1.
Cossacks
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Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic-speaking people who became known as members of democratic, self-governing, semi-military communities, predominantly located in Ukraine and in Russia. The origins of the first Cossacks are disputed, though the 1710 Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk claimed Khazar origin, the Zaporizhian Sich were a vassal people of Poland–Lithuania during feudal times. Under increasing pressure from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in the century the Sich declared an independent Cossack Hetmanate. Afterwards, the Treaty of Pereyaslav brought most of the Ukrainian Cossack state under Russian rule, the Sich with its lands became an autonomous region under the Russian-Polish protectorate. The Don Cossack Host, which had established by the 16th century. Together they began a systematic conquest and colonisation of lands in order to secure the borders on the Volga, the whole of Siberia, and the Yaik, Cossack communities had developed along the latter two rivers well before the arrival of the Don Cossacks. By the 18th century, Cossack hosts in the Russian Empire occupied effective buffer zones on its borders, the expansionist ambitions of the Empire relied on ensuring the loyalty of Cossacks, which caused tension given their traditional exercise of freedom, democratic self-rule, and independence. By the end of the 18th century, Cossack nations had transformed into a special military estate. The government provided only firearms and supplies for them, Cossack service was considered the most rigorous one. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Tsarist regime used Cossacks extensively to perform police service and they also served as border guards on national and internal ethnic borders. During the Russian Civil War, Don and Kuban Cossacks were the first nations to open war against the Bolsheviks. By 1918, Cossacks declared the independence of their nations and formed the independent states, the Ukrainian State, the Don Republic. The Cossack troops formed the core of the anti-Bolshevik White Army. With the victory of the Red Army, the Cossack lands were subjected to Decossackization, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Cossacks made a systematic return to Russia. Many took a part in Post-Soviet conflicts and Yugoslav Wars. In Russias 2010 Population Census, Cossacks have been recognized as an ethnicity, there are Cossack organizations in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Poland, and the United States. Max Vasmers etymological dictionary traces the name to the Old East Slavic word козакъ, kozak, the ethnonym Kazakh is from the same Turkic root. In written sources the name is first attested in Codex Cumanicus from the 13th century, in English, Cossack is first attested in 1590
2.
Amur Cossacks
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The Amur Cossack Host, a Cossack host created in the Amur region and Primorye in the 1850s on the basis of the Cossacks relocated from the Transbaikal region and freed miners of Nerchinsk region. The first Cossack stanitsa was created in 1858, a decree announcing the creation of the Amur Cossack Host was issued in 1860. Initially the host was subordinate to the governor of the Amur Oblast. In 1879 it became responsible to the governor of the Amur Oblast, subsequently the Amur Cossack army became the responsibility of the Governor-General of the Amur region and the Commander of the armies of the military district of the Amur region. The headquarters of the Amur Cossack Host was located in Blagoveshchensk, the Amur Cossack Host patrolled the borders along the Amur River and Ussuri River It also staffed the Amur-Ussuri flotilla, created in 1897. The Amur Cossacks possessed 5,8 million desyatinas of land, the Cossack population numbered 49,200 people. In times of peace, the Amur Cossack Host supplied 1 mounted regiment and 1 platoon of local guards, in times of war this contribution expanded to two mounted regiments,1 platoon of guards,5 special and 1 reserve sotnyas and 1 infantry battalion. These made up a total of 3,600 men, the Amur Cossack Host took part in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and World War I. During the Russian Civil War, a significant number of the Amur Cossacks fought on the side of the Soviets. The distinguishing colour of the Amur Cossack Host was yellow, worn on the cap bands, high fleece hats were worn on occasion with yellow cloth tops. White blouses and cap covers were worn in summer, in 1911 their parade uniform comprised a dark green chessman with yellow piping on cuffs and collar, the fleece hat and blue-grey breeches with yellow stripes. The field service dress worn during World War I consisted of a tunic or blouse. In common with other cossacks, no spurs were worn by the Amur Host, albazin Cossacks Amur-Ussuri Cossacks Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky
3.
Azov Cossack Host
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Azov Cossack Host was a Cossack host that existed on the northern shore of the Sea of Azov, between 1832 and 1862. The host was made up of several Cossack groups who were re-settled there, the most numerous were the former Danubian Sich Cossacks, who came under Russian Patronage in 1828. The host was the one in the Russian Empire whose primary task was Naval Coast Guard duties, participating extensively in the course of the Caucasus. Led by their Kosh ataman Osip Gladky, some of the Cossacks, chose to defect to Russia, the Tsar formed a Special Zaporozhian Host out of them, who took extensive part in the war. After Russias victory, a newly created Danube Cossack Host was deemed sufficient to safeguard the borders. The Tsar instead allowed the Cossacks to remain in Novorossiya provided they find an empty land. Gladky found the territory adjacent to the west of the Don Cossack Host land on the Northern coast of the Azov Sea between Berdyansk and Mariupol. Thus in 1832 Gladky moved his host to Priazovye which numbered 2,336 Cossacks, and they were the only Cossack Host that had a naval role and were tasked in guarding the Black Sea coasts of the Caucasus and Crimea. Because of their small size, the peasants of Novospasovka selo were also incorporated into the host. They were joined by volunteers from the Chernigov governorate and in 1839 a group of 217 Nekrasov Cossacks were added to their host. A defence line was proposed from Anapa all the way to Sukhum, the first marine landings by the Russian Black Sea Fleet took place in 1830 near Gagra, prior to the formation of the Azov Host. However, despite the success in 1839 Imam Shamil sent his naib Magomet-Amin who instead of rallying the Circassians on the northern Kuban approach, despite the unsuccessful operation in building the line, the Russian evacuation did not affect the Azov Cossacks role in patrolling the Black Sea Coast. In 1845 the 26 commands were re-organized into two groups, during the following years, as quoted by General M. Rayevsky The Azov Cossacks recommended themselves as a potent force and stroke fear to the captains of contraband ships and Circassian galleys. The success of the Azov Cossacks, led to a plan being drawn in 1843 to once again re-settle them to the whole Black Sea Coast from Mingrelia to the mouth of the Kuban river. After the events of 1848 it became clear that Russia was en route to another conflict between Ottoman Empire and her new allies Britain and France. The Azov Cossack Hosts first job was to sabotage the remaining Russian strongholds on the Caucasus coast, the Azov Host was tasked with preventing the enemy from reaching the Don, a task which they accomplished. However the weakly defended Strait of Kerch meant that in May 1855 a squadron of 57 English and French ships easily overpowered the Russian garrison there, afterwards the enemy approached Berdyansk and bombarded the city from the sea. Similar attacks were experienced by Petrovskaya Stanitsa, Mariupol and numerous locations on the coast of the northern Azov
4.
Baikal Cossacks
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Baikal Cossacks were Cossacks of the Transbaikal Cossack Host, a Cossack host formed in 1851 in the areas beyond Lake Baikal. The Transbaikal Cossack Host was one of those created during the 19th century as the Russian Empire expanded to the Far East and South-East and it remained smaller than the Don Cossacks and other longer-established Hosts. The Transbaikal Cossack Host partially consisted of Siberian Cossaks, Buryats, Evenk military units, the military component included three cavalry regiments and three unmounted brigades. Its main purpose was to patrol the Sino-Russian border and perform everyday military duties in the region, the official leader of the Transbaikal Cossack Host had the title of Nakazny ataman. From 1872 he also served as governor of the Transbaikal oblast. In the early 20th century, the Transbaikal Cossack Host normally supplied one polusotnya of guards for rural policing work, four cavalry regiments, during World War I, the Host expanded to one polusotnya, nine cavalry regiments, four batteries, and three reserve sotnyas. In 1916, the Cossack population of the Transbaikal Cossack Host numbered 265,000 people, the Transbaikal Cossack Army is known to have participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in 1899-1901, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, and World War I. During the Russian Civil War, the more prosperous Cossacks joined the ranks of the armies of General Grigory Semenov. The poorer Cossacks took active part in the guerrilla movement, in 1920 at the end of the Russian Civil War, the Transbaikal Cossack Host was disbanded. Individual regiments were distinguished by numbers on the epaulettes, high lambs-wool hats were worn on occasion, with yellow cloth tops
5.
Black Sea Cossack Host
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Black Sea Cossack Host, also known as Chernomoriya, was a Cossack host of the Russian Empire created in 1787 in the southern Ukraine from former Zaporozhian Cossacks. In the 1790s, the host was re-settled to the Kuban River and it comprised the Caucasus Fortified Defence Line from the mouth of the Kuban River to the mouth of the Bolshaya Laba River. The Black Sea host played a role in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1797. As a result, Catherine II rewarded them with the Kuban land in the North Caucasus by her decree of June 30,1792, at that time the area was inhabited by a few Nogain steppe nomads. When Russia annexed the Crimean Khanate in 1783 it inherited the Crimean claim to this land, south of the Kuban were Circassians. Initially the Black Sea Cossacks adhered to Zaporozhian traditions, such as the election of the host government. The Cossacks founded the centre of Yekaterinodar in 1794. The Host sent the 9th plastun and 1st joint cavalry regiments as well as the first Leib Guards sotnia to aid the Russian Army during the Patriotic War of 1812. As the years went by, the Black Sea Cossacks continued their penetration into the mountainous regions of the Northern Caucasus. Taking an active part in the finale of the Russian conquest of the Northern Caucasus, to aid them, a total of 70,000 additional ex-Zaporozhians from the Bug, Yekaterinoslav, and finally the Azov Cossack Host migrated there in the mid 19th century. They migrated to the Kuban in 1860 and merged with the Caucasus Line Cossack Host, finally in 1864, the Black Sea Cossacks and the Azov Cossacks were united into the Kuban Cossack Host, ninety years after destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich. Upon creation, the territory of the host was governed by the military government, later, a dedicated military executive office was created, which was headed by the hosts ataman. In military matters, this office was subordinated to Khersons military governor and, since 1802, in civil matters, the office was subordinated to the Governor of Taurida Governorate
6.
