Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth

The Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Trojga Narodów, Republic of Three Nations) was a proposed (but never actually formed) European state in the 17th century that would have replaced the existing Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth

Rzeczpospolita Trojga Narodów
1658–1659
Map of the project of the Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth 1658-1659
CapitalWarsaw, Vilnius, Kyiv
Common languagesLatin, Polish, Ruthenian
Religion
Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Governmentmonarchy
King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and Grand Duke of Ruthenia 
• 1658—1659
John II Casimir Vasa
History 
• Established
1658
• Disestablished
1659
ISO 3166 codePL
Preceded by		Succeeded by
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Cossack Hetmanate
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Cossack Hetmanate
Republic of Three Nations according to the 1658 proposal
19th-century design for a coat of arms of a proposed Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth which never came into being. It consists of the Polish White Eagle, the Lithuanian Pahonia and the Ruthenian Archangel Michael
Administrative division of the Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth after the Hadiach Agreement

The establishment of the Grand Duchy of Ruthenia was considered at various times, particularly during the 1648 insurrection against Polish rule by the Cossacks who primarily lived in those territories (see Khmelnytsky Uprising). Such a Ruthenian duchy, as proposed in the 1658 Treaty of Hadiach, would have been a full-fledged member of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which would thereby have become a tripartite Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth. In May 1659, the Polish Diet (Sejm) ratified the treaty with an emended text.[1]

The idea of a Ruthenian Duchy within the Commonwealth was completely abandoned.[2] Canadian historian Paul Robert Magosci believes that this happened due to divisions among the Cossacks and to the Russian invasion;[3] however, both these events occurred 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 incomplete ratification.

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. New Poland, 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.

See also

References
  1. Władysław Konopczyński (1936). Dzieje Polski nowożytnej (A History of Modern Poland. Second edition, Warsaw 1986, p.27). ISBN 83-211-0730-3 : W izbach dużo było narzekania na to, że nowy układ łamie unię lubelską (...) Ostatecznie nad tymi rozczeniami, jak i nad protestem nuncjusza [Piotra Vidoniego] oraz biskupów, sejm przeszedł do porządku dziennego. 12 maja, w dzień Wniebowstąpienia, król, prymas i senat zaprzysięgli ugodę.
  2. Т.Г. Таирова-Яковлева, Иван Выговский // Единорогъ. Материалы по военной истории Восточной Европы эпохи Средних веков и Раннего Нового времени, вып.1, М., 2009: Под влиянием польской общественности и сильного диктата Ватикана сейм в мае 1659 г. принял Гадячский договор в более чем урезанном виде. Идея Княжества Руського вообще была уничтожена, равно как и положение о сохранении союза с Москвой. Отменялась и ликвидация унии, равно как и целый ряд других позитивных статей.
  3. Paul Robert Magocsi (1996). A History of Ukraine. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp.221-225. ISBN 0-8020-0830-5
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.