WI: No Khmelnytsky Uprising

Despite getting the ‘’Braveheart’’ treatment by some Ukrainian nationalists, for most of his life Bohdan Khmelnytsky served as a ''registered Cossack'' in the Polish army rising through the ranks and took no part in Cossack uprising prior to the one he himself led.

His reasons for his abrupt revolt seem to be a personal grudge his estate was seized by a Polish nobleman and one of his sons along with the woman he intended to marry were killed. Khmelnytsky initially tried to take his grievance to court but was unsuccessful. This essentially started him good the road to rebellion,

So what if Khmelnytsky is able to get justice from the Polish courts or his estate isn’t seized to begin with?
 
Sooner or later the Cossacks rebel again. They had good reasons to. For years they served the PLC fighting in Polish wars (e.g. battle of Khotyn) and were given special rights and privileges. Problem was those rights were not respected by Polish noblemen and especially magnates in Ukraine. King Władysław IV was actually sympathetic to Cossack cause, but king's power was too limited, so he couldn't do much.
However, Khmelnytsky was a talented politician and military commander. Without him another Cossack rebellion might quickly meet a bloody end.
 
Is there any chance that a politically astute Polish king could cultivate the Cossacks as a counter to the strength of the nobles/Sejm? (I had that happen in my Netherlands TL, btw, but I'm wondering if anyone else thinks it would have been possible.)
 
Is there any chance that a politically astute Polish king could cultivate the Cossacks as a counter to the strength of the nobles/Sejm? (I had that happen in my Netherlands TL, btw, but I'm wondering if anyone else thinks it would have been possible.)

That was something like what the King at the time of the uprising's start planned. He wanted to use the Cossacks as a counterweight to the fiercely independent gentry and their more powerful neighbors, the great Magnates of the east, of which the most famous was the Cossack's Fear himself, Jeremi Wisniowiecki.

Now that traitorous pig (;)) Chmielnicki can be dealt with easily enough. Any POD from settling his grudge personally to having him eaten by wolves can do that. However, the Cossacks were a thorn in the Commonwealth's side for a long time.

I can see two ways to end the issue with the Cossacks without losing the Ukraine (for the PLC). The first is to have the King live longer and the uprising take longer to get going. Wladyslaw can personally negotiate a peace before too much blood is shed, granting the Cossacks privelages and other settlements of grievances. He then uses them as I earlier described as an armed, loyal counterweight in the east to the magnates. This prompts an uprising by the szlachta which is put down by Royal and Cossack forces (and is nowhere near as destructive as the OTL uprising) and ends with a strengthened Polish monarchy that has friendly relations with the Cossacks.

The other approach is to have the Cossacks burn their destructive energies on the Crimean Tatars. Wladyslaw's other goal at the time was the destruction of the Crimean Khanate. However, if the core issues are not addressed, this may only put off the major uprising for a few decades.
 
Well preventing the Khemelnytsky uprising means that the deluge could be prevented. And while the Polish crown will remain quite weak in it's eastern lands, the nation itself wont be racked by several major wars.

Still Russia is growing more powerful in every passing year by this point. But without the uprising it may not be able to gain the bulk of Ukraine or the loyalty of many Cossacks.
 
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