Don Cossacks
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Don Cossacks are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. As of 1992, by the decree of the Russian Federation. A number of Cossack communities have been reconstituted to further the Cossack cultural traditions, Don Cossacks have had a rich military tradition, playing an important part in the historical development of the Russian Empire and participating in most of its major wars. The name Cossack was widely used to free people as opposed to others with different standing in a feudal society. The word cossack was also applied to migrants, free-booters and bandits, the exact origins of Cossacks are unknown. More than two years ago the Scythians lived on the banks of the river Don. Many Scythian tombs have found in this area. Subsequently, the area was inhabited by the Khazars and the Polovtsians, the steppes of the Don River were called The Wild Field. The area was under the control of the Golden Horde. The first Christians to settle on the territories around the Don were the Jassi, after the fall of the Golden Horde in 1480, more Russian colonists started to expand onto this land from the Novgorod Republic after the Battle of Shelon and from neighboring Principality of Ryazan. Until the end of the 16th century, the Don Cossacks inhabited independent free territories, Cossacks of Ryazan are mentioned in 1444 as a defenders of Pereslavl-Zalessky against the units of Golden Horde and in a letter of Ivan III of Russia since 1502. After the Golden Horde fell in 1480, the area around the Don River was divided between the Crimean west side and the Nogai east side, in the course of time they turned into a united community and were called the Cossacks. At first the main occupation of these armed detachments was hunting and fishing—as well as the constant struggle against the Turks. Only later they began to settle and work on the land, the first records relating to the Cossack villages, the stanitsa, date back to 1549. In the year 1552 Don Cossacks under the command of Ataman Susar Fedorov joined the Army of Ivan the Terrible during the Siege of Kazan in 1552. On 2 June 1556 the Cossack regiment of Ataman Lyapun Filimonov, together with the Army of Moscovits comprising strelets, during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the ataman Yermak Timofeyevich went on an expedition to conquer Siberia. After defeating Khan Kuchum in the fall of 1582 and occupying Isker, the detachment led by Bogdan Bryazga, passed through the lands of the Konda-Pelym Voguls and reached the walls of the town of Samarovo. Taken by surprise by the attack, the Ostyaks surrendered
7.
Free Cossacks
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Free Cossacks were the Ukrainian association volunteer militia units that arose somewhat spontaneously in the spring of 1917. The Free Cossacks were precursors of the Ukrainian national law enforcement organizations such as the National Guard of Ukraine or the Internal Troops of Ukraine, the primary purpose of those militia formations was to provide security and civil order for the local population. The assembly elected Semen Hryzlo the Kosh Otaman, who became the otaman of Kalnyboloto Kurin, under this title, he was delegated to the 2nd All-Ukrainian Military Congress in Kiev in June 1917. Hryzlo was also one of the organizers of the 1st All-Ukrainian Congress of the Free Cossacks that took place on October 3,1917 in the former Cossack capital of Chyhyryn, the congress elected the Hetman of All Ukraine, who became General Pavlo Skoropadskyi. Hryzlo was elected as the General Yesaul, the Free Cossacks units distinguished themselves during the Ukrainian-Soviet War and were disbanded around May and June 1918. Red Cossacks Red Army Ukraine after the Russian Revolution Ukrainian–Soviet War Kozub, an age and a destiny, memoirs. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, TAKSON Publishing House, ISBN1895571170 Free Cossacks at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
8.
Kuban Cossacks
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Kuban Cossacks or Kubanians are Cossacks who live in the Kuban region of Russia. Most of the Kuban Cossacks are descendants of two groups of Cossacks who were re-settled to the western Northern Caucasus in the late 18th century. The western part of the host was settled by the Black Sea Cossack Host who were originally the Zaporozhian Cossacks of Ukraine, from 1792. The eastern and southeastern part of the host was previously administered by the Khopyour and Kuban regiments of the Caucasus Line Cossack Host, the Kuban Cossack Host, the administrative and military unit composed of Kuban Cossacks, formed in 1860 and existed until 1918. During the Russian Civil War, the Kuban Cossacks proclaimed a Kuban Peoples Republic, during the Second World War, Cossacks fought both for the Red Army and Wehrmacht. The modern Kuban Cossack Host was re-established in 1990, although Cossacks lived in the region prior to the late 18th century, the landscape prevented permanent habitation. Modern Kuban Cossacks claim 1696 as their year, when the Don Cossacks from the Khopyor took part in Peters Azov Campaigns. Sporadic raids reached out into the land, which was populated by the Nogay. In 1784 the lower Kuban passed to Russia, after which its colonisation became an important step in the Empires expansion, in a different part of southeastern Europe, on the middle Dnieper in what is now Ukraine, lived the Zaporozhian Cossacks. By the late 18th century however, their ability was greatly reduced. With their traditional adversaries, the Crimean Khanate and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth now all but defunct, the Russian administration saw little military use for them. The Zaporozhian Sich, however, represented a safe haven for runaway serfs, where the authority did not extend. Another problem for the imperial Russian government was the Cossacks resistance to colonization of lands the government considered theirs, in 1775, after numerous attacks on Serbian colonisers, the Russian Empress Catherine the Great had Grigory Potemkin destroy the Zaporozhian Host. The operation was carried out by General Pyotr Tekeli, the Zaporozhians scattered, some fled to the Ottoman-controlled Danube area. Others joined the Imperial Russian Husar and Dragoon regiments, while most turned to local farming, a decade later, the Russian administration was forced to reconsider its decision, with the escalation of tension with the Ottoman Empire. In 1778 the Turkish sultan offered the exiled Zaporozhians the chance to build a new Danubian Sich, Potemkin suggested that the former commanders Antin Holovaty, Zakhary Chepiha and Sydir Bily round the former Cossacks into a Host of the loyal Zaporozhians in 1787. Renamed the Black Sea Cossack Host, a total of 25,000 men made the migration in 1792-93. During the Russo-Turkish War, the Don Cossacks on the Khopyor River took part in the campaign, owing to their service in the war, on 6 October 1774 Catherine the Great issued a manifesto granting their request
9.
Orenburg Cossacks
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The Orenburg Cossack Host, a part of the Cossack population in pre-revolutionary Russia, located in the Orenburg province. After having constructed fortifications around the town of Orenburg in 1734. In 1755, a part of it was transformed into the Orenburg Cossack Host with 2,000 men, in 1773—1774, the Orenburg Cossacks took part in Yemelyan Pugachevs insurrection. In 1798, all of the Cossack settlements in the Southern Urals were incorporated into the Orenburg Cossack Host, a decree of 1840 established the borders of the Host and its composition. In the mid-19th century, the Cossack population of this region equaled 200,000 people, the Orenburg Host participated in the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790, and later in the campaigns that Russia waged in order to conquer Central Asia. The Orenburg Host consisted of 2 districts, or okrugs, by 1916, the Cossack population of this region had grown to 533,000 people occupying a territory of 7,45 million desyatinas. In the early 19th century, the Orenburg Cossack Host supplied 6 cavalry regiments,3 artillery battalions,1 cavalry battalion,1 sotnya of guards and 2 detached sotnyas. After the October Revolution of 1917, the leadership of the Orenburg Cossack Host, under the command of Ataman Alexander Dutov, the poorer Cossacks joined the ranks of the Red Army. The 1st Orenburg Cossack Socialist Regiment took part in the Ural Army Campaign of 1918, in 1920, the Orenburg Cossack Host ceased to exist. High fleece hats were worn on occasion with light blue cloth tops, after 1907 a khaki-grey service uniform of standard Imperial Cavalry pattern was introduced but the light blue distinctions were retained until 1920. Nagaybaks - Tatar-speaking Cossacks, belonged to the Orenburg Host Petr I, avdeev Istoricheskaya Zapiska ob Orenburgskom Kazachem Voiske,1904
10.
XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps
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The XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps was a German cavalry corps during World War II. With an order of February 1,1945 the Corps was transferred to the Waffen-SS, of the latter, the most significant was the desertion of an entire Red Army regiment which went over to the Germans on August 1941. Its commander, Major Ivan Kononv, was a Don Cossack and he served in the German armed forces, ending the war as Major General in the XVth Cossack Cavalry Corps under the command of the German General Helmuth von Pannwitz. Already in May 1943 Pannwitz was given authorization to create a first Cossack Division consisting of two brigades which trained throughout the summer in Mława, north of Warsaw. The division was not, as it had hoped, sent to fight the Red Army. During the summer of 1944 the two brigades were upgraded to become the 1st Cossack Cavalry Division and 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division, on February 25,1945, these divisions were combined to become XV Cossack Cavalry Corps. By the end of the war, the SS took control of all units within the German forces. An agreement was reached that the Cossack divisions, soon to be the Cossack Corps, would only be placed under SS administration in terms of replacements, however, by February 1,1945 the corps was transferred to the Waffen-SS. Despite the refusal of General von Pannwitz to enter the SS, Pannwitz accompanied his troops when they were repatriated by the British to the Soviet Union in the Operation Keelhaul, and was executed in Moscow in 1947. Russian Corps Russian Liberation Army Kaminski Brigade Hiwi Collaboration during World War II Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts Tessin, verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945. François de Lannoy, Les Cosaques de Pannwitz,1942 -1945, ISBN 2-84048-131-6 Samuel J. Newland, Cossacks in the German Army. U. S. Army War College, Frank Cass and Co, ltd 1991, ISBN 0-7146-3351-8 David Littlejohn, Foreign Legions of the Third Reich. ISBN 091213836X Hellmuth Felmy, The Cossack Corps, US Army Historical Division, Hailer Publishing,1946
11.
Semirechye Cossacks
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Semirechye Cossack Host was a Cossack host in Imperial Russia, located in the Semirechye Oblast with the center in Verny. The Semirechye Cossask Host was created out of a portion of the Siberian Cossack Host in 1867 and it was commanded by a nakazny or ataman. From 1882 the Semirechye Ataman was responsible to the Governor General of the Steppe, in the early 20th century, the Semirechye Cossask Host supplied 1 cavalry regiment and 1 platoon of local guards in times of peace. In times of war the host provided 3 cavalry regiments and 12 detached sotnyas, the Semirechye Cossasks possessed 7,440 km² of land, including 710 km² of arable land. In 1916, The Cossack population in this region numbered approximately 45,000 people, the Semirechye Cossask Host played a role in the expansionist colonial policy of the Tsar in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Semirechye Cossacks took part in the conquest of Central Asia and in World War I, during the Russian Civil War, the prosperous leadership of the Semirechye Cossask Host opposed the Soviets. After the defeat of the White movement in the Seven Rivers region in April 1920, as part of the process of Decossackization, its former members were forcibly transferred to the Russian Extreme North. High fleece hats were worn on occasion with crimson cloth tops, until 1908 cossacks from all hosts were required to provide their own uniforms, together with horses, saddlery and sabers. However the prosperous Semirechye Host was able to maintain its own clothing factories and stores as community owned resources and this article includes content derived from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969–1978, which is partially in the public domain
12.
