Cossack
Cossacks are a group of several peoples living in the southern
steppe regions of
Eastern Europe and Asiatic Russia, famous for their self-reliance and military skill, particularly horsemanship.
Cossack may also refer to a member of a Cossack military unit.
The name entered the English language from the French
Cosaque, in turn, probably via Polish from the Ukrainian
Kozak rather than the modern Russian
Kazak. It is ultimately derived from a
Turkic social term
qazaq meaning "adventurer" or "free man". This term is first mentioned in a
Ruthenian chronicle dated
1395. Cossacks (
Qazaqlar) were also border keepers in the
Khanate of Kazan.
Cossacks became first widely known in western Europe in the mid-seventeenth century as a result of the great revolt ([
1], [
2], [
3], [
4]) of
Bohdan Khmelnytsky and the
Zaporozhians in Ukraine against the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which shook the geopolitical foundations of eastern Europe.
Famous are the Cossacks () of the
Don,
Terek and
Ural regions, as well as areas of
Siberia which they colonised in the seventeenth century. Their numbers grew during late medieval times, joined by numerous Russian serfs fleeing from their owners. Eventually Cossacks became guardians of ethnic and state boundaries. Cossacks served in the Russian regular army in various wars throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During the
Russian Civil War they fought on both sides although the
Don Cossack Host was one of the main military forces resisting the
Bolsheviks. As a result during
Soviet times, Cossack culture was subject to intensive Bolshevik persecution and ethnic Cossack lands survived several famines. Cossack military regiments were, however, reformed prior to the Second World War. Currently in Russia, Cossacks are seen as either ethnic descendants, or by their active military service, and often both. The latter category was listed as a separate group in the census and there are currently up to 150,000 Cossacks in military service in Russia and up to several million descendants aware of their Cossack heritage, which is now experiencing a revival, particularly in the south of Russia.
Also famous were the
Ukrainian Cossacks () of the
Zaporozhian Host, who lived on the southern steppes of modern Ukraine. Their numbers grew astronomically between the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, fed by poor Ruthenian boyar-noblity, merchants and runaway peasants from Poland-Lithuania. The Zaporozhian Cossacks played an important role in European geopolitics, undergoing a series of conflicts and alliances with the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,
Muscovy, and the
Ottoman Empire. Although since the end of the eighteenth century most of their descendants have moved to the
Kuban area of Russia and do not identify themselves as Ukrainians, they are nevertheless considered progenitors of the modern Ukrainian nation by some historians. Presentely there are a number of Ukrainian social organisations that try to regenerate the Cossack lifestyle and influence often with varying political and religious slants.
Less well-known are the
Polish Cossacks (
Kozacy) and the
Tatar Cossacks (
Nağaybäklär).
The name 'Cossacks' was also given to a kind of
light cavalry in the army of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Origins
It is not clear when the
Slavic people started settling in the lower reaches of the
Don and the
Dnieper. It is unlikely it could have happened before the thirteenth century, when the
Mongol hordes broke the power of the
Cumans and other Turkic tribes on that territory.
Proto-Cossack groups most likely came into existence within the territories of today's
Ukraine in the mid-thirteenth century. In 1261 some Slavic people living in the area between the
Dniester and the
Volga were mentioned in
Ruthenian chronicles. Historical records of the Cossacks before the sixteenth century are scant. In the fifteenth century, the Cossack society was described as a loose
federation of independent communities, often forming local armies, entirely separate from the neighbouring states (of, e.g, Poland,
Grand Duchy of Moscow or the
Khanate of Crimea).
By the sixteenth century these Cossack societies merged into two independent territorial organizations as well as other smaller, still detached groups.
* The Cossacks of
Zaporizhia, centred around the lower bends of Dnieper, inside the territory of modern Ukraine, with the fortified capital of
Zaporozhian Sich. They were formally recognized as a state, the
Zaporozhian Host, by a treaty with Poland in 1649.
* The
Don Cossack State, on the river Don, separating the Grand Duchy of Moscow from the
Nogai states, vassals of the
Ottoman Empire. The capital of the Don Cossack State was
Cherkassk, later moved to
Novocherkassk.
