Bohdan Khmelnitskii Mikhailovich

Origin and education

Bohdan-Zynovii Khmelnytskyi was born in 1595 or 1596 in the village of Subotiv (now Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine, then Kyiv Voivodeship, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). His father, Mykhailo Khmelnytskyi, was the Chigyryn sub-chief and served the Crown Hetman Stanislav Zholkevskyi. It is known about the mother that she came from a Cossack family. Bohdan was educated at the Lviv Jesuit College or in Yaroslavl.

In the royal service

At the beginning of his military career, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi joined the registered Cossacks. During the Polish-Ottoman War of 1620-1621, he and his father were captured by the Ottomans, where they spent two years. Subsequently, Bohdan returned to Ukraine, where he continued his service in the Cossack army and participated in the naval campaigns of the Zaporozhians.

Political and military career

From 1633, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi served under the great Crown Hetman Stanislaw Konetspolskyi. In 1647, due to a conflict with the Chigyryn sub-chief Daniel Chaplinskyi, Khmelnytskyi went to Zaporozhye, where he gathered Cossacks for a rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Khmelnych region

In 1648, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi led a Cossack uprising known as Khmelnytskyi. Thanks to the support of the Crimean khan Islam-Geray III, Khmelnytsky won victories in the battles of Yellow Waters, Korsun and Pylyavtsi. These victories led to a national uprising of the Ukrainian people against the Polish nobility.

Diplomatic alliances

Khmelnytskyi created three coalitions to fight against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The first coalition included the Crimean Tatars and the Ottoman Empire. The second coalition, concluded in Pereyaslav in 1654, united Ukraine and the Moscow kingdom. The third coalition united Ukraine, Sweden, Semihorod and other states.

Church restoration and domestic politics

Bohdan Khmelnytskyi contributed to the restoration of Orthodox churches, in particular, the church of Archangel Michael of the Zolotoverkhi Monastery in Kyiv. He wanted to transfer power to his son Yuri and dreamed of creating an independent Russian state.

Death

Bohdan Khmelnytskyi died on July 27 (August 6 according to the new style) 1657 in Chigyrin. He was buried in the Illinsky Church in Subotov, which he built himself. However, his burial place remains unknown due to disputes and lack of evidence.

Conclusion

Bohdan Khmelnytskyi left an unforgettable mark in the history of Ukraine as a great hetman and leader of the national liberation struggle. His military and political successes made a significant contribution to the formation of Ukrainian statehood and the restoration of the Orthodox Church.