Siberian Cossacks
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Siberian Cossacks were Cossacks who settled in the Siberian region of Russia from the end of the 16th century, following Yermak Timofeyevichs conquest of Siberia. In early periods, practically the whole Russian population in Siberia, especially the serving-men, were called Cossacks, most of these people came from northwest Russia and had little connection to the Don Cossacks or Zaporozhian Cossacks. By 1808 the Host had been organised into ten regiments of mounted cossacks, during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 the cossacks of the Siberian Host provided a significant proportion of the 207 squadrons of Russian cavalry involved. There was, however, criticism of their standard of horsemanship, the Siberian Host was disbanded in 1919, following the Russian Revolution, and efforts were made by the new Soviet regime to eliminate the cultural and other distinctions of the cossacks at large. While some cossack regiments were reestablished in 1937, these did not include specifically Siberian units, currently a regiment of the Russian Ground Forces at Borzya in the Eastern Military District has the title Cossack. In 1802 the Siberian Host were authorized to wear uniforms, replacing their traditional dress, initially these were based on the uniforms of the Don Cossacks, although after 1812 a more conventional lancer style dress was adopted. In practice the Siberian cossacks continued to provide their own clothing and equipment, high fleece hats were worn on occasion with red cloth tops. In 1909 khaki government issue tunics and caps were provided but the red facings and green breeches were retained
13.
Terek Cossacks
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The Terek Cossack Host was a Cossack host created in 1577 from free Cossacks who resettled from the Volga to the Terek River. The local aboriginal Terek Cossacks joined this Cossack host later, in 1792 it was included in the Caucasus Line Cossack Host and separated from it again in 1860, with the capital of Vladikavkaz. In 1916 the population of the Host was 255,000 within an area of 1.9 million desyatinas, many of the early members of the Terek Cossacks were Ossetians. It is unclear how the first Cossack community appeared on the Terek and this would mean the Slavic peoples of the Caucasus are native to the region having settled there much earlier. But later Terek Cossacks assimilated the first Terek Cossacks and introduced their own new agriculture, the early settlement was located at the mouth of the Aktash River. This formed the oldest Cossack group, the Greben Cossacks who settled on banks of the river. In 1559-71 the Tsardom of Russia, in the course of several campaigns, built several fortifications, during which the first Terka was built, in 1584 this Terka was again taken over by Cossacks, some of whom were recruited by the Georgian king Simon I of Kartli. In a separate story, an ataman of the Don Cossack Host named Andrei Shadrin led a band of three Cossack sotnias to the Kumyk lands, founding a town called Tersky. This may have been motivated by his tense relations with Yermak Timofeyevich. He subsequently founded Andreyevo, which was said to be named for him, in the late 16th century several campaigns by the Terek Cossacks were carried out against the Ottoman Empire which led the Sultan to complain to Ivan the Terrible. In 1589 the first outpost on the Sunzha was built and a permanent Terka, during the Time of Troubles in 1606 four thousand Terek Cossacks left for the Volga to support their own candidate for the Tsar, Ileyka Muromets. By 1614 the Rowers supported the new Romanov monarch and aided him in quelling the unrest in Astrakhan, in 1633 they destroyed the remnants of the Nogay Horde and a decade later aided the Don Cossacks against the Crimean Khanate in 1646. By the mid 17th century the Cossacks again expanded into the Sunzha where they built a new outpost in 1651, two years later the outpost withstood a hailing attack by Kumyks and Dagestanis. Though the battle ensured the Tsars respect, it was advised that the Cossacks pull down the outpost, in the 1670s the Terek Cossacks helped to defeat Stenka Razin in Astrakhan. In 1680 after the Raskol in the Russian Orthodox Church reached the Don Cossacks, during the campaign the 1000 re-settled Don Cossacks on the Agrakhan and the Sulak formed the Agrakhan Cossack Host, which was united with the Terek Cossacks. In 1735 by a new agreement with Persia the Sulak line was abandoned, and Agrakhan Cossacks were re-settled on the lower Terek Delta, and the fort of Kizlyar was founded. When the Kalmyks arrived in the northwestern Caspian a combined campaign was waged against Temryuk during the Russo-Turkish War, in 1736 and again in 1765 the right bank of the Terek, still nominally Cossack property, was offered to Chechens who wanted to adopt Russian patronage and re-settle there. By the latter half of the 18th century relations between the Cossacks and the Mountain people began to sour, in 1765 the outpost of Mozdok was founded, which became an immediate target for Kabardins who attacked the Terek line and Kizlyar
14.
Ural Cossacks
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The Ural Cossack Host was a cossack host formed from the Ural Cossacks -- those cossacks settled by the Ural River. Their alternative name, Yaik Cossacks, comes from the old name of the river, the Yaik Cossacks although speaking Russian and identifying themselves as being of primarily Russian ancestry also incorporated many Tatars into their ranks. According to Peter Rychckov some these Tatars called themselves Bulgarians of Khazar origin, later, as Pushkin wrote, a lot of Nogai joined Yaik Cossacks. Twenty years after the conquest of the Volga from Kazan to Astrakhan, in 1577 Moscow sent troops to disperse pirates, some of these fled southeast to the Ural River and joined Yaik Cossacks. In 1580 they captured Saraichik together, by 1591 they were fighting for Moscow and sometime in the next century they were officially recognized. In 1717 they lost 1,500 men on the Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky expedition to Khiva, a census in 1723 showed 3,196 men fit for military service. Yaik Cossacks were the force in the rebellion led by Yemelyan Pugachev in 1773-1774. Their main livelihood was fishery and the taxation on it was a source of friction between the Cossacks and the state. A revolt broke out in 1772, marked by the murder of General von Traubenberg, Traubenberg headed a commission which was to investigate and settle Cossack complaints and grievances, but his behaviour only antagonized them further. In reprisal, many were arrested, executed and outlawed, Pugachev appeared shortly after and managed to rally them to his cause. The Yaik Cossacks were renamed as part of the Ural Host after the rebellion, the Ural regiments later took part in Suvorovs Italian and Swiss expedition, the Great Patriotic War of 1812, the Russo-Turkish War, the November Uprising of 1830 and in the Crimean War. They also played a significant role in the Turkestan campaigns of the 1870s, the distinguishing colour of the Ural Host was crimson, worn on the cap bands, epaulettes and wide trouser stripes of a dark blue uniform of the loose-fitting cut common to the Steppe Cossacks. High fleece hats were worn on occasion with crimson cloth tops
15.
Ussuri Cossacks
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Ussuri Cossack Host was a Cossack Host in Imperial Russia, located in Primorye south of Khabarovsk along the Ussuri River, the Sungari River, and around the Khanka Lake. The Ussuri Cossack Host headquarters was first located in Vladivostok and then in Iman and its nakazny ataman subordinated to the Governor General of the Amur region, who, in turn, was the nakazny ataman of the Amur and the Ussuri Cossack Hosts. The Ussuri Cossacks possessed 6740 km² of land, in 1916, they numbered 39,900 people in six stanitsas, which comprised 76 settlements. In times of peace, the Ussuri Cossacks supplied one cavalry battalion, the Ussuri Cossack Host was used for border patrol, postal and police service. It participated in the Russo-Japanese War, during the World War I, the Ussuri Cossacks supplied one cavalry regiment, one cavalry battalion, one platoon of guards, and six special sotnyas. Most of the Ussuri Cossack Host took the side of the White movement during the Russian Civil War, the Ussuri Cossack Host was disbanded in 1922. It was re-established in 1990, although not as an unit of any sort. Individual regiments were distinguished by numbers on the epaulettes, lambs-wool hats were worn on occasion with yellow cloth tops. From 1907 on, light khaki blouses summer blouses were adopted to replace the white shirt-tunics previously worn
16.
Volga Cossacks
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The Volga Cossacks were free Cossack communities in the 16th century in Russia. The Volga Cossacks participated in Yermaks conquest of Siberia, due to the creation of the Tsaritsyn fortified line in the 18th century, the central government decided to form the Volga Cossack Host consisting of 1057 families with the center in Dubovka. The Volga Cossacks participated in the Pugachev Rebellion in 1773-1775, in 1770 and 1777 the majority of the Volga Cossacks were relocated to the North Caucasus to form the Mozdok and Volga regiments of the Terek Cossack Host. The Volga Cossack Host proper was abolished, the remnants of the Volga Cossack Host were merged with the Astrakhan Cossack Host in the early 19th century. This article includes content derived from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969–1978, which is partially in the public domain
17.
Zaporozhian Cossacks
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Today much of its territory is flooded by the waters of Kakhovka Reservoir. The Zaporizhian Sich grew rapidly in the 15th century from serfs fleeing the more controlled parts of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and it became established as a well-respected political entity with a parliamentary system of government. The Host went through a series of conflicts and alliances involving the three powers, including supporting an uprising in the 18th century and their leader signed a treaty with the Russians. This group was disbanded in the late 18th century by the Russian Empire. The Cossacks served a role of conquering the Caucasian tribes. The name Zaporozhtsi comes from the location of their fortress, the Sich, in Zaporozhia and it is not clear when the first Cossack communities on the Lower Dnieper began to form. There are signs and stories of people living in the steppes as early as the 12th century AD. At that time they were not called Cossacks, since cossack is a Turkish word meaning a free man, during the early 12th century, other Asiatic tribes occupied the steppes to the north of the Black Sea, in such places as Polovci, Pechenihu, Kasahu and others. There were also groups of people who fled into these wild steppes from the lands of Kievan Rus in order to escape oppression or criminal pursuit. Their lifestyle largely resembled that of the now called Cossacks. They survived chiefly from hunting and fishing and raiding the Asiatic tribes for horses, in the 16th century, a great organizer, Dmytro Vyshnevetsky, a Ruthenian noble, united these different groups into a strong military organization. Cossacks were made up mostly of escaped serfs who preferred the dangerous freedom of the wild steppes, however, many serfs from Poland and Muscovy and even Tatars from Crimea could become part of the Cossack host. They had to accept Orthodox Christianity as their religion, and adopt its rituals, registered Cossacks were a part of the Commonwealth army until 1699. From the second part of the 16th century, the Cossacks started raiding Ottoman territories, the Polish government could not control the fiercely independent Cossacks but, since they were nominally subjects of the Commonwealth, it was held responsible for raids by their victims. Reciprocally, the Tatars living under the Ottoman rule launched raids in the Commonwealth, Cossacks, however, were raiding wealthy merchant port cities in the heart of the Ottoman Empire, which were just two days away by boat from the mouth of the Dnieper River. By 1615 and 1625, Cossacks had managed to raze townships on the outskirts of Constantinople, in internal agreements, forced by the Poles, the Cossacks agreed to burn their boats and stop raiding. However, boats could be rebuilt quickly, and the Cossack lifestyle glorified raids, during this time, the Habsburg Monarchy 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
18.
