Modern Russian Cossacks are an economic phenomenon. People who want to be called Cossacks are primarily busy looking for a job, and lastly, questions of identity. They need benefits, tax breaks and subsidies. A sheepskin hat and striped trousers are important as long as they are profitable. As soon as the hat becomes just a hat, the number of people who want to wear it will decrease dramatically.
According to the federal law of December 5, 2005 N 154-FZ "On the public service of the Russian Cossacks", people who call themselves Cossacks and are included in the register have the right to be involved in public service. The list includes law enforcement, firefighting, rescue operations, assistance to military registration and enlistment offices, patriotic education of young people of pre-conscription age.
Becoming a Cossack is quite simple. It is enough to submit a handwritten application, profess Orthodoxy, “share the ideas of the Cossacks” and enlist the recommendations of two people already accepted into the organization. There are no age or health restrictions.
The reception itself is carried out as follows - the text of the "Oath of the Cossack" is read before the formation, a signature is placed opposite the surname, the cross and the Gospel are kissed. Then the banner is kissed. In the “Oath”, the future Cossack “before the Honest Cross and the Holy Gospel” promises “to faithfully serve the Fatherland, the Orthodox Church, honest Cossacks, to keep sacred the good Cossack traditions and customs.” At the end of the ceremony, the ataman congratulates the new Cossack, the priest sprinkles him with holy water, the Cossacks march in front of the ataman.
Cossack organizations have no specialization and, as a result, there is no permanent job. They are actively looking for her, offering their services to everyone. Cossacks are hired reluctantly. Only if some state organization suddenly needs an additional set of unskilled employees. For obvious reasons, this rarely happens.
The websites of Cossack organizations regularly publish reports on how Cossacks provide assistance to the military registration and enlistment offices, agitating young people not to evade the draft; how they help the police maintain order during major church holidays; how they arrange folk music concerts, perform the duties of vigilantes.
The Cossacks have no right to use force and no right to bear arms. Therefore, they cannot provide security services. To obtain the right to use force, the Cossacks must pass special education and certification - like all other citizens of Russia.
Cossack private security company is a double package of documents. First, it is necessary to register a Cossack society with the Ministry of Justice, which is rather troublesome. And then separately register a private security company with the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Since the Cossack communities do not have a permanent job, the Cossacks are people who, for one reason or another, are not suitable for service in the Russian law enforcement agencies and private security companies.
A young military specialist who has recently served in the army, with good physical data, with a sports category and a technical school diploma, can apply for a place, for example, in the OMON. The salary and welfare in this special forces unit is well above the national average. Having good chances to a career in a normal law enforcement agency, to go to the Cossacks, where there is no work, no money, no career prospects - to put it mildly, not the most rational decision.
Russia has a huge army and a huge market for security services. According to various sources, about a million people are employed in law enforcement and special services. Approximately the same number is employed in the army and the same number in private security structures. Given the recent changes in foreign and domestic policy, the security forces will not have any cuts in the near future. On the contrary, their states will only expand, and salaries will grow.
In the suburbs, new microdistricts built for the military and their families are being populated, which is regularly reported by the federal media. Considering how slowly the Russian state is providing military housing, this speaks of a fundamental change. Military specialties are in demand again.
At the same time, people who call themselves Cossacks, defiantly claiming the status of the military, turned out to be unclaimed. This clearly indicates their low professional level.
It cannot be said that the Cossacks are not trying to penetrate the power departments and do not want to enter the market of power services. Guarding stalls with monastery pies and retelling Russian propaganda to schoolchildren is not the most profitable occupation. They try, but every time they lose to more experienced companies.
A recent example - in November 2015, a contract was signed between the Office of the Judicial Department of Moscow and the private security organization "Cossack Guard", established by the Military Cossack Society "Central Cossack Host". According to the contract, within two months the Cossacks had to guard ten district courts of Moscow. The price of the contract was 3.3 million rubles. Since January, the Cossacks have taken under the protection of all 35 district courts of the capital. At the end of January 2016, lawyers from the Alexei Navalny Anti-Corruption Foundation turned to the Moscow prosecutor's office with a demand to check the legality of the contract with the Cossacks.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service declared the contract illegal. The place of the "Cossack Guard" was taken by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Protection", subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. "Protection" was created in 2005 on the basis of paramilitary and guard units of private security under the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation.
Another example - in the Russian press there was a lot of talk about the creation of military units, 100% staffed by Cossacks. It was said that the 22nd brigade of internal troops, located in the city of Kalach-on-Don, would be made completely Cossack.
On Cossack websites, you can find indications of individual military units that cooperate with the Don Host. The essence of cooperation is that young people who recognize themselves as Cossacks do military service in this particular unit, and not in a random one, as is usually the case. At the end of April this year, the ataman of the Kuban Cossack army, Nikolai Doluda, announced the desire of the Cossacks to join the National Guard. The application has so far remained unanswered.
Recently, quite a lot has been said about the financing of the Cossack movement. They call the figure - 1 billion rubles a year. You need to understand what the total costs of paying for the services of the security forces in Russia are. According to RBC calculations based on Rosstat data, if in 2011 the total costs amounted to 335 billion rubles, then in 2013 - 587 billion. Against this background, the money allocated from the federal budget to support the Cossack movement seems ridiculous.
Apparently, the Cossacks have no support and no lobby for at least one military unit to be allocated to them. In addition, they are not able to hold on to those rare contracts that they somehow manage to get.
When we talk about the Cossacks, we are talking about unemployed military specialists who, for a number of reasons, have lost their professional skills. Unable to get a job, they take on the lowest paid jobs. Their constant participation in high-profile scandals and attacks, fraught with criminal cases, testifies to this.
An example is the odious Baltic separate Cossack district. On August 15, 2015, in Kaliningrad, a group of unknown people attacked the Franz Kafka and George Orwell Forum. The forum participants recognized the attackers as Cossacks associated with the "Baltic Separate Cossack District - the Baltic Cossack Union of the Kaliningrad Region."
According to the Kaliningrad business portal RuGrad.EU, this union is closely connected with the authorities, in particular, with the government of the Kaliningrad region, which from time to time allocates grants to it.
In 2015, the "Baltic Separate Cossack District - the Baltic Cossack Union" of ataman Maxim Buga (Buga is a member of two councils under the governor of the Kaliningrad region Nikolai Tsukanov and is a prominent member of the ONF) received a grant of 139 thousand rubles from the budget for holding a scientific and practical conference "Cossacks and notaries. Historical experience of combating corruption and the present”. The government of the Kaliningrad region allocated the same amount to the society named after St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which is also part of the Baltic Separate Cossack District. This time the grant was allocated for holding the regional heroic-patriotic festival of the Cossack societies "Baltic Sich". The ataman of this society is Mikhail Dudarev, a former deputy of the regional duma and the owner of the KenigAvto motor transport company.
Georgy Dykhanov, Commissioner for the Rights of Entrepreneurs of the Kaliningrad Region, took part in the distribution of grants. According to the unified state register of legal entities, Dykhanov is related to the Cossack farm "SPAS", which also received 139 thousand from the regional government for the author's program of heroic-patriotic education of the Cossack orientation "Roads of the glory of the fathers."
The attack on the forum named after Kafka and Orwell, like the attack on Alexei Navalny in Anapa, is a job that a successful military man, or a policeman, or a security guard is unlikely to take on. This is a dirty and dangerous job for unemployed security officials who, in general, have nothing to lose. And that's what makes them so dangerous.
annotation
Keywords
Time scale - century
XX XIX XVIII
Bibliographic description:
Kabuzan V.M. The number and placement of the Cossacks of the Russian Empire in the XVIII - early XX century. // Proceedings of the Institute of Russian History. Issue. 7 / Russian Academy Sciences, Institute of Russian History; resp. ed. A.N.Sakharov. M., 2008. S. 302-326.
Article text
V.M. cabuzan
NUMBER AND PLACEMENT OF THE COSSACKS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN THE 18th - EARLY XX centuries.
The Cossack class in Russia was privileged, guarding the borders of the empire and order within the country. The Cossacks successively settled the outlying regions of Russia, included in its composition. Their activities contributed from the XVI century. until 1918, the steady expansion of the Russian ethnic territory, initially along the Don and Ural (Yaik) rivers, and then in the North Caucasus, Siberia, the Far East, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
To study the ethno-demographic history of the Russian Cossacks, various sources have been preserved, stored in our archives. However, they acquire the necessary completeness and reliability only in the 18th century. These are materials of the church (from the 30s of the XVIII century), revision (from the 20s of the XVIII century), departmental (from the 30s of the XVIII century), as well as current records and censuses (from the 60s of the XIX century and complete - the 1897 census).
The historiography of the problem is very extensive and multifaceted. However, special, purely historical and geographical research on the Cossacks has not yet been created.
The whole complex of sources stored mainly in archives (RGADA, RGIA, RGVIA, etc.) makes it possible to establish at the scientific level:
1) The dynamics of the settlement of the Cossack (and on the Cossack territories and the whole) population over a 200-year period of time.
2) Determine the time of the foundation of the overwhelming mass of the Cossacks settlements(especially on the territory of the Kuban, Terek, Amur and Ussuri Cossack troops).
3) From the 19th century. (especially from the second half of it) on separately existing Cossack troops to trace the role of natural and mechanical growth in the overall increase in the population of the village.
4) Determine the dynamics of the confessional composition of the inhabitants of a number of Cossack troops (Don, Kuban, Ural).
5) Explore the ethnic structure of the Cossack population.
6) For the period from 1918 to 2002, consider what changes the former Cossack territory has undergone and what remains of it today.
The dynamics of the number and settlement of the Cossack troops in the Russian Empire is one of the least studied. This is especially true of the 18th century, according to which the main body of sources was not even introduced into scientific circulation. The most complete of them are church statistics (religious murals), the current record of the military department and the census. The revision data (for 1719-1858) allow us to establish only the number of the peasant population living in the military territory.
The surviving materials allow us to trace in detail how the population of the Cossack troops grew, both due to natural growth (birth rate, death rate) and migration (settlement) movement. They even make it possible to consider when, where and in what quantity new Cossack settlements (stanitsa, kurenya) were founded.
Let us trace the main stages of the movement of the Cossack population, at least on the example of the Don Army and the Kuban Army, which had their own autonomous control.
In the first half of the XVIII century. in fact, almost the entire small population of the Don Cossacks consisted of Cossacks. The fugitive population, settling here, could still become part of the Cossacks. Very incomplete data show that in 1707 only about 30 thousand people lived on Do-nu, and in 1718, after the suppression of the uprising, K.A. Bulavin, about 20 thousand people remained here (see Table 1). The Don Cossacks lost vast territories, which made up mainly the Bakhmut province of the Voronezh province. Sloboda Cossacks loyal to the government began to settle here. Later, this territory became part of the Yekaterinoslav province, and now it is part of the Donetsk region of Ukraine.
In 1737, according to church statistics, approximately 60,000 people were registered on the lands of the Don Cossacks, including 1,500 fugitive peasants, or about 2.5% of all residents (see Table 1).
In the 60s - early 70s of the XVIII century. on the Don, about 145 thousand people were already registered, among which fugitive Ukrainian peasants reached 35 thousand, or 24%. The latter began to actively populate the southern outskirts of the Land of the Don Cossacks. Already in the 70s of the XVIII century. ka-
Table 1. Estate-class composition of the population of the Land of the Don Cossacks in the 18th - 30s years XIX V. according to church statistics and estimates of the 18th century, thousand people *
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Including |
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both sexes |
landlord peasants |
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|
both sexes |
both sexes |
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| * Lebedev V.I., Podyapolskaya E.P. The uprising on the Don in 1707-1708. // Essays on the history of the USSR: The period of feudalism: Russia in the first quarter of the XVIII century. Transformations of Peter I. M., 1954. S. 253; Pronstein A.P. Don Land in the 18th century. Rostov-on-Don, 1961, pp. 71-72; Description of the documents stored in the archive... of the Synod for 1740. SPb., 1908. S. 386-387; RGADA. F. 248. Op. 58. D. 59/3630. L. 904-905; D. 6018. D. 1-3v.; D. 288/4859. L. 809, 810, 811-814; RGIA. F. 796. Op. 89. D. 699. L. 1-9; Op. 99. D. 875. L. 1-9; Op. 116. D. 1083. L. 227; Op. 445. D. 424. L. 1-9; RGVIA. F. 20. Op. 1/47. D. 1044. L. 1-13. | |||||||||
zaks settled in 111 villages and a large number of adjacent farms. The Ukrainian, predominantly serf population settled mainly in the coastal Miussky district (at the beginning of the 19th century in 49 settlements). The number of farms at the beginning of the XIX century. reached 1722, and 206 villages. It is interesting that the absolute majority of villages arose by the beginning of the 18th century, and peasant settlements - in the 60-70s of the 18th century. The number of villages since the beginning of the XVIII century. almost did not change. The Cossack population in the period under review settled in farms. Lists of villages and farms of the XVIII-XIX centuries. show the real resettlement of the inhabitants of the Land of the Don Cossacks. So, in the 50s of the XIX century. only 367 people lived in the village of Vyoshenskaya, and the rest of the inhabitants assigned to this village lived in 51 Cossack farms. In total, in this complex by the middle of the XIX century. 14.8 thousand people lived. In many farms, the number of inhabitants significantly exceeded the population of the village of Veshenskaya itself (427 people were counted in the Kudinovo farm, 541 in Er-makov, 590 in Ushakov, 769 in Chernovsky, 530 in Grachevsky, 500 people in Verkhovsky, etc.). Thus, each village in essence was a complex of a large number of settlements scattered over a large territory. The village itself was the originally founded settlement, which gave the name to this whole complex of villages.
