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The Deluge is a name commonly assigned in the history of Poland to a series of wars in the 17th century which left Poland in ruins. In a more strict sense "Deluge" refers only to the Swedish invasion and occupation of the country; in a wider sense, it applies to the whole series of misfortunes started by uprising of the Cossacks in 1648 and ending in either 1656, 1660 or even in 1667. Before The Deluge Poland was a Central European power. During the wars, however, Poland lost an estimated 1/3 of its population (relatively higher losses than during World War II), and power status.

The misfortunes were started in 1648 by Bohdan Chmielnicki. Although the Cossacks were defeated in 1651 in the Battle of Beresteczko, their rebellion gave pretext to the RussiaThe Russian Federation ( Russian: , transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija , or Russia (Russian: , transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. Withns to invade and occupy the eastern half of the Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (or The Republic of the Two Nations Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodow in Polish; Latin: Regnum Serenissima Poloniae; Belarusian: ) was a federal monarchy- republic formed by the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1655Events New Sweden (Delaware) attacked and captured by Dutch forces. March 25 Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christian Huygens. April 7 Fabio Chigi becomes Pope Alexander VII April Admiral Robert Blake severely damages the arsenal of the Be. The Swedes invaded and occupied the rest in the same year. The Swedes were driven back in 1657Events January 8 Miles Sindercombe, would-be-assassin of Oliver Cromwell, and his group are captured in London February Admiral Robert Blake defeats the Spanish West Indian Fleet in a battle over the seizure of Jamaica. April 20 Admiral Robert Blake destr, and the Russians were finally defeated in 1662Events March 18 Short-timed experiment of the first public buses holding 8 passengers begins in Paris May 3/ May 2 Catherine of Braganza marries Charles II of England as part of the dowry, Portugal cedes Bombay and Tangier to England May 9 Samuel Pepys wi. The struggle over UkraineUkraine Ukrayina in Ukrainian; in Russian) is a republic in eastern Europe which borders the Black Sea to the south, the Russian Federation to the east, Belarus to the north, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west and Romania and Moldova to the west and ended with the treaty of AndrusovoTreaty of Andrusovo, 1667 ( Polish Rozejm w Andruszowie Russian Ukrainian , a truce for 13,5 years between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which were at war since 1654 over the territories of modern day Ukraine and Belarus. It was signed on ( 13 January, 1667), with the help of Turkish intervention due to their claims in the Crimea. Forces from Prussia and Siebenburgen were also defeated, but Prussia gained a formal recognition of independence and ceased to be a Polish vassal.

The Deluge also stopped the era of Polish tolerance, since most of the invaders were non- Catholic, with expulsion of the Polish brethren as a clear sign of it. During the Deluge, many thousands of Polish Jews also fell victim to pogroms initiated by rebelling Cossacks.

The Deluge is described in a novel of Henryk Sienkiewicz under the same title.