SECTION C THE COSSACK GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Cossack General Assembly (GeneraVna Rada) was a meeting of the Cossack Army for the discussion and solution of national problems. In principle it was an organ of direct democracy which in its outward features resembled the old popular assembly (viche, veche) of Kievan Rus’.
It differed from the υiche and the various popular assemblies in other countries, and the comitia of ancient Rome, because these assemblies were meetings of the inhabitants of the capital city who discussed and decided problems of importance for the whole realm. The Cossack General Assembly, on the other hand, was the gathering of the whole Cossack army and, at the same time, the assembly of members of a social class. But it would be wrong to regard the Cossack General Assembly as a unique institution. There were institutions of a similar type in other countries, for instance, in Poland. We have in mind the so-called Electoral Diet, the gathering of the Polish szlachta (gentry or nobility) for the election of a new king. In such a gathering participated not just the szlachta’s (shliakh- ta’s) representatives elected by the district assemblies (as in the case of a regular Sejm-Diet) but all the noblemen who wished to take part in the election. Such Electoral Diets usually took place on a large field near Warsaw. In its outward form the Electoral Diet in Poland was similar to the Cossack General Assembly of Ukraine whose primary function was also the election of the new ruler. Some differences existed between the two institutions, as for instance, the active participation of the shliakhta’s regular Diet deputies, and that the Sejm Speaker presided over the Electoral Diet. Outward similarity with this Polish institution should not, however, prevent us from stressing the peculiar features of the Cossack General Assembly. It was in principle, an influential organ of government, more than just an electoral meeting, which often decided the most pressing problems facing the Ukrainian state.The origin of the Cossack General Assembly could be traced to the Cossack councils and meetings of the preceeding periods, at first only occasional gatherings of hunters and fishermen and somewhat later mere meetings of small Cossack military units. The subsequent councils and more formal and regular meetings of all Cossacks were the precursors of the Cossack General Assembly in Hetman Ukraine. These Cossack councils and meetings continued to exist after 1648, along with the whole Cossack organization. However, they changed their nature and became the new organs of government of the country. The future would show whether these meetings of the Cossack Army — representing only a part of the population — could become the public organ which could protect the interests of the whole population of the new state, and ensure its security and internal order.
We can expect to find some shortcomings in the Cossack General Assembly as an organ of central government. It was difficult to discuss and decide complex and important problems of government at an open meeting, with tens of thousands of participants. The discussion could not be properly carried out and decisions could not be voted in an organized way. The ability and preparedness of the Cossack masses to discuss these important and complex problems of government were doubtful. The Cossacks could be influenced by a shrewd demagogue and this did happen more than once. The Cossack General Assembly as an organ of the Cossack hereditary and privileged class could not be regarded as a democratic institution in a strict sense of the word. With the ascendancy of the new upper class, the importance of the common Cossacks started to decline, and so also did the political role of the Cossack General Assembly. That was just the way it happened in Hetman Ukraine. Finally, the meetings of such an organ as the Cossack General Assembly could be controlled by outside forces which could influence its decisions. The meetings of the Cossack General Assembly occasionally were surrounded by units of the Russian Army.
Such a situation evidently excluded free deliberations.In the early years, 1648-1651, meetings of the Cossack General Assembly were quite frequent. The Assembly of 1648, which was attended by 70,000 Cossacks discussed the letter of Adam Kysil (a representative of the Polish Government but a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church) which contained his suggestions in regard to peace with Poland. On November 1, 1649 the Cossack General Assembly was convoked in Korsun. In the summer of 1651 this institution discussed the possibility of continuing the struggle against Poland. Later on in the same year there was a meeting of the Assembly near the village of Berestechko in the Cossack camp surrounded by the Polish Army. And again in 1651 near the city of Bila Tserkva (Belaia Tserkov) the Assembly discussed and approved the new treaty with Poland.
The role of the Cossack General Assembly began to decline after 1652-1653. It met again in 1654 in Pereiaslav and decided to conclude an alliance with Russia, and to accept the sovereignty of the Russian Tsar. After that there were no meetings of this body until Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s death in 1657. These circumstances were widely discussed in Ukraine at that time and described as ”a very unusual situation.” After that attempts were made to convoke the Cossack General Assembly. This was requested by the pro-Russian group of Pushkar and Barabash who called for a plenary meeting of this institution.A struggle for the convention of an enlarged General Assembly, so-called ’’black assembly” (chorna rada), with the participation of all social classes developed in 1663. The ’’black assembly” (the term ’’black” at that time, if applied to people, suggested their low social position) took place in Nizhyn and elected Ivan Brukhovetsky to the position of the Hetman. After that some protests were launched against the Cossack General Assembly as an organ of government. In the camp of the Chernihiv Regiment in 1667, on the banks of the Desna River, a squadron officer told the Cossacks: "We should not march against the enemy; let us at first summon a General Assembly.” And then the colonel, notes a document of that time, struck this officer and told the Cossacks: ”It is time to abolish these meetings; the affairs of state should be handled by the Hetman with the council of Cossack officials.” These were the words of the Chernihiv colonel, whose name was Demian Mnoho- hrishnyi.
