The Deluge was a period of Polish history marked by invasions by Sweden and Russia, the uprising of the Cossacks of the Zaporizhian Sich, and a civil war between nobles loyal to King John II Casimir Vasa and the Swedish king Charles X Gustav. Poland-Lithuania lost a third of its population and its status as a great power, suffering more extensive destruction than during World War II and losing much of its wealth to Swedish plundering. The Swedish destruction of Warsaw reduced the city's population of 20,000 to 2,000, and 188 cities and towns, 186 villages, 136 churches, 89 palaces, and 81 castles were completely destroyed in Poland.
History[]
During the 16th century, Poland-Lithuania's southward expansion resulted in the Zaporizhian Cossacks becoming Polish subjects, with Registered Cossacks serving in the Polish army until 1699. The Cossacks' unauthorized raids on Ottoman territories resulted in reciprocal Tatar raids on the Commonwealth, and, though the Poles and Ottomans sought to control the Cossacks after they razed Istanbul's outskirts in 1615 and 1625, the Cossacks sent an insulting letter to Sultan Mehmed IV in response to his demand for the Cossacks' submission. The Poles eventually forced the Cossacks to burn their boats and stop raiding, but they eventually resumed their attacks, and the Cossack-Tatar wars continued on the borders with Moldavia and Crimea. Ukrainian peasants escaped Polish serfdom to join the Cossacks' ranks, and Polish nobles' attempts to turn the Cossacks into serfs ended the Cossacks' loyalty, as did the Roman Catholic Commonwealth's attempts to suppress the Eastern Orthodox Church. The waning loyalty of the Cossacks, the Polish nobility's arrogance towards them, and the King's refusal to expand the Cossack Registry resulted in the outbreak of the Khmelnytsky Uprising in 1648. While the rebellion was ultimatley defeated at the Battle of Berestechko in 1651, Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky pledged fealty to the Tsardom of Russia in exchange for Tsar Alexis I of Russia's protection of the Ukrainians from the Poles. In October 1653, the Russian parliament declared war on the Commonwealth, and the Russians invaded in June 1654. The Russians conquered Smolensk and most of Belarus that same year.
At the same time, the unpopularity of King John II Casimir Vasa among the nobility due to his sympathies with absolutist Austria and his contempt for their Orientalist emulation of the Sarmatians led some Polish nobles (especially Protestants) to reject the "Jesuit-King" and invite King Charles X Gustav of Sweden to invade and seize the throne for himself. In July 1655, Swedish armies invaded Greater Poland from Pomerania. Greater Poland fell after the Battle of Ujscie on 24-25 July 1655, and the Swedes captured Poznan on 31 July. In September, the Polish defeat at the Battle of Sobota enabled the Swedes to enter Warsaw on 8 September, becoming the first foreign army to capture the city. After the 16 September Battle of Zarnow, the Poles were forced to surrender to the invaders, and King John II Casimir fled to Krakow. The 3 October Swedish victory at the Battle of Wojnicz opened the way for an advance on Krakow, which fell on 13 October 1655. Charles Gustav then headed north to Royal Prussia, having captured the three most populated and developed Polish provinces. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, occupied by the Swedish general Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, the treacherous Polish noble Janusz Radziwiłł formally ended Lithuania's union with Poland, accusing the Poles of not helping the Lithuanians against the Russian invasion (which resulted in the sack of Vilnius on 9 August 1655). On 3 November 1655, Poland and Russia formed an anti-Swedish alliance on the eve of the Russo-Swedish War of 1656-1658, enabling Poland to gather fresh forces. Though Elector Frederick William of Brandenburg supported the Poles by garrisoning Royal Prussia against Swedish invasion, the Swedes captured all of Royal Prussia apart from Gdansk, Puck, and Malbork in November-December 1655.
