What are the money? For a long time there was no money at all: goods were exchanged for goods. Then livestock was the measure of value. In Latin, the very name of money meant: cattle. Metals became another measure of value. For a long time they were judged by weight and traded weight for weight. fabulous

Definition of the Cossacks

The Cossacks are an ethnic, social and historical group of united Russians, Ukrainians, Kalmyks, Buryats, Bashkirs, Tatars, Evenks, Ossetians, etc.

Cossacks - (from Turkic: Cossack, Cossack - daring, free man) - a military class in Russia.

Cossacks (Cossacks) are a sub-ethnic group of the Russian people living in the southern steppes of Eastern Europe, in particular, Russia and Kazakhstan, and earlier in Ukraine.

In a broad sense, the word "Cossack" meant a person belonging to the Cossack class and state, which included the population of several localities in Russia, who had special rights and obligations. In more narrow sense Cossacks are part of the armed forces of the Russian Empire, mainly cavalry and horse artillery, and the word "Cossack" itself means the lower rank of the Cossack troops.

External general characteristics of the Cossacks

Comparing the features developed separately, we can note the following features characteristic of the Don Cossacks. Straight or slightly wavy hair, thick beard, straight nose with a horizontal base, wide slit eyes, large mouth, blond or dark hair, gray, blue or mixed (with green) eyes, relatively tall stature, weak subbrachycephaly, or mesocephaly, relatively wide face. Using the latter signs, we can compare the Don Cossacks with other Russian peoples, and they, apparently, are more or less common to the Cossack population of the Don and other Great Russian groups, allowing, on a larger scale of comparison, to attribute the Don Cossacks to one predominant on the Russian plain, an anthropological type, characterized in general by the same differences.

The nature of the Cossacks

A Cossack cannot consider himself a Cossack if he does not know and observe the traditions and customs of the Cossacks. During the years of hard times and the destruction of the Cossacks, these concepts were fairly weathered and distorted under alien influence. Even our old people, who were born already in Soviet times, do not always correctly interpret the unwritten Cossack laws.

Merciless to enemies, the Cossacks in their midst were always complacent, generous and hospitable. There was some kind of duality at the heart of the Cossack's character: either he was cheerful, playful, funny, or extraordinarily sad, silent, inaccessible. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the Cossacks, constantly looking into the eyes of death, tried not to miss the joy that fell to their lot. On the other hand - they are philosophers and poets at heart - they often reflected on the eternal, on the vanity of existence and on the inevitable outcome of this life. Therefore, the basis in the formation of the moral foundations of the Cossack societies was the 10 commandments of Christ. Teaching children to observe the commandments of the Lord, parents, according to their popular perception, taught: do not kill, do not steal, do not fornicate, work according to your conscience, do not envy another and forgive offenders, take care of your children and parents, value girlish chastity and female honor, help the poor , do not offend orphans and widows, protect the Fatherland from enemies. But first of all, strengthen the Orthodox faith: go to Church, observe fasts, cleanse your soul - through repentance from sins, pray to the one God Jesus Christ and added: if something is possible for someone, then we are not allowed - we are Cossacks.

Origin of the Cossacks

There are many theories of the origin of the Cossacks:

1. Eastern hypothesis.

According to V. Shambarov, L. Gumilyov and other historians, the Cossacks arose through the merger of Kasogs and Brodniks after the Mongol-Tatar invasion.

Kasogs (kasakhs, kasaks) are an ancient Circassian people who inhabited the territory of the lower Kuban in the 10th-14th centuries.

Brodniki is a people of Turkic-Slavic origin, formed in the lower reaches of the Don in the 12th century (then a border region of Kievan Rus.

There is still no single point of view among historians about the time of the emergence of the Don Cossacks. So N. S. Korshikov and V. N. Korolev believe that “in addition to the widespread point of view about the origin of the Cossacks from Russian fugitive people and industrialists, there are other points of view as hypotheses. According to R. G. Skrynnikov, for example, the original Cossack communities consisted of Tatars, which were then joined by Russian elements. L. N. Gumilyov proposed to lead the Don Cossacks from the Khazars, who, having mixed with the Slavs, made up the wanderers, who were not only the predecessors of the Cossacks, but also their direct ancestors. More and more experts are inclined to believe that the origins of the Don Cossacks should be seen in the ancient Slavic population, which, according to archaeological discoveries of recent decades, existed on the Don in the 8th-15th centuries.

