Cossacks
The Cossacks[a] are a predominantly East Slavic Orthodox Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia.[1][2][3] Historically, they were a semi-nomadic and semi-militarized people, who, while under the nominal suzerainty of various Eastern European states at the time, were allowed a great degree of self-governance in exchange for military service. Although numerous linguistic and religious groups came together to form the Cossacks, most of them coalesced and became East Slavic-speaking Orthodox Christians.
Not to be confused with Kazakhs or Cassock.
The rulers of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire endowed Cossacks with certain special privileges in return for the military duty to serve in the irregular troops. (Zaporozhian Cossacks were mostly infantry soldiers, using war wagons.[4] Don Cossacks were mostly cavalry soldiers.) The various Cossack groups were organized along military lines, with large autonomous groups called hosts. Each host had a territory consisting of affiliated villages called stanitsas.
They inhabited sparsely populated areas in the Dnieper, Don, Terek, and Ural river basins, and played an important role in the historical and cultural development of both Ukraine and parts of Russia.[5]
The Cossack way of life persisted via both direct descendants and acquired ideals in other nations into the twentieth century, though the sweeping societal changes of the Russian Revolution disrupted Cossack society as much as any other part of Russia; many Cossacks migrated to other parts of Europe following the establishment of the Soviet Union, while others remained and assimilated into the Communist state. Cohesive Cossack-based units were organized and many fought for both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.
"After World War II, the Soviet Union disbanded the Cossack units within the Soviet Army, leading to the suppression of many Cossack traditions during the rule of Joseph Stalin and his successors. However, during the Perestroika era in the late 1980s, descendants of Cossacks began to revive their national traditions. In 1988, the Soviet Union enacted a law permitting the re-establishment of former Cossack hosts and the formation of new ones. Throughout the 1990s, numerous regional authorities consented to delegate certain local administrative and policing responsibilities to these reconstituted Cossack hosts."
Between 3.5 and 5 million people associate themselves with the Cossack cultural identity across the world even though the majority, especially in the Russian Federation, have little to no connection to the original Cossack people because cultural ideals and legacy changed greatly with time.[6][7] Cossack organizations operate in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Canada, and the United States.[8][9]
Modern-day Cossack identity[edit]
Ethnic, or "born" (prirodnye), Cossacks are those who can trace, or claim to trace, their ancestry to people and families identified as Cossack in the Tsarist era. They tend to be Christian, practicing as Orthodox Christians or Old Believers; though there are growing numbers of Rodnovers, especially among Ukrainian Cossacks.[139]
Others may be initiated as Cossacks, particularly men in military service. Such initiates may be neither ethnic Slavs, nor Christian. Not all agree that such initiates should be considered Cossack. There is no consensus on an initiation rite or rules.
In other cases, individuals may wear Cossack uniform and pass themselves off as Cossack, perhaps because there is a large ethnic Cossack population in the area and the person wants to fit in. Others adopt Cossack clothing in an attempt to take on some of their mythic status. Ethnic Cossacks refer to the re-enactors as ryazhenye (ряженые, or "dressed up phonies").[140][141]
Because of the lack of consensus on how to define Cossacks, accurate numbers are not available. According to the Russian Census of 2010, 67,573 people identify as ethnic Cossack in Russia.[142] Between 3.5 and 5 million people associate themselves with the Cossack identity in Europe and across the world.[6][7]
Organizations[edit]
Armenia[edit]
On April 24, 1999, the founding meeting of the International Armenian-Cossack Friendship and Cooperation Association was held in Yerevan. There is a Separate Cossack District of the Great Don Army operating in Armenia.[144] The organization was established by the decision of the Council of Atamans on December 15, 2015. It is a partner of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.[145]
Azerbaijan[edit]
The Association of Cossacks of Azerbaijan operates in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The association was established in 1992 and registered with the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan on 16 November 1994, with 1,500 members.[146] Many Cossacks under the association join the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.[147]
Flag of the Don Cossacks
Flag of the Kuban Cossacks
Flag of the Semirechye Cossacks
Flag of the Terek Cossacks
Flag of Russian Sloboda-Ukrainian Cossacks
Flag of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Flag of Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Propaganda and stereotypes[edit]
The propaganda machine of Napoleon, a French military and political leader, spread the myth of English Cossacks. French propaganda portrayed the inhabitants of the Scottish Highlands as barbarian with non-human bodily functions, who allegedly felt great joy when destroying civilian housing, farmland, and even entire human settlements. This stereotype of Scottish people was later mingled with observations on Russian soldiers fighting on the European continent. In Europe Cossack is a titulation for a thief, while Russians have been stereotyped by French authors as exotic.[153]