In 1782, during the IV audit in the Don Army, 163 thousand people were registered (116.7 thousand Cossacks and about 46 thousand Ukrainian peasants, whose share increased to 28%). In 1808, peasants made up 37% of the total population, in 1817 - 34%, in 1834 - 38.5%, in 1851 - 30.7%, in 1858 - 32.1%. Naturally, the peasantry lived in the first half of the 19th century. mainly on the territory of the Miussky district (in 1782 - 37.5%, in 1834 - 36.2%, in 1851 - 41.1%, in 1858 - 53.0% of the total). In second place was the Donetsk district (1782 - 29.9%, 1851 - 29.9%, 1858 - 30.3%) and Ust-Medveditsky (7.2 and 9.5%). In other districts, the share of the enslaved population was much less significant (especially in Cherkasy, First Donskoy and Second Donskoy).
The influx of peasants, and then the non-resident population constantly and steadily lowered the share of the Cossacks in the population of the Land of the Don Army. In 1775, the Cossacks reached here 70.6% of all inhabitants, in 1808 - 62.9%, in 1817 - 66.0%, in 1854 - 61.5%, in 1851 - 66.8%, in 1871 - 64.3%, in 1881 - 59.3 %, in 1890 - 46.6%, in 1901 - 43.0%, in 1911 - 44.8%, in 1916 - 40.2%. Until the 70s of the XIX century. the mechanical growth of the population on the Don was negative. The region actively participated in the settlement of the North Caucasus. A large number of Cossacks moved to the Kuban and especially the Terek (hereinafter, see Table 2).
Table 2. The movement of the population of the region of the Don Cossacks in 1816-1915, thousand people *
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All population |
Number of Cossacks |
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natural |
mechanical |
natural |
mechanical |
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VII revision |
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VIII revision |
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IX revision |
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* RGIA. F. 1281. Op. 11. D. 14. L. 86v.; D. 16. L. 6 ob.-152; D. 17. L. 27-41v.; Op. 3. D. 66. L. 12; F. 869. Op. 1. D. 232. L. 25-108; RGVIA. F. VUA. D. 18415. L. 38, 77; St. Petersburg magazine. 1804. No. 11. S. 91; Namikosov S. Statistical description of the region of the Don Cossacks. Novocherkassk, 1884, pp. 292, 293; RGIA. F. 1290. Op. 4. D. 775. L. 232-248; Shchelkunov Z.I. The composition and growth of the population of the Don Cossacks. Novocherkassk, 1914, p. 22; RGIA. F. 1284. Op. 194. D. 248. L. 31-32; Krasnov N. Land of the Don Cossacks. St. Petersburg, 1863, pp. 197, 204, 218-219; RGVIA. F. VUA. D. 18721. L. 7-21. ** Until the 1880s, there are no separate data on estates. |
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In 1816-1880. in the region, the total increase amounted to 1038.3 thousand people. In this number, the natural increase reached 1072.4 thousand, and the mechanical loss - 34.1 thousand. The outflow was especially significant in 1820-1830. - 50.7 thousand people, in 1841-1850. - 42.7 thousand, in 1861-1870. - 14.3 thousand people. Since 1871, mechanical growth has been positive, and since the 90s it has been high (1871-1880 - +18.8 thousand, 1891-1990 - +170 thousand, 1901-1910 - + 104.3 thousand people). Since the 1970s, an increasing number of migrants have been moving to the Don. These were rural residents rushing here to earn money (the so-called “out-of-town” mi-grants). The Cossack population grew only due to natural growth (in 1881-1915 - 718.9 thousand people), and the mechanical increase reached only 1.4 thousand people (mainly due to marriages with persons of the Cossack class).
This was precisely the reason for the sharp reduction in the proportion of Cossacks on the Don (from 100% in the first half of the 18th century to 40% in 1916), since their natural increase was increased, like that of the entire population of this region.
In the Kuban Cossack army, the situation was about the same. It arose in 1793 mainly on the territory of the Taman Peninsula. Former Zaporizhzhya Cossacks were transferred here, as well as partially former Cossacks of Little Russia and Sloboda Ukraine. Already by 1797, on the lands of the Black Sea Army (the predecessor until 1861 of the Kuban Army), 47 kurens arose in four districts (from the middle of the 19th century - villages). There were 18 villages (8.9 thousand people) in the Ekaterinodarsky district, 13 villages each in the Yeysk and Beisugsky districts (3.8 thousand people in the first, and 3.6 thousand people in the second) and 3 (0.7 thousand people) in Tamansky.
During the first half of the XIX century. about 120 thousand people settled in this territory, and an insignificant natural increase only slightly exceeded 20 thousand people. At the end of the first decade of the 19th century, in the 20s and then in the 40s, many migrants arrived here, mainly from the Poltava and Chernihiv provinces. All of them were automatically included in the ranks of the Cossacks. Therefore, almost all residents of the Black Sea Host were Ukrainians.
In the post-reform years, the settlement of the region is in full swing. In 1865-1870. 50.6 thousand people settled here, mostly Cossacks, and the natural increase reached 42.6 thousand people. The share of Cossacks here by 1865 dropped to 94%. Since 1870, the influx of migrants has been increasing and until the 90s it significantly exceeds the size of the natural increase. And since the 90s of the XIX century. natural growth is confidently moving into first place. In total, in 1871-1916. natural growth in the Kuban region amounted to 1642.5 thousand people, and mechanical - 926.7 thousand. For persons of the military class, natural growth during this period was 890.2 thousand people, and mechanical - only 111.4 thousand (for persons not of the military class, respectively: 752.3 thousand and 815.3 thousand people). Thus, if among the Cossacks the leading role in the growth of the number of inhabitants was played by natural growth, then among the non-military population - the resettlement movement. However, in the latter, since the 90s, the size of natural growth has been put forward in first place (if in the 80s, natural growth was 72.6 thousand people, and mechanical growth - 260.7 thousand, then in the 90s - respectively 177.3 and 94.0 thousand people). And as a result of the action of these factors, the share of the Cossack population in the total number of inhabitants of the region in the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries. rapidly declining (1865 - 94%, 1871 - 66%, 1881 - 55%, 1891 - 45.5%, 1901 - 44.7%, 1911 - 43.9%, 1916 - 43.1%, 1920 - 42.9%) (see. Table 3).
Table 3 Movement of the population of the Kuban region in 1865-1917, thousand people*
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All population |
% ka-pakov |
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| * RGIA. F. 1290. Op. 4. D. 755. L. 219-223; F. 1284. Op. 194. D. 27. L. 5-42; F. 433. Op. 1. D. 58. L. 1-4; Kabuzan V.M. The population of the North Caucasus in the XIX-XX centuries. SPb., 1996. S. 181, 192. | |||||||
Table 4 shows the dynamics of the number and proportion of the Cossack population in the Russian Empire and on the lands of modern Russia in the 18th - early 20th centuries.
We see that at the beginning of the XVIII century. the entire Cossack population of the Russian Empire reached almost 1.3 million people, or 4.5% of all inhabitants of the country. Absolutely Cossacks prevailed on the lands of Ukraine, where Zaporozhye, Sloboda and Hetman were located.
Table 4 . Number and specific gravity Cossacks of the Russian Empire and modern Russia in the 18th - early 20th centuries, thousand people *
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Cossack troops |
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- "" - Don Army |
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-""- Kuban |
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-""- Terskoye |
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- "" - Orenburg |
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- "" - Transbaikal |
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-""- Siberian |
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- "" - Astrakhan |
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- "" - Yenisei |
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- "" - Yakut |
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-""- Amur |
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- "" - Ussuri |
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- "" - Bashkir |
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Population of Russia (million people) |
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Army Ural |
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- "" - Semirechenskoye |
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In Ukraine (1710-1719) Army of Zaporozhye, Hetman and Sloboda |
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By empire |
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Total population (million people) |
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* RGADA. F. 248. Op. 13. D. 695.L. 375-392 (Statement of the population of the Siberian province of 1724); F. 248. Op. 58. 1782. D. 4342. L. 527; RGVIA. F. 52. Op. 194. D. 567. St. 124. L. 25-35; RGIA. F. 571. Op. 4. 1829. D. 2592. L. 25-42; Statement of the population of Russia for 1836 // Journal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Ch. 25, No. 9; Keppen P.I. Ninth revision: Study on the number of inhabitants in Russia in 1851. SPb., 1837. S. 246-278; RGIA. F. 571. Op. 6. D. 1069. L. 186-190 (Statement of estates not subject to revision, for 1858); Centenary of the War Office. 1802-1902. SPb., 1906. Part V. S. 892-894; Shcherbatov M.M. Statistics in the reasoning of Russia // Readings of the OIDR. M., 1859. Book. III. pp. 48-50; Den V.E. The population of Russia according to the fifth revision. M., 1902. Vol. 2, part 2. S. 166-309; Rychkov P. Orenburg Topography. SPb., 1762. Part 1. S. 103; RGVIA. F. 12. Op. 161. St. 146. D. 146. L. 1202-1207; F. 52. Op. 194. St. 230. D. 450. 1778. L. 6-8; Zvarnitsky D.I. History of the Zaporizhian Cossacks. SPb., 1892. T. 1; Pronstein A.P. Don Land in the 18th century. Rostov-on-Don, 1961, pp. 72-73; Golobutsky V.A. Zaporozhye Cossacks. Kyiv, 1967; Kabuzan V.M. Settlement of Novorossia (Ekaterinoslav and Kherson provinces) in the 18th - first half of the 19th century (1719-1858). M., 1976. S. 49-60, 71-101; He is. The population of the North Caucasus in the XIX-XX centuries. SPb., 1996; The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897: General summary of the empire. SPb., 1905. Vol. I-II; The actual population of both sexes by counties and cities, indicating the prevailing religions and estates. SPb., 1901; RGVIA. F. 4. Op. 1. D. 4. L. 26, 33; RGIA. F. 1294. Op. 194. D. 48. L. 31-32; D. 37. L. 3; D. 27. L. 5-42; F. 433. Op. 1. D. 58. L. 1-4; F. 1284. Op. 194. D. 51. L. 159; D. 46. L. 11. |
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(Little Russian) Cossack administrative formations. In total, 942,000 Cossacks, or half of the entire population of Ukraine, were counted here at that time. And at the same time, 76.6% of all Cossacks of the empire lived here. In the 40s of the XVIII century. Cossacks made up 44.1% (1078.0 thousand people) of the population of Ukraine, and in the 60s - 43.7% (1241.8 thousand people). Thus, it was in Ukraine in the 20-60s of the XVIII century. the absolute majority of the Cossacks of the Russian Empire lived, although their share in the population of this region was decreasing. At the same time, about 60% (716.2 thousand people) of all Cossacks in the country were counted as countrymen of Little Russia or Hetman Ukraine.
At that time, only 22.5% of all Cossack troops in the country (276 thousand people) were registered within the borders of modern Russia. Basically, these were the Bashkirs, who constituted the irregular army of the empire and were equated with the Cossacks. Among the Cossacks proper, the main regions of their settlement were the Siberian (3.2%) and Don (2.3%) troops. All this shows that in fact, on the lands of modern Russia, the Cossack population was then not numerous. It was located on the outskirts of the country and still retained significant autonomy in relation to the central government, which was clearly evidenced by the uprisings of K. Bulavin, the Bashkirs, and in the 70s of the 18th century. and E. Pugacheva.
In the second half of the XVIII century. the importance of the Cossacks in the fight against external enemies and in general in the protection of the internal regions from the raids of the Tatars and Nogais is sharply reduced. And this was one of the main reasons for the destruction in Ukraine of all the Cossack troops that were there, with the inclusion of ordinary Cossacks in the composition of the state peasants, and the Cossack foreman - in the class of nobles. In the 60s, the Sloboda Cossacks were liquidated, in 1775 - the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, and by the beginning of the 80s - the Hetman Cossacks. Part of the Zaporozhye Cossacks moved into the category of state peasants. A small number of them received the nobility. And a significant part (up to 10 thousand people) went to Turkey. From there they gradually return to Russia, forming there the Black Sea, Ust-Danube, Azov Cossack troops. Gradually, a significant part of them moved to the North Caucasus and joined the Black Sea (from 1861 - Kuban) Cossack army. However, in 1878 in Northern Dobruja, which was part of Turkey, there were still about 10 thousand descendants of the former Zaporozhye Cossacks.