The Mongols were loyal to the preservation of their religions by their subjects, including the people who were part of their military units. There was also the Saraysko-Podonsky bishopric, which allowed the Cossacks to keep their identity.

After the split of the Golden Horde, the Cossacks who remained on its territory retained their military organization, but at the same time they found themselves in complete independence from the fragments of the former empire - the Nogai Horde and the Crimean Khanate; and from the Moscow state that appeared in Russia.

In Polish chronicles, the first mention of the Cossacks dates back to 1493, when the Cherkasy governor Bogdan Fedorovich Glinsky, nicknamed "Mamai", having formed border Cossack detachments in Cherkassy, ​​captured the Turkish fortress of Ochakov.

The French ethnographer Arnold van Gennep, in his book Traite des nationalites (1923), suggested that the Cossacks should be considered a separate nation from the Ukrainians, since the Cossacks are probably not Slavs at all, but Byzantinized and Christianized Turks.

2. Slavic hypothesis

According to other points of view, the Cossacks were originally from the Slavs. So the Ukrainian politician and historian V. M. Lytvyn in his three-volume "History of Ukraine" expressed the opinion that the first Ukrainian Cossacks were Slavs.

According to his research, sources speak of the existence of Cossacks in the Crimea at the end of the 13th century. In the first mentions, the Turkic word "Cossack" meant "guard" or vice versa - "robber". Also - "free man", "exile", "adventurer", "tramp", "protector of the sky". This word often denoted free, "no one's" people who traded with weapons. In particular, according to the old Russian epics dating back to the reign of Vladimir the Great, the hero Ilya Muromets is called "the old Cossack." It was in this meaning that it was assigned to the Cossacks.

The first memories of such Cossacks date back to 1489. During the campaign of the Polish king Jan-Albrecht against the Tatars, Christian Cossacks showed the way to his army in Podolia. In the same year, detachments of chieftains Vasily Zhyla, Bogdan and Golubets attacked the Tavan crossing in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and, dispersing the Tatar guards, robbed the merchants. Subsequently, the Khan's complaints about Cossack attacks become regular. According to Litvin, considering how habitually this designation is used in the documents of that time, we can assume that the Cossacks-Rusichi have been known for decades, at least since the middle of the 15th century. Considering that the evidence of the phenomenon of the Ukrainian Cossacks was localized on the territory of the so-called "Wild Field", it is possible that the Ukrainian Cossacks borrowed their neighbors from the Turkic-speaking (mainly Tatar) environment not only the name, but also many other words, they will take on appearance, organization and tactics, mentality . Litvin V. believes that the Tatar element occupies a certain place in the ethnic composition of the Cossacks.

Cossacks in history

Representatives of various nationalities participated in the formation of the Cossacks, but the Slavs prevailed. From an ethnographic point of view, the first Cossacks were divided according to the place of origin into Ukrainian and Russian. Among both those and others, free and service Cossacks can be distinguished. Russian service Cossacks (city, regimental and sentry) were used to protect the security lines and cities, receiving salaries and lands for life for this. Although they were equated "to the service people on the instrument" (archers, gunners), but unlike them, they had a stanitsa organization and an elective system of military administration. In this form, they existed until the beginning of the 18th century. The first community of Russian free Cossacks arose on the Don, and then on the rivers Yaik, Terek and Volga. In contrast to the serving Cossacks, the coasts of large rivers (Dnieper, Don, Yaik, Terek) and the steppe expanses became the centers of the emergence of the Free Cossacks, which left a noticeable imprint on the Cossacks and determined their way of life.

Each large territorial community as a form of military-political association of independent Cossack settlements was called the Army. The main economic activities of the free Cossacks were hunting, fishing, and animal husbandry. For example, in the Don Army until the beginning of the 18th century, arable farming was prohibited under pain of death. As the Cossacks themselves believed, they lived "from grass and water."

The war was of great importance in the life of the Cossack communities: they were in constant military confrontation with hostile and warlike nomadic neighbors, so one of the most important sources of livelihood for them was military booty (as a result of campaigns “for zipuns and yasyr” in the Crimea, Turkey, Persia , to the Caucasus). River and sea trips were made on plows, as well as horse raids. Often several Cossack units united and carried out joint land and sea operations, everything captured became common property - duvan.

The main feature of social Cossack life was a military organization with an elective system of government and democratic order. The main decisions (issues of war and peace, election of officials, trial of the guilty) were made at general Cossack meetings, stanitsa and military circles, or Rada, which were the highest governing bodies. The main executive power belonged to the annually replaced military (koshevo in Zaporozhye) ataman. For the duration of hostilities, a marching ataman was elected, whose obedience was unquestioning.

