Koliyivschyna
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Koliyivschina 1768-1769 (Ukrainian: Коліївщина, from Ukr. koliy - "the one who stabs") was a Ukrainian Cossack and peasant rebellion against Poland, which left a trail of butchered noblemen (szlachta), Jews, Uniates, and Catholic priests across the western part of the country. This rebellion was aiming at stopping social, national, and religious oppression of Ukrainians. The rebellion was simultaneous to (and in part sparked by) the Confederation of Bar and a de facto civil war in Poland.
The movement spread over the territory from the right bank of the Dnieper River to the river Syan. At Uman it led to a massacre of legendary proportions. Some twenty thousand Catholics and Jews were herded into their churches and synagogues and killed in cold blood. In three weeks of unbridled violence the rebels killed over 200,000 people.[citation needed] The leading part of this uprising was played by Cossack leaders Maksym Zalizniak and Ivan Gonta.
The rebellion was suppressed by the joint forces of Polish and Russian armies.
More recent evidence has shown the actual number of deaths to be in the tens of thousands, rather than the previously thought 200,000.[citation needed]
[edit] Koliyivshchyna in popular culture
Taras Shevchenko's epic poem Haidamaky (The Haidamakas) chronicles the events of the Koliyivshchnyna.
[edit] See also
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