In general, in the early 80s of the XVIII century. in the Russian Empire, only 514.6 thousand Cossacks were recorded, which amounted to 1.2% of the population of the empire. However, in Russia itself, the number of Cossacks increased to 487 thousand, and it reached 2.2% of the country's population.
In the first place in terms of numbers were the Bashkirs (247 thousand people). On the second are located Don Cossacks(117 thousand). Their number since the beginning of the XVIII century. grew 4 times. In the middle of the XVIII century. (in 1746) the final border was established between the Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks (along the Kalmius River), which prevented the uncontrolled seizure of the lands of this army. Ukrainian settlers (mainly from the 70s of the 18th century) actively populated the Lands of the Don Cossacks (especially the Miussky district), but until the 20s of the 20th century. these territories remained part of the Land of the Don Cossacks.
The Ural Army remained outside the borders of modern Russia, where in 1719 12 thousand Cossacks lived, and in 1782 - 28 thousand Cossacks. This army originated in the 16th century. on the outlying Kalmyk lands, but after 1917 it was included in Kazakhstan, where these lands remain to this day.
Simultaneously with the Cossacks, in the expanses of the future Russian Empire (that is, in the 16th century) in Austria, on the borders with Turkey, a kind of Cossack formation is formed - the Military Border (Militärgränze). The so-called “border guards” settled here, who guarded the borders of the Austrian Empire, using in return large land plots and other benefits. However, they did not enjoy any, even internal, autonomy, which distinguishes them from the Cossacks of Russia, at least in the 18th century. Approximately one third of the inhabitants of the Military Frontier consisted of Serbs and Croats, about 15% - Vlachs (Romanians). In addition, Hungarians, Germans, etc. lived here. The Military Frontier was already destroyed in the early 80s of the 19th century. in connection with the disappearance of the Turkish threat, since the last Turkish province here - Bosnia and Herzegovina - is turning into a protectorate of Austria-Hungary. In the early 80s of the XVIII century. about 650 thousand people lived on the territory of the Military Border, which was a quarter (487 thousand) more than the entire Cossack population of Russia.
Then, during the 80s of the XVIII - early XX century. in the Russian Empire and actually within the borders of present-day Russia, there is a rapid increase in the number and proportion of people of the Cossack class. Cossacks successfully develop new territories in the North Caucasus, the Far East, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. They significantly expand the Russian ethnic territory. At the end of the XVIII-XIX centuries. a large number of state peasants, mostly Russians, were listed as part of the Cossacks. However, many Ukrainians, Buryats (in 1851), Bashkirs and Tatars were included here. Moreover, such transfers were often made by force, without any regard for the opinions of non-military class, and this was widely practiced throughout the North Caucasus (in the Kuban and Terek troops), in the Southern Urals (in the Orenburg army), in the Siberian and Transbaikal Cossack troops. Such transfers come to naught in the 60s of the XIX century. Then the Cossacks finally turns into a closed class, which was very difficult to enter (mainly allowed by marriage). A paradoxical situation is emerging. Thanks to high level natural growth, the proportion of Cossacks throughout the empire is constantly and steadily growing, but on the Cossack lands (due to the massive influx of out-of-town migrants) the share of the Cossack population is rapidly falling. In the post-reform years, they turn into a minority in the region of the Don Cossacks, and in the Kuban region, and in the Cossack territories of the Terek region.
Within the borders of the empire, the share of Cossacks in 1782 was 1.2% of all inhabitants (515 thousand people), in 1795 - about 700 thousand (1.5%), in 1817 - 1 million people (1.8%), in 1851 - 2 million (2.7%), in 1897 - 4.3 million (3.8%) and in 1916 - 6.3 million (about 4%). Thus, from 1782 to 1916 it increased from 1.2 to 3.7%, without reaching the level of 1719 - 4.5%.
Within the borders of Russia, the proportion of Cossacks increased continuously: 1719 - 2.0%, 1795 - 2.6%, 1851 - 4.6%, 1897 - 6.3% and 1916 - 6.5%. If at the beginning of the XVIII century. in Russia, about 500 thousand Cossacks were registered, then in 1916 - 6.3 million people. The most numerous groups of Cossacks were the Bashkir (1719 - 209 thousand, 1916 - 1.6 million people), the Don (respectively 30 thousand and 1.5 million people), the Kuban (the end of the 18th century - 55 thousand, 1916 - 1.4 million people), the Orenburg (1719 - 5 thousand, 1916 - 0.5 million), Trans-Baikal (8 and 265 thousand, respectively) and Terek (the end of the 18th century - more than 3 thousand, 1916 - 255 thousand people) troops, etc.
The new ones, which arose only at the end of the 50s of the XIX century, were the Amur and Ussuri Cossack troops.
Outside the borders of present-day Russia, what was created in the 60s of the XIX century remained. Semirechensk Cossack army. A special position was occupied by arose in the XVI century. on the Kalmyk lands, the Ural Cossack army. It also retreated to Kazakhstan, like the Semirechensky army.
As early as 1817, there were more “border guards” (940,000 people) on the Military Frontier in the Austrian monarchy than in Russia (935,000). But then the number of Cossacks in Russia is already significantly ahead of the latter (1834 - 1.4 million to 1.1 million; in 1858 - 2.3 million to 1.1 million). And in 1880, there were 3.4 million Cossacks in Russia, and only 0.7 million border guards on the Military Border, since already on the eve of its liquidation, significant territories with a Serbian population (Serbian Krajina) became part of Croatia.
We have already noted that part of the territory of the Cossacks of the former Russia went after 1917 to Kazakhstan. At the same time, part of the land of the Don Cossacks was included in the borders of Ukraine (35% of the territory of Cherkasy, 24% of Donetsk and most of the Taganrog district). The border of Russia is here with the river. Kalmitsa moved almost to the river. Dry Elanchik (these lands are included in the Donetsk region of Ukraine). Throughout this territory, the Russian population predominated. In general, in the Donetsk region, the Russian population in 1939 was 32.1% (969.5 thousand people), in 1959 - 37.6% (1601.3 thousand), in 1989 - 43.6% (2316.1 thousand) and in 2001 - 38.2% (1844.4 thousand). In the neighboring Luhansk region, it reached 32.5% (3 thousand people) in 1939, 38.8% (950.0 thousand) in 1959, 44.8% (1279.0 thousand) in 1989, and 39.0% (991.8 thousand) in 2001.
The Cossack territory of the North Caucasus remained within the borders of Russia. However, when national-territorial formations were created here, a significant part of it became part of them. The Russian population (mostly Cossacks) of the former Kuban army partially ended up within the borders of Adygea and Kabardino-Balkaria. In Adygea, the share of Russians reached 55.7% in 1926, 73.3% in 1939, 70.5% in 1959, and 67.9% in 1989. The data of the 1959 census show that in the Giaginsky district the Russian (until 1917 Cossack) population reached 93.2%, in Maikop - 88.8%, in Krasnogvardeisky - 83.7%. It seems unclear how these territories could be part of Adygea.
In Kabardino-Balkaria, the share of Russians was much smaller (in 1926 - 36%, in 1959 - 36.3%, in 1959 - 34.4%, in 1989 - 32%). And here in 1959 Russians made up 90.5% in the Prokhladnensky district, 86.3% in Maisky, 58.4% in Nalchik, and 55.6% in Pri-Mankinsky. It was here that the Cossack population was located until 1918. In the 1940s-1980s, the natural growth of Russians in the region turned out to be low, which contributed to the decrease in their share.
In Karachay-Cherkessia, the situation turned out to be the same. Until the 60s of the XX century. the share of Cossacks here was 50%, and by 1989 it had dropped to 42%. Russians dominated here in the Prokhladnensky (83.2%), Zelenchuksky (75.3%) and Cherkessky (58.8%) regions, the Cossack territory that formed in the 60-70s of the XIX century.
In North Ossetia, the share of Russians was 28% in 1926, 38% in 1939, 40% in 1959, and 30% in 1989. Nevertheless, it also included a village inhabited in the 18th century. Cossacks in the Mozdok region (in 1959, Russians accounted for 67.5%). In Checheno-Ingushetia, the proportion of Russians and Ukrainians (mainly descendants of the Terek Cossacks) in the 60-90s of the XX century. dropped catastrophically. In 1926 they reached 27.5% (150 thousand people), in 1939 - 36% (263 thousand), in 1959 - 50.9% (360 thousand), in 1970 - 36% (380 thousand), in 1979 - 30% (350 thousand), in 1989 - 24% ( 300 thousand) and in 2001 - 5% (60 thousand). In 1959-1989 the proportion of Russians is declining. Here everywhere, except for the city of Grozny, they turn into an ethnic minority (in Grozny there were 78% of them in 1959, and 52.9% in 1989). In Grozny district, their share in these years fell from 45.8 to 8.7%, in Gudermes - from 59 to 13%, in Naursky - from 83 to 7%, in Shelkovsky - from 72 to 5%, in Sunzhensky - from 73 to 7%, etc.
Until 1957, the border between Checheno-Ingushetia and the Stavropol Territory ran along the river. Terek. Russians, descendants of the Terek Cossacks, who settled here in the 16th century, lived in Shelkovsky, Naursky, Sunzhensky districts. But then all these lands became part of Checheno-Ingushetia, and the Russian population was ousted from here mainly until the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century, and completely - by the beginning of the 21st century.
Of all the Cossack troops in Russia, the Terek army, the most “ancient” of all the troops, had the saddest fate. Its inhabitants lost their homeland and were forced to move, mainly to the neighboring Stavropol Territory. The population of other former Cossack troops could at least remain in their places of permanent residence. And only a relatively few had to find themselves within the borders of the newly created state formations (part of the Don Cossacks - in Ukraine, all of the Urals, Semirechye and part of the Siberian - in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan). In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, on the former lands of the region of the Don Cossacks, the Russian population still prevails (Yenakiyevo, Makeevka, Snezhnoye, Kharutsyzsk, Krasnodon, etc.).
Table 5 shows how the number and settlement of the Bashkir (in the 19th century Bashkir-Meshcheryak) army changed on the territory of Russia in the 18th-20th centuries.
In 1719, the Bashirs made up 1.2% of the total population of Russia (and with the Meshcheryaks and Teptyars, 1.4%). Then, for various reasons, their share decreases (1762 - 0.7%, 1795 - 0.7%), but by the middle of the 19th century. reached the level of 1719. By 1897, it increased to 1.5%. But this was the result of the inclusion in the composition of the Bashkirs of numerous groups of the Tatar population (Teptyars and Bobyls and Meshcheryak). In the 20s of the XX century. their share fell to 0.8%,
Table 5 Dynamics of the number of the Bashkir population of Russia in the XVIII-XX centuries. (within modern borders), thousand people*
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Bashkiria |
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Perm region |
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Tatarstan |
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Orenburg region |
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Samara |
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Chelyabinsk |
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Sverdlovsk |
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More than that: |
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Meshcheryakov |
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teptyary and bean |
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% of the population of Russia |
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| * I revision: RGADA. F. 248. Op. 17. D. 1163. L. 1007-1017; GARF P. XVI. Op. 1. D. 993. L. 1-3; F. 248. Op. 13. D. 13/695. L. 192; Op. 7. D. 35/406. L. 4 about .; Dan V.E. The population of Russia according to the fifth revision. M., 1902. Vol. 2, part 2. S. 208. II revision: RNB. OR. F. 885. Op. 1. D. 242. L. 1-54; RGADA. F. 248. Op. 58. D. 559/3082. L. 1015-1020. III revision: RGADA. F. 248. Op. 58. D. 4342. L. 317-358; F. 259. Op. 19. D. 23. L. 586-603; GA RF P. XVI. Op. 1. D. 816. L. 27-29. V revision; RGVIA. F. VUA. D. 18815. L. 1-63v. IX revision: RGIA. F. 1263. Op. 1. D. 2184. L. 119, 817, 825; Keppen P.I. Ninth revision: St. Petersburg, 1857. S. 248; RGIA. F. 571. Op. 6. D. 934. L. 8; Op. 9. D. 52. L. 83; The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897. St. Petersburg, 1901. Issue. 17: The actual population of both sexes by counties, indicating the number of predominant native languages ... L. 1-28. Census 1920-2002: Shibaev V.P. Ethnic composition of the European part USSR. Leningrad, 1930, pp. 103-150, 190-191, 202-203, 218-219, 266-267; Bogoyavlensky D.D. Ethnic composition of the population of Russia // Population of Russia. 1999. M., 2000. S. 28-34; Tishkov V. Ethnic composition of the population of the Russian Federation. 1989-2002 // Nezavisimaya Gazeta. 2003. 11 Nov. No. 242, p. 2; National composition and language proficiency, citizenship: Results of the 2002 All-Russian population census. M., 2004. T. 4. S. 7, 25-122. | ||||||||||||||
since the censuses began to re-register the Meshcheryaks and Teptyars (at least most of them) as part of the Tatars. And only in 1979-2002. the share of the Bashkirs, due to higher natural growth, rose to 1.2% - the indicator of the beginning of the 18th century. And their absolute number increased from 170 thousand in 1719 to 510 thousand in 1850, 730 thousand in 1926, 1.3 million in 1989 and 1.5 million in 2002.