Diplomatic relations with the Russian state were maintained by sending winter and light villages (embassies) to Moscow with an appointed ataman. From the moment the Cossacks entered the historical arena, their relationship with Russia was ambivalent. Initially, they were built on the principle of independent states that had one enemy. Moscow and the Cossack Troops were allies. The Russian state acted as the main partner and played a leading role as the strongest side. In addition, the Cossack Troops were interested in receiving monetary and military assistance from the Russian Tsar. The Cossack territories played an important role as a buffer on the southern and eastern borders of the Russian state, covering it from the raids of the steppe hordes. The Cossacks also took part in many wars on the side of Russia against neighboring states. To successfully perform these important functions, the practice of the Moscow tsars included annual sending of gifts, cash salaries, weapons and ammunition, as well as bread to individual Troops, since the Cossacks did not produce it. All relations between the Cossacks and the tsar were conducted through the Ambassadorial Order, that is, as with a foreign state. It was often advantageous for the Russian authorities to represent the free Cossack communities as absolutely independent from Moscow. On the other hand, the Muscovite state was dissatisfied with the Cossack communities, who constantly attacked Turkish possessions, which often ran counter to Russian foreign policy interests.

Quite often, periods of cooling set in between the allies, and Russia stopped all assistance to the Cossacks. Moscow was also dissatisfied with the constant departure of subjects to the Cossack regions. Democratic orders (everyone is equal, no authorities, no taxes) became a magnet that attracted more and more enterprising and courageous people from the Russian lands.

Russia's fears turned out to be by no means groundless - during the 17-18 centuries, the Cossacks were at the forefront of powerful anti-government uprisings, the leaders of the Cossack-peasant uprisings - Stepan Razin, Kondraty Bulavin, Emelyan Pugachev - came out of its ranks. The role of the Cossacks during the events of the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century was great. Having supported False Dmitry I, they made up an essential part of his military detachments. Later, free Russian and Ukrainian Cossacks, as well as Russian service Cossacks, took an active part in the camp of various forces: in 1611 they participated in the first militia, the nobles already prevailed in the second militia, but at the council of 1613 it was the word of the Cossack chieftains that turned out to be decisive in the election of Tsar Michael Fedorovich Romanov.

In the 16th century, under King Stephen Batory, the Cossacks were formed into regiments of the Commonwealth to serve as border guards and as auxiliary troops in the wars with Turkey and Sweden. These Cossack detachments were called Registered Cossacks. As light cavalry, they were widely used in the wars waged by the Commonwealth. Among the registered Cossacks, armored Cossacks also stand out, occupying the niche of medium cavalry - lighter than the Winged Hussars, but heavier than ordinary registered Cossack troops.

Cossack communities (“troops”, “hordes”) began to form on the territory of the Muscovite kingdom in the 16th and 17th centuries. from the sentry and stanitsa services that guarded the border territories from the devastating raids of the hordes of the Crimean Tatars and Nogays. However, according to the official version, the oldest of all Cossack formations is the Zaporizhzhya Sich, founded in the second half of the 16th century on the territory of present-day Ukraine, which was then part of the Polish state. After a long period of nominal dependence on the Commonwealth, it became part of the Russian Empire in the middle of the 17th century, and was destroyed by Catherine II in the 18th century. Part of the Cossacks went beyond the Danube, to the territory then belonging to Turkey, and founded the Transdanubian Sich, part retained the Cossack status, but was resettled to the Kuban, as a result of which the Kuban Cossack army arose.

In the Muscovite state of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Cossacks were part of the guard and stanitsa services, guarding the border territories from the devastating raids of the Crimean Tatars and Nogays. The central administration of the city Cossacks was first the Streltsy order, and then the Discharge order. The Siberian Cossacks were in charge of the Siberian Order, the Zaporozhye and Little Russian Cossacks - the Little Russian Order.

The Don Cossacks swore allegiance to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1671, and since 1721 the army was subordinate to the St. Petersburg Military Collegium. By the end of the reign of Peter the Great, following the Don and Yaik Cossacks, the rest of the Cossack communities also passed into the department of the military college. Their internal structure was transformed, a hierarchy of government authorities was introduced. Having subjugated the Cossacks in the number of 85 thousand people, the government used them to colonize the newly conquered lands and protect state borders, mainly southern and eastern.

