ОСНОВНІ ЗОВНІШНІ ТА ВНУТРІШНІ ПОЛІТИЧНІ ЧИННИКИ ГАДЯЦЬКОЇ УНІЇ: УКРАЇНСЬКІ ОБСТАВИНИ, ПЕРЕДУМОВИ, ПРИЧИНИ (серпень 1657 р. – вересень 1658 р.)

The article explains the reasons for concluding the Hadiach agreement in Ukraine. The general state of research and sources for studying the issue are characterized. The article explains the main reasons why the Zaporizhzhia Army retreated from the Pereyaslav Treaty of 1654 by signing the Hadiach Union with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The circumstances in which the Cossack state found itself after the death of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, and its status, as it was perceived in the world during the years of the hetmanship of Ivan Vyhovskyi, are characterized. The formation of a community of like-minded people among the Cossack elite is analyzed. The intentions, plans, and actions of the Muscovite state and internal factors that caused the formation of a pro-Polish orientation among the top Cossack officers were tracked. It is explained what the main reasons were for the willingness of the Cossack political elites to negotiate the restoration of peace and alliance with Poland.

After the death of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, some difficult circumstances and challenges required the strengthening of the Cossack state. Although the Zaporizhzhia Army was formed and established itself as a state-army, it could not assert its independence under the circumstances of the time. Khmelnytskyiʼs successor Ivan Vyhovskyi, who was formed as a political figure during the Khmelnytskyi period, as a capable organizer managed to ensure the formation of a community of like-minded people among the Cossack elite. The consolidation of the leadership of the Cossack state was facilitated by the exposure of the intentions of the Moscow state, which introduced the principle of «divide and rule» both in Ukrainian affairs in foreign policy and Europe, and in its policy regarding the gradual incorporation of Ukraine by strengthening social antagonisms and political conflicts and other contradictions, an important tool the provision of what was supposed to be the introduction of the troops of the Muscovite kingdom into Ukraine. The Kremlinʼs gross violation of the terms of the Pereyaslav Agreement of 1654 and Moscowʼs active attack on the freedom of the Ukrainian Cossacks caused their resistance and the formation of a pro-Polish orientation among the top Cossack elders. The positive attitude of the leadership of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine to the idea of ​​the union of the Cossack state with Poland was also of great importance for the political rapprochement of the Zaporizhzhia Army with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Kremlinʼs attack on the rights and freedom of the Ukrainian Cossacks caused a readiness among some of the Cossack elites for negotiations on the restoration of peace and alliance with Poland. In the end, the negotiations on the conclusion of an understanding between Ukraine and Poland in the form of the Hadiach Union became one of the consequences and one of the forms of resistance to the Kremlinʼs attack on the freedom and rights of the Zaporizhzhia Army