Danubian Sich
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At the same time, the Zaporozhians other enemy, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was also weakened and on the verge of being partitioned. Tekelis operation, carried out in June 1775, was bloodless, the Cossacks did not resist so that no Russian blood would be spilt. The pretext was enough to allow the Russians to let the Cossacks, as long as Potemkin could be guilty, so starshyna, including Kalnyshevsky, was arrested for this. However the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War divided the Cossacks, some returned to Russia and joined the new Host of Loyal Zaporozhians formed out of the Cossacks who chose to remain in Russia in 1775. After the Russo-Turkish War, Bessarabia became part of Russia, there was increasing friction between the two groups over land and fishing rights. In 1794, the Nekrasovites attacked and destroyed Katerlez, afterwards the Turkish authorities re-located the Danubian Zaporozhians further up the Danube on the Brailov Island. The new location was much poorer for fishing and resulted in a group of 500 Cossacks, in 1800 the Balkan Peninsula erupted in uprisings led by Osman Pazvantoğlu who rebelled against the new Turkish Sultan Selim III. In order to support, Pazvantoğlu promised the Nekrasovites all the land on the lower Danube. Seeing an opportunity to settle the score with their rivals, the Danubian Zaporozhians sided with the Sultan, the resulting Civil War saw severe losses in both Cossack groups. In the end the rebellion was put down, the Zaprozhians where rewarded by the Brailov Nazir, however the Nekrasovites found their own protector, the commandant of Izmail Pekhlevanoğlu. With his aid, they attacked the Sich once again in 1805, the surviving Zaporozhians fled to Brailov. The new Russo-Turkish War caused further division among the Danubian Cossacks, after Russia overran the Danube, the Kosh Otaman Trofim Gaibadura and Ivan Guba offered their allegiance to Russia. They were permitted to settle in the Budjak region and by order of Alexander I, the new host lasted only five months, during which many neighbouring Ukrainian and Moldovan landowners complained about their serfs running off to Kiliya and Galats where the Host was based. Therefore, on 20 June, the host, which by that point numbered only 1387 men, was disbanded, approximately 500 of them moved to the Kuban. This caused many of the remaining Danubians, who wished to follow the Kosh and move to Russia. After negotiations with the Russian General Kutuzov, many Nekarsovites were pardoned and allowed to move to Russia, the 1812 Treaty of Bucharest resulted in the Buhjak becoming part of Russia. With the old rivalry still strong, the Zaporozhian Danubians once again attacked their enemy, after a very brutal conflict, which shocked even the Turkish authorities, Zaporozhians captured the Nekrasovite capital Upper Dunavets in 1814. There they founded their final Sich, many Nekrasov Cossacks were later re-located to Anatolia, while those who remained mixed with Lipovans and old-believers among the Danubian Cossacks
19.
Persian Cossack Brigade
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The Persian Cossack Brigade or Iranian Cossack Brigade was a Cossack-style elite cavalry unit formed in 1879 in Persia. During much of their history they were the functional, effective military unit of the Qajar Dynasty. Acting on occasion as kingmakers, this played a pivotal role in modern Iranian history during the Revolution of 1905–1911, the rise of Reza Shah. Together with a Swedish trained and officered gendarmerie, the Cossack Brigade came to comprise the most effective force available to the Iranian crown in the years prior to World War I. In spite of its name the Brigade was not a typical Cossack force as they were employed in the neighbouring Russian Empire, neither did it have the status of a guard unit. However, effectively it was an elite Cossack-style cavalry unit, as was asked to be created, late nineteenth century photographs show that Russian style uniforms were worn, in contrast to the indigenous dress of other Persian forces at the time. Such secondments were encouraged by the Imperial Russian Government who saw the Cossack Brigade as a means of extending Russian influence in a key area of international rivalry, after the October Revolution in 1917, many of these Russian officers left the country to join the White forces. The command of the Persian Cossack Division was subsequently transferred to Iranian officers, most notable among these officers was General Reza Khan, who started his military career as a private soldier in the Cossack Brigade and rose through its ranks to become a brigadier general. At the time of the Persian Cossack Brigades formation the Shah’s royal cavalry was described as having no training or discipline, the Qajar state at this point was very weak, lacking any professional military forces. In wars against the British the royal cavalry had been defeated, the Tsar Alexander II approved Russian military advisors travelling to Persia to fulfill the Shah’s request. The brigade was formed in 1879 by Lieutenant-Colonel Domantovich, a Russian officer. Russian interests and lack of funding slowed the development of the brigade into a professional fighting force. They possessed special privileges as a military caste. Domantovich made rapid progress with their training and the Shah ordered the strength of the new brigade to be increased to 600 men drawn from the regular army. The rapid progress of the Cossack Brigade caused concern in Russia due to fear that it may become a fighting force rather than a tool of the Russian government. Domantovich was dismissed as commander in 1881 and replaced by the less effective Colonel Charkovsij, Charkovsij added four artillery pieces to the arsenal of the Brigade in 1883 but made no other improvements. In 1886 Colonel Karavaev became commander, during his time, the Brigade faced with budget cuts and thus had its numbers diminished. In 1890 Colonel Shneur took over and was unable to pay the men, after many desertions, combined with a cholera epidemic, the strength was reduced to 450 men, and eventually cut down to 200
20.
History of the Cossacks
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The history of the Cossacks spans several centuries. The origins of the first Cossacks are Slavic, in 1710 Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk confirmed Khazar origin, however some Turkologists argue that Cossacks are descendants of native Kipchak people of Ukraine, who inhabited the area long before the Mongol invasion and were closely related to modern Kazakhs. These people were highly admired for their skills by the early Russian military. Many were hired as cavalry by Russian and Ukrainian warlords, in much the way that they hired Black Klobuks as personal guards. It is after 1400 that the Cossacks emerge as an established and those early Cossacks seemed to have included a significant number of Tatar descendants judging by the records of their names. From the mid-15th century, Cossacks are mostly mentioned with Russian and Ukrainian names and they were known for their attacks on the Ottoman Empire and its vassals, although they did not shy away from pillaging other neighbouring communities. Their first recorded naval raid into the Black Sea dates to 1538 and this was followed by more frequent and better-organised raids elsewhere, the freeing of Christian slaves being one of the chief aims, as well as the acquisition of plunder. Their success was such that they attracted the attention of the western European powers, including the Papacy, who made diplomatic overtures in the hope of launching joint ventures against the Turks. In 1539 Grand Prince 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. Similar exchanges passed between Russia, the Ottomans and the Commonwealth, each of which tried to use the Cossacks warmongering for his own purposes. The Cossacks for their part were happy to plunder everybody more or less equally, between the 16th to the 17th century, the Zaporoijan Cossacks became subjects first of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and later of the Union of Lublin of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Using small, shallow-draft, and highly manoeuvrable galleys known as chaiky, according to the Cossacks own records, these vessels, carrying a 50- to 70-man crew, could reach the Anatolian coast of Asia Minor from the mouth of the Dnieper River in forty hours. The chaiky were often accompanied by larger galleys that served as command, by 1618 the Zaporozhians were members of the Anti-Turkish League, as Schaidachny transferred his seat of power to Kiev, the Polish Crowns regional capital. In 1615 the raiders even sailed to the walls of Tsarhorod, as referred to the Turkish capital, plundering the ports of Mizevna. An attempt by the Turks to blockade the Berezan Island, the raiders went on to capture Kaffa, which was burned down after all the slaves were freed. That same year Trebizond, in eastern Anatolia, was captured and destroyed, the city was raided four more times, once in 1620 and no fewer than three times in 1624. Their numbers expanded with immigration from Poland proper and Lithuania, szlachta failure to regard Zaporozhian Cossacks as nobles for inclusion in the registry of professional military cossacks eroded the Cossacks loyalty towards the Commonwealth. The Cossack attempts to be recognized as equal to the szlachta were rebuffed, after the civil war of 1648 the Zaporozhian Host gained control of parts of Ukraine in 1649, although they at various time acknowledged the Polish King over the following decades
21.
