchal authority of
Constantinople to that of Moscow. Arts and education progressively
lost its traditional Ukrainian character. Also granting them land
possessions ensured loyalty to Moscow by some of the Starshyna
(senior Cossack officers), which led to renewed exploitation of
peasants.
Samoylowych
himself started to adopt autocratic style of rule and even wanted
to introduce his dynasty, which antagonized most of the Cossack
Starshyna. Therefore, when in 1686 Moscow joined with Poland in
war with Turkey, they blamed Samoylowych for the failed expedition
against the Tatars in Crimea. Samoylowych was exiled to Siberia,
where he died two years later.
On
25th July 1687 Ivan Mazepa was elected as new Cossack hetman. For
the first few years Mazepa continued with policies of his
predecessor; also built and renovated churches and monasteries.
Literature, art and architecture, in the distinctive Cossack
Baroque style, flourished under his patronage and the Kyivan
Mohyla Academy, the first Ukrainian institution of higher
learning, experienced its golden age.
However he
neglected needs of peasants and ordinary people, who bore the
brunt of Moscow’s domination. Attempted uprisings by Petryk took
place between years 1693 and1696. He gained support from the
Tatars but failed to gain the support of the Cossacks. Eventually
a Cossack, for monetary reward from Mazepa, assassinated him.
However discontent continued and population started to shift to
Zaporizhia and to the Right Bank, where colonel Paliy was looked
upon as a peoples hero due to his successes in uprising against
Poles.
In 1695
Moscow restarted war with Turkey and Crimea and the Cossacks had
to fight wherever Tsar Peter sent them to. The Tatars exposed
Ukraine to devastating raids. In 1700 Tsar Peter joined Poland in
a war with Sweden in order to gain access to the Baltic Sea and
the Cossacks had to march to the distant north, were many of them
died in battles and from brutal treatment by the officers from
Moscow. They were also used as manual labor in the construction of
fortifications. To make things worse, arrogant Russian regiments
were pillaging Ukrainian towns and villages and abusing not only
general population but also Cossack leaders.
All this
disturbed Mazepa and he began to have few second thoughts about
his alliance with Moscow. By the end of 1705 the war with Sweden
went bad and in 1706 Swedish king Karl XII concluded peace with
Poland thus leaving Moscow alone in this war. Consequently Tsar
Peter ordered Mazepa to defend Ukraine without help from Moscow
and to destroy the Polish nobles on the Right Bank, who supported
the Swedes.
Mazepa used
this opportunity to take over this part of Ukraine. But there was
a popular Cossack colonel Paliy. Mazepa solved this problem by
inviting Paliy to his place, where he was imprisoned and handed
over to Tsar Peter, who sent him to Siberia for collaboration with
the Swedes.
At the end of
1707 Tsar Peter ordered Mazepa to hand over the western lands to
Poland. Mazepa did not obey, using all possible excuses to retain
control of that part of Ukraine. While still pretending to be
faithful to Tsar Peter, he conducted secret negotiations with
Swedish and Polish kings. When in autumn of 1708 king Karl
approached Ukraine and promised help in liberation from Moscow,
Mazepa decided to switch sides. Unfortunately Moscow became aware
of this plot before Mazepa could organize and inform the Cossacks
and the population in general about the reasons and the advantages
of his plan. Tsar Peter moved swiftly on Ukraine, destroying most
of Mazepa's supplies and armaments and ruthlessly eliminated the
people suspected of collaboration with Mazepa and the Swedes. He
started extensive rumors that Mazepa intended to return Ukraine to
Polish domination.
This resulted
in most Cossacks siding with Moscow and they subsequently elected
a hetman submissive to Moscow—Ivan Skoropadskyi. The church stayed
also on Moscow's side. Only Cossacks in Zaporizhia came out in
support of Mazepa and his remaining four thousand troops.
The superior
Muscovite forces routed Zaporizhia in May 1709 and next month,
supported by Cossacks, loyal to Moscow, defeated Mazepa and
theSwedes in a battle near Poltava. Heartbroken Mazepa fled to
Moldova where he died on 22nd August 1709.
Mazepa
supporters did not give up hope of liberation from Moscow. In
April 1710 they elected Orlyk as their hetman and continued the
struggle, with the help from Sweden, Poland and Turkey for many
years to come. They also drafted many interesting resolutions
concerning a proposed Ukrainian government, based on democratic
principles. See also:
http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/featuredentry.asp
http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\M\A\MazepaIvan.htm
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