Blood Flood
History of the Patriotic War of Belarus in 1654-1667
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If for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the "Blood Flood" was the war with Sweden in 1655-1660, then for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth it was the war with Muscovy in 1654-1667.
Historical Russian lands (south of the modern border of the Republic of Belarus, Ukraine) were transferred from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Poland according to the Union of Lublin in 1569 (the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the confederation of Lithuania and Poland).
Difficult relations between the Cossacks and the new Polish nobility led to numerous uprisings.
In 1648, Bogdan Khmelnytskyi was approved as the hetman of the Zaporozhian Army and, with the help of the Crimean Khan Girey, started another rebellion against the Crown. The struggle lasted until 1654, when at the Pereyaslav Council the Zaporozhian Army appealed for help to the Muscovite Kingdom and swore an oath to the tsar.
Having received allies in the form of the Zaporizhzhya Army, the Moscow kingdom started a war against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the same time, Sweden launched an offensive against Samogitia and Poland. The thirteen-year Blood Flood of 1654-1667 began.
According to the censuses, population losses amounted to 30 to 70% in different voivodships. The population of eastern Belarusian lands suffered the greatest losses. Of the fortresses of the Great Patriotic War, only Lyakhovichi and Slutsk were not captured by the enemy.
