Deluge (history)

The Deluge
The occupation of the Republic by Sweden, Muscovy, Brandenburg and Chmielnicki's Cossacks.
Date 1655–1660 Location Poland, Lithuania, Denmark Result Polish-Lithuanian Pyrrhic victory
Belligerents
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and allies	Sweden and allies
Commanders and leaders
John II Casimir of Poland	Charles X Gustav of Sweden

The Deluge (Polish: Potop) is the name commonly assigned in the history of Poland to a series of wars in the 17th century which left Poland-Lithuania in ruins. In a stricter sense, "The Deluge" refers to the Swedish and Russian invasion and occupation of the country from 1655–1660; in a general sense it applies to the series of misfortunes beginning with the Khmelnytskyi Uprising in 1648 and ending in either 1656, 1660 or even in 1667. Before "The Deluge" the Commonwealth was a Central European power; but during the wars Poland lost an estimated 1/3 of its population (relatively higher losses than during World War II), and its status as a great power.

The misfortunes began in 1648 by the uprising of the Ruthenian feudal lord and Ukrainian Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Khmelnytsky told his people that the Poles had sold them as slaves "into the hands of the accursed Jews", a reference to the Arenda system of renting out serfs to (sometimes) Jewish businessmen for three years at a time. With this as their battle cry, the Cossacks murdered a large number of Jews during the years 1648–1649. The precise number of dead may never be known, but the decrease of the Jewish population during that period is estimated at 50,000 to 200,000.

Although the Cossacks were defeated in the Battle of Beresteczko (1651), their rebellion was used as a pretext by the Russians to invade and occupy the eastern half of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1655. The Swedes invaded and occupied the remaining half in the same year.

Princes Janusz Radziwiłł and Bogusław Radziwiłł 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 according to which the Radziwiłłs were to rule over two Duchies carved up from the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, under Swedish vassalage (the Union of Kėdainiai).

Polish-Lithuanian King John II Casimir had few friends among the szlachta, as he sympathized with Austria and was openly contemptuous of the culture of the nobility (see Sarmatism). In addition, Casimir had become a member of the Jesuits in 1643 and received the title of Cardinal. Nevertheless, in December 1646 John Casimir 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, in the eyes of the nobility, Charles Gustav, (Casimir's cousin), was 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, thinking that John II Casimir of Poland was a weak king, or a Jesuit-King, or for other reasons, encouraged Charles Gustav to claim the Polish crown.

Swedish king Charles X Gustav in battle of Warsaw 1656

But Poznań Voivod Krzysztof Opaliński surrendered Great Poland to Charles Gustav, and quickly, other areas surrendered also. Almost the whole country followed suit, but several places still resisted, the most remarkable and symbolic of which was the Jasna Góra resistance. Led by The Grand Prior Augustyn Kordecki, the garrison of the most famous Sanctuary-Fortress of Poland defeated its enemies. Soon, the Tyszowce Confederation supported John Casimir, hidden in Silesia. Grand Hetman of Poland, (The Crown): Stefan Czarniecki and Grand Hetman of Lithuania: Jan Paweł Sapieha started the counterattack in order to put away those loyal to Charles Gustav. In the end, John II Casimir was solemnly crowned at Lwów Cathedral in 1656 (Lwów Oath).

Oath of king John Casimir of Poland, taken in 1655 in Lwów, during The Deluge.

The Swedes were driven back in 1657 and the Russians were finally defeated in 1662. The War for Ukraine ended with the treaty of Andrusovo (13 January, 1667), with the help of Turkish intervention due to their claims in the Crimea. Forces from Prussia and Transylvania were also defeated, but Prussia gained a formal recognition of independence and ceased to be a Polish vassal.

The Deluge also stopped the era of Polish tolerance, since most of the invaders were non-Catholic, with expulsion of the Polish brethren as a clear sign of it. 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 East European history. However, Russia refused to recognize the treaty and maintained its claims to Ukraine.

The Deluge in fiction

The Deluge is described in a novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz under the same title.

The Deluge is also described in the novel Poland by the James Michener

The Deluge was also made into a movie (Potop) in 1974, a classic historical work created by film director Jerzy Hoffman. It starred Daniel Olbrychski as Andrzej Kmicic, a patriot who valiantly fought against the Swedish invasion. The film was nominated for an Oscar in 1974, but lost to the Italian film Amarcord.

See also

• Nobles' Democracy
• Northern Wars
• Treaty of Hadiach
• Treaty of Oliva
• Kostka-Napierski Uprising
• The Deluge (book)

External links

• Potop at IMDb
• Map of area occupied by Transylvania in 1657