The settlement of the Bashkirs also changed. In 1762, only 52% of them lived within the borders of modern Bashkiria. Almost 25% lived within the borders of the Chelyabinsk region, 14% - in the Orenburg region.
And in 1989, 64.2% of all Bashkirs lived within the borders of Bashkiria, 12% - in the Chelyabinsk region, 4% each - in the Orenburg, Perm regions and in Tatarstan. In other words, the share of the Bashkirs is sharply declining beyond its modern borders, and especially in the Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions. And in Tatarstan and the Sverdlovsk region, there are more of them.
In 1917-1920. Cossacks mostly supported the overthrown regime. And this was the main initial reason not only for the liquidation of all Cossack troops, but also for the inclusion of many of their territories in the created administrative-state formations. By the mid-1920s, about 200 thousand Cossacks who had fled abroad returned to their homeland. In the USSR, the population of formerly Cossack territories grew somewhat faster than in other regions. So it was in the 18th-19th centuries, and so it remained in the 20th century. The lands of the southern regions of the country had excellent black earth soils, a good climate and were more favorable for living. But even if we assume that the inhabitants of the regions of Russia previously inhabited by Cossacks grew in the same way as throughout the country, then in 2002 they should amount to approximately 9.5 million people (6.5% of all inhabitants of Russia). The vast majority of the descendants of these Cossacks no longer correlate themselves with their ancestors.
The last census of 2002, completely unreasonably, tried to recreate a new ethnic group in Russia - the Cossacks. In pre-revolutionary Russia, the Cossacks were privileged, having their own glorious history estate. Just like nobles, clergy, merchants or burghers. It, with the absolute predominance of Russians, was multinational. Among them were many Ukrainians (in the Kuban army), Bashkirs, Buryats (in the Transbaikal army), Kalmyks (in the Don and Ural troops), Tatars, etc. According to the 2002 census, the descendants of the Cossacks did not actually include themselves in this estate (less than 100 thousand people were counted).
Attempts to recreate in the XXI century. the Cossacks in the country as a special irregular army guarding the borders, especially in the Caucasus, are unlikely to succeed. To do this, first of all, it is necessary to study the heroic historical past of this class at the scientific level, to show its contribution to the protection and formation of the territory of Russia from the 16th century.
In our country, strange Cossack units are being created for the time being, often in territories where there have never been Cossacks. And there is often nothing of the kind where the difficult life of many generations of Cossacks proceeded. It is believed that we now have 600 thousand Cossacks. But already in 1916 there were about 6.5 million of them?
It follows from the foregoing that the task of a comprehensive study of the history of the Russian Cossacks over the entire centuries-old history of its existence from the 16th century is ripe.
And here, historical and geographical research is of considerable value, which establishes how the process of creating and functioning of the Cossack troops in the country proceeded. It is important to know how the number and settlement of the Cossacks changed, what was their ethnic composition and what contribution they made to the formation and protection of the Russian and, in general, Russian ethnic territory.
In the period after 1917, it is necessary to investigate which new state and administrative-territorial formations included the Cossack lands. And what was their further fate.
All these problems are provided with good sources, and there is only one specific task left for researchers - to create new fundamental research that would deepen and expand existing ones.
[ 319 ] Footnotes of the original text
DISCUSSION OF THE REPORT
V.M. Hebrolina. Given the traditions that have developed among the Cossacks, some consider the Cossacks a special ethnic group. What is your opinion on this matter?
V.M. cabuzan. There was no ethnic group in the face of the Cossacks in Russia, there is not and cannot be. Now we have tried to revive this ethnic group. This is 40 thousand people who recorded themselves as Cossacks. These are people who consider themselves Russians, but are ready to attribute themselves to the Cossacks.
V.M. Hebrolina. What is the difference between the living conditions in the North Caucasus, and in other places of the Cossacks and simply the Russian population, not the Cossacks?
V.M. cabuzan. There are no differences, just these territories remained.
V.M. Hebrolina. So what is the point of allocating Cossack territories?
V.M. Kabuzan. I believe that this is inappropriate, it will not give anything, the Cossacks have been destroyed! But it is important for the revival of at least some traditions in our minds, in order to know how the Cossacks lived and defended themselves and their homeland from their neighbors. It is unlikely that this will succeed today and in the future.
A.N. Bokhanov. They will not be reborn, but at least the North Caucasus is important for them.
V.M. Kabuzan. In the North Caucasus, the Russian population is declining, while the local population is growing by leaps and bounds. The share of Muslims in the 1990s increased by more than 1 percent. This is a lot.
A.N. Bokhanov. It is necessary to take into account the signs for the identification of the Russian archetype. The number of Muslims is growing. Orthodox - 5 percent.
V.M. Kabuzan. Orientation to Orthodox values is the main thing.
A.N. Bokhanov. This is faith, of course, and then - consciousness. Ve-ra forms consciousness. You are right when you write about the second position of fatherhood in Israel. But there is, as it were, an exception - the law of 1950. If you declare in documents that you are a Jew, but profess Christianity, you are not allowed into Israel.
V.M. Kabuzan. If the mother is Jewish, then you can go, but if the father is Jewish, but the mother is Orthodox or some other, then it is no longer possible.
A.N. Medushevsky. Tell me, please, what factors determine the negative demographic dynamics? After all, it is known that Germany and many other Western European countries are dying out.
V.M. Kabuzan. To some extent, the decline in reproduction rates was prepared by the entire course of our historical development, starting from the 1930s. But with Europe there is a very big difference. If we take Germany, then its population is growing due to migration, due to the influx of not only Germans, but also Turks and representatives of other nations. The German population of Germany from 1972 to the present day has decreased by 7 million people, and due to the huge influx of migrants - Germans and others into Germany - it has grown, so this “hole” is being patched up. But what happens in Germany with the Germans? They have a low birth rate. Due to the low birth rate, there is a reduction in the number of Germans. Their mortality rate is very low, people live there for a very long time and well. This is a characteristic feature of both Germany and the countries of the European market.
What is happening with us? We have the same birth rate as in Germany, now it has become a little higher. All that distinguishes us from all civilized countries and even from middle-income countries is a huge, ever-increasing mortality. It is twice the birth rate, and it also plays a major role in the increasing decline in the population.
A.N. Medushevsky. But this factor affects equally both the Orthodox and the Muslim population...
V.M. Kabuzan. No, by no means! There's old traditional demographic behavior. There are a lot of children there. The death rate there is the same as that of the Russians, and the birth rate is very high, and due to this, the proportion of Muslims has grown by more than 1% in just 10 years. Now there are materials from the 2002 census. The Muslim population has grown tremendously. It has not been affected by negative trends, it is growing in the same way as it did before - 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago, even more. Therefore, even if everything remains as it is, it will be the same as in Israel. When Israel arrived it was 13% Arab, now it's 17% because Arabs have twice the reproduction rate of Jews and have already calculated when Israel will become an Arab state.
Ya.N. Shapov. I cannot agree with what the speaker said. It seems to me that we have an incorrect state and scientific position in relation to what is an ethnos and what is an estate. Wrong scientific position is represented by Vladimir Maksimovich. Wrong state - represented by V.I. Tishkov, who was the Minister for Nationalities. These are old ideas - what is “ethnos” and what is “estate”. Our estates are familiar: the nobility, the merchant class, the peasantry. These are estates that have become a thing of the past, and when people are asked during the census - “Who are you?”, then not a single nobleman, not a single merchant, not a single peasant will say that he belongs to this estate, unlike the Cossacks.
The Cossacks continue to claim that they are Cossacks and they have a special position, which we do not take into account either in scientific work, or in state structures or gradations.
The Cossacks, as we know, arose and exists as a special structure within other Russian territories. And this was the meaning of the Cossacks. When we now deny the Cossacks their special status, we continue the same line that the speaker condemns, i.e. we deprive the Cossacks of its traditional function, traditional affairs, traditional concerns - the defense of Russia. We equate them with the Russians and thus we destroy them on the spot.
I believe that this is a wrong policy, just as the policy that was pursued after the collapse of the Soviet Union is wrong. But why do you put the Cossacks on the same level as the Russians who live on the territory of Russia, in inner Russia. They have a completely different position, and they need to realize this.
V.M. Kabuzan. There is no special position.
Ya.N. Shapov.
You need to realize this, you need to give the Cossacks the appropriate rights, you need to give them to them, you need to force them to gather, so that they choose their Cossack foreman, provide them with the appropriate lands. If we treat them not as an estate, but as an ethnic group, then nothing will come of it.
My conclusion is that in addition to these two concepts, ethnos and class, there is something in between, something that we do not take into account. If we take it into account, then we can revive the Cossacks, then we can use these methods, which were invented in the old days, to return our lands, to return our population to these lands.
V.V. Kuchkin. I still want to go back to science and ask about things that have already been touched upon here.
First question. When you talk about the growth of the Cossacks, let's say, before 1917, did people who were not Cossacks before that be registered as Cossacks? That's the same as received the nobility or merchant status? What was the ratio between natural growth and entry into the Don Cossack Host or the Ural Cossack Host?
V.M. Kabuzan. The fact is that in the second half of the XVIII century. Cossacks recorded all persons who managed to escape to Cossack territory. But the statistics then were still very bad. Beginning with late XVIII V. the Cossacks are turning into a closed class category, into which access was very difficult. Here I mean the Don Army and the Ural Army. All migrants were made nonresident. This special group, which received after the reform of 1861. special rights, and its members began to be called peasants. But since the beginning of the 19th century, when the administration was strengthened, there is evidence of how many people enrolled in the Cossacks, how many died or were born. So, in the Don Army in the XIX century. only a few thousand people signed up for the Cossacks. The increase, of course, was colossal, and as for those who signed up, it was an extremely insignificant indicator. They signed up only through marriages. No other form of recording existed. But in the Caucasus it was a different matter. There were few Cossacks here. It was a very restless place. And what did they do there? There, the entry into the Cossacks facilitated in every possible way. And the peasant Nin, if he wished to move to the Kuban and enroll in the Cossacks, immediately received the right to do so. Any holiday documents from the local authorities were not needed - only a wish, a statement. And everywhere it happened at public expense. The peasants were immediately included in the Cossacks, they were given very large benefits. Therefore, in the growth of the number of Cossacks in the Caucasus, a large role was played by the mechanical resettlement of peasants here. There is evidence that the Ural Army, the Black Sea Army, the Ter-skoye Army - basically grew up on these very large migrations of mainly Russian peasants. In the Caucasus until the 70s of the XIX century. there was a very low reproduction of the population. There were a lot of diseases, people could not get used to the climate, and until the middle of the 19th century. the number of Cossacks in the Caucasus increased mainly due to the influx of peasants, who were enrolled in the Cossacks immediately at the place of arrival, making the position of this category of the population as easy as possible.
And in the post-reform period, as well as on the Don, the number of immigrants is somewhat reduced, but the influx still remains quite significant, especially to the Terek army. There I had to fight a lot with the highlanders, especially with the Chechens. Therefore, there were special conditions for settlement.
Or, for example, a tributary to the Ussuri, to the Amur. The same thing happened there, they took everyone who wanted it.
V.A. Kuchkin. Second question. Although you said that there were no attempts to declare the population of the South of Russia a special ethnic category, but in fact they were. I will refer to the work of the famous ethnographer Zelenin, who, speaking of the Slavic population of Eastern Europe, distinguished between Great Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. He divided the Great Russians into northern Great Russians and southern Great Russians. Such a division in relation to the Cossacks included the Cossacks in the composition of the southern Great Russians, and since you are engaged in the Cossacks, what was the ratio of the Russian population in general and the Cossacks in these areas?
V.M. Kabuzan. Firstly, I want to say that it doesn’t matter what dialects were: ok or ok, northern or southern. The essence of the matter is that we forget that in Rus' and Ukraine there were so-called sub-ethnoi - categories that have very significant differences. But they did not last long enough to become a separate ethnic group. Usually, one has only to divide the territory (as Russia is now divided into eight states) into separate states, as the sub-ethnoi existing here can quickly turn into real ethnic groups. We have many such cases. Take in 1878 the Macedonians - Bulgarians by language. They were separated so that Bulgaria would not be too big, and after a short time a separate ethnic group appeared. This is a sub-ethnos that is less closely connected with the center. Here people can only be united by culture, education, enlightenment.
I did not and do not think that the Cossacks are a special ethnic group. It is indeed a sub-ethnos. It's like the Hutsuls in Ukraine or, for example, the same Pomors in the North in Russia. This is also a sub-ethnos. Or a smaller ethnic group - the Kryashchens in Tatarstan. These things are specific. But on the whole, under the conditions of pre-revolutionary Russia, they never considered themselves a separate people. There was no such thing! This is an artificial attempt, I am deeply convinced of this. The Cossacks in Russia used Russian as a colloquial language, for a long time they were replenished at the expense of Russian peasants - immigrants from Central Russia. And never and nowhere until the 90s of the XX century. none of them considered themselves a representative of a special (or special) ethnic group.
My opinion is that all these attempts to revive a new ethnic group for protection, for defense, are an attempt with unsuitable means.