Registered Cossacks
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Registered Cossacks comprised special Cossack units of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth army in the 16th and 17th centuries. Registered Cossacks became a formation of the Commonwealth army beginning in 1572 soon after the Union of Lublin. However, due to the lack of funds, the idea was not realized, the starosta of Cherkasy, Ostap Dashkevych, revived the idea at the 1533 council in Piotrków Trybunalski. Dashkevych tried to show that in order to protect the borders beyond the Dnieper it would be necessary to maintain an army of 2,000 soldiers and he pointed out the importance of establishing forts on the rivers islands to keep Tatar raids in check. The first Hetman of the Registered Cossacks and court marshal was Jan Badowski, the registered Cossacks were the only military Cossack formation recognized by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The most well-known of the first recorded Cossack reforms came from King of Poland Stefan Batory, at first Batory tried to control Cossack forces that were waging wars in Moldavia and Wallachia as well as other parts of the Ottoman Empire. On 4 April 1578 he issued four universals to all government officials. He asked them to support Jan Tarlo in an investigation of the coup-detat by Zaporozhian leader Ivan Pidkova. The coup overthrew the Ottoman-installed Hospodar of Moldavia, Peter the Lame, in 1577 under a pretense that Ivan was the brother of the voivode of Moldavia. At the same time Batory sent his ambassador Marcin Broniowski to the Khan of Crimea proposing cooperative actions against the Zaporizhian Sich, on July 27,1578 Batory sent ambassador Jancsi Bereg to the Zaporozhian host proposing the Cossacks redirect their raids from Moldavia to Muscovy. To further discuss the proposition, a delegation headed by Andriy Lykhansky arrived in Lviv on September 15,1578, the next day it was agreed that 500 Cossacks would be enlisted for fifteen florins each per year. Starosta of Cherkasy and Kaniv, Prince Michał Wiśniowiecki, was appointed hetman while his deputy was Jan Oryszowski, the Cossacks headquarters was established at Trakhtemyriv with its monastery, which was used as the Cossacks hospital. The Cossacks were given a banner that denoted their relationship to the army and were promised by Bereg to be paid in Cherkasky on Saint Nicolas Day. The Cossacks evidently were paid only after the Siege of Pskov in 1581, even though the official register consisted of only 500 names, in reality the contingent of registered Cossacks numbered around 4,000. Batorys military reform, however, was not effective, the Polish government promised to pay the Cossacks salary, but often did not do so. The Cossacks frequently and proudly pledged their allegiance to serve the King of Poland, due to the hold ups in pay some Cossacks returned to raiding the Tatars and Moldavians. In 1590 the Sejm issued a new declaration recreating the Cossack units, a kings edict was issued on July 25,1590 through which 1,000 cossacks were registered for policing duty in order to prevent unauthorized raids into neighboring countries. The registered cossacks were paid from 5 to 12 zloty each quarter, Registered Cossacks formed an elite among the Cossacks, serving in the military under officers, colonels and generals, under the Grand Crown Hetman
22.
Nalyvaiko Uprising
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The Nalyvaiko Uprising was a failed Cossack rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Headed by Severyn Nalyvaiko, it lasted from 1594 to 1596, the steppe borderland between Poland-Lithuania, Muscovy, various Tatar states and the Black Sea was mostly under control of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth, at least since the fall of Kievan Rus. However, control over such an area was never direct. The vast, scarcely populated areas of what is now Ukraine had been attracting all sorts of people, from adventurers to brigands, foreign merchants, landless gentry, over time a certain common identity started to form among them, giving birth to the Cossacks. Although in the 16th century the unit was at no time stronger than 1000 men, in 1591 the so-called Kosiński Uprising started. What started as a quarrel between one disgruntled Polish noble and some local Ruthenian magnates soon turned into a full-scale civil war between local Ruthenian nobility and the Cossacks. Despite initial successes, the Cossacks started to ground and were ultimately defeated by Polish-led levée en masse in the battle of Piątek near Zhitomir. By 1593 the rebellion was quelled and Krzysztof Kosiński killed, Nalyvaiko left Polish service in 1594, organized a paramilitary unit of unregistered Cossacks in the vicinity of Bratslav and raided several Moldavian and Hungarian towns. Nalyvaiko led his men through Galicia, Volhynia and Belarus and his Cossacks and rebel Ukrainian peasants took the cities of Bratslav, Husiatyn, Bar, Lutsk, Kaniv, Cherkasy and Slutsk Babruisk, and Mahiliou in Belarus. From Volhynia Nalivaikos Cossacks moved into Belarus, where they pillaged Mogilev, having refused these terms, the king recalled Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski from Moldavia. In 1595 Żółkiewski and the army set out to end the rebellion. In response to this, Nalivaiko joined his forces with the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetman Hryhory Loboda, in May 1596 the Cossack tabor was surrounded by Polish forces near the town of Lubny. The Cossacks fought for two weeks before running out of food and water, after two weeks of siege, there was unrest as the Cossacks began to run out of food and water. Nalyvaiko was brought to Warsaw, where he was tortured, drawn and quartered, after the rebellion all Cossack lands were taken and given to the Polish magnates. Nalyvaiko became a legend and a hero of Ukrainian folklore, Cossack Rebellions, Social Turmoil in the Sixteenth-Century Ukraine. State University of New York Press
23.
Khmelnytsky Uprising
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The Khmelnytsky Uprising was a Cossack rebellion within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1648–1657, which led to the creation of a Cossack Hetmanate in Ukrainian lands. The insurgency was accompanied by atrocities committed by Cossacks against the civilian population, especially against the Roman Catholic clergy. The uprising has a meaning in the history of Ukraines relationship with Poland. The event triggered a period of turbulence and infighting in the Hetmanate known as the Ruin. With the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Union in 1569, a number of Ruthenian lands were gradually absorbed under the control of a powerful aristocratic republic — the Rzeczpospolita. Although the local nobility was granted full rights within the Rzeczpospolita, local Orthodox traditions were also under siege from the assumption of ecclesiastical power by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1448. Born to a family, Bohdan Khmelnytsky attended Jesuit schools. At the age of 22 he joined his father in the service of the Commonwealth, after being held captive in Constantinople, he returned to life as a registered Cossack, settling in his hometown of Subotiv with a wife and several children. He participated in campaigns for Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, led delegations to King Władysław IV Vasa in Warsaw, the course of his life was altered, however, when Aleksander Koniecpolski, heir to Hetman Koniecpolskis magnate estate, attempted to seize Khmelnytskys land. In 1647 Chyhyryn starost Daniel Czapliński openly started to harass Khmelnytsky on behalf of the younger Koniecpolski in an attempt to force him off the land. He twice sought assistance from the king by traveling to Warsaw, having received no support from Polish officials, Khmelnytsky turned to his Cossack friends and subordinates. The case of a Cossack being unfairly treated by the Poles found a lot of not only in his regiment. All through the autumn of 1647 Khmelnytsky traveled from one regiment to the other and had numerous consultations with different Cossack leaders throughout Ukraine and his activity raised the suspicions of Polish authorities already used to Cossack revolts, and he was promptly arrested. Polkovnyk Mykhailo Krychevsky assisted Khmelnytsky in his escape, and with a group of supporters he headed for the Zaporozhian Sich. Cossacks were already on the brink of the new rebellion as plans for the new war with the Ottoman Empire advanced by the Polish king Władysław IV Vasa were cancelled by Sejm. Rumors about the hostilities with the infidels were greeted with joy. However, the Cossack rebellion might have fizzled in the manner as the great rebellions of 1637–1638. He realized that Cossacks, while having an excellent infantry, could not hope to match the Polish cavalry, however, combining Cossack infantry with Crimean Tatar cavalry could have provided a balanced military force and given the Cossacks a chance to beat the Polish army
24.
Treaty of Hadiach
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The Treaty of Hadiach was a treaty signed on 16 September 1658 in Hadiach between representatives of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Ukrainian Cossacks. No Uniate monasteries or churches were to be built in the Duchy - the Union of Brest would be dissolved on the territory of the Ruthenian Duchy, ennoblement of Cossack elders. Each year the hetman would recommend to the king 1,000 Cossacks to receive a patent of hereditary nobility, establishment of a Cossack army, in the form of the Cossack register of 30,000. The officers of these forces would be elected by their own members, the Cossacks own forces would be supplemented by 10,000 regular mercenaries, paid from public taxes. The missing Ukrainian buffer state would have come into being as the Commonwealths eastern pillar, Russian expansion might have been checked and Poland spared the agonies of the Partitions or, perhaps just as likely, it might have struggled on longer as the Sick man of Europe. In spite of considerable Roman Catholic Clergy opposition, the Treaty of Hadiach was approved by Polish king and parliament on 22 May 1659, the idea of a Ruthenian Duchy within the Commonwealth was completely abandoned. It was a Commonwealth attempt to regain influence over the Ukrainian territories, lost after the series of Cossack uprisings and growing influence of Muscovy over the Cossacks. The Treaty of Hadiach was, however, viewed by many Cossacks as too little, too late, after the 1648 revolt, the Commonwealth was very unpopular with ordinary Cossacks. Rank-and-file Cossacks saw Orthodox Moscow as their ally and did not care for alliance with the Commonwealth. Furthermore, Hadiach was too much a deal that merely benefited the elite of the Cossacks—the starshyna—who wanted to be recognized as equal to the Polish nobility. Thus, while some Cossacks, among them the hetman Ivan Vyhovsky supported the Commonwealth, many did not, the Commonwealth position was further weakened by a string of losses in the Russo-Polish War. The Tsar felt threatened by the Treaty of Hadiach, which weakened his hold on Cossacks, the Russians saw the treaty as an act of war, and even before it was ratified sent an army into Ukraine. Vyhovskys early success at the battle of Konotop in June 1659 was not decisive enough, the Russian garrisons in Ukraine continued to hold out, a Zaporozhian attack on the Crimea forced Vyhovskys Tatar allies to return home, and unrest broke out in the Poltava region. Finally, several pro-Russian colonels rebelled and accused Vyhovsky of selling Ukraine out to the Poles, unable to continue the war, Vyhovsky resigned in October 1659 and retired to Poland. The situation was complicated by the Ottoman Empire, which tried to gain control of the disputed region. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth was weakened by the rokosz of Jerzy Lubomirski, the treaty was mostly repeated in the 1660 Treaty of Cudnów. In the end, Russia was victorious, as seen in the 1667 Treaty of Andrusovo, Ukrainian Cossacks fell under the Russian sphere of influence, with much fewer privileges under the Hetmanate than would have been granted under the treaty of Hadiach. By the end of the 18th century, Cossack political influence has been almost completely destroyed by the Russian Empire
25.
