ABRIDGED
HISTORY OF UKRAINE - PART FIVE.
Loosely
translated and abridged by George Skoryk from "HISTORY OF UKRAINE"
by Mykhaylo Hrushevs'kyi
V. DECLINE OF UKRAINIAN STATEHOOD AND CULTURE (1712-1783).
After
the defeat of Mazepa, Tsar Peter intensified his efforts to
subjugate Ukraine. Hetman Skoropadskyi had his powers restricted
by Russian supervisors. His residence was transferred from Baturyn
to Hlukhow near the Russian border, where two Russian garrisons
were stationed to ensure his loyalty to Moscow.
The Ukrainian
population became burdened by the plundering of the Russian
military units, dispersed throughout the country. Cossacks were
sent to work on the construction of canals near St Petersburg,
connecting the river Volga with the
Baltic Sea. Thousands of Cossacks died from hunger, exhaustion and
sickness. Russian nationals replaced many Cossack colonels.
In 1722, the
Tsar appointed a council called the "Little Russian Collegiate",
which was controlled by senior Russian officers and headed by
brigadier Velmyaninow, to monitor and audit the hetman's
activities and decisions. This, for practical purposes,
transferred all powers to the Russians, leaving the Cossack hetman
and his officers only with empty titles. Hetman Skoropadskyi was
very upset by such situation; he became ill and died in 1722. Tsar
Peter used this opportunity to abolish the office of hetman
altogether. He directed the Cossack colonel Polubotok to perform
the hetman's duties under the supervision of Velmyaninow and
refused to agree to Cossack requests to the election of a new
hetman.
The Russian
occupiers continued to persecute and impoverish the Ukrainian
population. They kept sending more Cossacks to work on
construction of the canals, connecting the Caspian Sea with the
Baltic Sea. From 1721 to 1725, some 20,000 Cossacks perished.
Polubotok was
an honest and energetic man. He managed to improve law and order
within the Cossack establishment and to improve the living
conditions of the population. However this did not please the
Russian authorities, who relied on disorder and corruption to
maintain their grip on Ukraine. They feared Polubotok's growing
popularity and his efforts to re-establish the Hetmanate.
Velmyaninow
complained to the Tsar that Polubotok was not complying with his
directives. Consequently Polubotok was arrested and interrogated
under torture in Petropavlowsk fort, near St Petersburg. He died
there, as a martyr for the Ukrainian cause in the autumn of 1724,
in spite of the Tsar's belated efforts to save him and to
reconcile with the Cossacks.
Tsar Peter
died soon after, at the beginning of year 1725. Ukraine was thus
left at the mercy of Velmyaninow and his henchmen. As for the
Cossack colonels, some were imprisoned near St Petersburg and the
others, who were not already replaced by Russians, kept quiet.
His wife
Catherine succeeded Tsar Peter. Faced with a possible war with
Turkey, she needed the Cossacks and wanted to return to them some
of their former freedoms. However she faced a stiff opposition
from the "old guard" in the Russian government, consequently the
Cossacks received only few minor concessions. Catherine died in
the spring of 1727 and the grandson of
Tsar Peter, Peter II became the newemperor of Russia.
The new
Russian government sacked Velmyaninow and his "Little Russian
Collegiate", released the Cossack colonels from jail and appointed
70-year-old Danylo Apostol as Cossack hetman. On 1st October 1727
the Cossacks formally accepted Apostol in a ceremonious election
in Hlukhow. Although reporting to Russian "resident" Naumow, the
new hetman managed to carry out considerable improvements in
Ukrainian situation. His loyalty to Moscow was ensured by the
presence of one of his sons who was a virtual hostage in St
Petersburg.
Tsar Peter II
died in 1730 and his aunt Tsarina Anna became the new ruler of
Russia. When hetman Apostol fell ill and became paralyzed, she
refused to hand over his powers to the Cossacks and ordered a
Russian "resident", Prince Shakhowski to form a council,
consisting mainly of Russians, to take over. Hetman Apostol died
in January 1734 and later in that year the Zaporozhtsi in the
Sitch decided to come over from the Turkish to the Russian side.
