Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth was a proposed (but never actually created) European state in the 17th century that would replace contemporal Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The creation of a Duchy of Ruthenia was considered at various times, particularly during the 1648 Cossack

Cossack

Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...

 insurrection against Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 rule in Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

. Such a Ruthenia

Ruthenia

Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...

n duchy, as proposed in the 1658 Treaty of Hadiach

Treaty of Hadiach

The Treaty of Hadiach was a treaty signed on 16 September 1658 in Hadiach between representatives of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Cossacks...

, would have been a full-fledged member of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which would thereby have become a tripartite Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth. In May 1659, the Polish Diet (Sejm) ratified the treaty with an emended text. The idea of a Ruthenian Duchy within the Commonwealth was completely abandoned.

The Canadian historian Paul Robert Magosci believes that it happened due to divisions among the Cossacks and Muscovite invasion

Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)

The Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667, also called Thirteen Years' War, First Northern War, War for Ukraine was the last major conflict between Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1655 and 1660, the Second Northern War was also fought in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,...

 which, however, both occurred much earlier than the Treaty of Hadiach was signed. The Russian historian Tairova-Yakovleva considers the resistance of the Polish society and the papal pressure as the reasons for the incomplete ratification.

See also

• Międzymorze
  Miedzymorze
  Międzymorze was a plan, pursued after World War I by Polish leader Józef Piłsudski, for a federation, under Poland's aegis, of Central and Eastern European countries...
  
  
• Polish-Lithuanian-Muscovite Commonwealth
  Polish-Lithuanian-Muscovite Commonwealth
  The Polish–Lithuanian–Muscovite Commonwealth was a proposed state that would have been based on a personal union between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia...
  
  
• Ruthenian Voivodship

External links

Rzeczpospolita Trojga Narodów

Commonwealth of Diverse Cultures