Yu.A. Tikhonov. You said that in the North Caucasus, Cossack troops were replenished at the expense of settlers. Well, on what lands were they located? On empty ones? Or did they push someone back?
V.M. Kabuzan. The fact is that the highlanders lived mainly in the mountains and did not go down to the plain, and the Cossacks settled on the plain. Until 1805, only the Adygei settled vast territories south of the Black Sea Host. And after the Crimean War, when they failed to unite with the same-faith Turkey, they went to the territory of present-day Syria and Jordan. And the remaining lands in a short time were populated by Cossacks and persons who signed up as Cossacks. Until the mid-80s of the XIX century. more settlers settled here than in all of Siberia. Thus, in the Caucasus, either empty or abandoned lands were settled.
V.A. Kuchkin. There was no answer to the question about the ratio of the Cossack population, Russian or other population.
V.M. Kabuzan. I have all this in the text of the article in detail. But I will speak here in general terms. At the beginning of the XVIII century. on Do-well, the entire population was considered Cossack. There were local censuses. They took into account about 30 thousand. All Russian residents were considered Cossacks. Then a very large Ukrainian migration began, when in the 1860-1880s huge masses of Ukrainian migrants rushed there, who thought they would become full-fledged Cossacks there. They were not recorded as Cossacks, and a lot of Ukrainians appeared on the Don. This changed the ratio, Russian Cossacks became about 80% of the total population. And in 1917 there were just over 40% of Russian Cossacks. There has already been a huge flow of non-residents, mostly Ukrainians.
V.A. Kuchkin. This means that 60% of Russian Cossacks accounted for 40% of Ukrainians.
V.M. Kabuzan. On the Don - mostly Russians, and in the North Caucasus among the Cossacks and peasants Ukrainians prevailed. But I think that this is a unique phenomenon, when in 1926 the Ukrainians dominated the Kuban, and in 1936-1937. Russians made up almost 100%. Assimilation processes intensified in the region and many Ukrainians began to consider themselves Russians. However, in 10 years, in our opinion, such rapid assimilation is unlikely could take place.
Yu.A. Tikhonov. So believe the censuses after that.
V.M. Kabuzan. No, no, these are real processes that accelerated in the 20th century. However, the change in the method of registering the ethnic composition also influenced the results of the censuses of the 1930s-1980s.
Today I am very happy: I think I stirred up the audience. This is a big, complex problem. Not everything is clear here yet. And we still have a lot to do.
Yu.A. Tikhonov. Let's summarize.
The report was very interesting, incendiary, productive. We still have few researchers, and even more so real, good researchers who, in search of truth, are not afraid to express some non-standard positions. The topic is important. V.M. Kabuzan produces a lot of works, and he wrote even more. So he's in line for other publications as well. Perhaps, letters of appeal should be written to the government and to the Cossack troops, which are being revived, with a request for funding and for the publication of his work on the Cossacks.
RGVIA. F. 20. Op. 1/47. D. 1044. L. 1-13 (1776); Military-statistical description of the Land of the Don Cossacks in 1852 // RGVIA. F. VUA. D. 18721. L. 21v.-23; PFA RAS. F. 30. Op. 2. D. 19 (1857); Lebedev V.I., Podyapol-skaya E.P. The uprising on the Don in 1707-1708. // Essays on the history of the USSR: The period of feudalism. Russia in the first quarter of the 18th century Transformations of Peter I. M., 1954. S. 253.
Cm.: Kabuzan V.M. The population of the North Caucasus in the XIX-XX centuries: Ethno-statistical study. SPb., 1996.
The Cossacks are a people, and a federal people at that. But at the same time, we are closely woven into Russian history, the Russian state, and are connected with the Russian people. There are tribal Cossacks - they know very well who their grandfather and great-grandfather were, they inherit the traditions and culture of their ancestors. And there are people who are made up, that is, people without roots, accepted into this community.
Verstannye Cossacks are a legacy of the early 1990s, when instead of reviving traditions, everyone rushed to revive the Cossack service, and this eventually resulted in a quasi-service and quasi-military units. In pursuit of formal numbers, the Union of Cossacks made up everyone who wanted to get into this organization. There was a huge number of people who decided to show. There were also those who came, made up, made interesting shoulder straps for themselves, and then left to play something else. They weren't really told what to do. Most Cossacks for a year and a half, and then moved away from this.
Cossacks are being drafted even now. Each organization has its own procedure.
According to Russian laws, any three people can create their own public organization, call it Cossack and take everyone who has accepted the charter there. Often people just buy Cossack clothes for themselves and wear them. In our organization, we do not recruit anyone. I do not understand this: I know my ancestors, and for some reason I have no desire to become part of some other people.
About real Cossacks
How to tell if you have a real Cossack in front of you or not? And how to distinguish a Chechen from a non-Chechen? Sometimes on the street you can meet a person in full uniform with orders and medals. Unfortunately, the legal status of these badges is not entirely clear. You can create your own "Organization of road transport lovers" and give its members a badge of honor for fans of steam locomotives of the 1st and 2nd degree. Order badges with gold or diamonds and solemnly hand them over to everyone. Cossacks can receive a badge of honor for a year in a Cossack organization, but there are many such people with orders, and society laughs at this. Therefore, officers who have served honestly for ten years do not hang their award on their national costume. I think so: if you want to have an honest military order - go to the war zone, there you have a chance to earn your reward. And to draw medals for ourselves is a little embarrassing. A formal suit should be worn for a purpose, and not just as an excuse to jingle with what is hung on it.
I think so: if you want to have an honest military order - go to the war zone, there you have a chance to earn your reward
About life in Moscow
There are several tens of thousands of Cossacks in Moscow. Nobody counted for sure, because not everyone calls themselves Cossacks by nationality during the census. Last year, almost 50 thousand people gathered at the traditional Cossack festival in Luzhniki. It was the middle of September, and I think that not all the Cossacks came there.
I myself am from the Kuban, but now I live in Moscow. By education - a lawyer and economist, I work in the field of jurisprudence. In our Cossack organization there are self-employed citizens, employees of state bodies, businessmen. Our people are gathered not according to the professional principle, but according to the principle of unity of origin.
In Moscow, the Cossacks are not much different from other residents: the city erases national differences. We live in apartments, buy fast food and heat it up in the microwave. There are no national costumes in the city, everyone wears jackets made according to European fashion. Women buy dresses that are sold in Milan, Moscow, Paris, and London. We use the Internet, we have several Cossack sites and groups in the main social networks. The Moscow Cossacks also have their own magazine, which can be read through the application in the AppStore. In one of the last issues they wrote about national costumes.
We usually gather in those places that are convenient for everyone. It’s quite difficult to move around in the city: in my small homeland, it’s faster for me to get from the village to Krasnodar than from home in Moscow to work. True, there used to be one Cossack place on Sportivnaya, but then it closed. In principle, there are quite a lot of places associated with the Cossacks, because there are a lot of Cossacks here.
Sometimes we walk around the city in national clothes - just because we like it. Although, on the one hand, it can be inconvenient, on the other hand, wearing such a suit is perceived as outrageous. Sometimes I feel a negative attitude from others: they look at me as if I decided to show off and say that I am not like the others. I made my own costume, but you can buy it. They sell, as a rule, stage options made of cheap fabric. A good suit is expensive. It must be ordered from natural cloth from the master, adjusted to the figure. It will cost at least 30 thousand rubles. Boots can also be bought - in special workshops. True, they do not make them as strong as before.
The Cossacks are not a blinkered crowd that does not perceive anything. Quite normal, cultured people
About the national dialect
Of course, the Cossacks did not have their own language, but there were different dialects. Moreover, in each village there are local words. Over the past few years, our guys have traveled around the villages and collected 8 thousand words that are not in the Russian language. This allows us to say that the language of the Cossacks was different from Russian. In everyday speech, we still use some words now: I am from the Kuban, so we are making a balachka. Although a couple of years ago I lived on the Don and, when the locals spoke quickly, I understood hardly a third of the words.
About music
I listen to all kinds of music, but mostly rock. From foreign ones I like Metallica, AC/DC. Of ours - classic Sverdlovsk and St. Petersburg rock, for example, Viktor Tsoi. There are groups in the communities that sing national songs. Cossacks realize themselves in different genres: there is, for example, Cossack rap and rock, and performances of Cossack groups can be found on the Internet. So the Cossacks are not a blinkered crowd that does not perceive anything. Quite normal, cultured people.
About the army
I myself did not serve in the army - I studied, but I know that there are no special conditions for the Cossacks there. Formally, back in 1993, Boris Yeltsin signed a decree on the creation of several Cossack units in the armed forces Russia. It was assumed that the Cossacks would be called there in a preferential manner. But then the question arose: how to check whether you are a Cossack or not? And then, to serve in a special unit, you need good health. The fact that the Cossacks once dodged bullets and ran along the ceiling is a beautiful fairy tale. When orders and medals are hung on a body weighing 200 kilograms, which it is not clear how they received, the question arises: what is this, a warrior? As a result, the Cossacks are called up as ordinary citizens in ordinary units.
About weapons
According to the law of 1997, the Cossacks, like the representatives of the peoples of the Caucasus, can carry traditional edged weapons without permission, that is, a dagger and a saber. But I don’t think that someone will simply brandish a 150-year-old silver dagger for 3-4 thousand dollars. After all, now in any souvenir or hunting shop you can buy virtually any weapon if you look over 18 years old.
About politics
There is no unified code of the Cossack, but there is a federal program for the development of the Cossack society, which, among other things, implies that in a couple of years 80% of the Cossacks should be concentrated in the border regions of Russia. I am skeptical about this idea. Maybe, of course, there will be a certain number of real patriots who will be able to move to the border with Kazakhstan to guard the border for a beggarly salary. But I wonder what their wives would say to that?
Can we join parties? Of course, after all, according to the law, it is impossible to restrict a person from joining this or that organization. I have been a member of United Russia since 2004 and I vote for Putin, this is my civilizational choice. I believe that the citizens of Russia should be ready to work with the government. If you become in opposition to the current government, then you are trying to prove that your position is more interesting. Why do it? We do not discuss politics in our Cossack organization.
About Cossack patrols
Now sometimes the Cossacks participate in patrolling the streets together with the police. The more volunteers there are, the more people look after order. The more patrols, the calmer the city. IN Krasnodar Territory such exits are regular, and not once every two years on holidays: they waved flags, took pictures and dispersed. There, the Cossack patrol is the norm. But there are problems: any public helper can be misunderstood. He can exceed his powers, and then he will have to bear responsibility. Therefore, it seems to me that it is easier to recruit professionals, and not to make demonstration raids.
I have been a member of United Russia since 2004 and vote for Putin, this is mine civilization choice
I do not like how the Cossacks are now perceived in society. One gets the impression that these are poorly educated guys waving checkers, yelling that they are for Russia, living in their own world apart from everything else. There are many people in our community with higher education, candidates of sciences. Many of them served, they are officers who are honest with their homeland. The Cossacks have always strived for education, although they were limited in this.
About financing
Our Cossack organization is not sponsored by the state. In the 1990s, the state made large contributions to the rehabilitation of the rights of repressed peoples, including the Cossacks. Then there was confusion, chieftains came, shook piles of applications, and they were given some money.
For all our events, we chip in ourselves. If we all want to go to the theater together, we buy tickets for ourselves, our wives and children. I will be ashamed to approach someone like a beggar and say: "Listen, give me money." In addition, since the 1990s, we have been holding events to revive Cossack traditions: teaching children, collecting our dialects, creating national costumes, preserving our own cuisine and recipes. We have been holding ethnic Cossack games for more than ten years. These are 17 types of competitions: equestrian, team, individual. There are several sports championships with checkers, a knife throwing competition, an archery championship. We erected several monuments on our own and with the help of private donations - for example, an Orthodox cross in the Moscow region.
What Cossacks once dodged bullets and ran along the ceiling, - it's beautiful fairy tales
About communication with Ukrainian Cossacks
Now almost every person is faced with a political choice: you are for those or for those. Few remain indifferent to what is happening. In Ukraine, the Cossacks do what they were told by the ruling party. For example, Cossack citizens in Crimea are pro-Russian, while in Ukraine they are against us, of course. With those Cossacks who began to fight in volunteer battalions, communication came to naught, politics divided us. But with some Ukrainian Cossacks we communicate more or less calmly.
About family
Our main family tradition is to raise children. Now the general mass of people for some reason believes that the school should educate, and its task is to give education. If the parents sent their children to kindergarten, then they, of course, remain blood Cossacks, but their culture is kindergarten. We talk with children about patriotism, and through love for their small homeland, for their own family, they pass on to love for their great homeland. In a traditional Cossack family, a boy must remain a boy, and a girl must remain a girl. We cannot leave our own people, we need to take care of our parents, and the family deserves the greatest respect, where they observe the words from Scripture: “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth.” There are certain patterns of behavior that we try to preserve: when you enter the house, you need to take off your shoes; if the elders come in, you need to get up. When the elder speaks, the younger does not speak.
