Berestechko military campaign of 1651 in Polish historiography of the first half of ХХ century

Анотація

Abstract. Introduction. The National Liberation War under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytsky is one of the most important periods of the national history, the events and figures of which have become perhaps the most vivid images in the historical consciousness of Ukrainians. They also played an important role in shaping the image of the Ukrainian people in the minds of their neighbours. This is especially true of the Polish people, on whose fate Khmelnychchyna (Khmelnytsky Region) has left almost the same tangible mark as on the fate of the Ukrainians. An important stage in this conflict was the military campaign of 1651, which is associated with many vivid images, stereotypes and myths, that were reflected in the scientific research of the Polish historians who worked in the first half of the twentieth century.

Purpose. The aim of this article is to study the peculiarities of depicting the events of the Berestechko campaign of 1651 in the Polish historical science of the first half of the twentieth century, analysis of patterns and stereotypes used in describing certain facts, processes and personalities of the common Polish-Ukrainian history.

Results. The events of the Berestechko campaign of 1651 played an important role in the presentation of the image of Khmelnychchyna by Polish historians. Scientists have focused a lot of attention on the problem of resolving a new round of war after the conclusion of the Zboriv Peace Treaty. They found the reason for this in foreign intrigues, and in particular, in the incitement of the Cossacks to war by the Ottoman Empire. Also, the campaign of 1651 was often depicted by Polish scholars, in the tradition of the ideas of civilizational confrontation, as a march of the Muslim world against the Christian West. On the other hand, emphasis was placed on the militant aspirations of the Cossack masses, who could no longer see their lives without war and military gain. Covering the events of the Battle of Berestechko, historians emphasized the use of King Jan Kasimir’s new Western European tactics of battle, which ensured the victory of Polish troops. Scholars praised Prince Yarema Vyshnevetsky on the battlefield and often described his heroism in exaggerated forms. Historians considered the whole campaign of 1651 to be the time of lost opportunities, because the Cossacks were not completely defeated, and the unity of the Commonwealth and peace on its lands was not established. They saw the reason for this in the low level of social discipline and political consciousness caused by aristocratic arbitrariness, as a result of which, after the victory at Berestechko, most of the Polish army refused to take part in further campaigns in Ukraine, as well as in the actions of individual commanders, which for personal reasons were not marked by the necessary initiative.

Originality. The article examines a number of stereotypes and historical myths that prevailed in depicting the events of the Polish-Ukrainian war of 1651 in the works of Polish historians, in particular, the tendency to portray the Cossack-Tatar enemy as a barbaric mass with a whole set of corresponding negative symbolic characteristics. Approaches to glorifying the Polish side and creating a patriotic educational ideal from it were also considered in the investigation.

Conclusions. Depiction of the events of the Berestechko campaign of 1651 in the works of Polish historians of the first half of the twentieth century bore a significant ideological imprint of the glorification of Polish troops and individuals, condemning certain shortcomings of contemporary society at the same time. Through their prism, they tried to create heroic ideals to be followed by contemporaries and look for recipes for the challenges of the twentieth century in the past. The study of images and stereotypes in the depiction of the events of Khmelnychchyna has significant prospects for the analysis and overcoming of various historical myths that often weigh on the relations between the Polish and Ukrainian peoples.