Some historical documents of that period refer to those states as sovereign nations with unique warrior cultures, whose main source of income was derived from the pillaging of their neighbours. They were renowned for their raids against the
Ottoman Empire and its
vassals, although they didn't shy away from pillaging other neighbours. Their actions increased tension along the southern border of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (
Kresy), which resulted in almost a constant low-level warfare taking place in those territories for almost the entire existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In 1539 the Grand Duke
Vasili III of Russia asked the Ottoman
Sultan to curb the Cossacks and the Sultan replied: "The Cossacks do not swear allegiance to me, and they live as they themselves please." In 1549, Czar
Ivan the Terrible, replied to a request of the Turkish Sultan to stop the aggressive actions of the Don Cossacks, stating, "The Cossacks of the Don are not my subjects, and they go to war or live in peace without my knowledge." Similar exchanges passed between
Russia, the Ottoman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, each of which tried to exploit Cossack warmongering for its own purposes. Cossacks for their part were mostly happy to plunder everybody more or less equally, although in the sixteenth century, with the dominance of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth extending south, the
Zaporozhian Cossacks were mostly, if tentatively, regarded by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as their subjects.
Registered Cossacks were a part of the Commonwealth army until 1699.
Around the end of the sixteenth century, relations between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire, which were not very cordial to begin with, further worsened with the growing number of independent actions by the Cossacks. From the second part of the sixteenth century, Cossacks started raiding territories under Ottoman rule. Although subjects of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Polish government could not control the fiercely independent Cossacks, and so was held responsible for the raids by their victims. Reciprocally, the
Tatars living under Ottoman rule launched raids into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, mostly in the sparsely inhabited south-east territories. Cossack pirates, however, were raiding the heart of the Ottoman Empire, its wealthy merchant port cities, which were just two days away by boat from the mouth of the river Dnieper. By 1615, Cossacks had even manage to raze the townships on the outskirts of Constantinople. Consecutive treaties between Ottoman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth called for both parties to curb Cossacks and Tatars, but its enforcement was almost non-existent on both sides of the border. In internal agreements, forced by the Polish side, Cossacks agreed to burn their boats and stop raiding. However, boats could be rebuilt fast, and the Cossack lifestyle glorified raids and booty. During this time, the
Habsburg Empire sometimes covertly employed Cossack raiders to ease Ottoman pressure on their own borders. Many Cossacks and Tatars shared an animosity towards each other due to the damage done by raids from both sides. Cossack raids followed by Tatar retaliation, or Tatar raids followed by Cossack retaliation were an almost regular occurrence. The ensuing chaos and string of retaliations often turned the entire south-eastern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth border into a low-intensity war zone and led to the escalation of the Commonwealth-Ottoman warfare, from the
Moldavian Magnate Wars to the
Battle of Cecora and Wars in 1633"1634.
Cossack numbers expanded with
peasants running from
serfdom in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Attempts by the
szlachta to turn the
Zaporozhian Cossacks into serfs eroded the Cossacks' once fairly strong loyalty towards the Commonwealth. Cossack ambitions to be recognized as equal to the szlachta were constantly rebuffed, and plans for transforming the Two-Nations Commonwealth (Polish-Lithuanian) into
Three Nations (with the Ruthenian Cossack people) made little progress due to their lack of popularity within the Commonwealth. The Cossack's strong historic allegiance to the
Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the Commonwealth dominated by the
Catholicism increased the tensions, especially when the Commonwealth policies turned from relative tolerance to suppression of the Orthodox church, which made the Cossacks strongly anti-Catholic which at the time was synonymous to anti-Polish.
The waning loyalty of the Cossacks and the szlachta's arrogance towards them resulted in several Cossack uprisings against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the early seventeenth century. Finally, the King's adamant refusal to cede to the Cossack's demand to expand the
Cossack Registry was the last straw that prompted the largest and most successful of these: the
Khmelnytsky uprising that started in 1648. The uprising became one of a series of the catastrophic for the Commonwealth events known as
The Deluge, which led to the disintegration of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The rebellion ended with the 1654
Treaty of Pereyaslav where Cossacks pledge their loyalty to the
Russian Tsar with the latter guaranteeing Cossacks his protection, recognition of Cossack
starshyna (nobility) and the autonomy under his rule,
["In 1651, in the face of a growing threat from Poland and forsaken by his Tatar allies, Khmelnytsky asked the tsar to incorporate Ukraine as an autonomous duchy under Russian protection... [T]the details of the union were negotiated in Moscow. The Cossacks were granted a large degree of autonomy, and they, as well as other social groups in Ukraine, retained all the rights and privileges they had enjoyed under Polish rule. ] freeing the Cossacks from the Polish sphere of influence. The last, ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to rebuild the Polish-Cossack alliance and create a
Polish-Lithuanian-Ruthenian Commonwealth was the 1658
Treaty of Hadiach approved by the Polish King and Sejm as well as by some of the Cossack starshyna, including
ataman Ivan Vyhovsky.[
5] The starshyna was however divided on the issue and the treaty had even less support among Cossack rank-and-file, thus ending in a failure.
