The Treaty of Hadiach and the Ruin

By 1658 Poland, exhausted by the long war, understood that it would be much better to make serious concessions to Cossacks than to lose Ukraine totally. On the other hand, many members of Cossack starshyna raised under Polish liberal political system were shocked by the despotic character of Russian political system. They decided that it would be much better for them to live under the elected Polish monarch, whose political rights were limited, than under the Russian tsar, who enjoyed unlimited political power. Even boyars (highest aristocrats) in Moscow called themselves the tsar’s kholops (slaves). The result of these intentions was the so-called Treaty of Hadiach (1658) signed by the Polish king Jan II Casimir and Ukraine’s new hetman Ivan Vyhovsky who succeeded Khmelnytsky after his death.²³

According to the treaty, Rzeczpospolita was to be transformed into a confederation of three equal partners: Poles, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians. The Ukrainian principality, which included Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Bratslav lands (thus the Cossack territory did not include Volhynia and Galicia), was to have wide autonomy and its own army. The hetman was to be the head of principality. The legislative power was to be given to a parliament (National Assembly). The Cossack starshyna was to be equalized with the Polish nobility and be allowed to take part in electing a common king. The Polish szlachta were allowed to return to their former estates. The peasants were supposed to be returned into serfdom. The Hadiach treaty (1658) reminded in many aspects the Zboriv treaty (1649) and remains one of the bright examples of Ukrainians’ attempt to create their own statehood.

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. Vyhovsky 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 Yaroslavl beyond the Volga.

The hetman, however, could not take advantage of his brilliant victory. Zaporozhian otaman Ivan Sirko decided to use the opportunity to invade Crimea to get booty since the Tatar army was fighting together with Vyhovsky against the Russians. As the result of Sirko’s actions the angry Tatars abandoned Vyhovsky and moved to Crimea to defend their lands. On the way they burnt many Ukrainian villages and took thousands of captives (yasyr). Several Cossack colonels inspired by Russia also rebelled against Vyhovsky. Faced with such difficulties Vyhovsky resigned in September 1659 and fled to Poland.

The majority of Ukrainian population did not understand Vyhovsky’s plans. The Zaporozhian Cossacks did not even try to listen to Vyhovsky’s envoys that were sent to acquaint them with the Hadiach Treaty. The envoys were just killed when they tried to speak. Many Ukrainians thought that Vyhovsky “sold Ukraine to Poland.” Peasants and poor Cossacks simply did not trust the hetman. Vyhovsky’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 meant the returning of serfdom to them.

With Vyhovsky, 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 against 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 was finally divided between the two countries along the Dnieper River.²⁴ As a result of the war, Ukraine (especially the Right Bank) was virtually devastated. The Right Bank lost about 70 percent of the population.²⁵ The Left Bank lost about 50 percent.