Kolomak Articles (1687)
Another stage of the assault on autonomy: a treaty with Moscow that eliminated independent diplomacy ("a hetman shall not be elected... nor shall they write anything to anyone on their own behalf"), prohibited declaring one's own subjecthood, and demanded: "to unite the Little Russian people with the Great Russian people by all measures and means... through marriage"[1].
Actors
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy | 7 |
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0009 | Diplomacy | 6 |
| S0010 | Regular Army | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
The systematic dismantling of the autonomy's democratic institutions. Moscow categorically forbade the Cossacks to elect their leaders independently and to conduct an independent foreign policy: "and without a petition and without a decree of the great sovereigns... a hetman shall not be elected... nor shall they, on their own... write anything to anyone"[1]. The abolition of the historical right to grant asylum: the autonomy was forced to perform the functions of the Muscovite punitive apparatus and to hand over fugitives: "and those fugitives and people of all ranks shall not be received, nor kept among them"[1].
To ensure constant armed oversight of the autonomy's top leadership and to prevent uprisings, the Tsardom of Muscovy stationed its regular troops directly in the hetman's capital: "with the hetman in Baturyn, for his protection and safety, there shall be a Muscovite streltsy regiment..."[1].
The introduction of strict political censorship. Under threat of punishment, the population was forbidden even to say aloud that their lands constituted a separate state entity: "and let no one utter such voices, that the Little Russian land is of the hetman's regiment"[1].
The use of demographic engineering to accelerate assimilation. Moscow openly proclaimed a course toward erasing ethnic boundaries by encouraging marriages with Great Russians: "to unite the Little Russian people with the Great Russian people by all measures and means... through matrimony and other conduct..."[1].
"In this provision of the articles, the tsarist government's aspiration to turn Ukraine into a region incorporated into the Russian state on ordinary terms was openly declared for the first time"[2].
The Tsardom of Muscovy enshrined in state documents its course toward the complete absorption of the region: "Prince Vasily declared in the articles the beginning of the process of Russification"[2].
To guarantee acceptance of the treaty's enslaving terms, the tsardom bribed the local starshyna with guarantees that they would keep their offices, placing the elite's personal ambitions above national ones: "the hetman shall not remove anyone of the general starshyna from office without the will and decree of their most serene tsarist majesty..."[1].