Treaty of Hadiach

200px|left|thumb|Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth as proposed by Treaty of Hadiach in 1658

The Treaty of Hadiach (; ) was a treaty signed on 16 September 1658 in Hadiach, Cossack Hetmanate (present-day Ukraine) between representatives of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ( representing Poland and representing Lithuania) and Zaporozhian Cossacks (represented by Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky and starshina Yuri Nemyrych, the architect of the treaty, and Pavlo Teteria).

It was designed to elevate the Cossacks (Ruthenians) to a position equal to that of Poland and Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian union and in fact transforming the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth into a Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth (; ; ; ).

Background

A way to establish a Grand Principality of Ruthenia was considered by the Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky at various times, particularly during the 1648 Cossack insurrection against Polish rule in the mainly ethnically-Ukrainian territories (see Khmelnytsky Uprising).

Terms

200px|thumb|Oath of Polish king, John II Casimir, on the treaty of Hadiach, 10 June 1659.

The list of points and humble requests that are submitted at his mercy by Serene Hetman of Zaporizhian Host along with the whole Zaporizhian Host and Ruthenian people to his royal mercy and the whole Rzeczpospolita:

Creation of the Grand Principality of Ruthenia () from the palatinates of Chernihiv, Bratslav and Kyiv, which along with the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania would be part of one and indivisible "Rzeczpospolita" (res publica, or Commonwealth) in equal rights.
The duchy was to be governed by the Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host, elected for life from among four candidates that were chosen by all estates of Ukrainian society and confirmed by the King of Poland. The plan, as envisioned by Yuri Nemyrych, would have ennobled some Cossacks, who would then run the Grand Principality of Ruthenia (1658). Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky could not get enough Cossacks to agree to keeping the Uniate Church, which the Catholic church refused to liquidate, but many Cossacks strongly opposed the idea.

The plan meant an annulment of the Pereiaslav Agreement's arrangements and thus renewed hostilities between the Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia.

This decision, however, divided the Ukrainian Cossacks into pro-Russian and pro-Polish parties and led to the Ruin.

The concept of reconciliation between the Cossack Hetmanate and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was based on the principle of the confederal system of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth implemented at the Lublin Sejm in 1569.

According to the conditions proposed by the hetman Vyhovsky, Ukraine as an independent state called the Grand Duchy of Ruthenia was to join the confederation on equal terms with Poland and Lithuania. The territory of the Grand Duchy of Ruthenia consisted of the Kyiv, Bratslav and Chernihiv Voivodeships. The highest legislative power belonged to the national assembly of deputies, who were elected from all lands of the principality. Executive power was exercised by the hetman, who was elected for life and approved by the king. The selection of candidates for hetman was to be carried out jointly by all levels of Ukrainian society — the Cossacks, the nobility, and the clergy. The hetman headed the armed forces of Ukraine. In the Grand Duchy of Ruthenia, the state positions of chancellor, marshal, sub-treasury and the highest judicial tribunal were established.

The idea of a Ruthenian Duchy within the Commonwealth was completely abandoned in 1659 after the second Agreement. The Canadian historian Paul Robert Magocsi believes that happened because of the divisions among the Cossacks and because of the Russian invasion. However, those events were much earlier than the signing of the Treaty of Hadiach. The Russian historian Tairova-Yakovleva regards the resistance of Polish society and papal pressure as the reasons for the failure in ratification.

History and importance

thumb|left|150px|A 19th-century design for a coat of arms of a proposed Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth, which never came into being. It comprises the [[Poland|Polish White Eagle, Lithuanian Charging Knight, and Ruthenian Archangel Michael.]]

thumb|left|150px|Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth, or Commonwealth of Three Nations (1658)

The historian Andrew Wilson has called it "one of the great 'What-ifs?' of Ukrainian and East European history". He notes: <blockquote>"If it had been successfully implemented, the Commonwealth would finally have become a loose confederation of Poles, Lithuanians and Ruthenians. The missing Ukrainian buffer state would have come into being as the Commonwealth's eastern pillar. Russian expansion might have been checked and Poland spared the agonies of the Partitions or, perhaps just as likely, it might have struggled on longer as the 'Sick man of Europe'" (p. 65).</blockquote>In spite of considerable opposition by the Roman Catholic clergy, the Treaty of Hadiach was approved by Polish king and the Sejm on 22 May 1659 but with an amended text. The idea of a Ruthenian Duchy within the Commonwealth was completely abandoned. It was a Commonwealth attempt to regain influence over the Ukrainian territories, which had been lost after the series of Cossack uprisings (like the Khmelnytsky Uprising) and growing influence of Russia over the Cossacks (like the 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement).