Two years later this colonel became the Hetman of Left- Bank Ukraine and in his new position could implement his view that, under the changed conditions, the Cossack General Assembly was no longer a useful organ. During Peter Doroshenko’s rule the Cossack General Assembly in Right-Bank Ukraine met several times. But this very hetman called the Cossack Assembly a harmful institution which resulted in some ’’bad business,” in his letter to John (Jan) Sobieski, the Crown Hetman (later King John III) of Poland, in 1671.The Cossack General Assembly met only a few times during Ivan Samoilovych’s and Ivan Mazepa’s rule. They were convoked only for the election of the new Hetman. In the eighteenth century only three Cossack General Assemblies were convoked. They had no real significance, and their decisions were made a long time before their formal meetings. General Assemblies which elected D. Apostol and C. Rozumovsky, to the Hetmanate, in 1727 and 1751, respectively, were grand pageants, and at that time ceased to be institutions of central government in Hetman Ukraine.
Soon after Ukraine’s political emancipation, the Cossack General Assembly became ineffective as an organ of government. In the first two decades after Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s death its meetings occasioned confrontations of dissenting and antagonistic groups. Only Peter Doroshenko, a great patriot and popular tribune, could find the support of the Cossack masses at the noisy meetings of the General Assembly. After his rule this institution fell definitely into decay.
It is true that for some time the Cossack General Assembly retained its right to decide some problems of national importance — the election of the Hetman and the conclusion of treaties with Russia. But soon this function became formal and ceremonial. We seldom hear about a discussion or a struggle at its meetings in the 1670,s-1690,s. Such discussions and debates were transferred to another central organ — the Cossack Officers’ Council — which usually had its sessions prior to the meetings of the Cossack General Assembly.
In most cases these preliminary discussions and decisions predetermined the resolutions of the Cossack General Assembly.When we describe the composition of the Cossack General Assembly we have to mention in the first place the Cossack Army and, consequently, the majority of the Cossack class. General assemblies with a large number of participants were usually called the ’’black assemblies” (chorni rady). As a rule the peasants did not participate. Peasant participation probably occurred only at the ’’black assembly” of 1663 near Nizhyn because the source materials talk about the „bands” that marched toward this place, and indicate that Ivan Brukhovetsky’s regiments in their advance toward this city ’’were joined by a large number of non-Cossack volunteers.” But this was an extraordinary case; peasant participation in the meeting of the Cossack General Assembly was covered by their temporary admission to the Cossack units, and the Cossack annalist of that time described it as ”a new trouble which had never happened before.”
The noble army fellows and Cossack officers always participated in the meetings of the Cossack General Assembly and were most active. They also attended the sessions of the Cossack Officers’ Council before the meetings of the General Assembly and participated in the preliminary discussions of the General Assembly’s agenda. The approximate correlation of forces — ten to one — could be established from the data concerning the Cossack General Assembly which elected Hetman Ivan Skoropadsky in Hlukhiv in 1708. It was attended by the 1,100 Cossacks and 124 noble army fellows.
The clergy as a class did not participate in the meetings of the Cossack General Assembly. But its higher representatives were often invited to attend these meetings and, sometimes, they played an important role there. They also had a special function — to administer the oath of the newly elected Hetman.
On the other hand some townspeople quite often participated in the meetings of the Cossack General Assembly.
In some cases all of those burghers who cared to arrive participated in these meetings (as for example in 1663 near Nizhyn). However, in most cases the burghers were represented by the mayors and burgomasters. There were forty of these representatives of Ukrainian towns in Cossack General Assembly in Hlukhiv which elected Hetman Demian Mnoho- hrishnyi in 1669. It is evident that such representation, even if it assured for the burgher class some opportunity to present their views and to defend their interests, did not change the principal characteristics of the Cossack General Assembly as a meeting of the Cossacks.The problem of Zaporozhian participation in the Cossack General Assembly of Hetman Ukraine is more complex. In the first years after the uprising of 1648 we see such participation. But already during Ivan Vyhovsky’s rule the Hetman and his party denied their right to attend the Cossack General Assembly, and the Za- porozhians insisted on preserving it. In 1662 the Acting Hetman Ivan Somko raised his objections in the statement that ’’according to our old rules the Hetmans were elected in Ukrainian towns without Zaporozhians.” The Zaporozhians participated in the meeting of the ’’black assembly” near Nizhyn in 1663. Later they attended some meetings of the Cossack General Assembly during Peter Doroshenko’s rule in Right-Bank Ukraine. At that time, however, some objections were raised against their presence. When Sukhovii, a leader of Za- porozhians, along with some Cossack regiments of Right-Bank Ukraine waited for the arrival of Hetman Doroshenko to the Rosava Valley for a meeting of the Cossack General Assembly in 1669, he tried to assure the Hetman that only the Cossacks from Hetman Ukraine would attend this meeting. There was no Zaporozhian participation in the subsequent meetings of the Cossack General Assembly. The Zaporozhians participated, however, in the Cossack General Assembly of 1710, which was really a meeting of the Ukrainian political refugees in Bendery (Moldavia). At this meeting Philip Orlyk was elected to be their Hetman.