On the role of women in the Cossacks
A normal Cossack woman is like Nonna Mordyukova: she obeys her man, but, if anything, she can hit him with a rolling pin. Cossacks in the old days were always on campaigns, fought and did not appear at home for years. If a woman were weak, she might not have waited for her man, so the Cossack women are strong, fighting. In addition, in the absence of a husband, they used to carry duties that were distributed to the village. So we have a woman - a deputy husband, we treat her with respect. In the house, the woman is the mistress, and in the family, the man is the master. Now men do not go on any campaigns, therefore, in the relationship between a man and a woman, everything comes to common denominator. Although the wife still should not scold her husband in public, because everyone will laugh at her: if he is a muddler, why did she marry a muddler?
We have traditional weddings, I gave my niece in marriage - we walked for three days.
Not everyone was wearing national clothes. Not everyone has preserved their costumes, because in Soviet times, for wearing an inappropriate uniform, one could easily grab and hang provocative activities. Sometimes people will dress up in national costumes in the style of a century-old wedding and don't know what to do with it. But the tradition of singing Cossack songs at weddings has been preserved. That is, the content of the wedding has remained old.
A normal Cossack woman looks like Nonna Mordyukova: she obeys her man, but, if anything, can heat him up with a rolling pin
About gay marriage
The Cossacks are characterized by traditional values: this is a matter of worldview culture, which is formed in the Christian tradition. The Cossacks are probably the only Christian warrior nation. All other Christian nations are farmers. The Cossacks are historically an Orthodox people, and unlike the Russians, we did not have pre-Christian traditions, such as paganism. We have a negative attitude towards representatives of non-traditional families - just like Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims do not welcome non-traditional marriages, because this is a violation of what is written in Scripture. The family is created for the natural procreation.
If people unite in a family and naturally cannot continue the race, the question arises: what kind of family is this? In all religions, divorce is possible if one of the spouses cannot have children. Another may file for divorce and enter into another marriage in order to fulfill his natural function. Another question is why healthy people unite in unviable unions?
It is not the very fact that gays exist that is annoying, but the shocking and obsessiveness with which people of non-traditional orientation demonstrate themselves. They would sit at home - what people do there, does not concern us. But they go out into the street, start waving flags, shouting, shocking and causing bad emotions in other citizens. Why should a hundred citizens tolerate two?
Here in America, in one city, gays settled an entire block. There was minimal crime, everyone was gentle, they did not offend anyone, they hugged and kissed when they met. But normal Americans did not want to be friends with them, so in that area the cost of a house was one third lower than in neighboring ones. Then there were drawn migrants from the Soviet Union. Our guys were indifferent to everything, and they bought houses where it was cheaper. I asked several of them: “Listen, doesn’t it bother you that your children live next to such neighbors? Are you not afraid that your children, when they grow up, will follow in their footsteps? I believe that outrageousness on the part of gays puts pressure on the consciousness of the younger generation from early childhood.
Illustrations: Nastya Grigorieva
Let us turn today to one very interesting and indicative page of our history. By 1914, there were 11 Cossack troops in Russia. However, this does not mean that there were always just so many of them. Today we remember the glorious Troops abolished by the Russian supreme power and undeservedly forgotten. And it may be right today that the Cossacks living on the banks of the Volga and reviving the Volga Army, but now not as a free community, but as a state structure, as a way of serving Russia.
The Russian state since the Great Moscow and Kyiv princes saw in the Cossacks not a community, but a kind of military force to protect the borders of their possessions. These are the famous Brodniki and Black Hoods during the period of Kievan Rus and the Donskoy Grassroots Army during the period of Muscovite Rus. Seeing how successfully any Cossack community takes root in a new place (“There is no translation for the Cossack family”), the state authorities in each newly acquired region sought to organize a “service army”, an army in the likeness of the Don. After all, the experience of the development of Siberia showed how profitable it is to attract the Cossacks to the sovereign's service. But as soon as the region was mastered, and the need for serving the Army disappeared, the army was either disbanded or moved. And, in the end, by the beginning of the twentieth century, a more or less harmonious structure of 11 Cossack troops and regions had developed. But first things first.
Chuguev Cossacks.
In 1639, the city of Chuguev was founded in the Muscovite state. For a long time, the city had no relation to the regular Cossacks, but the Cossacks lived in it. And on February 28, 1700, at the behest of Peter the Great, a special Cossack team was formed from the city Chuguev Cossacks, as well as the Don and Yaitsky Cossacks, who served in Orel, Kursk and Oboyan. The reformer tsar started the Northern War, and the formation of Cossack units and teams freed from the need to deploy regular regiments in these places - the army was still being formed, and there were not enough soldiers to protect the borders and internal provinces of the empire. And the experience of the Don army showed that the Cossack community and the service of the sovereign can rule and ensure order and feed itself. So the Great Converter of Rus' was in no hurry to reform the Cossacks, but used the useful experience in every possible way. Moreover, to strengthen the Chuguev team (three companies, three hundred Cossacks), it also included two Kalmyk hundreds. The life of the Chuguev Cossacks went on as usual during the Northern War, and only in 1721, together with other Cossack Troops and formations of the Russian State, the Chuguev Cossack 500th team came under the jurisdiction of the Military Collegium.
The main destiny of the Cossacks is service to the Fatherland, and the turbulent eighteenth century was rich in military conflicts. Therefore, first in 1749, on the basis of the Chuguev Cossack team, the Chuguev Cossack cavalry regiment was formed. But all the Cossacks of the team did not enter the regiment, and then in 1769 part of the Chuguev Cossacks entered a separate light-horse team (400 Cossacks), and part - into the Petersburg Legion (half of the legion).
A new stage in the history of Russia began - the conquest of Novorossia. And here the Chuguevs came in handy. The Chuguev Cossack Cavalry Regiment (as the Yekaterinoslav Cavalry Regiment) and the Chuguev Light Horse Team became part of the forward guard corps of the Yekaterinoslav Regular Cossacks, formed by order of Prince Potemkin in February 1788. However, a year later the corps was disbanded, and the units were reorganized into the Chuguev Cossack cavalry regiment and Prince Potemkin's escort Cossack cavalry regiment. In the spring of 1893, the Little Russian Cossack Regiment was attached to these two regiments (in 1890 it was formed in his army from recruits by the all-powerful Prince Potemkin, who had a certain weakness for the Cossacks). All three regiments received new names - the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Chuguev Cossack cavalry regiments. The Chuguev court team, meanwhile, in the fall of 1896, became part of the Life Hussar and Life Cossack regiments - the brainchild of the new Russian emperor.
In the winter of the same year, the 3rd Chuguev Cossack Cavalry Regiment was disbanded, and in the spring of 1800 the two remaining regiments were consolidated into one. Three years later, the Chuguev Cossacks were transferred to the taxable estate. And on August 18, 1808, on the basis of the Chuguev Cossack Cavalry Regiment, the Chuguev Lancers Regiment was formed, which entered the military settlements. The Chuguev Lancers as the 11th Lancer Regiment existed until the collapse of the Great Empire.
Bakhmut Cossacks.
Bakhmut Cossacks of history have been known for a long time. But their regular service began in 1701, when the government needed to protect the Bakhmut salt springs selected for the treasury. For this purpose, the Bakhmut Cossack Company was formed from the Bakhmut, Torsk and Mayatsky Cossacks. This decision turned out to be quite controversial and allowed the ataman of Bakhmut Kondraty Bulavin in 1707 to raise the entire Don to fight for the ancient liberties and traditions of the Cossacks. The rebellion was resolutely suppressed by government troops - the tsar-reformer never favored rebels, the sovereign will broke the recalcitrant at any cost. Then the authorities forgot about Bakhmut for a long time and only in the spring of 1721 Mayatsky, Torsky and Bakhmutsky Cossacks were directly subordinated to the Military Collegium. In the autumn of 1748, urgent military needs demanded the creation of the Bakhmut Cossack Cavalry Regiment. However, in the summer of 1764, the regiment moved into the category of regular units of the Russian army. At first it was known as the Lugansk Pike Regiment, and then it was renamed the 4th Hussar Regiment. The regiment in the Imperial Army lasted until the death of the empire.
Bug Cossack Army.
The Turks repeatedly fought with the Russians and knew perfectly well the true value of the Shield of Russia. That is why they tried to attract to their side all the Cossacks dissatisfied with the policy of Russia. After the transition to the service of the Sultan of the Cossacks - Nekrasovites and part of the Cossacks, the Port began to seriously consider the possibility of forming Cossack units. However, the Orthodox roots of the Russian warrior at that time did not allow him to raise his sword against a fellow believer. And the Cossacks considered changing the faith a deed unworthy of a warrior. It is from the Cossacks who left the Sultan's service that the Bug army originates. In 1769, the Turks formed a Cossack regiment from Transdanubian Christians, which during the war, at the first opportunity, went over to the side of the Russian army. The Cossacks of this regiment in 1774 were settled along the Bug to ensure the protection of the new region. The following year, a recruited Cossack regiment of foreigners of Slavic blood was placed nearby under the general command of Major Kasperov. However, these forces were not enough. And the government began to buy part of the peasants from the Bug landowners. This measure made it possible in the winter of 1785 to form the Bug cavalry Cossack regiment, numbering 1.5 thousand people, from settlers and purchased peasants. Protecting their land, the Bug Cossacks in the period 1787 - 17996. were part of the so-called Yekaterinoslav Cossack Army. Then, in the spring of 1803, on the basis of the Bug Cossack cavalry regiment, with the involvement of Slavic settlers (Bulgarians, Serbs and others), the Bug Cossack Army was formed as part of three regiments. In 1814, the Little Russian Cossacks, who had long been living near the Bug, were also enrolled in the Army.
The Bug Cossacks faithfully served their Fatherland more than once. So for the Patriotic War and the Foreign Campaign, the 1st Bug Cossack Regiment received the St. George standard. However, the war died down, the border moved to the west and the need for the existence of the Cossack communities disappeared. On October 8, 1817, the Ukrainian Lancers and Bug Cossacks were included in the so-called. military settlements and made up four uhlan Bug regiments. These regiments existed in the Russian army until the revolution (7th - 10th Uhlan regiments).
Yekaterinoslav Cossack Host
The conquest of new lands in the Crimea and the Black Sea region required the formation in this territory of any sustainable forms of life and human activity. Therefore, in the summer of 1787, all the odnodvortsy of the Yekaterinoslav province settled along the former Ukrainian line were converted by the Russian government into the Cossack estate. Of these Cossacks, a special Cossack corps was formed in the likeness of the Don Cossacks. From the autumn of 1787, in official documents, the corps began to be called either the Yekaterinoslav Cossack Corps, or the Yekaterinoslav Cossack Host (Novodon Cossack Army).
To strengthen the Army, the Bug Cossacks were assigned to it in the fall of 1787, and in January 1788, the Old Believers of the Yekaterinoslav province, as well as the townspeople and guild provinces of Yekaterinoslav, Voznesenskaya and Kharkov, became part of the Army. However, at about the same time, the Chuguev Cossacks left the Army.
On February 11, 1788, on the basis of the Yekaterinoslav Cossack Army, a corps of forward guards of Yekaterinoslav regular Cossacks was formed, consisting of 4 brigades. The brigade included 5 Cossack and 2 Kalmyk cavalry hundreds. However, already on June 23, 1789, the corps was disbanded. And on June 5, 1796, the Yekaterinoslav Army itself ceased to exist, dividing into the Bug and Voznesensky Cossack troops. A new stage of imperial policy began - the conquest of the Caucasus and Kuban. And already on October 23, 1801, the Supreme Command was promulgated on the resettlement of the Cossacks of the Bug and Voznesensky troops to the Caucasus. The successors of the glorious Yekaterinoslav Cossacks are the Kuban regiments of the Kuban Cossack Host.
Danube Cossack army.
Wherever the fate of the Cossacks took them. And they ended up beyond the Danube. Because the Russian Empress abolished the Zaporozhian Sich, and the Russian troops simply destroyed the free Cossack settlements with a bayonet and grapeshot. And the Cossacks went to the Danube. However, the long and heavy hand of the Russian rulers reached out there too. And after some time, the empire needed to put up a reliable barrier on these borders. And at the end of February 1807, General Mikhelson announced the creation on the Danube of the fugitive Cossacks of the Ust-Danube Cossack army. However, the government's plans soon changed. In December of the same year, the army was disbanded, and the Cossack troops were divided into the Danube and Budzhaksky settled Cossacks. Apparently for the royal power it was much calmer.
In 1816, immigrants from the southern Slavs were resettled to the Budzhaksky settled Cossacks. These Slavs formed special volunteer foot and horse regiments at the settlements. However, after some time, the authorities got tired of playing at democracy. In 1827, the Budzhak and Danube Cossacks were settled in Bessarabia and subordinated to the civil authorities of the region. And everything would be forgotten over time, "grass weeds and wormwood overgrown." Yes, in 1828 another war with the Turks happened. And again the settlers on the Danube passed into the category of serving Cossacks, again making up the Danube Cossack Army, consisting of two (horse and foot) regiments. The regiments were disbanded a year later. But the Danube army as an administrative unit in the region has been preserved. Little of. There was a catastrophic shortage of people, and the tsarist government applied its usual vicious practice. In the summer of 1836, the surrounding settled gypsies were assigned to the Danube army! And in the fall of 1838, "retired lower ranks of good behavior" were assigned to the Army.
