Treaty of Perpetual Peace (1686)
A Treaty of Perpetual Peace (also "Treaty of Eternal Peace" or simply Perpetual Peace, Russian: Вечный мир, Lithuanian: Amžinoji taika, Polish: Pokój wieczysty, in Polish tradition Grzymułtowski Peace, Polish: Pokój Grzymułtowskiego) between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was signed on 6 May 1686 in Moscow by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth envoys: voivod of Poznań Krzysztof Grzymułtowski and chancellor (kanclerz) of Lithuania Marcjan Ogiński and Russian knyaz Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn. These parties were moved to cooperate after a major geopolitical intervention in Ukraine on the part of the Ottoman Empire.[1]
The treaty confirmed the earlier Treaty of Andrusovo of 1667.[1] It consisted of a preamble and 33 articles. The treaty secured Russia's possession of Left-bank Ukraine plus the right-bank city of Kiev.[2] 146,000 rubles were to be paid to Poland as compensation for the loss of the Left Bank.[2] The region of Zaporizhian Sich, Siverian lands, cities of Chernihiv, Starodub, Smolensk and its outskirts were also ceded to Russia, while Poland retained Right-bank Ukraine. Both parties agreed not to sign a separate treaty with the Ottoman Empire.[2] By signing this treaty, Russia became a member of the anti-Turkish coalition, which comprised Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Holy Roman Empire and Venice. Russia pledged to organize a military campaign against the Crimean Khanate, which led to the Russo-Turkish War (1686–1700).
The treaty was a major success for Russian diplomacy. Strongly opposed in Poland, it was not ratified by the Sejm (parliament of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) until 1710.[2][3] The legal legitimacy of its ratification has been disputed.[4] According to Jacek Staszewski, the treaty was not confirmed by a resolution of the Sejm until the Convocation Sejm (1764).[5]
It marked a turning point in Russo-Polish relations and played a big part in the struggle of Eastern European peoples against the Turkish-Tatar aggression. Subsequently, it facilitated Russia's struggle with Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea.
The borders between Russia and the Commonwealth established by the treaty remained in effect until the First Partition of Poland in 1772.
References
- Ariel Cohen (1998). Russian Imperialism: Development and Crisis. Greenwood Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-275-96481-8.
- Jerzy Jan Lerski; Piotr Wróbel; Richard J. Kozicki (1996). Historical dictionary of Poland, 966-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-313-26007-0.
- Norman Davies (1982). God's Playground, a History of Poland: The origins to 1795. Columbia University Press. p. 406. ISBN 978-0-231-05351-8.
- Eugeniusz Romer, O wschodniej granicy Polski z przed 1772 r., w: Księga Pamiątkowa ku czci Oswalda Balzera, t. II, Lwów 1925, s. [355].
- Jacek Staszewski, August II Mocny, Wrocław 1998, p. 100.
