Khmelnytskyi’s successor, Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi, broke with Moscow and in 1658 concluded the Treaty of Hadiach with Poland.
By that time part of Ukrainian starshyna had seen that Moscow’s real intentions were to gradually turn Ukraine into an ordinary Russian province. Many members of the starshyna, who were raised under Polish constitutional political system and who used to enjoy the wide political rights and freedoms, disliked the despotic character of Russia’s political system. The Ukrainian starshyna decided that it would be better to deal with the elected Polish monarch, whose political rights were limited by constitution, than to deal with the tsar, who was an absolute ruler and whose power was despotic in nature. Even boyars (highest aristocrats) in Moscow called themselves the tsar’s kholops (slaves). The starshyna was also disgusted by the low cultural level of Russians, their rude behavior and traditions.
The exhausted Poland was ready to make significant concessions to the Cossacks in order to preserve the unity of the state. The result of these intentions was the so-called Treaty of Hadiach.
According to the treaty, Rzeczpospolita was to be transformed into a confederation of three equal partners: Poles, Ukrainians, and Lithuanians. The Ukrainian principality (without Galicia and Volhynia) was to have wide autonomy and its own army. The Cossack starshyna was to be equalized with the Polish nobility.
As might be expected Russia’s reaction to the treaty was sharply negative. In June 1659, a huge Russian army of about 100 000 invaded Ukraine. Vyhovskyi with his Polish and Tatar allies met the Russians near Konotop and defeated them. The way to Moscow was open. Panic seized Russia’s capital. The tsar planned to leave for Iaroslavl beyond Volga.
The hetman, however, could not take advantage of his brilliant victory. The Zaporozhian otaman Ivan Sirko decided to use the opportunity to invade the Crimea to get booty since the Tatar army was fighting together with Vyhovskyi against the Russians. As the result of Sirko’s actions the Tatar cavalry abandoned Vyhovskyi’s army and moved to the Crimea to defend their lands. Several Cossack colonels inspired by Russia also rebelled against Vyhovskyi. Faced with such difficulties Vyhovskyi resigned in September 1659 and fled to Poland.
The majority of Ukrainian population did not understand Vyhovskyi’s plans. The Zaporozhian Cossacks did not even try to listen to Vyhovskyi’s envoys, who were sent to acquaint the Sich with the Hadiach Treaty. The envoys were just killed when they tried to speak. Many Ukrainians thought that Vyhovskyi “sold Ukraine to Poland.” Peasants and poor Cossacks simply did not trust the hetman. Vyhovskyi’s made several serious mistakes in his social policy. He did not take into consideration the common people. All his policy was aimed at improving the position of the starshyna at the expense of the commoners. The hetman planned to build an aristocratic republic modeled after Poland. The starshyna wanted to be a new szlachta in that republic, it wanted to own lands and exploit the masses. The masses who had liberated themselves from serfdom did not want to hear about any kind of a union with Poland. Polish rule for them meant the returning of serfdom.
With Vyhovskyi, Ukraine began a rapid descent into a prolonged state of chaos that contemporaries called “the Ruin.” This period is characterized by cruel civil war with several hetmans fighting each other and inviting Tatars, Poles, Turks, and Muscovites for help. The foreign powers tried to place different groups of starshyna against each other and in such a way to keep Ukrainians from uniting. The situation did not stabilize until 1686, when Russia concluded the so-called “eternal peace” with Poland, according to which Ukraine finally was divided between the two countries along the Dnieper River.[7] As a result of the war, Ukraine (especially the Right Bank) was virtually devastated. The Right Bank lost about 70 percent of the population.[8] The Left Bank lost about 50 percent.
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