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:
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.
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
http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\M\A\MazepaIvan.htm
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