Cossack Hetmanate
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The Cossack Hetmanate, officially known as the Ruthenian State or Zaporizhian Host, was a Ukrainian Cossack state in Central Ukraine between 1649 and 1764. For other names, please, see section Name, the Hetmanate was founded by the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Uprising of 1648–57. The official document, which symbolized union between Russia and Ukraine, however, was never preserved and is thought to be fictional. After a failed attempt to break the union with Russia by Ivan Mazepa in 1708, Catherine II of Russia officially abolished the institute of Hetman in 1764 and in 1764-1781 Cossack Hetmanate was incorporated as the Little Russia Governorate headed by Pyotr Rumyantsev. The official name of the Cossack Hetmanate was Zaporizhian Host, the historiographic term Hetmanate or Hetman state were coined in the late 19th century. It derives from the word hetman, the title of the general of the Zaporizhian Army, inhabitants of the Cossack Hetmanate referred to it in Ukrainian as Ukraine or Vkraine. In Muscovite diplomatic correspondence it was called the Little Russian State, in Polish, Ottoman, the Cossack Hetmanate was called the country of Ukraine by the Ottoman Empire. The founder of the Hetmanate, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, declared himself as the ruler of the Ruthenian state to the Polish representative Adam Kysil in February 1649 and he also called the Hetmanate as Ruthenian state in his letter to the Tsar on February 17,1654. His contemporary Metropolitan Sylvestr Kosiv recognized him as the leader and the commander of our land, Şerban he referred to himself as Clementiae divinae Generalis Dux Exercituum Zaporoviensium. He warned them about his intention to resume his military campaign, however, after obtaining an intelligence report of the superior cossack forces, the Polish troops retreated to Zbarazh to set a defense. The forces of Jeremi Wiśniowiecki reinforced the Zbarazh defenders while he took the lead of all Polish forces, Khmelnytsky besieged the city wearing down through series of random attacks and firing at it. The king while rushing to help Wisznewecki was ambushed with his newly gathered forces, Khmelnytsky leaving part of his army with Ivan Cherniata near Zbarazh moved together with İslâm III Giray to intercept the Polish reinforcements and block their way at a river crossing near Zboriv. Caught be some degree of surprise John Casimir started negotiations with the Tatars khan, bringing khan on his side they forced Khmelnytsky to start peace negotiations. Khmelnytsky signed the Treaty of Zboriv in August 1649 and was less than the cossack leader has anticipated from his campaign. As ruler of the Hetmanate, Khmelnytsky engaged in state-building across multiple spheres, in the military, administration, finance, economics, and culture. He invested the Zaporozhian Host under the leadership of its hetman with supreme power in the new Ruthenian state, the Hetmanate used Polish currency, and Polish as an administrative language and a language of command. This is known as the modern Ukrainian language, the treaty also led to the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667. The period in Hetmanate history, known as the Ruin, which lasted from 1657 to 1687, was marked by constant civil wars throughout the state, at the end of Bohdan Khmelnytskys life, his son Yuri Khmelnytsky was elected to be his successor
26.
Russian conquest of Siberia
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Although outnumbered, the Russians pressured the various family-based tribes into changing their loyalties and establishing distant forts from which they conducted raids. To counter this, Kuchum Khan attempted to centralize his rule by imposing Islam on his subjects, the Russian conquest of Siberia began in July 1580 when some 540 Cossacks under Yermak Timofeyevich invaded the territory of the Voguls, subjects to Küçüm, the Khan of Siberia. They were accompanied by 300 Lithuanian and German slave laborers, whom the Stroganovs had purchased from the tsar, throughout 1581, this force traversed the territory known as Yugra and subdued Vogul and Ostyak towns. At this time, they captured a tax collector of Küçüm. Following a series of Tatar raids in retaliation against the Russian advance, Yermaks forces prepared for a campaign to take Qashliq, the force embarked in May 1582. After a three-day battle on the banks of the river Irtysh, Yermak was victorious against a force of Küçüm Khan. On 29 June, the Cossack forces were attacked by the Tatars, throughout September 1582, the Khan gathered his forces for a defence of Qashliq. A horde of Siberian Tatars, Voguls and Ostyaks massed at Mount Chyuvash to defend against invading Cossacks, on 1 October, a Cossack attempt to storm the Tatar fort at Mount Chyuvash was held off. On 23 October, the Cossacks attempted to storm the Tatar fort at Mount Chyuvash for a time when the Tatars counterattacked. More than a hundred Cossacks were killed, but their gunfire forced a Tatar retreat, the forces of the Khan retreated, and Yermak entered Qashliq on 26 October. Küçüm Khan retreated into the steppes and over the few years regrouped his forces. He suddenly attacked Yermak on 6 August 1584 in the dead of night, the remains of Yermaks forces under the command of Mescheryak retreated from Qashliq, destroying the city as they left. In 1586 the Russians returned, and after subduing the Khanty, the Tatar tribes that were submissive to Küçüm Khan suffered from several attacks by the Russians between 1584–1595, however, Küçüm Khan would not be caught. Finally, in August 1598 Küçüm Khan was defeated at the Battle of Urmin near the river Ob, in the course of the fight the Siberian royal family were captured by the Russians. However, Küçüm Khan escaped yet again, the Russians took the family members of Küçüm Khan to Moscow and there they remained as hostages. The descendants of the family became known as the Princes Sibirsky. Despite his personal escape, the capture of his family ended the political and military activities of Küçüm Khan and he had been in contact with the tsar and had requested that a small region on the banks of the Irtysh River would be granted as his dominion. This was rejected by the tsar who proposed to Küçüm Khan that he come to Moscow, however, the old khan did not want to suffer from such contempt and preferred staying in his own lands to comforting himself in Moscow
27.
Ukraine after the Russian Revolution
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Ukrainian territory was fought over by various factions after the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the First World War, which added the collapse of Austria-Hungary to that of the Russian Empire. The crumbling of the empires had an effect on the Ukrainian nationalist movement. This period was characterized by optimism and nation-building, as well as chaos and it ended in 1921, with the territory of modern-day Ukraine divided between Soviet Ukraine and Poland, with small regions belonging to Czechoslovakia and Romania. After the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, Ukrainian community leaders were finally to organized the Central Rada in Kiev. They sought an approval of the Russian Provisional Government in Petrograd to establish a regional government and it quickly gained the support of elements of the Imperial Army in Ukraine. The UNR refused to recognize the newly installed Soviet government, which in turn caused a tension within the Central Rada, the Bolshevik government demanded an all-Russian union. The Bolsheviks faction convened an All-Ukrainian Congress of Workers, Soldiers and they declared the Bolshevik government of Ukraine on December 25,1917 and claimed that the government of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic were outlaws. Upon taking over the government in Petrograd, the Bolsheviks immediately sued for peace with the Central Powers. After more than two months of negotiations, the Bolsheviks led by Joffe signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, a treaty between Russia and the Central Powers, on March 3,1918. This treaty granted Ukraine independence from Russian control, an independent Ukraine was not a popular notion among Russians. An independent Ukraine coupled with the 1918 Russian great hunger greatly weakened the leadership of Lenin, the Congress of Free Hubbandmen on April 29,1918, elected tsarist general P. P. Skoropadsky as Hetman of Ukraine. He proclaimed the overthrow of the Central Rada Government thus suspending the UNR, Ukraine sent a note of protest requesting to cease the hostilities, Sovnarkom first ignored the request and later stated that it has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government declared a war on January 16,1919, the Bolsheviks amid fluid alliances with various anarchists would eventually defeat the Ukrainian army that was fighting on several fronts simultaneously. Meanwhile, the Western Ukrainian Peoples Republic was declared in Lviv on October 19,1918, within the ZUNR were the largest oil reserves in Europe. The ZUNR formally joined the UNR in hope to some support in the war against Poland. A UNR delegation sent to Paris could not gain recognition at the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the World War, UNR forces fared poorly during Polish-Soviet War and a late alliance with Poland wasnt enough to secure the republic. Carpathian Ruthenia found itself in Czechoslovakia, and Bukovina in Romania, Ukraine was a rump state of its former self. The chaotic conditions in Ukraine attracted attention from the major powers, canadian scholar Orest Subtelny provides a context from the long span of European history, In 1919 total chaos engulfed Ukraine
28.
Petro Doroshenko
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Petro Dorofeyevych Doroshenko was a Cossack political and military leader, Hetman of Right-bank Ukraine and a Russian voyevoda. Petro Doroshenko was born in Chyhyryn to a noble Cossack family with a strong leadership background and his father, a Registered Cossack, held the rank of colonel, and his grandfather Mykhailo held the bulava in the 1620s as hetman of the Registered Cossack Army. Though it is not known where Doroshenko studied, there is no doubt that he received an excellent education, Doroshenko became fluent in Latin and Polish and had a broad knowledge of history. In 1648 Doroshenko joined the forces of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the uprising against the Polish domination of Ukraine, in the earlier stages of the uprising Doroshenko served in both a military and a diplomatic capacity. He primarily served in the Chyhyryn regiment, where he held the rank of artillery secretary, when Khmelnytskys death occurred in 1657 Doroshenko supported the election of general chancellor Ivan Vyhovsky as Khmelnytskys successor. Between 1657 and 1658 he helped Hetman Vyhovsky to suppress the uprising of Iakiv Barabash and Martyn Pushkar. Hetman Pavlo Teteria promoted Doroshenko to the rank of his chief yesaul in 1663, Doroshenko became the leader of the Cossack starshyna and elements within the ecclesiastical authorities who opposed 1654 Treaty of Pereyaslav. Supported by Crimean Tatars and Ottoman Turkey in 1665, Doroshenko crushed the pro-Russian Cossack bands and they found it in the realm of the Ottoman Empire, the Crimean Khanate. In the beginning the first Hetman recognized by Crimea was Sotnyk Stepan Opara from the Medvedesky company, however, that same summer of 1665 he was replaced by Doroshenko. In order to strengthen his new position, Doroshenko introduced reforms in hope of winning the respect of the rank, Doroshenko would often organize general councils where he would listen to the lower classes opinions. And in order to rid himself of the dependence on the starshyna, when his hetmancy began, Doroshenko, like all Right-bank hetmans, followed a pro-Polish line, but he quickly changed this policy upon hearing the signing of the 1667 Treaty of Andrusovo. The treaty officially divided Ukraine between Russia and Poland, with Russia gaining sovereignty over Left-bank Ukraine and Poland acquiring Right-bank Ukraine, once the news reached Doroshenko, he reportedly suffered a seizure upon learning of Ukraines partitioning. Doroshenko quickly deserted his position and decided to seek aid from the Ottoman Empire. In the fall of 1667 Doroshenko, with support Crimean Tatars, after the battle the Doroshenkos opposition led by the Kosh Otaman Ivan Sirko and Tatars stopped his further advance against Poles. With the Right-Bank seemingly secured, Doroshenko and his men crossed into Left-bank Ukraine, following Briukhovetskys execution, Doroshenko was proclaimed the hetman of all Ukraine on 18 June 1668. As Doroshenko was reaching his zenith of power after successfully reuniting Ukraine, the new Polish offensive forced him to return the Right-bank Ukraine appointing Demian Mnohohrishny acting hetman of the Left-bank. Doroshenko managed to secure the release from Polish captivity the Metropolitan of Kiev Yosyf Tukalsky-Neliubovych who moved his seat to Chyhyryn, in January 1668 the Council of Officers in Chyhyryn expressed its support for Doroshenkos intentions for the alliance with the Ottoman Empire. In autumn of 1668 Cossack delegation was sent to Istanbul with proposal for military alliance between the Cossack state and the Ottoman Empire, the alliance was once again approved at the 1669 Korsun Cossack Council on 10–12 March
29.