In general, we should say that this struggle for Zaporozhian participation in the meetings of the Cossack General Assembly of Hetman Ukraine, and the efforts of Ukrainian rulers to deny their right to participation, shows that the process of establishing a separate Zaporozhian body politic had not properly begun in the early years after 1648. Later, when the separation of the Zaporozhian Sich from Hetman Ukraine was definitely established, Zaporozhian participation in the central organs of the Ukrainian Government (as well as the participation of the Cossacks from Hetman Ukraine in the organs of the Zaporozhian Government) was no longer justified.
Before and after 1648 the usual meeting place of the Cossack General Assembly was a field near the Masliv Stav (Pond) in the Rosava Vally (Right-Bank Ukraine), now the town of Maslivka in the Province of Kiev. Here the general assemblies met in 1622, 1630, 1632, 1637, and 1651. Here George Khmelnytsky was elected the Hetman in 1659. The meetings of the Cossack General Assembly were held there in October 1661 and May 1662. Hetman Peter Doroshenko stated in one of his edicts in 1669 that ’’from the ancient time the Cossack General Assembies met in the Rosava Valley.” In 1673 he summoned the Cossack General Assembly to meet in this very place. However, even before 1648, some meetings of the Cossack General Assembly took place elsewhere. In 1632 it assembled at Pryluky, in 1637 — near Borovytsia, in 1638 — in Kiev.
When Left-Bank Ukraine separated from Right-Bank Ukraine its general assemblies could not meet in the Rosava Valley. In Left- Bank Ukraine they frequently assembled in Pereiaslav. Here the Cossack General Assembly met in 1654, and this assembly decided on joining Russia; Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky was re-elected in 1658, George Khmelnytsky re-elected in 1659, and Ivan Samoilovych elected the Hetman of both Right-Bank and Left-Bank Ukraine in 1674. Some meetings took place in other localities: near Nizhyn in 1663, near Hlukhiv in 1669, and at Kozats’ka Dibrova in 1672. The meetings of the Cossack General Assemby tended to be summoned in the springtime (”on the grass”) or in autumn. The grass was important as fodder for Cossack horses; the autumn was the proper time after harvesting.
The Cossack General Assembly was convoked by the Hetman who sent his summons inviting the Cossack regiments to come for a meeting. After the arrival to the designated place the Cossacks were called to the meetings by the sound of drums and kettles.
The procedure of the Cossack General Assembly was determined by its form and nature. Its many members formed a large circle. In the 1660-1680’s in Left-Bank Ukraine most Cossack general assemblies were supervised by the units of the Russian Army; these Russian military units were placed outside the Cossack circle. As a rule the Hetman opened the meeting and directed its proceedings. Chief aides-de-camp (general’ni osavuly) also had some functions in regulating the meeting. It is clear "that a strictly organized discussion was not possible at such a gathering. The participants expressed their views by shouting and tossing their hats up. There could be a scuffle in case of a disagreement between two or more groups.
The foremost function of the Cossack General Assembly was the election of the Hetman. In this connection its power was exclusive and its rights were several times confirmed by the „Articles” (treaties) with Russia. The candidate whose name was shouted out had, according to the old Cossack custom, several times to decline to accept the Hetman’s position (a Cossack annalist, ill-disposed to Demian Mnohohrishnyi, noted that his refusal looked ’’like the refusal of an old maid to accept the proposal of a becoming fellow”). The decisive moment was the handing of the bulaυa to the newly elected Hetman and covering him with the Cossack banner. Also an abdication of the Hetman, if it occurred, took place at the meeting of the Cossack General Assembly. Thus Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky tried to relinquish his position at the Cossack General Assembly’s meeting in Korsun in 1658; he definitely gave it away at the Cossack General Assembly near the village of Germanivka in 1659. George Khmelnytsky and Michael Khanenko relinquished the Hetman’s position at the meetings of the Cossack General Assembly in 1663 and 1674 respectively. The decisive moment of abdication was when the Hetman expressed his gratitude to the Cossack Army and laid down his bulaυa.
Sometimes the Cossack General Assembly elected also the chief officers of the Cossack Army and the officials of the Ukrainian state; in a few cases it also elected some colonels of Cossack regiments. But in other cases the colonels were elected (or appointed) by the other organs of government.
Important problems of foreign policy were discussed at and decided by the Cossack General Assembly. We can name its meetings in Bila Tserkva, 1651 (the treaty with Poland); in Pereiaslav, 1654 (alliance with Russia); in Korsun, 1657 (discussion of an alliance with Sweden); once more in Korsun, 1669 (discussion of an alliance with Turkey), etc. In Left-Bank Ukraine the Cossack General Assembly several times discussed and concluded the treaties with Russia.
Some other problems of military, administrative, and judicial character were sometimes discussed at and decided by the Cossack General Assembly. In 1657 in Chyhyryn the Cossack General Asemb- Iy decided to establish custom-free trade in wine; and in 1669, in the Rosava Valley, it abolished the mercenary (serdiuk) regiments.