In the first half of the XVIII century, new Cossack troops were created: Orenburg, Astrakhan, Volga. At the end of the 18th century, the Yekaterinoslav and Black Sea Cossack troops were created.

Over time, the Cossack population moved forward to the uninhabited lands, expanding the state boundaries. Cossack troops took an active part in the development of the North Caucasus, Siberia (Yermak's expedition), the Far East and America. In 1645, the Siberian Cossack Vasily Poyarkov sailed along the Amur, entered the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, discovered Northern Sakhalin and returned to Yakutsk.

The ambiguous role played by the Cossacks in the Time of Troubles forced the government in the 17th century to pursue a policy of sharp reduction in the detachments of service Cossacks in the main territory of the state. But in general, the Russian throne, taking into account the most important functions of the Cossacks as a military force in the border areas, showed patience and sought to subordinate it to its power. To consolidate loyalty to the Russian throne, the tsars, using all leverage, managed to achieve by the end of the 17th century the adoption of the oath by all the Armies (the last Don Army - in 1671). From voluntary allies, the Cossacks turned into Russian subjects.

With the inclusion of the southeastern territories into Russia, the Cossacks remained only a special part of the Russian population, gradually losing many of their democratic rights and gains. Since the 18th century, the state has constantly regulated the life of the Cossack regions, modernized the traditional Cossack management structures in the right direction for itself, turning them into an integral part of the administrative system of the Russian Empire.

Since 1721, the Cossack units were under the jurisdiction of the Cossack expedition of the Military Collegium. In the same year, Peter I abolished the election of military chieftains and introduced the institution of chief chieftains appointed by the supreme power. The Cossacks lost their last vestiges of independence after the defeat of the Pugachev rebellion in 1775, when Catherine II liquidated the Zaporozhian Sich. In 1798, by decree of Paul I, all Cossack officer ranks were equated with general army ranks, and their holders received the rights to the nobility. In 1802, the first Regulations for the Cossack troops were developed. Since 1827, the heir to the throne began to be appointed as the august ataman of all Cossack troops. In 1838, the first combat charter for the Cossack units was approved, and in 1857 the Cossacks came under the jurisdiction of the Directorate (from 1867 the Main Directorate) of the irregular (from 1879 - Cossack) troops of the Military Ministry, from 1910 - under the authority of the General Staff.

From the 19th century until the October Revolution, the Cossacks mainly played the role of defenders of the Russian statehood and the support of tsarist power.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian guard included three Cossack regiments. The Cossack Life Guards Regiment was formed in 1798. The regiment distinguished itself in the battles of Austerlitz and Borodino, in the campaign against Paris in 1813-1814 and across the Danube in 1828. The Life Guards Ataman Regiment was formed as part of the Don Cossacks in 1775; in 1859 he became a guard; was considered exemplary among the Cossack regiments. The Consolidated Cossack Life Guards Regiment was formed in 1906, it included one hundred from the Ural and Orenburg Cossack troops, fifty from the Siberian and Transbaikal and a platoon from the Astrakhan, Semirechensk, Amur and Ussuri Cossack troops. In addition, His Imperial Majesty's Own Convoy was formed from the Cossacks.

During civil war most of the Cossacks opposed the Soviet regime. The Cossack regions became the backbone of the White movement. The largest anti-Bolshevik armed formations of the Cossacks were the Don Army in the south of Russia, the Orenburg and Ural armies in the east. At the same time, part of the Cossacks served in the Red Army. After the revolution, the Cossack troops were disbanded.

During the years of the civil war, the Cossack population was subjected to mass repressions in the process, according to the wording of the directive of the Central Committee of January 24, 1919, merciless mass terror in relation to the tops of the Cossacks "by their total extermination", and the Cossacks, "took any direct or indirect participation in fight against Soviet power”, initiated by the Orgburo of the Central Committee in the person of its Chairman Ya. M. Sverdlov.

In 1936, restrictions on the service of the Cossacks in the Red Army detachments were lifted. This decision received great support in Cossack circles, in particular, the Don Cossacks sent the following letter to the Soviet government, published in the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper dated April 24, 1936:

“Let only our Marshals Voroshilov and Budyonny call the cry, we will flock like falcons to defend our Motherland ... Cossack horses in a good body, sharp blades, Don collective farm Cossacks are ready to fight with their breasts for the Soviet Motherland ...”