In the winter of 1844, the Danube Cossack Army was again formed from the Ust-Danube and Budzhak Cossacks, South Slavic settlers and "other people of various ranks and origins" as a military force consisting of two cavalry regiments. And on the occasion of the outbreak of hostilities in 1854, the third cavalry regiment was formed. And the Danube Cossacks served faithfully. For the war, this regiment of troops received banners from the king - a high and honorable award.
The guns died down and the Cossack service was no longer needed. First, in 1856, the Danube army was renamed Novorossiysk. And on December 3, 1868, by the Highest order, the Novorossiysk Cossack army was abolished. The banners of the army were handed over to the church of the village of Volonterovka, and the population of the army was finally converted to civil status. Well, in the inner provinces of the tsarist government, the Cossacks were not needed. And if the tsar did not dare to abolish the Don army, then one can not stand on ceremony with the Troops established by his authority. Once, and there is no Army, as if it never existed.
Ukrainian Cossack army.
In Ukraine, the Cossacks are rooted in the Wild Field. During the time of the Polish-Lithuanian rule in Ukraine, a system of administrative management was formed - division not by regions, but by regiments - Vinnitsa, Chigirinsky, Cherkasy, Kanevsky and others. However, with the advent of Ukraine under the arm of the White Tsar, the situation began to change. First, separate liberties, and then the very institution of hetman power, went into the past.
In the troubled times of the Napoleonic invasion, the tsar was ready to seize every opportunity to ensure victory. The total mobilization of the Cossack troops helped. But that wasn't enough. And on June 5, 1812, it was announced the creation of the Ukrainian Cossack army from the villagers of Kiev and part of the Kamenetz-Podolsk provinces capable of Cossack service, consisting of four 8-squadron regiments. And already in August 1814, silver pipes were granted to these regiments "as a reward for the excellent deeds performed in the past company." However, the history of all the above Troops repeated itself and on October 26, 1816, the Ukrainian Cossack division was renamed the Ukrainian Lancers Cavalry Division. Ukrainian Cossacks made up the uhlan regiments (numbered from 7th to 10th) of the Russian army. These regiments existed in the ranks of our regular cavalry until the Troubles of 1917.
Azov Cossack army.
Azov is a Cossack city. The Cossacks of the Don in the 17th century proved this not only by taking a strong Turkish stronghold, but also withstanding the siege, the “Azov Seat”. They just couldn't keep up. Then, with the help of regular troops, archers and Cossacks, Peter the Great took Azov by storm. And again he could not keep it - he returned it to the Turks. But our power was growing stronger and once again taking the city, Russia approved it for itself.
In 1828, part of the Transdanubian Cossacks who left the empire at one time returned to the Russian service. At their head was Ataman Gladkiy. The flotilla of the Cossacks helped the Russian army a lot. And by the Highest order on April 4, 1829, the Danube Cossack regiment was formed from the Cossacks of Ataman Gladky. Later, in 1831, a banner was awarded to the regiment for their exploits while crossing the Danube. And in the spring of next year, all the Cossacks who switched to Russian service from the Turks formed a special Azov Cossack army, stationed in the Novorossiysk Territory. According to the special Regulations on the army, it was obliged to put into service the following units: a naval battalion, a semi-battalion on foot and cruising teams to protect the Black Sea coast. By the highest order of June 1, 1844, the first relic was granted to the Army - the Army Banner. The Cossacks of the Troops distinguished themselves in the Crimean company in such a way that on August 26, 1856, the St. George banner was granted to the Cossacks of the AKV.
However, peace gradually reigned in Novorossia, and Cossack strength and valor were needed elsewhere. The empire waged a long and stubborn struggle in the Caucasus. Therefore, soon after the Crimean War, the Cossacks of the Azov army began to be resettled in the Caucasus. The first 800 settlers went to the Caucasus in the summer of 1862 by order of the Military Ministry No. 143 of May 10, 1862. And this was the beginning of the end of the glorious Army. The Azov people became part of the Kuban Army and on October 11, 1864, the Azov Cossack army was abolished, and its banners were transferred to storage in the Kuban army. And now the descendants of the Transdanubian Cossacks are natural Kuban Cossacks.
Stavropol Kalmyk Army.
Kalmyks, a free steppe people, a fragment of the Batu Empire. They quite often acted either against Russia or, on the contrary, on its side. Christianity gradually began to spread among the Kalmyks. And it was decided to give all the baptized Kalmyks under the hand of Prince Peter Taishin, building a fortress in the steppe. And indeed, the Privy Councilor Tatishchev near the Volga in the tract of Kunya Voloshka built a fortress, which in 1739 was named Stavropol. This fortress became the residence of the head of the baptized Kalmyks. But Prince Taishin was no longer able to lead his people, he died back in 1736. Therefore, the case was continued by his wife, Princess Taishina. All Kalmyks living in the vicinity of Stavropol thus constituted a special army. However, the rules for managing the Army were finally established in the winter of 1745, when all Kalmyks were divided into five companies. And in the spring of 1756, as a sign of royal favor, the Kalmyks were granted the Stavropol Army banner and 5 centesimal badges.
In 1760, the Tszungar baptized Kalmyks, who had come out of the Kirghiz-Kaisak captivity, were attached to the army, who made up three more military companies. Then for several decades the service of the Kalmyk Army went on as usual. Only in the autumn of 1803 did the Russian Government become concerned about the state of affairs in the Stavropol region and approved the Regulations on the formation of the Stavropol Kalmyk Army as part of one thousandth Stavropol regiment. In this state of affairs, the Army existed as a separate community until May 24, 1842, when the Kalmyks of the Army were attached to a larger structure - the Orenburg Cossack Army.
Today, as part of the Union of Cossacks of Russia, there is such a structure as the Cossack Army of Kalmykia. The Republic of Kalmykia within Russia is a small state. But the President of Kalmykia, K. N. Ilyumzhinov, a delegate of the Constituent Circle of the Union of Cossacks of Russia and a Cossack colonel, helps this structure to the best of his ability. And even in the absence of the Federal Law on the Cossacks, the Cossack Army of Kalmykia serves Russia.
Bashkir-Meshcheryak Army.
In 1574, the fortified city of Ufa was founded, and all the inhabitants of the Orenburg region were brought into obedience to Russia. However, for a long time the Russian government did not take any measures to attract the Bashkirs to the state service. Only in 1714 the Bashkirs were sent for the first time to serve in Siberia. Siberia was being built and the construction sites had to be protected. However, already in 1724 it was "ordered not to include the Bashkirs in the layout on the shelves." The 18th century was stormy, and already in January 1736, on the occasion of the war with Turkey, the Bashkir settlements received orders for 3,000 horsemen. The same 3,000 riders also participated in the Seven Years' War as part of the Russian army.
For a very long time, the Pugachev rebellion blazed among the Bashkirs and Meshcheryaks. And this rebellion was drowned in blood. Having ascended the throne, Emperor Paul attended to the solution of many problems that faced the country. And in the spring of 1798, for the first time, the correct military division of the Bashkir army was carried out. 12 Bashkir and 5 Meshcheryak cantons were formed. Epoch Napoleonic Wars demanded the exertion of all the forces of the Russian state. In the spring of 1811, 2 Meshcheryak regiments were formed from the Army, and in August 1812, at the very height of the invasion, 20 Bashkir regiments. And the Bashkir-Meshcheryak Army fought valiantly against the common enemy for the entire Empire. Cannons and pipes died down and the service of the Bashkir regiments was no longer needed. In 1846, only the 4th, 5th and 9th cantons remained on the rights of the Army, in a state of war. Others were transferred back to civilian status. Therefore, with the beginning of the Crimean War, the Army formed only 4 Bashkir regiments. Already during the war, the Army was reorganized. Now it amounted to 13 Bashkir and 4 Meshcheryak cantons. According to the peacetime schedule, the Bashkirs and Meshcheryaks from the entire army formed one cavalry regiment.
In 1863, on May 15, the Regulations on the Bashkir Army were approved by the Highest. However, already in the summer of 1865, the Army came under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. A military reform led to the fact that in 1874 only one squadron was formed from the entire composition of the Troops. The following year, the Bashkir squadron was reorganized into a division. Only on April 1, 1878, the division was deployed to the Bashkir cavalry regiment. However, the new army formation system allowed the government to abandon some irregular military units. And on July 24, 1882, the Bashkir Cavalry Regiment was disbanded. It was only in wartime that it was decided to form mounted police units from the Bashkirs. Thus ended the story of another Army.
Crimean Tatar Army.
Tatars, proud descendants of the hordes of Genghis Khan. Nomadic warriors knew how not only to rob their neighbors, but also to serve faithfully. Tatar units were in both Russian and Polish service. Yes, the steppe predators were not distinguished by meekness of temper, but dashing service required just such qualities.
In Crimea, for a long time, there was the last fragment of the Mongol empire - the Crimean Khanate, which recognized its dependence on Ottoman Empire. Then, with one stroke of the pen, relying on the bayonets and cannons of her generals, Catherine the Great annexed the Crimea (Tauride Peninsula) to Russian territories. However, there were not enough regular troops to protect the region, and in the spring of 1784 the government decided to form several Tauride national divisions from local residents, which existed in the Crimea until 1796. The era of the Napoleonic wars brought to life the decision to form large formations from the inhabitants of the peninsula. And in the period from 1808 to 1817. Simferopol, Perekop, Yevpatoriya and Feodosia cavalry regiments acted as part of the Russian regular army. And during the war of 1812, these regiments distinguished themselves a lot. For these distinctions, in the summer of 1827, the Life Guards Crimean Tatar squadron was formed, which was reorganized in the spring of 1863 into the command of the Life Guards Crimean Tatars His Majesty's Own Convoy, and existed in a new capacity until May 1890.
As for the regular units of the Russian army, it was only in the spring of 1874 that a separate squadron was formed from the Crimean Tatars, then reorganized into a division. On February 24, 1906, the division was deployed to the Crimean Dragoon Regiment. In December 1907, the regiment was renamed the Crimean Cavalry, and on October 10, 1909, the Crimean Cavalry Regiment of Her Majesty Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. According to the order of the military department No. 166 of April 5, 1911, the regiment was assigned seniority from March 1, 1874.
This regiment passed in the ranks of the Russian army throughout the First world war. Then he saw the revival and fall of the Crimean national government. The officers of the regiment (primarily Colonel Bako) revived the regiment in the ranks of the Volunteer Army of the South of Russia. Together with the remnants of the Russian army, the regiment was evacuated from the Crimea in November 1920. Far from their homeland, in Paris, the Crimean Regiment Association was formed.
Greek (Albanian) Army.
The last great project of Catherine the Great. She dreamed of uniting the Balkans under the rule of her grandson Constantine. Therefore, in 1774, when the Russian fleet fought in the Archipelago, the Albanian Army was formed from the Greeks and Albanians who were in the Russian service. After the end of the war with the Turks, the Greeks and Albanians were settled by the Russian government in the Crimea near the Kerch fortress. In the summer of 1779, the Albanian Army was reorganized into a Greek regiment. In the autumn of 1887, free divisions were formed in the army of Prince Potemkin from Greeks and Albanians in the Russian service.
In the spring of 1796, the Greek regiment, the Greeks of the free divisions and the Albanians, brought together in a separate Albanian division, were resettled by the Russian government in the Odessa region. In December of the same year, the Greek regiment came under the command of the Military Collegium and was consolidated into the Greek Infantry Battalion. The following year, the battalion was relocated to Balaklava, and the Albanian division was completely disbanded. In the autumn of 1803, the Greek battalion was again formed in Odessa, and the battalion in Balaklava was renamed Balaklavsky. In the autumn of 1810, the Greeks in Odessa and Balaklava were transferred to the category of military settlers, and in the autumn of 1819 the Odessa battalion was transferred to Balaklava and attached to the Balaklava infantry battalion. During the Crimean War in Sevastopol, in addition to units of the regular army, the Legion of Nicholas I was formed from the southern Slavs. However, the war soon ended, the Legion was disbanded, and soon, on October 21, 1859, the Balaklava Greek infantry battalion was also disbanded. The dream of autonomy for the Greek settlers did not come true. Although the independence of Greece by the middle of the 19th century, Türkiye recognized. But that's a completely different story.
Thus, we see that the Russian empire was looking for various options to protect the newly acquired regions - Little Russia, Novorossia, Tavria, the Caucasus and Bashkiria. And she found the most optimal and low-cost way - the formation of Cossack communities or foreign communities in the likeness of the Cossacks. Then the need for service disappeared or was significantly weakened and the Army was disbanded. Who knows, if the Russian Empire had existed a little longer, the number of traditional troops of the Cossacks of Russia would have changed quite significantly. Today in modern Russia, in the absence of a firm state policy towards the Cossacks, we see confrontation and mutual misunderstanding between registered societies and public structures.
