In the history of every nation there is a certain fateful time, which determines its further path of existence for many years to come.
For Ukraine, without a doubt, such a turning point was the Pereyaslav Rada, which became a great event that saved the Ukrainian people from spiritual, economic and national enslavement.
In the 16-17 centuries, Ukrainian lands were in the possession of the Commonwealth. They were sovereignly owned by the Polish gentry , which brutally exploited the indigenous population, calling them slaves.
Economic slavery was closely intertwined with the spiritual: in those years, Orthodoxy was underground, since the plans of Poland included the Catholicization of all of Ukraine.
Not wanting to endure a similar situation anymore, the Pereyaslav Rada was convened in 1654 by the Hetman Khmelnitsky, which became the final stage of the liberation movement of the Ukrainians.
At that time in tsarist Russia on the Don and Yaik territories already existed that did not know serfdom and enjoyed a certain autonomy. In these Cossack regions, the government settled Cossacks and Ukrainian peasants, granting them the rights of free people.
Very soon Sloboda Ukraine was created on the territory adjacent to them - an area of immigrants where the Cossack registry operated.
Just before the meeting, the hetman met with Buturin - the head of the Russian embassy, then with the elders Rada, who unanimously spoke out in favor of the agreement.
And already in the middle of the day they called an open, which in history is known as the Pereyaslav Rada. It was attended by citizens of the city, peasants from the surrounding areas, regiments stationed on lands already free from the Commonwealth.
The hetman made a speech in which he again recalled the many sacrifices suffered by his people during the liberation wars. He emphasized that for Ukrainians the only way to consolidate their gains would be recognition of Russia.
Khmelnitsky’s proposal was met with approval, elders, Cossacks and bourgeois swore an oath to the Russian Tsar. The Pereyaslav Rada of 1654, which practically reunited the Ukrainian and Russian people, was of great importance in the further development of both states, which jointly repelled foreign attacks.
What did each side receive from this alliance?
The Pereyaslav treaty provided Ukrainian peasants with freedom and deliverance from the national and religious oppression of the Commonwealth, Ukrainian foremen and nobility dreamed with the help of the Russian throne to strengthen their privileges, turning into the ruling class in Ukraine. And all this they could get only after the adoption of political autonomy within Russia.
The tsarist government recognized the election of the Ukrainian hetman, but with its subsequent approval. All states, except Turkey and the Commonwealth, could have diplomatic relations with Ukraine.
The Pereyaslav Rada retained the entire administrative and military apparatus formed during the anti-Polish war, as well as its election. The judicial system was to work according to local traditions and customs.
At the same time, the tsarist government had to control the collection of taxes, some of which were to go to its treasury.
The adoption of such a decision was greatly facilitated not only by the commonality of religion, but also by the existence of political, cultural and economic ties, the centuries-old proximity of peoples and languages.
However, the Pereyaslav agreement only in very general terms defined the relationship between Russia and Ukraine. Many of its provisions were interpreted by the parties in their own way, differently, which created in the future internal strife and conflicts with the Russian tsarist autocracy.
The adoption of this agreement led to a war that ensued between Russia and Poland, and lasted three years.