Under Russian rule the Cossack nation of the
Zaporozhian Host was divided into two semiautonomous republics of the
Grand Duchy of Moscow: the
Cossack Hetmanate, and the more independent
Zaporizhia. A Cossack organization was also established in the Russian colony of
Sloboda Ukraine. These organizations gradually lost their independence, and were abolished by
Catherine II by the late 18th century. The
Hetmanate became the governorship of
Little Russia, Sloboda Ukraine the
Kharkiv province, and
Zaporizhia was absorbed into
New Russia. In 1775 the Zaporozhian Host was dissolved and high ranking Cossack leaders were granted titles of nobility (
dvoryanstvo). Most of the Zaporozhians resettled to colonise the
Kuban steppe which was a crucial foothold for Russian expansion in the
Caucasus. Some however ran away across the
Danube (territory under the control of the Ottoman Empire) to form a new host before rejoining the others in the Kuban.
During their stay there, a new host was found which by the end of 1778 numbered around 12000 Cossacks and their settlement at the border with Russia met with the approval of the Ottoman Empire after the Cossacks officially vowed to serve the Sultan. Yet the conflict inside the new host of the new loyalty, and the political manoeuvres used by the Russian Empire had a direct split in the Cossacks themselves. After a portion of the runaway Cossacks returned to Russia they were used by the Russian army to form new military bodies that also incorporated Greek Albanians and Crimean Tatars. However after the
Russo-Turkish war of 1787"1792, most of them were incorporated into the
Black Sea Cossack Host which moved to the Kuban steppes. The remaining Cossacks that stayed in the Danube delta returned to Russia in 1828 and created between
Berdyansk and
Mariupol Azov Cossack Host. In 1864 all of them were resettled to North Caucasus and merged into the
Kuban Cossack Host.
The native land of the Cossacks is defined by a line of the Russian/Ruthenian town-fortresses located on the border with the steppe and stretching from the middle Volga to Ryazan and Tula, then breaking abruptly to the south and extending to the Dnieper via Pereyaslavl. This area was settled by a population of free people practising various trades and crafts.
These people, constantly facing the Tatar warriors on the steppe frontier, received the Turkic name
Cossacks which was then extended to other free people in northern Russia. The oldest reference in the annals mentions Cossacks of the Russian city of Ryazan taking part in the city's service in the battle against the Tatars in 1444. In the sixteenth century, the Cossacks (firstly those of Ryazan) were grouped in military and trading communities on the open steppe and started to migrate into the area of the Don (source
Vasily Klyuchevsky,
The course of the Russian History, vol.2).
Cossacks served as border guards and protectors of towns, forts, settlements and trading posts, performed policing functions on the frontiers and also came to represent an integral part of the
Russian army. In the sixteenth century, to protect the borderland area from
Tatar invasions, Cossacks carried out sentry and patrol duties, observing Crimean Tatars and nomads of the Nogai Horde in the steppe region.
Russian Cossacks played a key role in the expansion of the
Russian Empire into
Siberia (particularly by
Yermak Timofeyevich), the
Caucasus and
Central Asia in the period from the 16th to 19th centuries. Cossacks also served as guides to most Russian expeditions formed by civil and military geographers and surveyors, traders and explorers. In 1648 the Russian Cossack Simeon Dezhnev opened a passage between America and Asia. Cossack units played a role in many wars in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries (such as the
Russo-Turkish Wars and the
Russo-Persian Wars, annexation of Central Asia).
During
Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, Cossacks were the Russian soldiers most feared by the French troops. Cossacks also took part in the
partisan war deep inside French-occupied Russian territory attacking communications and supply lines. These attacks, carried out by Cossacks along with Russian light cavalry and other units, were one of the first developments of
guerrilla warfare tactics and, to some extent, special operations as we know them today.
Western Europeans had had few contacts with Cossacks before the Allies occupied Paris in 1814. As the most exotic of the Russian troops seen in France, Cossacks drew a great deal of attention and notoriety for their alleged excesses during the
1812 campaign.
