Historical calendar – the anniversary of the surrender of the Polish common beginning close the estuary. Under the arrangement, traitors gave the Swedes the full Wielkopolska.
Today in our calendar we will look at the circumstances accompanying the surrender of the Polish common move.
The considerable weakening of the Republic as a consequence of the fight against hops and Russia, prompted Sweden to break the truce and invasion. The ruler of this country, Charles X Gustav, saw the chance to make the Baltic his interior sea. He was besides afraid about Russian successes in Poland, and besides felt sorry for him to dissolve a modern and experienced army, which began to get tired since the 30 Years' War.
Moreover, the invasion was driven by Karol Gustav, an English dictator Oliver Cromwell, who wrote to him requests that he "take the horn of the Catholic beast." The Englishman besides allowed him to recruit experienced soldiers from his territory. There was besides a conflict over the Swedish crown, which the Polish Wazów never renounced and contacts with Protestants inside Poland who declared support. All these factors led to the decision to attack.
On 21 July 1655 he entered Wielkopolska from Pomerania, leading 14,000 soldiers of the Field Marshal Arvid Wittenberg. A fewer weeks later, Charles Gustav himself crossed the border with another 12,000. Prior to the concentration of hostile troops at the border, Poles gathered more than 13,000 common departures and 1,300 bench infantry. The regular army in Wielkopolska was not there, as it full fought in Belarus and Ukraine against the Moskals and Cossacks. The police gathered at the estuary camp.
The Sejm appointed Bogusław Leszczyński, the boy of “the Pope of Protestants in Poland”, Rafał Leszczyński. This magnate, for individual material benefits, formally converted to Catholicism, but still, like his father, financially supported Polish dissidents. Leszczyński, for unknown reasons (translated the disease) refused to take command and fled to Wrocław.
Shortly after the full Wielkopolska was occupied by Swedes, he returned to the country to ask Charles Gustav for protection for his estates. Interestingly, he relied on his desertion and portrayed it as merit.
In the face of the chief's escape, command of the army gathered at the mouth of the estuary was taken by the inept and cowardly Krzysztof Opaliński and Andrzej Grudziński. erstwhile the Swedish army approached the Polish camp, after a short fight they left for little favorable positions, and then started the arrangements. On July 25, they capitulated, giving the Swedes all of Wielkopolska and acknowledging Charles Gustav as a legitimate ruler. All this for the price of leaving their magnate property alone.
In the face of the departure of the common moving home, the country faced the enemy with an opening. On the news of the surrender, Jan Kazimierz planned to renounce the Polish crown for the Habsburgs, if only they undertook military aid against the Swedes. The lonely king withdrew from the capital, leading a fewer delaying forces.
On September 8, the enemy seized Warsaw without a fight, and then began to prosecute the Polish king in the confederate direction. After the failure of the conflict at Żarnowiec, Jan Kazimierz went to Lenny Śląski, while the Swedes besieged Stefan Czarniecki in Krakow, which capitulated in the mediate of October.
Meanwhile, in Lithuania, Janusz Radziwiłł along with his cousin Bogusław, switched to the enemy side. On October 20, 1655, they signed the Keidan Agreement under which they gave the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under the authority of Gustav Adolf. In the face of Russian-Cossack attacks on the Lublin region, the Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław “Rewera” Potocki was forced to pass to the side of the Swedes. At this point, almost the full country was under occupation. From larger fortresses, he defended only Malbork, Puck and Protestant Gdańsk, who fought due to his opposition to Swedish hegemony in the Baltic trade.
Contrary to the promises from the mouth and Kiejdan, Swedes did not spare Polish civilians. Rape, robbery, and execution were on the line. Villages and manors were burned, and churches and Catholic monasteries were massively robbed and desecrated, frequently turning them into military magazines. There was mass plunder of works of art and valuable manuscripts specified as the works of Nicholas Copernicus. The vast areas of the flourishing country have been ravaged.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.