In accordance with the order of the People's Commissar of Defense K. E. Voroshilov No. 67 of April 23, 1936, some cavalry divisions received the status of Cossacks. On May 15, 1936, the 10th Territorial Cavalry North Caucasian Division was renamed the 10th Terek-Stavropol Territorial Cossack Division, the 12th Territorial Cavalry Division stationed in the Kuban was renamed the 12th Kuban Territorial Cossack Division, the 4th Cavalry Leningrad Red Banner the division named after Comrade Voroshilov was renamed the 4th Don Cossack Red Banner Division named after K.E. S. M. Budyonny, the 13th Don Territorial Cossack Division was also formed on the Don. The Kuban Cossacks served in the 72nd Cavalry Division, the 9th Plastun Rifle Division, the 17th Cossack Cavalry Corps (later renamed the 4th Guards Kuban Cavalry Corps), the Orenburg Cossacks served in the 11th (89th) , then the 8th Guards Rivne Order of Lenin, the Order of Suvorov Cossack Cavalry Division and the Cossack Militia Division in Chelyabinsk.

The detachments sometimes included Cossacks who had previously served in the White Army (as, for example, K. I. Nedorubov). By a special act, the wearing of the previously prohibited Cossack uniform was restored. The Cossack units were commanded by N. Ya. Kirichenko, A. G. Selivanov, I. A. Pliev, S. I. Gorshkov, M. F. Maleev, V. S. Golovskoy, F. V. Kamkov, I. V. Tutarinov , Ya. S. Sharaburko, I. P. Kalyuzhny, P. Ya. Strepukhov, M. I. Surzhikov and others. Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky, who commanded the Kuban brigade in the battles on the CER back in 1934, can also be attributed to such commanders. In 1936, the dress uniform for the Cossack units was approved. The Cossacks marched in this uniform at the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945. The first parade in the Red Army with the participation of Cossack units was to take place on May 1, 1936. However, for various reasons, participation in the military parade of the Cossacks was canceled. Only on May 1, 1937, the Cossack units as part of the Red Army marched in a military parade along Red Square.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Cossack units, both regular, as part of the Red Army, and volunteers, took an active part in the hostilities against the Nazi invaders. On August 2, 1942, near the village of Kushchevskaya, the 17th Cavalry Corps of General N. Ya. Kirichenko, consisting of the 12th and 13th Kuban, 15th and 116th Don Cossack divisions, stopped the offensive of large Wehrmacht forces advancing from Rostov to Krasnodar . In the Kushchevskaya attack, the Cossacks destroyed up to 1800 soldiers and officers, captured 300 people, captured 18 guns and 25 mortars.

On the Don, a Cossack hundred from the village of Berezovskaya under the command of a 52-year-old Cossack, senior lieutenant K. I. Nedorubov, in a battle near Kushchevskaya on August 2, 1942, in hand-to-hand combat destroyed over 200 Wehrmacht soldiers, of which 70 were destroyed by K. I. Nedorubov, who received title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

In most cases, the newly formed Cossack units, volunteer Cossack hundreds, were poorly armed; as a rule, Cossacks with edged weapons and collective farm horses came to the detachments. Artillery, tanks, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, communications units and sappers, as a rule, were absent in the detachments, in connection with which the detachments suffered huge losses. For example, as mentioned in the leaflets of the Kuban Cossacks, "they jumped from their saddles onto the armor of tanks, covered the viewing slots with cloaks and overcoats, set fire to cars with Molotov cocktails." Also, a large number of Cossacks volunteered for the national parts of the North Caucasus. Such units were created in the autumn of 1941 following the example of the experience of the First World War. These cavalry units were also popularly called the "Wild Divisions". For example, in the fall of 1941, the 255th separate Chechen-Ingush cavalry regiment was formed in Grozny. It consisted of several hundred Cossack volunteers from among the natives of the Sunzha and Terek villages. The regiment fought near Stalingrad in August 1942, where in two days of fighting, on August 4-5, at the station (passage) Chilekovo (from Kotelnikovo to Stalingrad) lost 302 soldiers in battles against units of the 4th Panzer Army of the Wehrmacht, led by regimental commissar, Art. Political Commissar M. D. Madaev. Russian-Cossacks among the dead and missing of this regiment in these two days - 57 people. Also, volunteer Cossacks fought in all national cavalry units from the rest of the republics of the North Caucasus.