Cossack settlements
Russian Cossacks founded numerous settlements (called
stanitsas) and fortresses along "troublesome borders" such as forts Verny (
Almaty,
Kazakhstan) in south Central Asia,
Grozny in North Caucasus, Fort Alexandrovsk (
Fort Shevchenko,
Kazakhstan),
Krasnovodsk (
Turkmenbashi,
Turkmenistan) Novonikolayevskaya stanitsa (
Bautino,
Kazakhstan),
Blagoveshchensk, towns and settlements at
Ural,
Ishim,
Irtysh,
Ob,
Yenisei,
Lena,
Amur,
Anadyr (
Chukotka), and
Ussuri Rivers, just to name a few.
Cossacks during the final years of the Russian Empire
|
Cossack patrol near Baku oil fields, 1905. |
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Cossack communities enjoyed a privileged tax-free status in the
Russian Empire, although having a military service commitment of twenty years (reduced to eighteen years from 1909). Only five years had to be spent in full time service, the remainder of the commitment being spent with the reserves. In the beginning of the twentieth century Russian Cossacks counted 4.5 million and were organised into separate regional Hosts, each comprising a number of regiments.
Each Host had its own distinctive uniform of either grey-brown , blue or green with red, crimson, yellow or light blue facings. Cossacks were expected to provide their own uniforms. While these were sometimes manufactured in bulk by factories owned by the individual Host, garments were often handed down or cut out within a family. Individual items might accordingly vary from those laid down by regulation or be of obsolete pattern.
For most Hosts the basic uniform comprised the standard loose fitting tunics and wide trousers typical of Russian regular troops during the period 1881-1908. However the Caucasian Hosts (Kuban and Terek) wore the very long, open fronted, cherkesska coats with ornamental cartridge loops and coloured beshmets (waistcoats), that epitomise the popular image of the Cossacks. Most Hosts wore fleece hats with coloured cloth tops in full dress with peaked caps for ordinary duties. The two Caucasian Hosts however appear to have worn high fleece caps on most occasions.
Until 1909 white blouses and cap covers of standard Russian army pattern were worn by the Cossack regiments in summer. The shoulder straps and cap bands were in the Host colour as detailed below. From 1910 to 1918 a khaki-grey jacket was worn for field wear with the blue or green breeches and coloured stripes of the dress uniform.
While most Cossacks served as cavalry, there were infantry and artillery units in several of the hosts. Three regiments of Cossacks formed part of the Imperial Guard, as well as the
Konvoi"the tsar's mounted escort. The Imperial Guard regiments wore tailored Government issue uniforms which were of spectacular and colourful appearance. As an example, the Konvoi wore scarlet cherkesskas, white beshmets and red crowns on their fleece hats.
In 1914 the line Cossack Hosts were:
*
Cossacks of the Don (year of establishment 1570; blue dress uniform with wide red trouser stripes, red cloth crown on fleece hat, blue shoulder straps),
*
Cossacks of the Ural, 1571. Blue unifom with crimson trouser stripes, crimson hat crown and crimson shoulder straps.
*
Cossacks of the Terek, 1577. As a Caucasian Host: grey-brown cherkesska with light blue shoulder straps, light blue beshmet and light blue crown of fleece hat.
*
Cossacks of the Kuban, 1696. As a Caucasian Host: grey-brown cherkesska with red shoulder straps, red beshmet and red crown of fleece hat.
*
Cossacks of Orenburg, 1744. Green uniform with light blue trouser stripes, light blue hat crown and light blue shoulder straps.
*
Cossacks of Astrakhan, 1750. Blue uniform with yellow trouser stripes, yellow hat crown and yellow shoulder straps.
* Siberian Cossacks, early 1750s (?). Green uniform with red trouser stripes, red hat crown and red shoulder straps.
* Cossacks of Gor'kaya Liniya (Ishim and Irtysh rivers, often referred to as a southern subsidiary of Siberian (Fortification) Lines and Siberian Cossacks), 1753(?)
*
Transbaikalian Cossacks, 1851. Green uniform with yellow trouser stripes, yellow hat crown and yellow shoulder straps.
*
Cossacks of the Amur, 1858. Green uniform with yellow trouser stripes, yellow hat crown and green shoulder straps.
*
Cossacks of Semiretshensk,1867. Green uniform with crimson trouser stripes, crimson hat crown and crimson shoulder straps.
