Deluge (history)

The Deluge (Polish: potop szwedzki, Lithuanian: švedų tvanas) was a series of mid-17th-century military campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense, it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, comprising the Polish theatres 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 theatre of the Second Northern War (1655–1660) only; in Poland and Lithuania this period is called the Swedish Deluge (Polish: potop szwedzki, Lithuanian: švedų tvanas, Swedish: Svenska syndafloden), or less commonly the Russo–Swedish Deluge (Polish: Potop szwedzko-rosyjski) due to the simultaneous Russo-Polish War. The term "deluge" (potop in Polish) was popularized by Henryk Sienkiewicz in his novel The Deluge (1886).

This article is about the 17th-century Swedish invasion. For the 18th-century Swedish invasion, see Swedish invasion of Poland (1701–1706). For the use of the term "Deluge" outside the field of European history, see Deluge (disambiguation).

The Deluge
Part of Northern Wars (Second Northern War and the 1654–1667 Russo-Polish War)

The occupation of the Commonwealth by Sweden, Russia, Brandenburg and Khmelnytsky's Cossacks
Date
  • January 25, 1648 – 1666 (wider sense)
  • 1655 – April 23 (O.S.), May 3 (N.S.) 1660 (Swedish Deluge)
Location
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Result

Treaty of Oliva

  • Swedish invasion of Poland-Lithuania failed
  • Emergence of Cossack Hetmanate under Russian protection
  • Eventual transformation of Russia into the Russian Empire
  • John II Casimir renounces all his claims to the Swedish crown
  • Division of the Cossack Hetmanate between the Commonwealth and Russia (Truce of Andrusovo)
  • Decline of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Territorial
changes		 Swedish-ruled Livonia is formally ceded to Sweden
Belligerents
  • Swedish Empire
  • Russia (1654–1656, 1658–1667)
  • Brandenburg (1656–1657)
  • Cossack Hetmanate (Left Bank Cossacks)
  • Transylvania (1656–1667)
  •  Moldavia
  •  Wallachia
  • Lithuanian supporters
Commanders and leaders
  • John II Casimir
  • Stefan Czarniecki
  • Stanisław Potocki
  • Wincenty Gosiewski
  • Mehmed IV Giray
Strength
69,000 191,000
Casualties and losses
Total dead: 3,000,000–4,000,000

During the wars the Commonwealth lost approximately one third of its population as well as its status as a great power due to invasions by Sweden and Russia. According to Professor Andrzej Rottermund, manager of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the destruction of Poland in the Deluge was more extensive than the destruction of the country in World War II. Rottermund claims that Swedish invaders robbed the Commonwealth of its most important riches, and most of the stolen items never returned to Poland. Warsaw, the capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, was destroyed by the Swedes, and out of a pre-war population of 20,000, only 2,000 remained in the city after the war. According to the 2012 Polish estimates, the material damage caused by the Swedish army amounted to 4 billion złotys. 188 cities and towns, 186 villages, 136 churches, 89 palaces, and 81 castles were completely destroyed in Poland.

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