The Effects of the “Eastern European Thirty Years’ War” (1654–1686) on the Ukrainian regions

Abstract

According to the decision of the Pereiaslav Rada of 1654, Ukraine voluntarily entered into union with Russia, which triggered the outbreak of the “Eastern European Thirty Years’ War” (1654–1686) between Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for control over Ukrainian territory. From 1657 onward, following the death of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Ukrainian hetmans struggled for power, often supported by Polish, Ottoman, and Russian intervention. In Ukrainian historiography, this tragic period is known as the “Ruin.” The Treaty of Andrusovo of 1667 officially divided the Ukrainian lands along the Dnieper: Left-Bank Ukraine remained under Romanov rule, while Right–Bank returned to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. News of division shocked the Cossack starshyna, and the Russian government was accused of a grave betrayal of the Pereiaslav Agreement. The Treaty of Andrusovo, later reaffirmed as the “Eternal Peace” in 1686, restored Right-Bank Ukraine – except for Kyiv – to Poland, where it remained – though not without conflict or dispute – until the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. The incorporation of Ukrainian regions into different political states and cultural spheres contributed to long-term divergences in their historical development.