*
Cossacks of the Ussuri, 1889. Green uniform with yellow trouser stripes, yellow hat crown and yellow shoulder straps.
The Cossack sense of being a separate and elite community gave them a strong sense of loyalty to the Tsarist government and Cossack units were frequently used to suppress domestic disorder, especially during the widespread worker and peasant unrest of 1905"06. The Imperial Government depended heavily on the perceived reliability of the Cossacks, although by the early twentieth century their separate communities and semi-feudal military service were increasingly being seen as obsolete. The Cossacks were not highly regarded by the Russian Army, who saw them as lacking the discipline and training of regular troops. As a result, Cossack units were frequently broken up into small detachments for use as scouts, messengers or picturesque escorts. When revolution came in February 1917, the Cossacks appear to have shared the general disillusionment with Tsarist leadership and the Cossack regiments in Saint Petersburg joined the uprising. While only a few units were involved, their defection (and that of the
Konvoi) came as a stunning psychological blow to the Government of Nicholas II and speeded his abdication.
Cossacks after the Russian Revolution
In the Civil War that followed the Russian Revolution, the Cossacks found themselves on both sides of the conflict. Many officers and experienced Cossacks fought for the White Army, and some of the poorer ones joined the Red Army, including notable commanders like
Semyon Budennyi. Following the defeat of the
White Army, a policy of
Decossackization (
Raskazachivaniye) took place on the surviving Cossacks and their homelands since they were viewed as potential threat to the new regime. This mostly involved dividing their territory amongst other divisions and giving it to new autonomous republics of minorities, and then actively encouraging settlement of these territories with those peoples. This was especially true for the Terek Cossacks land. The Cossack homelands were often very fertile, and during the collectivization campaign many Cossacks shared the fate of
kulaks. The famine of 1933 hit the Don and Kuban territory the hardest. According to Michael Kort, "During 1919 and 1920, out of a population of approximately 3 million, the Bolshevik regime killed or deported an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 Cossacks"
[Kort, Michael (2001). The Soviet Collosus: History and Aftermath, p. 133. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0765603969.].
Nevertheless, in 1936, under pressure from former Cossack descendants like
Semyon Budyonny, it was decided to reintroduce Cossack forces into the Red Army. During the Second World War Cossacks found themselves on both sides of the conflict again, as most of the Nazi collaborators came from former White Army refugees. Red Army Cossacks fought on the Southern theatre of the front, where open steppes made them ideal for frontal patrols and logistics. A Cossack detachment marched on
Red Square during the famous victory parade in 1945.
|
24 June 1945, Victory Parade |
One notable group of those who fought for the Germans in the Wehrmacht was the
XV Cossack Cavalry Corps under the German General
Helmuth von Pannwitz in combat against the
Serbian partisans in
Yugoslavia. They surrendered to the British Army in Austria in 1945, hoping to join the British to fight Communism. There was little sympathy at the time for a group who were seen as Nazi collaborators and who were reported to have committed atrocities against resistance fighters in Eastern Europe. They were accordingly
handed over to the Soviet Government, to be executed or imprisoned. At the end of the war, American and British commanders "repatriated" more than 150,000 Cossack men, women, and children to the Soviet Union. Many of these people had never been Soviet citizens. This event is commonly known as the
Betrayal of the Cossacks or the Secret Betrayal.
Following the war, Cossack units, along with cavalry in general, were rendered obsolete and released from the Soviet Army. In the post-war years many Cossack descendants thought of themselves as simple peasants, and those who lived inside an autonomous republic usually gave way to the particular minority and migrated elsewhere (notably, to the Baltic region).
In the perestroika-enlightened USSR of the late 1980s, many successors of the Cossacks became enthusiastic about reviving their national traditions. In 1988 the USSR passed a law which allowed formation of former hosts and the creation new ones. The
ataman of the largest, the All-Mighty Don Host, was granted Marshal rank and the right to form a new host. The Cossacks have taken an active part in many of the conflicts that took place afterwards:
Transdniestr,
Abkhazia,
South Ossetia,
Kosovo and
Chechnya. While their impact on the outcome of the conflict rarely garnered mass-media attention, Cossacks again became known for their high morale and bravery.
Since the
collapse of the Soviet Union, efforts to revive the Cossack traditions have grown further. In April 2005, Russian President
Vladimir Putin introduced a bill "On the State Service of the Russian Cossacks" () to the State Duma, which was passed in the first reading on
May 18,
2005. This brought the Cossacks even closer to their ambitions of creating an autonomous territory stretching from Transdniester all the way along the steppe to the Ural river.