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
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Zynoviy Bohdan Khmelnytsky was a Ukrainian Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He led an uprising against the Commonwealth and its magnates which resulted in the creation of a state led by the Cossacks of Ukraine, in 1654, he concluded the Treaty of Pereyaslav with the Tsardom of Russia. The Khmelnytsky Uprising led to the deaths of an estimated 18,000 -100,000 Jews, although there is no definite proof of the date of Khmelnytskys birth, Ukrainian historian Mykhaylo Maksymovych suggests that it is likely 27 December 1595. As was the custom in the Orthodox Church, he was baptized with one of his middle names—Theodor, the latest biography of Khmelnytsky by Smoliy and Stepankov, however, suggests that it is more likely he was born on 9 November and was baptised on 11 November. Khmelnytsky was probably born in the village of Subotiv, near Chyhyryn in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland at the estate of his father Mykhailo Khmelnytsky, according to the above-mentioned-source, Mykhailo established Chyhyryn and later his own family estates of Subotiv and Novoseltsi. Khmelnytsky identified as a noble, and his fathers status as a deputy Starosta of Chyhyryn helped him to be considered as such by others, during the Uprising, however, Khmelnytsky would stress his mothers Cossack roots and his fathers exploits with the Cossacks of the Sich. Khmelnytskys early education cannot be documented, several historians believe he received his elementary schooling from a church clerk until he was sent to one of Kievs Orthodox fraternity schools. He continued his education in Polish at a Jesuit college, possibly in Jarosław and he completed his schooling by 1617, acquiring a broad knowledge of world history and learning Polish and Latin. Later he learned Turkish, Tatar, and French, unlike many of the other Jesuit students, he did not embrace Roman Catholicism but remained Orthodox. Upon completion of his studies in 1617, Khmelnytsky entered into service with the Cossacks, as early as 1619 he was sent together with his father to Moldavia, when the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth entered into war against the Ottoman Empire. His first military engagement was a tragic one, during the battle of Cecora on 17 September 1620, his father was killed, and young Khmelnytsky, among many others including future hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, was captured by the Turks. He spent the two years in captivity in Constantinople as a prisoner of an Ottoman Kapudan Pasha. Other sources claim that he spent his slavery in Ottoman Navy on galleys as an oarsman, while there is no concrete evidence as to his return to Ukraine, most historians believe Khmelnytsky either escaped or was ransomed. Sources vary as to his benefactor — his mother, friends, in 1622 he paid 30,000 thalers in ransom for all prisoners of war captured at the Battle of Cecora. Upon return to Subotiv, Khmelnytsky took over operating his fathers estate and he was later promoted to pysar. From 1625, he participated in several sea raids on Constantinople together with Zaporozhian Cossacks, in those raids he earned his title of sotnyk. During this period his mother remarried, to Belarusian noble Vasyl Stavetsky. Within year she gave birth to son, Hryhoriy, later he took his mothers name
30.
Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny
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Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny was a Ukrainian political and civic leader, Hetman of Ukrainian Zaporozhian Cossacks from 1616–1622, a brilliant military leader both on land and sea. While being a Cossack Hetman, he transformed the Cossack Host from the military formation into regular army. Under his leadership the cossacks, the Orthodox clergy and peasants had begun to emerge as the united nation. His troops played a significant role in the battle of Khotyn against the Turks in 1621, Petro Konashevych was born in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the village of Kulchytsy three miles away from Sambir in the Ruthenian Voivodeship into a Ukrainian Eastern Orthodox noble family. He graduated the school at the Ostroh Academy in Volhynia and his school mate was Meletiy Smotrytskyi, author of the Hramatyka book, by which many generations of Ukrainians, Russians, and Belarusians learned the Slavic language grammatics. From an early age he learnt the weapon and horsemanship skills and he joined to the cossacks of Zaporozhian Host and took a part in cossaks military expeditions to Moldavia in 1600 and Livonia in 1601. His talent in a strategy, courage and ability to show leadership under great adversity. Later, Sahaidachny moved to Lviv, and after to Kiev, where he became the assistant, by the end of the 16th century, Sahaidachny traveled to Zaporizhia, where in 1605, he was elected as a kosh otaman of the Zaporozhian Host cossacks. Under his control, the Host participated in campaigns against the Crimean Tatars, the Сossacks fleet captured the Turkish fortress Varna, burned and destroyed a strong Turkish navy. He is famous for his sea sorties on Crimea and Turkey and in 1616 captured Caffa on the Crimean peninsula and he released from slavery many Christian men, women and children. In 1618, Sahaidachny joined the Anti-Turkish Holy League, Sahaidachny did, and seized the forts in the cities of Putivl, Kursk, Livny, Yelets and many others. Near Serpukhov Sahaidachny forced the Muscovite army to flee, the Muscovite troops under command of the voivode G. Volkonsky forced Cossacks to take a detour, but were unable to stop the advance of the Cossacks regiments to Moscow. In September 1618 he forced to flee the army of another Muscovite nobleman Vasilii Buturlin, later, united army of Jan Karol Chodkiewicz and Sahaidachny sieged Moscow and 11 October unsuccessful attempted to take the Arbat Gates. In late October, the army of Sahaidachny moved in raid towards the south from Moscow, during this raid was captured the Serpukhov city and in early December the Kaluga city. John III Sobieski wrote that this raid caused panic among Russians. The whole campaign finally culminated in December 1618 by signing the Truce of Deulino, the cossacks invasion of Muscovy is not the best page of Sahaidachny biography. Sahaidachy and his cossacks have been positioning themself as a supporters of the Orthodox Christianity, however, they left the bloody trace which was extended from Livny to Moscow and back to Kaluga and Kiev. Later, Sahaidachny asked Patriarch Teophanes III of Jerusalem to forgive him for such behavior, Sahaidachny returned to Zaporizhia, and did not only become a kosh otaman, but was also the Hetman of Ukraine
31.
Ivan Mazepa
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Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa served as the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host in 1687–1708. It is claimed that he was awarded a title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1707 for his efforts for the Holy League, the political consequences and interpretation of this desertion have resonated in the national histories both of Russia and of Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church laid an anathema on Mazepas name in 1708, anti-Russian elements in Ukraine from the 18th century onwards were derogatorily referred to as Mazepintsy. Mazepa was probably born on March 30,1639, in Mazepyntsi, near Bila Tserkva, then part of the Kiev Voivodeship in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and his mother was Maryna Mokievska, and his father was Stefan Adam Mazepa. Maryna Mokievska came from the family of a Cossack officer who fought alongside Bohdan Khmelnytsky and she gave birth to two children – Ivan and Oleksandra. Stefan Mazepa served as an Otaman of Bila Tserkva, a Cossack representative of the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Rzecz Pospolita, Ivan Mazepa was educated first in the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, then at a Jesuit college in Warsaw. As a page Mazepa was sent to study gunnery in Deventer in 1656–1659, from 1659 he served at the court of the Polish king, John II Casimir on numerous diplomatic missions to Ukraine. His service at the Polish royal court earned him a reputation as an alleged catholicized Lyakh – later the Russian Imperial government would use this slur to discredit Mazepa. During this time arose the legend of his affair with Madam Falbowska that inspired number of European Romantics, such Franz Liszt, Victor Hugo. In 1663 Mazepa returned home when his father fell ill, after the death of his father he inherited the title of the Czernihów cupbearer. In 1674–1681 Mazepa served as a courtier of Doroshenkos rival Hetman Ivan Samoylovych after was taken hostage on the way to Crimea by the Kosh Otaman Ivan Sirko in 1674. In 1677–1678 Mazepa participated in the Chyhyryn campaigns during which Yuri Khmelnytsky, with the support from the Ottoman Empire, the young educated Mazepa quickly rose through the Cossack ranks, and in 1682–1686 he served as an Aide-du-Camp General. In 1687 Ivan Mazepa accused Samoylovych of conspiring to secede from Russia, secured his ouster, at the same time Ivan Mazepa signed the Kolomak Articles that were based on the Hlukhiv Articles of Demian Mnohohrishny. Gradually, Mazepa accumulated great wealth, becoming one of Europes largest land owners, a multitude of churches were built all over Ukraine during his reign in the Ukrainian Baroque style. He expanded the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the educational institution of Ukraine at the time, to accommodate 2,000 students, founded schools. In 1702, the Cossacks of Right-bank Ukraine, under the leadership of hetman Semen Paliy, began an uprising against Poland, which after early successes was defeated. In the beginning of the 18th century, as the Russian Empire lost significant territory in the Great Northern War, Peter I decided to reform the Russian army and to centralize control over his realm. In Mazepas opinion, the strengthening of Russias central power could put at risk the broad autonomy granted to the Cossack Hetmanate under the Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1654
32.
