|
Poland The Deluge, 1648-67
Although Poland-Lithuania escaped the ravages of the
Thirty Years' War
(see Glossary), which ended in 1648, the
ensuing two
decades subjected the country to one of its severest
trials. This
colorful but ruinous interval, the stuff of legend and the
popular historical novels of Nobel laureate Henryk
Sienkiewicz
(1846-1916), became known as the potop, or deluge,
for the
magnitude of its hardships. The emergency began with an
uprising
of Ukrainian Cossacks that persisted in spite of Warsaw's
efforts
to subdue it by force. After the rebels won the
intervention of
Muscovy on their behalf, Tsar Aleksei conquered most of
the
eastern half of the country by 1655. Taking advantage of
Poland's
preoccupation, Charles X of Sweden rapidly overran much of
the
remaining territory of the commonwealth in 1655. Pushed to
the
brink of dissolution, Poland-Lithuania rallied to recover
most of
its losses to the Swedes. Swedish brutality raised
widespread
revolts against Charles, whom the Polish nobles had
recognized as
their ruler in the meantime. Under Stefan Czarniecki, the
Poles
and Lithuanians drove the Swedes from their territory by
1657.
Further complicated by noble dissension and wars with the
Ottoman
Turks, the thirteen-year struggle over control of Ukraine
ended
in the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667. Although Russia had
been
defeated by a new Polish-Ukrainian alliance in 1662,
Russia
gained eastern Ukraine in the peace treaty.
Despite the improbable survival of the commonwealth in
the
face of the potop, one of the most dramatic
instances of
the Poles' knack for prevailing in adversity, the episode
inflicted irremediable damage and contributed heavily to
the
ultimate demise of the state. When Jan II Kaziemierz
abdicated in
1668, the population of the commonwealth had been nearly
halved
by war and disease. War had destroyed the economic base of
the
cities and raised a religious fervor that ended Poland's
policy
of religious tolerance. Henceforth, the commonwealth would
be on
the strategic defensive facing hostile neighbors. Never
again
would Poland compete with Russia as a military equal.
Data as of October 1992
|