In early times, Cossack bands were commanded by an
ataman (later called
hetman). He was elected by the tribe members at a Cossack
rada, as were the other important band officials: the judge, the scribe, the lesser officials, and even the clergy. The ataman's symbol of power was a ceremonial mace, a
bulava.
After the split of
Ukraine along the
Dnieper River by the
Polish-
Russian
Treaty of Andrusovo, 1667, Ukrainian Cossacks were known as Left-bank Cossacks and Right-bank Cossacks.
The
ataman had
executive powers and at time of war he was the supreme commander in the field.
Legislative power was given to the Band Assembly (
Rada). The senior officers were called
starshyna. In the absence of written
laws, the Cossacks were governed by the "Cossack Traditions," the common, unwritten law.
Cossack society and government were heavily militarized. The nation was called a host (
vois'ko, translated as 'army'), and subdivided into
regimental and company districts, and village posts (
polky,
sotni, and
stanytsi).
Each Cossack settlement, alone or in conjunction with neighbouring settlements, formed one or more military units and regiments of light cavalry (or mounted infantry, for Siberian Cossacks) ready to respond to a threat on very short notice.
Although there was a small minority of
Muslim,
Buddhist (
Kalmyk Cossacks) and
Old Believer Cossacks in
Russia, the majority of Cossacks are of the
Russian Orthodox faith. The relationship between Cossacks and the Orthodox Church runs very deep, and has had strong influences on both the history of the Cossacks and that of the Orthodox Church. Traditionally, Cossacks are considered the protectors of the Church and Orthodox Christians.
Although Cossacks are sometimes regarded as xenophobic, some Cossacks readily adapted to the cultures and customs of nearby peoples
["Сопредельные с ними (поселенцами - Ред.) по ""орькой линии" казаки [...] поголовно обучались Киргизскому наречию и переняли некоторые, впрочем, безвредные привычки кочевого народа". "енерал-губернатор Казнаков в докладе Александру III, 1875.]
"[Among - Edit.] neighbouring (to settlers -Edit.) in Gor'kaya Liniya Cossacks [...] everyone learnt Kyrgys language and adopted some, harmless though, habits of nomadic folks" quoted Report of Governor-General Kaznakov to Tzar Alexander III, 1875. (for example, the
Terek Cossacks, who were heavily influenced by the culture of North Caucasian tribes) and frequently married local residents (other non-Cossack settlers and natives) regardless of race or origin, sometimes setting aside religious restrictions. War brides brought from distant lands were also common in Cossack families. One of the Russian
Volunteer Army commanders, General Bogaevsky mentions in his book one of his Cossacks unit's servicemen, sotnik Khoperski, who was Chinese by origin and brought from Manchuria during the
Russian-Japanese War 1904-1905 as a child, adopted and raised by a Cossack family.
[Богаевский А.П. Ледяной поход. 'оспоминания 1918 г. ].
|
A Ukrainian folk musician, Ostap Kindratchuk, playing the bandura on an Old Market in Poznań wearing the traditional cossack outfit. |
Cossacks have long appealed to romantics as idealizing freedom and resistance to external authority, and their military exploits against enemies of the Russian people have contributed to this favourable image. For others they have been a symbol of repression because of their role in suppressing popular uprisings in the Russian Empire, as well as their assaults against Jews.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many have begun seeing Cossacks as defenders of Russian sovereignty. Cossacks not only reestablished all of their hosts, they also took over police and even administrative duties in their homelands. The Russian military also took advantage of the patriotic feelings amongst the Cossacks and as the hosts become increasingly larger and more organised, has in past overturned some of its surplus technology to them. On par with that the Cossacks also play a large cultural role in the South of Russia. Since the whole rural population of the
Rostov, Krasnodar and Starvropol territories as well as the Autonomous republics of the Northern Caucasus consists almost exclusively of Cossack descendants (amongst the ethnic Russian population) the region was always known, even in the Soviet times for its high discipline, low crime and conservative sentiments, like having one of the highest rates of religious attendance and literacy rates. The result was that Cossacks began to represent order and in some cases hope, especially when compared with the presentely unpopular Russian Army amongst the youth.