To prevent John Casimir's return to power, Swedish forces protected the Silesian border, but they failed to take the monastery-fortress at Jasna Gora in November. Polish resistance against the Swedes was galvanized, and Charles Gustav's insistence on looting Poland rather than ruling it persuaded many Poles to reject the Swedes and wage guerrilla war. By December 1655, Lesser Poland was engulfed in warfare, and John Casimir returned to Poland in December. After Radziwill's death, John Casimir returned to Lwow in February 1656 and rallied Polish forces there. The Swedes defeated the Poles at the Battle of Golab on 8 February 1656 and marched on Lwow, but they failed to capture Zamosc. Guerrilla warfare then broke out in Mazovia and Greater Poland, and the Swedes failed to capture Przemysl. On 7 April 1656, the Poles defeated the Swedish garrison of Warsaw at the Battle of Warka. Stefan Czarniecki and Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski's armies then liberated Royal Prussia, but they were defeated by the Swedes at the Battle of Klecko in May. The Polish survivors joined the Lithuanians in retaking Warsaw on 1 July 1656. Charles Gustav, desperate for help, persuaded Brandenburg-Prussia to join the war in exchange for expanded territorial control in Poland. The Prusso-Swedish army defeated the Poles at the July 1656 Battle of Warsaw and recaptured the city, but Polish resistance persisted and Charles Gustav decided to abandon Warsaw and retreat to Royal Prussia. Polish forces, supported by Tatars, invaded the Duchy of Prussia in October 1656 and won the Battle of Prostken in October before losing the Battle of Filipow in November 1656. The Poles' invasion of Neumark forced the Brandenburgers to withdraw, and, in December 1656, John Casimir secured the aid of Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I against the Swedes and Brandenburgians. By late 1656, the Swedes only held onto the right-bank half of Royal Prussia, northern Mazovia, Lowicz, Krakow, and Tykocin.
At the same time, however, Poland's enemies conspired against her: the Swedes, Polish collaborators, Brandenburgers, Cossacks, and Transylvanians formed an alliance. In January 1657, the Swedes won the Battle of Chojnice. The Transylvanians captured Tarnow before reaching Krakow in March, burning and looting as they went and killing thousands. In May 1657, the Poles raided Transylvania, and the outbreak of the Second Northern War between Denmark and Sweden forced Charles Gustav and most of his troops to leave Poland. The Ottoman sultan ordered the Crimean Tatars to aid the Poles against his rebellious Transylvanian subjects, and the Transylvanians retreated in July. On 20 July, the Poles defeated the Transylvanian-Cossack army at the Battle of Czarny Ostrow in Podolia, forcing Transylvania to exit the war and pay indemnities to Poland. All surviving members of Rakoczi's army were taken prisoner by the Tatars. On 30 August, the Swedes abandoned Krakow, and the rest of the Swedish army in Poland retreated to Royal Prussia. In November 1657, Poland made peace with Brandenburg and persuaded Prussia to switch sides in exchange for sovereignty, ending the subservience to Poland that had begun in 1466.
In 1658, the Poles and Austrians liberated much of Royal Prussia from the Swedes, and Boguslaw Radziwill rejoined the Polish cause. While Czarniecki aided the Danes against the Swedes, the Poles liberated Torun and captured Kolding. In 1658, the Polish-Russian truce ended when the Russians again invaded Lithuania, capturing large parts of the Commonwealth before being defeated at the Battle of Konotop and the Battle of Polonka. In May 1660, Poland and Sweden made peace, enabling the Poles to launch an offensive against Russia. The Russians lost the Battle of Chudnov, Vilnius was retaken in December 1661, and the Poles invaded left-bank Ukraine in 1663-1664. In January 1667, Poland made peace with Russia, limiting its territorial losses. The 1681 Russo-Turkish peace confirmed Russian control over left-bank Ukraine.
The Deluge brought an end to religious tolerance in Poland, as the Protestant Polish Brethren were expelled from Poland in 1658 and thousands of Jews were victimized by both the Poles and Cossacks. Poland gave up most of Livonia to Sweden in 1660, John Casimir Vasa renounced his right to the Swedish throne, and the Deluge ended in a status quo ante bellum. Poland's great power status was destroyed as 3 million Poles died and much of the country was devastated. The Deluge led to the rise of the Russian Empire, which destroyed Swedish great power status in the Great Northern War and would go on to partition Poland during the late 18th century.
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