Although the initial phase of the rebellion ended (after much destruction) at the Battle of Berestechko (1651), it brought into focus the rivalry between Russia and the Commonwealth for hegemony over Ukraine and over the eastern Slavic lands in general.

The Swedish Empire, which technically already was at war with the Commonwealth (a ceasefire agreement existed from 1629 and was prolonged from 1635 to 1661), invaded in July 1655 and occupied the remaining half of the country.

Nevertheless, in December 1646, he returned to Poland and, in October 1647, resigned his position as Cardinal to stand for election to the Polish throne, after the death of his brother Władysław IV Vasa.

Greater Poland's noble camp, located in the valley of the Noteć river, near the town of Ujście, looked more like a large party, as the szlachta, gathered there to face the Swedish Army, was more interested in drinking.

[14] The situation of the Commonwealth was desperate, but hope appeared with the Truce of Vilna (November 3), in which Poland and the Tsardom of Russia formed an anti-Swedish alliance.

Led by the Grand Prior Augustyn Kordecki, the garrison of this symbolic sanctuary-fortress of Poland held off its enemies in the Siege of Jasna Góra.

Soon Polish Army units began to concentrate in the area of Lwów, including militias from Red Ruthenia, Volhynia and Lublin, as well as forces under Potocki and Prince Lubomirski, together with the garrison of Kamieniec Podolski fortress.

[18] At the same time, guerilla warfare also broke out in Mazovia and Greater Poland, and Lithuanian units under the Grand Hetman of Lithuania Paweł Jan Sapieha began moving towards Red Ruthenia.

[18] They were followed by units of Stefan Czarniecki and Aleksander Koniecpolski, and during the retreat, Polish troops supporting the invaders changed sides, joining the forces of John Casimir.

To help the besieged army, on March 27 Frederick VI left Warsaw with 2,500 reiters and dragoons, so John Casimir ordered the mounted units of Czarnecki and Lubomirski to face the margrave.

[18] Charles Gustav decided to prevent the Poles from taking control of the northern districts of the country, and departed Warsaw with an army of 10,000 (April 17).

In 1653, the Transylvanian Hungarian ruler George II Rákóczi signed an alliance with Poland,[19][full citation needed] and the relations between the Commonwealth and Transylvania were friendly.

Meanwhile, Rákóczi had already been negotiating with Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and on September 7, 1656, Transylvania and the Zaporizhian Sich signed a peace treaty, which obliged both sides to help each other in war.

On December 8, 1656, the Treaty of Radnot was signed, which divided Poland-Lithuania among Charles X Gustav, Bogusław Radziwiłł, Elector Frederick William, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and George II Rákóczi.

On April 29, the Polish and Lithuanian armies joined forces at Łosice, and in early May 1657, the Poles decided to organize a revenge raid on Transylvania, under hetman Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski.

On May 13, Rákóczi and Charles X Gustav seized the fortress of Brześć Litewski, and on May 17, after a three-day siege, the Swedes, Cossacks, and Transylvanians captured Warsaw.

On July 7–8, 1656, at Łańcut Castle, King John Casimir and his hetmans agreed that Stefan Czarniecki would follow Rákóczi and the Cossacks, while Lubomirski's and Potocki's divisions together with Crimean Tatars.

Three days later, Rákóczi signed a peace treaty with the Commonwealth, in which he promised to break the alliance with Sweden, withdraw his troops from Kraków and Brześć Litewski, and pay for the damage inflicted by his army.

Polish army commanders and King John Casimir, gathered in Poznań on November 26, decided to delay the attack on Swedish forces in Royal Prussia until spring 1658.

[22] In the spring of 1658, the Polish army, together with its Austrian allies under Raimondo Montecuccoli, began a campaign in Royal Prussia, where several key towns and cities were still in Swedish hands.

In 1659, the Swedish army still remaining in Poland under Lorens von der Linde was withdrawn to major Royal Prussian fortresses – Malbork, Głowa Gdańska, Grudziądz, Elbląg, and Brodnica.

Meanwhile, in late 1658, the Polish–Russian truce ended when Russian forces under Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky (Tararui) and Jurij Aleksiejewicz Dołgorukow again attacked the Polish – Lithuanian units (see Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)).

However, its terms never came into full operation: in addition to the unpopularity of continued integration with the Commonwealth with the majority of the Cossacks, Russia refused to recognize Hadiach, and maintained its claims to Ukraine.

While initially the agreement stipulated that Russia would return Left-bank Ukraine to the Commonwealth in twenty years, the division became permanent with the Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686.

According to Professor Andrzej Rottermund, manager of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the Swedish army robbed Poland of her most precious goods – thousands of works of art, books and valuables.

From the Royal Castle in Warsaw the Swedes plundered approximately 200 paintings, a number of carpets and Turkish tents, musical instruments, furniture, Chinese porcelain, weapons, books, manuscripts, marbles, even dresses of maids and door frames pulled from walls.

Hubert Kowalski of the University of Warsaw Institute of Archeology says that Swedes stole anything they could lay their hands on – windows, stairs, chimneys, sculptures, floors, doors and gates.

[50] In January 2013 Marek Poznański, a Palikot Movement member of the Polish parliament, announced his plan to send thousands of postcards to European politicians and journalists, in which he wanted to convince the recipients that Poland should get financial compensation from Sweden for the destruction of the country in the deluge.

[51] A businessman from Warsaw, Sławian Krzywiński, joined Poznański, creating the Foundation of Reconstruction of Destruction Caused by the Swedish Invasion (Fundacja Odbudowy Zniszczeń Dokonanych w Czasie Potopu Szwedzkiego).

Among others, Poland lost the Braniewo Library, works of Nicolaus Copernicus, including the 1543 Nuremberg edition of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, and the oldest printed text of Bogurodzica.