Koliyivshchyna

Koliyivshchyna 1768-1769 (Ukrainian: Коліївщина, from Ukr. "impaling") was a Ukrainian Cossack and peasant rebellion against Poland, which was responsible for the murder of noblemen (szlachta) and other Polish population, Jews, Uniates, and Catholic priests across the part of the country west of the Dnieper river. While this rebellion may have begun with the aim of stopping social, national, and religious oppression of Ukrainians, it rapidly became a full-fledged campaign of ethnic cleansing aimed against Poles, Jews, and non-Orthodox Ukrainians. It was simultaneous to the Confederation of Bar and a de facto civil war in Poland (Poland had during the rule of king Augustus III an internal policy of imposition of Catholicism on non-Catholic population. When the king Stanisław August Poniatowski, under the pressure of the Russian Crown, signed the document in which Orthodox was equated in rights with Catholicism, szlachta rebelled). It is unclear whether the hostilities were started by the Catholic or Orthodox paramilitary units. Some historians have stated that Russia may have had a role in fomenting the rebellion and the fact that Ukrainian Uniates were among its victims adds credence to this interpretation. The rebellion was fueled by the circulation of letter ostensibly written by the Empress Katherine of Russia, in which she promised military help if Ukrainians rise against the Poles.