Hetman Vyhovsky supported the negotiations with the Commonwealth, especially after he suppressed a revolt led by the colonel of Poltava, Martyn Pushkar, and severed relations with Tsardom of Russia for its violations of the Pereiaslav Agreement of 1654. The Treaty of Hadiach was, however, viewed by many Cossacks as "too little, too late", and they especially opposed the agreement to return the land property to the szlachta. After the 1648 revolt, the Commonwealth was very unpopular with ordinary Cossacks. Rank-and-file Cossacks saw the Orthodox Tsardom of Russia as their natural ally and did not care for an alliance with the overwhelmingly-Catholic Commonwealth. Furthermore, Hadiach was too much a deal that merely benefited the elite of the Cossacks, the starshyna, who wanted to be recognized as equal to the Polish nobility. Thus, while some Cossacks, among them the hetman Ivan Vyhovsky supported the Commonwealth, many opposed it, and Cossack unrest continued in Ukraine.

The Commonwealth position was further weakened by a string of losses in the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667). The Tsar felt threatened by the Treaty of Hadiach, which weakened his hold on Cossacks. The Russians saw the treaty as an act of war and, even before its ratification, sent an army into Ukraine. Although Polish-Lithuanian forces under Stefan Czarniecki dealt a defeat to Russian forces at the Battle of Polonka and recaptured Vilnius in 1660, the lack of other Commonwealth military successes, especially in Ukraine, further undermined Cossack support of the Commonwealth. Vyhovsky's early success at the Battle of Konotop in June 1659 was not decisive enough and was followed by a series of defeats. The Russian garrisons in Ukraine continued to hold out; a Zaporozhian attack on the Crimean Khanate forced Vyhovsky's Tatar allies to return home, and unrest broke out in the Poltava region. Finally, several pro-Russian colonels rebelled and accused Vyhovsky of "selling Ukraine out to the Poles".

Unable to continue the war, Vyhovsky resigned in October 1659 and retired to Poland. The situation was further complicated by the Ottoman Empire, which tried to gain control of the disputed region and played all factions against one another. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth was weakened by Lubomirski's rebellion. The treaty was mostly repeated in the 1660 Treaty of Chudnov.

In the end, Russia was victorious, as seen in the 1667 Truce of Andrusovo and the Treaty of Perpetual Peace (1686). Ukrainian Cossacks fell under the Russian sphere of influence, with much fewer privileges under the Hetmanate than would have been granted under the Treaty of Hadiach. By the late 18th century, Cossack political influence was almost destroyed by the Russian Empire.

Second Treaty of Hadiach

In the aftermath of the November Uprising in 1831, there was an attempt to recreate the Treaty of Hadiach to form a Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth to throw off the partitions of Poland. It was then that the coat of arms of the proposed Commonwealth was created. The planned convention in Hadiach was declared illegal by the Russians, who stationed close to 2,000 soldiers there to ensure that no meetings or demonstrations took place, and they blocked passage through nearby bridges. Despite the precautions, a mass and a celebration involving 15–20,000 people and over 200 priests (both Catholic and Orthodox) took place near Hadiach.

Second Union of Horodło

The idea of a Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth revived during the January Uprising when a patriotic demonstration took place at Horodło in 1861. The so-called Second Union of Horodło was announced there by the szlachta of Congress Poland of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania of Volhynia and of Podolia. The New Commonwealth, based on the Second Union of Horodło, was to be based on the three nations, and its proposed coat of arms included the Polish eagle, the Lithuanian Pahonia, and the patron saint of Ruthenia, the Archangel Michael.

Notes

References

External links

Treaty of Hadiache
The Question of Russo-Ukrainian Unity and Ukrainian Distinctiveness in Early Modern Ukrainian Thought and Culture
Jak Powstała Rzeczpospolita Trzech Narodów, Zbigniew Święch, Alma Mater (in Polish)
Rzeczpospolita Trojga Narodów
Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures