The siege of Zhvanets ( Ukrainian: ''Облога Жванця'',

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Oblężenie Żwańca''; September – 15 December, 1653) was fought between the

Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate (; Cossack Hetmanate#Name, see other names), officially the Zaporozhian Host (; ), was a Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossack state. Its territory was located mostly in central Ukraine, as well as in parts of Belarus and southwest ...

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of th ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

as a part of the

Khmelnytskyi Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Co ...

. Near the site of the present-day village of

Zhvanets Zhvanets () is a village (a ''Village#Ukraine, selo'') in Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district) of Khmelnytskyi Oblast in western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Zhvanets rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The ...

on the

Dniester River The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, forces of

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...

and

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

under the command of

Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Zynoviy Bohdan Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky of the Abdank coat of arms ( Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern , Polish: ; 15956 August 1657) was a Ruthenian nobleman and military commander of Zaporozhian Cossacks as ...

Ivan Bohun Ivan Bohun () (died 1664) was a Zaporozhian Cossack colonel. A close associate and friend of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, he opposed both the pacts with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Treaty of Hadiach of 1658) and with the Tsardom of Russia (Pere ...

and

İslâm III Giray İslâm III Giray (; 1604 – 10 July 1654) was khan of the Crimean Khanate for ten years (1644–1654), interrupting the reign of his brother Mehmed IV Giray. He was khan during the Khmelnytsky uprising of the Cossacks against Poland. Ancestors ...

besieged a Polish–Lithuanian force under the command of

John II Casimir John II Casimir Vasa (; ; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 to his abdication in 1668 as well as a claimant to the throne of Sweden from 1648 to 1660. He was the first son of Sigis ...

Background

Despite poor quality of Polish soldiers and their officers, as cream of the Polish Army had been murdered in the Batih massacre (June 1652), the spring offensive of 1653 progressed successfully. The situation changed when Khmelnytsky’s Cossacks joined forces with Tatars commanded personally by

Islam III Giray Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number 2 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious populatio ...

. When news of this reached King Jan Kazimierz Waza, he decided to abandon his positions in

Bar, Ukraine Bar ( ; ; ) is a city located on the Riv River in Vinnytsia Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located in the historic region of Podolia. It served as the administrative center of the former Bar Raion until 2020. The city's estimated population is 1 ...

, and head towards Zhvanets, to await Moldavian and Transilvanian reinforcements. Polish forces camped at the confluence of the and the

Dniestr The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Ukr ...

rivers, building a pontoon bridge over the Dniester, to keep in touch with

Bucovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

. The reinforcements were inadequate: George II Rakoczi sent 2000 soldiers, while

Gheorghe Stefan Gheorghe is a Romanian and Aromanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to: Given name * Gheorghe Adamescu (1869–1942), Romanian literary historian and bibliographer * Gh ...

, only 1000.

Siege

Bohdan Khmelnytsky decided not to make a frontal attack of the Polish camp. Instead, he chose a long-lasting siege, which began in late August 1653, and dragged on throughout autumn into December. As time went by and the weather worsened, Polish defenders began to starve, and a number of soldiers fled their positions in search of food. The situation was anxiously observed by Khan Islam III Giray, who did not wish for complete destruction of Polish forces, as this would eventually strengthen the Cossacks, who, despite the temporary alliance, were his traditional enemies. Furthermore, in late autumn news from

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

came: the Russians wanted to protect Ukraine, and wage war against Poland. Under the circumstances, on December 16, 1653, Poles and Tatars agreed to an oral truce. Khmelnytsky had to end the siege: his only achievement was that the Poles agreed to renew the

Treaty of Zboriv The Treaty of Zboriv was signed on August 18, 1649, after the Battle of Zboriv when the Crown forces of about 35,000, led by King John II Casimir of Poland, clashed against a combined force of Cossacks and Crimean Tatars, led by Hetman Bohdan Khm ...

. Polish Army finally left the camp, while Cossacks headed towards Pereyaslav, where the

Treaty of Pereyaslav The Pereiaslav Agreement or Pereyaslav AgreementPereyaslav Agreement

was signed in 1654.

Aftermath

Some historians such as consider the battle an Cossack victory. However, others consider the battle inconclusive.

References

Bibliography

*Władysław Andrzej Serczyk: Na płonącej Ukrainie. Dzieje Kozaczyzny 1648-1651. Warszawa: Książka i Wiedza, 1998, p. 328-329. . * Maciej Franz: Wojskowość Kozaczyzny Zaporoskiej w XVI-XVII wieku. Geneza i charakter. Toruń: Adam Marszałek, 2004, p. 222. . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Zhvanets Conflicts in 1653 1653 in Europe

Battles involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Battles involving the Crimean Khanate