With Ukraine
becoming almost a province of Russia, the russification of
political, religious and cultural life intensified. Intermarriages
with Russians were encouraged and any efforts to regain
independence were brutally suppressed. Cossack colonels were kept
under constant observation and subjected to house searches at the
slightest sign of disloyalty. Even any attempts to obtain justice
were punished; when, in 1737, Kyiv's city counselors tried to
defend their rights against Russian excesses, they were all
jailed. Things were so bad, that when in 1740 an English general
Keith was temporarily appointed in place of a Russian
administrator, people were amazed by his human behavior and
tolerance.
Times were
hard for the top layer of Ukrainian society, but even harder for
middle and lower classes and peasants, who suffered most from
Russian exploitation. Cossacks were being forced to fight for
Russia against the Turks, Tatars and Poles for small rewards, and
often for nothing. Under such circumstances, the yearning for the
return of the Hetmanate autonomy persisted. The possibility of
this would happen occurred after the end of war with Turkey in
1740 and death of Tsarina Anna in 1741.
The
short regency of Anna II was terminated by a palace revolution,
whereupon the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth was installed on
Russian throne. Elizabeth was sympathetic to Ukrainian cause
because, prior to becoming Tsarina, she befriended and fell in
love with a handsome son of a Cossack court choir singer, Oleksiy
Rozumowskyi. She married him after her coronation. While visiting
Kyiv in 1744, she agreed to promote the Cossacks' request to
re-install the hetman's office and proposed Oleksiy's younger
brother Kyrylo Rozumowskyi for this position. Twenty year old
Kyrylo, who studied abroad, returned in 1746, married into the
royal family and was bestowed with many orders and titles.
Kyrylo Rozumowskyi
In 1747 the
Russian senate was requested to take steps toward the re-
establishment of the Hetmanate. In February 1750, the ceremonious
formality of election of new Cossack hetman took place in Hlukhow,
followed by celebrations and festivities.
In the spring
of 1751 hetman Kyrylo Rozumowskyi, again with great ceremony and
parade was installed as hetman. Unfortunately, being brought up in
St Petersburg, Rozumowskyi was a stranger to Ukraine and the ways
of life there. His Russian advisor Teplow was unsympathetic to
Ukraine's newly won autonomy and did all he could to hinder its
development. Rozumowskyi himself was bored with life in Ukraine
and preferred to spend most of his time in St Petersburg.
During this
period, Ukraine was divided into several parts such as Left Bank
consisting of the Hetmanate, Slobidshchyna and the Zaporozhian
Sich, The Right Bank, consisted of Halychyna (Galicia), Wolhynia,
Bukovyna and Transcarpatia. The Hetmanate included areas around
Poltava, Lubny, Peryaslav,
Kyiv, Nizhyn, Chernihiv, Hlukhiv and also areas, around Starodub,
Pochep and Mhlyn. The neighboring areas centered around Kharkiv
were called Slobidshchyna meaning free (from serfdom) lands also
referred to as Sloboda Ukraine. They included Izyum, Balakleya,
Akhtyrka, Sumy and, areas around Bilhorod, Ostrohozhsk and Sudza.
Originally
adventurous people, who tried to establish themselves free from
Polish and Russian domination, settled these lands. They formed
Cossack regiments for protection from the Tatars and for some time
was able to lead an independent life, because they served as a
buffer from the Turks and the Tatars. However later they fell
under direct Russian rule; the autonomy of Loboda Ukraine was
abolished under Catherine II in 1765.
To ensure
lasting domination over these two parts of Ukraine, Russians tried
to suppress the Ukrainian culture. They disallowed Ukrainian
language in books, schools and theaters. Moscow controlled the
church and government and the only way for a person to advance was
to speak Russian and to be loyal to Moscow.
While Ukraine
on the east side of Dnipro (Left Bank) was being russianized, the
western Ukraine consisting of Galicia Wolhynia and Bukovyna (areas
around Lviv, Ternopil Lutsk and Chernivtsi) was under the Polish
influence. Polish authorities were preventing not only national,
but also economic development of the Ukrainians. The Orthodox
Church was being gradually taken over by Polish dominated Catholic
Church.
Between
western Ukraine and, the Russian dominated parts on the east side
of the Dnipro, was a large territory on the Right Bank, partly
de-populated by the recent wars involving the Cossacks, Poles,
Russians, Turks and Tatars.
