Lumen 2018

This first incident of using the principle of liberum veto was a har- binger of the future anarchy in Poland. A similar incident took place in 1654 when the session of the Diet was broken off again, even though the country had to face an approaching war with Muscovy. 43 Thus, Poland’s problems with her eastern neighbors were com- pounded by an internal threat. Another danger was looming across Poland’s northern border as Sweden was preparing an invasion on a much larger scale than ever before. The Swedish military units soon forced their way into Poland and engulfed her territory like a deluge. Why did the Swedes attack Poland at that time? Were they provoked, or was this some kind of a revenge? In 1655, seven years had passed since the end of the Thirty Years’ War, and it seemed that the Swedes, who had participated in that war, would not want to engage in any military encounters for quite some time. But that war brought them sizeable territorial gains, to mention only the German shores at the estuary of the Oder and the Elbe Rivers. In order to hold onto these territories, a strong army had to be maintained there. But the idea of maintaining an idle army was not popular in the country. Meanwhile, Muscovy was pushing to the west and began to threaten the Swedish possessions in Livonia. Therefore, the new ruler of Sweden, Charles X Gustavus, intended to deal with Muscovy first, initially, even in cooperation with Poland. But the conditions that he set forth were difficult for Poland to ac- cept. He demanded the territories on the Baltic, which he wanted to turn into a Swedish sea, together with the mercantile cities and custom houses located on its shores. He also demanded that King John Casimir renounce all his rights to the Swedish crown. When the Republic of Poland refused to accept these conditions, he de- cided to attack Poland first in order to take control of the Polish part of the Baltic shore and thus ensure that the Swedish territories were protected from the south as he proceeded to settle matters with Mus- covy. In this manner, he violated the terms of the truce signed at Sz- tumska Wies (Sztumsdorf) six years before they expired. 44 103 At the Piarist Fathers