In Ukraine where the Cossackdom represents historical and cultural heritage, some people have been attempting to recreate the images of Ukrainian Cossacks, that survived through Soviet times via various propaganda images, like the glorification of the Pereyaslvl Rada. Presentely traditional Ukrainian culture is often tied in with these images and a result the Ukrainian government actively supports this, like having the
Bulava club as its national symbolism and the restoration of the Hortytsia island, where the famous
Zaporozhian Sech once dwelled.
Literary reflections of Cossack culture abound in
Russian and
Ukrainian literatures, particularly in the works of
Nikolai Gogol,
Taras Shevchenko and
Mikhail Sholokhov. Moreover, they were portrayed in the
Henryk Sienkiewicz's book
With Fire and Sword, where
Bohun, bold and desperate Cossack, is one of the main characters.
Cossacks are also portrayed in
Tennyson's "
The Charge of the Light Brigade."
Russian Cossacks
In the Russian Empire, the Cossacks were organized into several
voiskos (hosts), which lived along Russian borderland, or internal borders between Russian and non-Russian peoples. Each host had its own leadership and regalia as well as uniforms as well as ranks. However by the late nineteenth century the latter were standardised of the example of the Imperial Russian Army. Following the 1988 law, which allowed the hosts to reform and the 2005 one that legally recognised the hosts as a combat service the ranks and insignia were kept but on all military tickets that are standard for the Russian Army they are given bellow.
*Rank Presentely absent in the Russian Army
**The application of ranks Polkovnik and General is only stable for small hosts. Large hosts are devided into divisions and consenquentely the Russian Army sub-ranks General-Mayor, General-Leitenatant and General-Polkovnik are used to distinguish the Atamans' hierarchy of command, with the Supreme Ataman having the highest rank available. In such a case the shoulder insignia will have a dedicated one, two and three star allignment as normal in the Russian Army otherwise it will be blank.
The same can be said about the colonel ranks as they are given to atamans of regional and district status. The lowest group"stanitsa, is commanded by Yesaul. If the region or district lacks any other stanitsas then the rank polkovnik is applied automatically but with no stars on the shoulder. As the host continue to grow, starless shoulder batches are becoming increasingly rare.
In addition to all that, the Supreme Ataman of the largest Don Cossack Host, is officially titled as Marshal and consequetely wears insignia that is derived from the Russian/Soviet Marshal ranks, including the diamond Marshal Star. This is because the Don Cossack Supreme Ataman is recognised as the official head of all Cossack armies (including those outside the present Russian borders). He also has the authority to recognise and dissolve new hosts.
Ukrainian Cossacks
 |
Cossack tabor |
*
Hetman - a Ukrainian Cossack supreme military leader.
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Koshovyi Otaman - leader of the
Zaporozhian Host.
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Starshyna - a general name for higher
officers.
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polkovnyk - a head of military territorial unit "polk" (army corps); his rank corresponds to general in westtern armies; member of starshyna
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pysar - a secretary. member of starshyna
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suddya - a judge. member of starshyna
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oboznyi - a head-conveyor. member of starshyna
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osavul - a common name of Cossack leader
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khorunzhyi - a standard keeper
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desiatnyk - a leader of 10 men Cossack company
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sotnyk - a leader of 100 men Cossack company
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tysiachnyk - a leader of 1000 men Cossack company
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serdiuks - mercenary foot Cossacks, bodyguards of Hetman
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companions - mercenary cavalery Cossacks, bodyguards of Hetman
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plastuns - scouts and special agents in Cossack army
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Otaman - a title of Cossack leaders of various kinds (Koshovyi Otaman,
Kurinnyi Otaman).
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Tabor - a tactic using a set of horse-drawn wagons, mastered by Cossacks in 16-17th century
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Bulava - a
ceremonial mace, a symbol of Hetman's authority
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kharakternyks - legendary Cossack magicians of 16-17 centuries
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History of the Cossacks*
Betrayal of the Cossacks*
Registered Cossacks*
Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks*
Nağaybäk, Tatar Cossacks
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Kosiński Uprising*
Dmytro Yavornytsky*
Cossack motorcycle*
Kozacy*
Cossackdom.com " history of Cossacks XV-XXI cent.*
History of Cossacks*
Cossack Stan (in Russian)*
Cossack Literacy *
Zaporizhian Cossacks*
Quotes on Cossacks*
History of Ukrainian Cossacks*
Cossacks' Uprising at Jewish Encyclopedia.com*
Ukrainian Cossacks
