Great Expulsion (Ukraine)

Great Expulsion (Ukrainian: Великий згін) was a campaign of mass forced resettlement organized by Cossack hetman Ivan Samoilovych with the support of Muscovite voivodes in Right-bank Ukraine. Initiated in order to weaken the support base of Samoilovych's rival, Right-bank hetman Petro Doroshenko, the campaign started in 1674 and reached its peak in 1678-1679, resulting in the devastation of the territories of Cherkasy, Kaniv and Korsun regiments and transfer of their populations to Left-bank Ukraine.[1]

Background

Following the 1667 Treaty of Andrusovo, the lands of the Cossack Hetmanate in Ukraine were divided between Poland and the Tsardom of Muscovy, with the Right (Western) bank of the Dnieper coming under the Polish rule and the Left (Eastern) being controlled by Moscow. As a result, rival hetmanates emerged on each bank under protectorate of the respective powers controlling their regions.[2]

Having come to power as a Polish vassal in 1665, Right-bank hetman Petro Doroshenko eventually switched alliances and pledged allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. After defeating Poland in 1672, the Ottomans annexed Podolia and placed Bratslav and southern parts of Kyiv Voivodeship under their protection.[2] The weakening of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was used by Left-bank Cossack hetman Ivan Samoilovych and his Russian allies, who in early 1674 invaded the Right Bank and attacked the forces of Doroshenko and his Turkish and Tatar allies. After Polish troops of Jan Sobieski reinvaded the area in autumn of the same year, mass flight of the local population began.[1]

Resettlement

Throughout 1674 and 1675, almost the entire population of Bratslav and Uman regiments migrated to the Left Bank, Volhynia, Galicia and Sloboda Ukraine.[2] In addition to spontaneous migration, many local inhabitants were forcibly deported on the orders of Samoilovych, who aimed to deprive Doroshenko of people and resources.[1]

Following Doroshenko's capitulation in 1676, Muscovite troops stayed in Right-bank Ukraine, which was officially recognized part of the Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of Zurawno.[3] This resulted in a new war, which culminated in the destruction of the Cossack capital in Chyhyryn and its capture by Turkish troops in 1678.[4]

Pressured by Ottoman forces, Samoilovych was urged by Muscovite voivodes to continue the resettlement action with the aim of removing the Right-bank population to Left-bank and Sloboda Ukraine.[1][5] Between 1678 and 1679 the surviving settlements along the Dnieper were burned down. The cities of Cherkasy, Kaniv, Korsun and Rzhyshchiv were razed, and their inhabitants transferred to Left-bank Ukraine along with the populations of surrounding villages.[1] As a result, the territory of Right-bank Ukraine became largely deserted.[2]

Aftermath

In 1681 Muscovy and the Ottoman Empire concluded the Treaty of Bakhchisaray, according to which both parties agreed to a 20-year armistice. According to the provisions of the treaty, a buffer zone with no settled population was to be established in parts of central Ukraine between the Southern Buh and Dnieper rivers, separating Ottoman-held Podolia and Bratslav from the Muscovite-ruled Left Bank.[2] The same provision was included into the 1686 Treaty of Eternal Peace between the tsar and Polish king, which stated that the territory between Kyiv and Chyhyryn was to remain deserted and not controlled by any side.[4]

The devastation of Right-bank Ukraine, the cradle of Dnieper Cossacks, was lamented by Ukrainian chronicler Samiilo Velychko, who compared the event to the fall of Babylon.[1] According to him, at that time the whole territory west of Bila Tserkva was covered with ruins and populated only by wild animals. The damage to Podolia, which used to be a major grain producer before the war, was such that the Ottoman garrison of Kamianets had to be supplied with products from Moldavia. The area of Bar had lost all of its population, except for a group of semi-nomadic Tatars. Trade movement in the area ceased, except for Turkish-convoyed caravans connecting Kamianets and Sharhorod. Contemporary reports claimed, that a project of Dutch recolonization of the areas was issued to the Polish king, but his government declined it.[6] In his memoirs published in 1699 in Paris, a French traveller compared the state of Dnieper Ukraine after the numerous wars which had taken place in its territory to a "broad desert", claiming that only a few cities in the vicinity of the Polish border remained intact. He also noted that the loss of Cossack sovereignty was a consequence of that devastation.[7]

The plundering of the Right Bank damaged Samoilovych's popularity, forcing the hetman to distance himself from Moscow and eventually leading to his overthrow in 1687.[8] Following the treaties of Karlowitz and Adrianople, which returned Right-bank Ukraine under the rule of Poland-Lithuania, between late 1713 and early 1714 disengaging Russian forces performed another expulsion of the local population into Left-bank Ukraine.[9]

Legacy

In opinion of some linguists, the mass eastward movement of population from Right-bank Ukraine during the second part of the 17th century led to the intermixing of previously established dialects and contributed to the establishment of a single eastern variety of the Ukrainian language.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Natalya Yakowenko (2006). An Outline History of Medieval and Early Modern Ukraine. Krytyka. p. 393. ISBN 9667679829.
  2. ^ a b c d e Magocsi 1996, p. 227.
  3. ^ Natalya Yakowenko (2006). An Outline History of Medieval and Early Modern Ukraine. Krytyka. p. 395. ISBN 9667679829.
  4. ^ a b Natalya Yakowenko (2006). An Outline History of Medieval and Early Modern Ukraine. Krytyka. pp. 395–396. ISBN 9667679829.
  5. ^ "Right-bank Ukraine". Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Retrieved 2026-02-02.
  6. ^ Natalya Yakowenko (2006). An Outline History of Medieval and Early Modern Ukraine. Krytyka. p. 397. ISBN 9667679829.
  7. ^ Дмитро Наливайко (1998). "4". Очима Заходу: Рецепція України в Західній Європі XI-XVIII ст. Osnovy.
  8. ^ Natalya Yakowenko (2006). An Outline History of Medieval and Early Modern Ukraine. Krytyka. p. 398. ISBN 9667679829.
  9. ^ Natalya Yakowenko (2006). An Outline History of Medieval and Early Modern Ukraine. Krytyka. p. 428. ISBN 9667679829.
  10. ^ Іван Огієнко (2001). "VII". Історія української літературної мови. ISBN 9667821013.
  11. ^ Shevelov G.Y. (1979). A Historical Phonology of the Ukrainian Language. Heidelberg.

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