Yemelyan Pugachev
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Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev was a pretender to the Russian throne who led a great popular insurrection during the reign of Catherine II. Alexander Pushkin wrote a history of the rebellion, The History of Pugachev. Pugachev, the son of a small Don Cossack landowner, was the youngest son of four children, born in the stanitsa Zimoveyskaya, he signed on to military service at the age of 17. One year later, he married a Cossack girl, Sofya Nedyuzheva, with whom he had a total of five children, shortly after his marriage, he joined the Russian Second Army in Prussia during the Seven Years War under the command of Count Zakhar Chernyshov. He returned home in 1762, and for the seven years would divide his time between his home village and several service assignments. During this period, he was recognized for his skill and achieved the Cossack rank of khorunzhiy. It was also during this period, in 1770 at the siege of Bender, in 1770, Pugachev requested leave to return home to recover from a severe illness, later seeking permanent discharge. Despite urging from military commanders, Pugachev refused to be treated in an infirmary or return to the front. Convinced by his brother-in-law, Simon Pavlov, he joined a dissatisfied Cossack group who were fleeing eastward for an independent Cossack community on the Terek River, after they were safely across the Don River, he returned home to Zimoveyskaya. The fleeing Cossacks were caught soon after by the authorities, and Pavlov implicated Pugachev in the desertion and he was held for 48 hours before he managed to escape, beginning his fugitive career. Fleeing for the Cossack community on the Terek River, he arrived in early January 1772, during his six weeks in the area, he joined a protest group and was elected their official representative. On his way to St. Petersburg to make a complaint, his fugitive status was discovered in Mozdok. He escaped on 13 February and returned home, only to be arrested once again and he returned to Russia in the autumn of 1772 by pretending to be an Old Believer wishing to return home. He received a visa to settle in the Malykovka district, where he most likely first heard of the Yaik Cossacks rebellion, the idea of impersonating the late Emperor Peter III occurred to Pugachev early on, even before he reached the Yaik Cossacks. It is of no surprise, given another recent peasant impersonator, Fedot Bogmolov, Pugachev, posing as a wealthy merchant, reportedly tested the feelings of the Cossacks at the Yaitsk by suggesting that he lead a mass exodus into Turkey. When the majority seemed to agree with his plan, he deemed it the time to begin his rebellion. Though he was arrested shortly after once again, and this held for five months at Kazan, he escaped once more. By promising to return several privileges to the Cossacks and to restore the Old Belief, the story of Pugachevs strong resemblance to the tsar Peter III, who in 1762 was overthrown and murdered by his wifes supporters, the future empress Catherine II, comes from a later legend
33.
Stepan Razin
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Stepan Timofeyevich Razin, known as Stenka Razin, was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia in 1670-1671. Razins parents were from the village of Usman Sobakina,8 kilometres outside of Voronezh and he was first noted by history in 1661, as part of a diplomatic mission from the Don Cossacks to the Kalmyks. That same year Razin went on a pilgrimage to the great Solovetsky Monastery on the White Sea for the benefit of his soul. A long war with Poland in 1654-1667 and Sweden in 1656-1658 put heavy demands upon the people of Russia, many peasants, hoping to escape these burdens, fled south and joined bands of Razins marauding Cossacks. Razins first considerable exploit was to destroy the naval convoy consisting of the treasury barges and the barges of the Patriarch. Razin then sailed down the Volga with a fleet of 35 vessels, capturing the important forts on his way. Russia began the 17th century with the Time of Troubles, which lasted from 1598 to 1613 and this time marked the end of the Rurik dynasty and the beginning of the Romanov dynasty. Michael Romanov and his son Alexis both strove to strengthen the power of the tsar in order to stabilize the country after the turmoil of the Time of Troubles. As a result, the Zemsky Sobor and the boyar council, the Russian population went from fifteen years of near anarchy to the reigns of two strong, centralizing autocrats. In addition, a divide existed between the peasantry and the nobility in Russia. Recent changes in the treatment and legal standing of peasants, including the institutionalization of serfdom in the Law Code of 1649, contributed to the unrest among the peasantry. The Don Cossacks, a group that lived independently near the Don River. Historian Paul Avrich characterizes Razins revolt as a mixture of brigandage and revolt. Razin revolted against the rather than the tsar. The Cossacks supported the tsar because they worked for him, in 1667, Razin gathered a small group of Cossacks and left the Don for an expedition in the Caspian Sea. He aimed to set up a base in Yaitsk and plunder villages from there, however, Moscow learned of Razins plans and attempted to stop him. As Razin traveled down the Volga River to Tsaritsyn, the voivodes of Astrakhan warned Andrei Unkovsky of Razins arrival, Unkovsky attempted to negotiate with Razin, but Razin threatened to set fire to Tsaritsyn if Unkovsky interfered. I have come to only the boyars and the wealthy lords
34.
Ivan Sirko
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The first biography of Ivan Sirko, written by Dmytro Yavornytsky in 1890, gave Sirkos place of birth as the stanitsa of Merefa near the city of Kharkiv. Historian Yuriy Mytsyik states that this could not be the case, in his book Otaman Ivan Sirko he writes that Merefa was established only in 1658. However, Mytsyik also points out that in 1658-1660 Sirko served as a colonel of the Kalnyk Polk in Podilia, a position usually awarded to the representative of a local population. The author also gives a reference to the letter of Ivan Samiylovych to kniaz G. Romodanovsky in which the refers to Sirko as one born in Polish lands instead of in Sloboda Ukraine. Mytsyik also recalls that another historian, Volodymyr Borysenko, allowed for the possibility that Sirko was born in Murafa near the city of Sharhorod, the author explains during that time when people were fleeing the war they may have established a similarly named town in Sloboda Ukraine further east. Further, Mytsyik in his book states that Sirko probably was not of Cossack heritage, Mytsyik points out that a local Podilian nobleman, Wojciech Sirko, married a certain Olena Kozynska sometime in 1592. Also in official letters the Polish administration referred to Sirko as urodzonim, Mytsyik also recalls the letter of the Field Hetman of the Crown John III Sobieski which referred to Sirko as a very quiet, noble, polite, and has great trust among Cossacks. As a young man he served in Cossack regiments in France and he changed his political orientation several times. In 1654 he came to Zaporozhian Sich became polkovnyk and in 1659 together with Russian prince Aleksei Trubetskoi fought against the Crimean Khanate, in 1664, he was one of the inspirators of an uprising in Right-bank Ukraine against Poland which is known from his letter to the Czar. He was the first Cossack ataman to accept Kalmyks into his army, despite his pro-Moscow orientation he distrusted and hated pro-Russian hetman Ivan Briukhovetsky, but at the same time married his son Roman to Briukhovetskys daughter. Afterwards he captured Turkish stronghold Ochakiv and besieged Ismail which he failed to capture, following the death of Demian Mnohohrishny in 1672 Sirko entered the struggle for the hetman title, but instead was sent by the Russian tsar to Tobolsk, Siberia. In 1673 he returned to Ukraine and once fought against Tatars and Turk captured fortresses Arslan. In 1675 Zaporozhian Cossacks defeated Ottoman Turkish forces in a battle, however. The Cossacks led by Ivan Sirko replied in a manner, they wrote a letter, replete with insults and profanities. After his death, Ivan Sirko — one of the most popular otamans in Ukrainian history — was remembered as a legendary Cossack and became a hero of many myths, folk songs, Sirko died at his estate Hrushivka on August 11,1680. Next day he was buried near the Chortomlynska Sich, in 1709 the Russian Army totally destroyed the Sich and the grave of the otaman was not fixed until 1734. The Cossacks replaced the cross with a memorial rock that has survived to the present. In 1967 the Kakhovka Reservoir was threatening the otamans burial site, forcing him to be reburied near the village of Kapulivka, Nikopol Raion, the skull of Sirko was sent to the Leningrad laboratory for a plastic-archaeological reconstruction for the Ethnographic Institute of the Soviet Academy of Science
35.
Andrei Shkuro
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Andrei Grigoriyevich Shkuro was a Lieutenant General of the White Army. He was born in the stanitsa of Pashkovskaya in Kuban Oblast into a Cossack family, Shkuro graduated from Nikolayev Cavalry School in 1907 and served in the Kuban Cossack Host. In World War I Shkuro became the commander of a guerrilla unit which executed several daring raids behind Austrian-Hungarian and German lines. During World War I, Shkuro was promoted to the rank of colonel, in the spring of 1918, after the establishment of the Bolshevik régime, Shkuro organized an anti-Bolshevik Cossack unit in the area of Batalpashinsk in the Caucasus. In May and June 1918 he raided Stavropol, Yessentuki and Kislovodsk, after officially joining Denikins White Army, he became the commander of the Kuban Cossacks brigade which soon increased in size and became a division. In May 1919 Shkuro, as a young lieutenant-general, had a cavalry corps of Cossacks under his command. Shkuro, though charismatic and audacious, showed bravery which bordered on the reckless, he received several wounds. Many in the White Armys high command, however, considered him undisciplined, according to Soviet historians his forces were particularly cruel and prone to looting. In contrast, in his memoirs he describes many instances in which he spared the lives of enemies, including even Bolshevik commissars. Shkuro claimed that he saved from execution a Red Army battalion of Jewish volunteers taken prisoner by the Whites, when Denikin’s volunteer army took Kiev in August 1919, however, it inflicted a large-scale pogrom on the Jews. Over 20,000 people died in two days of violence, after these events, Supresskin, the representative of the Kharkov Jewish community, spoke to Shkuro, who stated to him bluntly that Jews will not receive any mercy because they are all Bolsheviks. Although the White Army general Pyotr Wrangel valued initiative he also demanded discipline from his subordinates, Wrangel ended up disliking Shkuro, and upon reorganizing the army Wrangel did not give him a command position, this prompted Shkuros resignation. After the defeat of the Whites, Shkuro lived as an exile, primarily in France, for the first few years he and a few other Cossack partners, displaying their great horsemanship, performed in circuses as trick riders across Europe. In addition, he continued to conduct anti-Soviet activities, russian émigré memoirs depict Shkuro as a very lively man who enjoyed social gatherings with plenty of dancing, singing, drinking, and vivid storytelling about times past. In 1941, Shkuro agreed to be one of the organizers of anti-Soviet Cossack units consisting of White émigrés and he, along with many other exiles, hoped that this would lead to the eventual liberation of all Russia from communism. In 1944, Shkuro was placed in command of the Cossack Reserve, in 1945, Shkuro was detained by the British forces in Austria and handed over to the Soviet authorities in Operation Keelhaul. The Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced Andrei Shkuro to death, on 17 January 1947, he was executed, together with Pyotr Krasnov, by hanging. Pyotr Krasnov The Betrayal of Cossacks Helmuth von Pannwitz
Russia
Don Cossack rebels