Bohdan Khmelnytsky

Bogdan Khmelnitsky was a Ukrainian military and statesman. He was born in 1595. Talking about Khmelnytsky, historians always emphasize his status as hetman, rarely mentioning that after the reunification of Ukraine with Russia, he received from the Russian Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich, in addition to all other honors and awards, the rank of boyar of Moscow.

Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Biography

His father, Michael, was a Ukrainian nobleman. Bogdan received his education in Kiev, Lviv and Yaroslavl-Galitsky, in the Jesuit colleges. Together with this, the future hetman of Ukraine preserved the Orthodox faith.

Together with his father Bogdan Khmelnitsky participated in the war of 1620-21 between the Poles and the Turks. During the battle, his father was killed. Bogdan, after the defeat of the Poles, was captured by the Turks for two years. Out of bondage, the Cossacks bought it out. After returning home Bogdan Khmelnitsky became a military clerk.

In 1637-38 the future hetman took part in the popular uprising. In 1638, Khmelnitsky became a centurion of the Chigirinsky regiment. Becoming famous in the courtyard of the King of Poland, he went to France to negotiate the participation of Zaporozhye Cossacks in the battles against the Habsburgs - a large dynasty of rulers in Europe.

In 1646, during the stay of Khmelnytsky in Warsaw with King Wladyslaw Waze, Daniel Chaplinsky (Polish nobleman) was forcefully annexed by the Sabbath farm (the family estate of Khmelnytsky), having hammered his youngest son to death. This conflict later developed into a large-scale liberation struggle.

Khmelnitsky tried to obtain justice at the court of the king. But all his aspirations provoked a conflict with Konetspolski (the Polish tycoon), who supported Chaplinsky. As a result, the search for truth led Bogdan Khmelnitsky in 1647 to be arrested.

Having freed himself from prison, he and several associates arrived in Zaporizhzhya Sich. Soon Bohdan Khmelnitsky achieved the support of the Cossacks, and in 1848, in January, began an uprising against the Poles.

After the expulsion of the Poles from the Sich the Cossacks enter into an alliance with the Crimean Khan. Soon the uprising developed into a war of liberation. In history, it is called Khmelnitchina. During the military operations Khmelnytsky proved to be an excellent diplomat, commander, organizer of statehood in Ukraine.

According to historians, it is thanks to the activities of the hetman that the Ukrainian state achieved the strengthening of its forces and many military successes. Under his leadership, the Cossack army won many victories. In fact, Ukraine has become an independent state.

However, the country arose and developed between large and very powerful powers: the Ottoman Empire, Russia and the Commonwealth. Despite all the diplomatic skills, Khmelnitsky never succeeded in obtaining recognition of Ukraine's independence from these countries.

Meanwhile, the Poles, without giving up the idea of owning the Ukrainian state, were preparing for the march. Khmelnytsky understood that he needed support in a protracted struggle. As the practice of military operations showed, the Crimean Tatars were an unreliable ally. As a result, Bogdan had no choice but to ask for help from Russia.

Alexei Mikhailovich did not hurry to take under the auspices of the Cossack Ukraine and took an observant position. In 1652, Khmelnitsky was defeated, as a result of which the Belotserkovsky Treaty was signed, under which Ukrainian rights were infringed quite significantly.

In the course of a persistent and prolonged war, the forces of the adversaries were exhausted. At this moment, the Russian emperor decides to grant the request of the hetman. In 1653, Little Russia (Ukraine) was annexed to Russia. As a result, Khmelnitsky was provided with military assistance, and Russia itself entered into a long Russian-Polish war. The first stage of the battle ended in 1656 with a truce.

Meanwhile, Khmelnitsky truce did not suit, and he secretly begins negotiations with Sweden about the continuation of the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, he is forced to recall his ambassadors - Muscovites learned about the negotiations.

Khmelnitsky died in 1657. After his death in Ukraine, a twenty-year period of internecine strife began.

In 1943, on October 10, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky was established at the suggestion of the famous film director Dovzhenko.