The term Deluge (Polish: Роtор, Lithuanian: Tvanas) denotes a series of mid-17th century campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky (Chmielnicki) Uprising of 1648 and the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, thus comprising the Polish–Lithuanian theaters of the Russo-Polish and Second Northern Wars. In a stricter sense, the term refers to the Swedish invasion and occupation of the Com...
More
The term Deluge (Polish: Роtор, Lithuanian: Tvanas) denotes a series of mid-17th century campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky (Chmielnicki) Uprising of 1648 and the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, thus comprising the Polish–Lithuanian theaters of the Russo-Polish and Second Northern Wars. In a stricter sense, the term refers to the Swedish invasion and occupation of the Commonwealth as a theater of the Second Northern War only (1655–1660); In Poland and Lithuania this period is called the Swedish Deluge (Lithuanian: Švedų tvanas, Polish: Potop szwedzki).
During the wars the Commonwealth lost an estimated one-third of its population as well as its status as a great power.
In 1648, the Ruthenian feudal lord Bohdan Khmelnytsky (known in Polish as "Bohdan Chmielnicki") led a popular uprising of Dnieper Cossacks and Ukrainian peasants discontented with the rule of Polish and Lithuanian magnates.
Although the initial...
Less
