The origin and activity of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi until 1648 in the interpretation of Russian historians

Abstract

Bohdan Khmelnytsky is the most popular figure in the Russian historiography. The Ukrainian hetman most often had been attracting the attention of scientists, becoming the object of various studies and ideological manipulations. B. Khmelnytsky also firmly entered the historical memory of the Russians as a compulsory and significant component of it. His image is easily remembered in the general public, inevitably associated with positive historical characters.

The article analyzes contemporary Russian historiography on the origin and activity of Bohdan Khmelnytsky until 1648. It was emphasized that the Russian traditionalists gravitate to the exaltation of B. Khmelnytsky, who, in their opinion, has carried out a global historical mission on a planetary scale – «brought Ukraine under the «high royal hand»». At the same time, the modernizers are looking for the origin, upbringing, social environment and character traits of B. Khmelnytsky in support of the deprivation of the pro-Moscow orientation of explanations of his political concepts.

Contemporary Russian historiographical images of the hetman – traditionnalist and modernizing are based on fundamentally similar interpretations of B. Khmelnytsky’s life before the Ukrainian National Liberation War. This shows well how much the conceptual shell plays in Russian historiography when interpreting the base material.

The origin of B. Khmelnitsky and his activity until 1648 became those topics that the representatives of both camps of Russian historiography could not get past. Both here and there they are trying to bring their concepts to the ground or to support them with appeals to the «pre-war» period of the hetman’s life.