The Pereiaslav Agreement (1654)

As the war continued with varying fortune without a clear prospect for success (since the Tatars were against it) Khmelnytsky started to look for another powerful and reliable ally. Two powerful neighbors – Turkey and Muscovy – were under consideration. There was a big problem with the Turks – they were Muslims. It was clear that the masses would not like such a union.

Thus, the choice was quite predictable: it was Moscow since Russians had the same religion. From the start of the uprising, Khmelnytsky had asked the tsar to come to his aid. But Moscow’s response had been extremely cautious. Russia lost a war with Poland in the 1630s and now it decided to wait for Cossacks and Poles to exhaust each other and only then to enter the war. However, by 1653, with the Ukrainians threatening to choose Turkey, the Russians could not put off a decision any longer. Turkish protectorate meant the appearance of the Ottoman Empires’ borders near the city of Kursk, an important Russian administrative center.

Tsar Alexei decided to help Ukrainians and in such a way to expand his territories. There were also other reasons for help. The Cossack state had what was then considered to be a big army, hardened in battles against the Polish army, one of Europe’s best. Moscow had to consider the possibility of a compromise achieved between the Polish king and the Ukrainian hetman. In that case Moscow would have been faced with a very serious enemy: Poland and Khmelnytsky.

In January 1654, a union between Russia and Ukraine was solemnly proclaimed in the city of Pereiaslav (present-day Pereiaslav-Khmelnytsky in Kyiv region). The following treaty, the so-called Bereznevi statti, gave Cossack Ukraine a wide autonomy under Russia’s protection. The Cossack state had practically unlimited internal self-rule but was to pay tribute to Moscow as price for protection, and also to provide military help in wars. Moscow also allowed Ukraine to have a large army (60,000) of Registered Cossacks. As to foreign relations, Ukraine was free to establish them with any country except for Poland, Crimea and Turkey. But Khmelnytsky often violated this rule and maintained close diplomatic relations with these countries. Many historians agree that under Khmelnytsky’s rule Ukraine was practically an independent state.

After Khmelnytsky concluded the Pereiaslav agreement with Moscow, the Crimean Tatars decided to support Poland. In the summer of 1656 Poland’s position sharply deteriorated. Swedish armies entered Poland from the north and occupied much of its territory. Poland, fighting on several fronts, seemed on the verge of collapse.¹⁸ Under such circumstances Polish diplomats promised the Russian tsar to elect him their king (after the death of the present Polish king) and make Poland part of a common Russian-Polish-Lithuanian federation under Moscow Tsar’s leadership. Moscow accepted the proposal and declared war on Sweden (1656). The Polish-Russian union automatically closed all hopes for Khmelnytsky to liberate Ukraine with Russian help.¹⁹ The hetman was infuriated and tried to achieve his goals by choosing other allies. Another conflict between Tsar Alexei and Khmelnytsky was over Belarus. Each of them wanted to attach Belarus to his lands.

Without breaking the union with Russians Khmelnytsky also signed agreements with Swedes and Transylvanians who were fighting the Poles. The situation became very complicated and looked awkward when Ukrainians in union with Swedes fought against Poles while Russians in union with Poles fought against Swedes. Khmelnytsky also sent a Cossack corps of Colonel Zhdanovych to help the Transylvanians capture Krakow and Warsaw. After the fall of these cities it looked like Khmelnytsky almost achieved his plans. Unfortunately for him Denmark entered the war and Swedish troops had to leave Poland. The Poles managed to raise new armies. The corps of Zhdanovych rebelled and returned home. Left without Cossack help the Transylvanian army was destroyed. Shocked by the events the hetman died of a stroke on 6 August 1657. Some Ukrainian historians stressed the fact that Khmelnytsky before his death was preparing a protectorate agreement with the Swedish King²⁰ and mentioned this openly in the summer of 1657 to Ivan Buturlin, a representative of the Russian tsar in Ukraine. The hetman’s death prevented him from carrying out this plan. That fact is silenced in Russia for political reasons. In Russian school textbooks Khmelnytsky remains a symbol of unity between Russians and Ukrainians.