Page "Khmelnytsky Uprising" Paragraph 2

The uprising started as the rebellion of the Cossacks, but as other Orthodox Christian classes ( peasants, burghers, petty nobility ) of the Rus / Ruthenian ( Ukrainian ) palatinates joined them, the ultimate aim became a creation of a Ruthenian Cossack autonomous state.

The uprising succeeded in ending Polish influence over those Cossack lands that were eventually taken by the Tsardom of Russia.

These events, along with internal conflicts and hostilities with Sweden and Russia, resulted in severely diminished Polish power during this period ( referred to in Polish history as The Deluge ).