Gradually, the Polish nobility began to return, reclaimed their
landholdings and started to exploit Ukrainian peasants as serfs.
The resistance to this, at first, was in the form of outlaw gangs,
said to have robbed the rich to help the poor. Some of the gang
leaders were even considered as folk heroes, such as Olexa
Dowbush, who operated between 1738 and 1745. There were also
uprisings by the so-called Haydamaks, generally during hostilities
between Poland and Russia.
The biggest
uprising was in 1768. The Haydamaks, led by Maxym Zaliznyak and
Ivan Honta, captured Umanj and killed many Polish oppressors and
their Jewish collaborators. They expected help from their Orthodox
"brothers" from Russia. However Russians made peace with Poland,
captured Zaliznyak, Honta and many other Haydamaks and handed them
over to the Poles. Those, who were not immediately tortured and
executed, were tried in Kodno and sentenced, in most cases, to
death.
The
Transcarpathian Ukraine (areas around Uzhhorod and Mukachiv) was
under Hungarian rule. Overwhelmingly rural in character,
Transcarpathia had a Ukrainian—Ruthenian peasantry, a powerful
Hungarian nobility and a substantial number of urban and rural
Jews. The Ukrainian population there did not display much
enthusiasm for independence but managed to retain their language,
customs and religion.
Tsarina
Katharine II, who ruled Russia from 1762, after short reign of her
husband Peter III, decided the cancellation of the Hetmanate.
Hetman Rozumovskyi resigned and, in his place, on November 1764,
Tsarina
re-installed the "Little Russian Collegiate", under the presidency
of Graf Rumyantsev. Rumyantsev's policy was to eliminate all
remaining traces of
Ukrainian autonomy and separatism; to introduce serfdom of
peasants and to integrate Ukraine with Russia. The Cossacks and
the population resisted this at large.
In 1767 the
Tsarina ordered the election of deputies from all parts of the
Russian Empire in order to be informed what kind of government the
people wanted. The deputies from Ukraine declared their desire for
Hetmanate autonomy. This angered Rumyantsev and he sent out his
officers to persuade the electors to elect deputies supporting his
government. People who resisted were jailed. However in spite of
all efforts of Russian authorities, the popular sentiment for
return of the Hetmanate system continued.
In 1772
Galicia and, two years later, Bukovina were annexed to the Austro
Hungarian Monarchy, which had somewhat improved the conditions of
the
Ukrainians. In 1774 the Uniate church (renamed to Greek Catholic
church) was, by imperial decree, equalized in status with the
Roman Catholic Church. Educational reforms in 1775 allowed for
instructions in the Ukrainian language. However on balance
government policies favored the Poles.
The Cossack
stronghold, the Zaporozhian Sitch, was subservient to Moscow and
was utilized for raids on Crimea and Turkey. During the Turkish
war, which started in 1768, several thousand Cossacks supported
the Russians in battles on land and Sea. Their efforts were
rewarded by eulogies from the Tsarina but little else and
restrictions of the Cossack freedoms continued. Their lands were
being colonized by Russians, Serbians and other foreigners with
aim of creation of so called Novorossiya or the New Russia state
in the south of Ukraine.
After end of
the Turkish war in 1775, the Cossacks were being gradually
disarmed and in the Summer of that year, Russian general Tekeli
surrounded the Cossacks in the Sitch itself with a superior force
and demanded abandonment of their fortress. Faced with such
overwhelming odds, the Cossack chief Kalnyshevskyj surrendered.
The Sitch was destroyed and abolished by Tzarist edict of 3rd
August 1775.
Kalnyshevskyj
and other Cossack leaders were exiled to Siberia. The Cossack
lands were granted to Russian nobles; Cossacks were told to
disperse and settle in towns and villages or to join Russian
forces. Many Cossacks escaped and settled in Turkey near the
Danube delta. In 1778 they were formally accepted under Turkish
rule. By end of 1780 all districts, which were formerly under the
Hetmanate, were incorporated into Russian regime. In 1783 all
Cossack regiments were transferred to Russian forces; peasants
were prohibited to leave their landlords, which made them serfs on
their former land. Ukrainian church autonomy was abolished and
church property was transferred to Russian treasury.
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