Artur Kijas
Prace Historyczne, Numer 146 (2), 2019, s. 319 - 329
https://doi.org/10.4467/20844069PH.19.015.9911The Commonwealth’s policy towards Moscow, 1672–1699
A fundamental transformation of the Polish-Russian relationship occurred in the second half of the 17th century. The war begun in 1654 ended in 1667 with the Truce of Andrusovo, when the palatinates of Smolensk, Chernihiv and the Left-Bank Ukraine were ceded to Moscow. Andrusovo represented a major turning point in the Polish-Russian relationship. Not only did the Commonwealth irretrievably lose its eastern lands, but the outcome confirmed the Russian ascendancy in the field of bilateral relations. The danger from the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate to Central and Eastern Europe led to Russia becoming a major member of the anti-Turkish coalition. The issue of an alliance with Russia against Turkey became of particular relevance during the reign of John III Sobieski. This occasioned negotiations on the subject of a permanent peace treaty between the Commonwealth and Russia which were combined with an attempt to recover diplomatically at least some of the lost lands. Krzysztof Grzymułtowski represented the Polish side in the final stage of arduous negotiations. The treaty of 1686 closed the chapter of Polish-Russian military confrontations, with a political degradation of the Commonwealth as their ultimate result.