Cossack army:
Azov Cossack army - (in contrast to the Azov Cossack regiment that existed from 1696 to 1775) military Cossack formation in the 19th century. Created by the Russian government in 1832 from the former Zaporizhzhya Cossacks of the Transdanubian Sich, who passed from Turkish to Russian citizenship. Placed between Berdyansk and Mariupol. In 1852-1864, the army was partially resettled in the Kuban. In 1865 the army was abolished.
Compound:
The composition of the army, due to its small number, included Petrovsky Meshchansky Posad, Novospasovsky village of state peasants and Starodubovskaya village, formed from immigrants from the Chernihiv province. Indigenous Cossacks inhabited two villages - Nikolaevskaya and Pokrovskaya. Part of the Cossacks, dissatisfied with Gladkiy, went back to Turkey. The main service of the Azov Cossacks was cruising on military launches off the eastern shores of the Black Sea in order to catch Turkish smuggling.
Astrakhan Cossack army - In 1737, by decree of the Senate in Astrakhan, a three hundred Cossack team was formed from the Kalmyks. In 1750, on the basis of the team, the Astrakhan Cossack regiment was established, for the completion of which, up to the regular strength of 500 people, Cossacks were recruited from the Astrakhan fortress and the Krasny Yar fortress from commoners, former archer and city Cossack children, as well as Don horse Cossacks and newly baptized Tatars and Kalmyks. Seniority from March 28, 1750, the capital - Astrakhan, military holiday (military circle) - August 19, the day of the icon of the Don Mother of God. The Astrakhan Cossack army was created in 1817.
Compound: As part of the first regiment, under the command of the Kalmyk Derbet noyon (prince) Djombo Taisha Tundutov, from August 8 to 18, 1812, the Astrakhans took part in skirmishes with the French, opposing their crossing of the Bug River. In September 1812, the enemy was pursued from the Styr River to Brest-Litovsk. In the campaign of 1813 they made a trip to Warsaw and from March 17 to August 28 they were under siege of the Modlin fortress.
The second regiment under the command of the Kalmyk Torgut noyon Serebdzhab Tyumen on July 18 shot the Saxon dragoon squadron, showing the ability of the irregular cavalry to successfully fight the heavy cavalry of the enemy. During 1813, the Tyumen regiment pursued the French to Krakow; On October 4-7, he participated in the "Battle of the Nations" at Leipzig, and then drove the enemy to the Rhine. Moving at the forefront of the allied troops, the regiment entered Paris in 1814, and the streets of the French capital saw not only Kalmyk soldiers, but also Astrakhan Cossacks. All participants in the war were awarded the medal "In memory of Patriotic War 1812".
Bug Cossack army - Cossack army, located along the river Southern Bug.
Compound: four settler lancers regiments were formed from the Cossacks (Olviopol, Bug, Voznesensky and Odessa), consolidated into the Bug lancers division. Many of the former Cossacks of the Bug Cossack army were later assigned to the Danube, Azov and Caucasian Cossack troops, where they merged with the local Cossack population.
Volga Cossack army - military Cossack formation on the middle and lower Volga. It was officially formed in 1734 by decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna. For participation in the uprising, Yemelyan Pugachev was abolished in 1777 by decree of Empress Catherine II.
Compound: The new army did not last long in its place. In 1770, 517 families from its composition were resettled to Mozdok and placed in five villages on the left bank of the Terek, between Mozdok and the Grebensky army, to protect the region from the Kabardians. They formed the Mozdok regiment, at the head of which a regimental commander was placed instead of the military ataman. In 1777, the regiment included 200 families of Kalmyks who converted to Orthodoxy, who soon returned to Buddhism, and in 1799, the Russian militia of the Mozdok fortress, which until then existed separately under the name of the Moscow legion Cossack team.
In 1777, with the continuation of the line of fortresses in the Caucasus to the west from Mozdok to Azov, the rest of the Volga army was sent here, settled in five villages, from Ekaterininsky to Alexander Fortress, for about 200 miles. Having retained their former name, the Cossacks were in the ranks of the Volga Cossack regiment of five hundred. Gradually, the Cossack villages moved forward. To reinforce the strength of the troops, already in 1832, 4 civilian villages along the Kuma with a population of up to 4050 people of "both sexes" were assigned to it.
In 1832, the Mozdok and Volga regiments became part of the newly formed Caucasian linear army, in 1860 - the Tersky.
The Cossacks who remained on the Volga in 1802 formed two villages: Alexandrovskaya (now Suvodskaya, Volgograd Region) and Krasnolinskaya (now Pichuzhinskaya, Volgograd Region), which became part of the Astrakhan Cossack Regiment.
Danube army - in 1775, after the destruction of the Zaporizhzhya Sich, part of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks withdrew to Turkey and settled on the banks of the Danube, between the fortress of Ruschuk and Silistria, forming a new Sich.
Compound: By January 1, 1856, there were 2,811 people in active service in the Danube Cossack Army (according to the lists, 2,858). In the same year, the army was renamed Novorossiysk, under which name it did not last long. Due to the scarcity of land, it could not receive further development through population growth; its service staff was extremely small, and, instead of 2 complete regiments with regular shifts, the army barely formed a regiment, and even then with the help of a constant release of money from military capital for military equipment. In addition, according to the Paris Treaty of 1856, the southern border of the Russian Empire was changed and part of the lands of the Novorossiysk army went to the Moldavian principality; land scarcity has increased even more.
Don Army - the most numerous of the Cossack troops of the Russian Empire.
It was located on a separate territory called the Don Cossack Oblast, which occupied part of the modern Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine, as well as the Rostov and Volgograd regions of the Russian Federation.
Compound: The first Don district with the district center in the village of Konstantinovskaya,
2nd Donskoy with the district center in the village of Nizhne-Chirskaya,
Rostov with the district center in the city of Rostov-on-Don,
Salsky with the district center in the village of Velikoknyazheskaya,
Taganrog with the district center in the city of Taganrog,
Ust-Medveditsky district with the district center in the village of Ust-Medveditskaya,
Khopersky with the district center in the village of Uryupinskaya,
Cherkassky with the district center in the city of Novocherkassk.
In 1918, Verkhne-Donskoy was formed from parts of the Ust-Medveditsky, Donetsk and Khopersky districts]. The Upper Don District was planned to be created by the decision of the Great Circle of the Don Cossacks at the end of 1917 (the original name was supposed to be the Third Don District).
Kuban Cossack army - part of the Cossacks of the Russian Empire in the North Caucasus, inhabiting the territory of the modern Krasnodar Territory, the western part of the Stavropol Territory, the south of the Rostov Region, as well as the Republics of Adygea and Karachay-Cherkessia. The military headquarters is the city of Ekaterinodar (modern Krasnodar). The army was formed in 1860 on the basis of the Black Sea Cossack army, with the addition of a part of the Caucasian linear Cossack army, which was "simplified as unnecessary." As a result of the end of the Caucasian war.
By the beginning of the reign of Emperor Nicholas II, the Kuban army was divided into 7 departments:
Yekaterinodarsky,
Tamansky,
Caucasian,
labinsky,
Maikopsky,
Batalpashinsky.
Compound: by 1860, the army numbered 200 thousand Cossacks and fielded 12 cavalry regiments, 9 foot (plastun) battalions, 4 batteries and 2 guard squadrons.
They made up the majority of the Cossacks in the Yeysk, Yekaterinodar and Temryuk departments of the Kuban region.
Yeysk Cossack Department of the KKV
Caucasian Cossack Department of the KKV
Taman Cossack Department of the KKV
Yekaterinodar Cossack Department of the KKV
Maikop Cossack Department of the KKV
Labinsk Cossack Department of the KKV
Batalpashinsky Cossack Department of the KKV
Black Sea Cossack District KKV
Abkhaz Special Cossack Department of the KKV
Semirechye army - a group of Cossacks living in Semirechye, in the southeast of modern Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan. In the past, they were united into a separate Cossack army.
Compound: was scattered in four districts of this region, in 28 villages. By January 1, 1894, its number was 32,772 people, including 25,369 troops (13,141 men and 12,228 women) and 7,403 non-residents: 30,340 people of the Orthodox faith, 15 Christians of other faiths, 68 Jews, 2339 Mohammedans and 10 pagans.
According to the data at the beginning of 1914, as part of Semirechensky Cossack army there were 19 villages and 15 settlements, with a population of 22473 military estates (of which 60 officers and 5767 Cossacks ready for service, with 3080 horses).
Terek Cossack army - Cossacks who live along the rivers Terek, Sunzha, Assa, Kura, Malka, Kuma, Podkumok in the North Caucasus.
The Terek Cossack army is the third oldest in the Cossack troops since 1577, when the Terek Cossacks first acted under the royal banners.
Compound:
1) district Cossack societies created (formed) by combining district Cossack societies and stanitsa Cossack societies that are not part of the district Cossack societies;
2) district Cossack societies created (formed) by combining urban, stanitsa and farm Cossack societies;
3) stanitsa Cossack societies that are part of district Cossack societies, or district Cossack societies, which are the primary association of citizens of the Russian Federation and members of their families - residents of one or more rural or urban settlements or other settlements, entered in the state register of Cossack societies in the Russian Federation.
Ussuri Cossack army - ethnic group of Cossacks in the Ussuri region. Other definitions are an ethno-class group, a military estate-nationality.
Compound: In 1916, the number of Ussuri Cossacks was 39,900. They owned 6740 km² of land. Ussuri Cossacks performed border, postal and police service, participated in Russo-Japanese War. During World War I, the Ussuri Cossacks fielded a cavalry regiment and six hundred. During the civil war, a split occurred among the Ussuri Cossacks at the place of resettlement, part of the Cossacks (immigrants from the Don) supported the Bolsheviks' policy of eliminating the Cossacks as an estate and merging it with the peasantry. The rest acted under the command of Ataman Kalmykov, mainly on the side of the whites. After the civil war, the army ceased to exist.
Ural Cossack army - (before 1775 and after 1917 - Yaik Cossack army) - a group of Cossacks in the Russian Empire, II in seniority in the Cossack troops. They are located in the west of the Ural region (now the northwestern regions of Kazakhstan and the southwestern part of the Orenburg region), along the middle and lower reaches of the Ural River (until 1775 - Yaik). The seniority of the troops from July 9, 1591, this month the Yaik Cossacks took part in the campaign of the Tsar's troops against Shamkhal Tarkovsky. The military headquarters is Uralsk (until 1775 it was called the Yaitsky town). Religious affiliation: the majority are Orthodox Christians, but there are fellow believers, Old Believers, Muslims (up to 8%) and Buddhists (Lamaists) (1.5%) Military holiday, military circle November 8 (21 according to a new style), St. Archangel Michael.
Compound: By the beginning of 1825, the Ural Cossack Army counted up to 28,226 souls of both sexes in its population. As of the beginning of 1900, the number of Ural Cossacks with family members was just over 123 thousand people. During the First World War, the army fielded 9 cavalry regiments (50 hundreds), an artillery battery, a hundred guards, 9 special and reserve hundreds, 2 teams (over 13 thousand people in 1917). For valor and courage, 5378 Ural Cossacks and officers were awarded St. George's crosses and medals.
Black Sea Cossack army - military Cossack formation in the XVIII-XIX centuries. Created by the Russian government in 1787 from units of the Army of the Faithful Cossacks, which was based on the former Zaporozhye Cossacks. The territory between the Southern Bug and the Dniester was allocated for the troops, with the center in the city of Slobodzeya.
Compound: In 1801, by letter of Emperor Paul, a military office was created, which included an ataman and two members from the army, special members by appointment from the government and a government prosecutor; while the entire army was divided into 25 (according to other sources 20) regiments. During the time of Paul I, the ataman Kotlyarevsky, not loved by the army, was at the head of the army (in 1797 there was a riot). In 1799 he was replaced by Ataman Bursak. By a decree of February 25, 1802, the military government was again restored, consisting of an ataman, two permanent members and 4 assessors; the division into shelves has been preserved.
Transbaikal Cossack army - irregular army in the XVII-XX centuries in the Russian Empire, in the territory of Transbaikalia. The military headquarters is in Chita.
Compound: In 1916, the Cossack population of the Trans-Baikal Cossack Army was 265 thousand people, 14.5 thousand were in military service. The army participated in the suppression of the Ihetuan uprising of 1899-1901, in the Russo-Japanese 1904-05 and the First World War.
During civil war 1918-20 part of the Cossacks actively fought against the Bolsheviks under the leadership of Ataman G. M. Semyonov and Baron Ungern. Some Cossacks supported the Reds.
In 1920, the Transbaikal Cossack army, like other Cossack troops in Soviet Russia, has been eliminated. After the defeat of Semyonov, approximately 15% of the Cossacks, together with their families, left for Manchuria, where they settled, creating their own villages (Three Rivers). In China, at first they disturbed the Soviet border with raids, and then closed up and lived their life until 1945 (the offensive Soviet army). Then some of them emigrated to Australia (Queensland). Some returned to the USSR in the 1960s and were settled in Kazakhstan. The descendants of mixed marriages remained in China