Since 1943, the Cossack cavalry divisions and tank units were united, in connection with which cavalry-mechanized groups were formed. Horses were used to a greater extent for organizing fast movement; in battle, the Cossacks were involved as infantry. Plastun divisions were also formed from the Kuban and Terek Cossacks. From among the Cossacks, 262 cavalrymen received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 7 cavalry corps and 17 cavalry divisions received guards ranks.

In addition to the Cossack units recreated under Stalin, there were many Cossacks among famous people during the Second World War, who fought not in the "branded" Cossack cavalry or plastun units, but in the entire Soviet army or distinguished themselves in military production. For example: tank ace No. 1, Hero of the Soviet Union D. F. Lavrinenko - Kuban Cossack, a native of the village of Fearless; Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops, Hero of the Soviet Union D. M. Karbyshev - a generic Ural Cossack-Kryashen, a native of Omsk; commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral A. A. Golovko - Terek Cossack, a native of the village of Prokhladnaya; weapons designer F. V. Tokarev - Don Cossack, a native of the village of the Yegorlyk Region of the Don Cossacks; commander of the Bryansk and 2nd Baltic fronts, general of the army, Hero of the Soviet Union M. M. Popov - a Don Cossack, a native of the village of the Ust-Medveditskaya Region of the Don Army, etc.

The Cossacks took an active part in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944.

Cossack troops

By the beginning of the First World War, there were eleven Cossack troops:

1. Don Cossack army, seniority - 1570 (Rostov, Volgograd, Kalmykia, Luhansk, Donetsk);

2. Orenburg Cossack army, 1574 (Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan in Russia, Kustanai in Kazakhstan);

3. Terek Cossack army, 1577 (Stavropol, Kabardino-Balkaria, S. Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan);

4. Siberian Cossack army, 1582 (Omsk, Kurgan, Altai Territory, North Kazakhstan, Akmola, Kokchetav, Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk, East Kazakhstan);

5. Ural Cossack army, 1591 (until 1775 - Yaitskoye) (Ural, former Guryevskaya in Kazakhstan, Orenburg (Ileksky, Tashlinsky, Pervomaisky districts) in Russia;

6. Transbaikal Cossack army, 1655 (Chita, Buryatia);

7. Kuban Cossack army, 1696 (Krasnodar, Adygea, Stavropol, Karachay-Cherkessia);

8. Astrakhan Cossack army, 1750 (Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov);

9. Semirechensk Cossack army, 1852 (Almaty, Chimkent);

10. Amur Cossack army, 1855 (Amur, Khabarovsk);

11. Ussuri Cossack army, 1865 (Primorsky, Khabarovsk);

During the collapse of the Russian Empire and the civil war, several Cossack state entities were proclaimed:

· Kuban People's Republic;

· Don Cossack Republic;

· Terek Cossack Republic;

Ural Cossack Republic

· Siberian-Semirechensk Cossack Republic;

· Trans-Baikal Cossack Republic;

In addition to differences in uniform between the various Cossack troops, there were also differences in the color of uniforms, bloomers and stripes with cap bands:

1. Amur Cossacks - dark green uniforms, yellow stripes, green shoulder straps, dark green cap with a yellow band;

2. Astrakhan Cossacks - blue uniforms, yellow stripes, yellow shoulder strap, blue cap with a yellow band;

3. Volga Cossacks - blue uniforms, red stripes, red shoulder strap with red edging, blue cap with a red band;

4. Don Cossacks - blue uniforms, red stripes, blue epaulets with red edging, blue cap with a red band;

5. Yenisei Cossacks - a khaki uniform, red stripes, a red shoulder strap, a khaki cap with a red band;

6. Trans-Baikal Cossacks - dark green uniforms, yellow stripes, yellow epaulets, dark green cap with a yellow band;

7. Kuban Cossacks - a black or so-called lilac Circassian coat with gazyrs, black trousers with a raspberry half-lamp, a hat or Kubanka (for scouts) with a raspberry top, raspberry shoulder straps and a cap. The Terek Cossacks have the same, only the colors are light blue;

8. Orenburg Cossacks - dark green uniforms (chekmen), gray-blue bloomers, light blue stripes, light blue shoulder straps, dark green cap crowns with light blue edging and a band;

9. Siberian Cossacks - a khaki uniform, scarlet stripes, scarlet shoulder straps, a khaki cap with a scarlet band;

10. Terek Cossacks - black uniform, light blue piping, light blue shoulder strap, black cap with a light blue band;

11. Ural Cossacks - blue uniforms, crimson stripes, crimson shoulder strap, blue cap with a crimson band;

12. Ussuri Cossacks - dark green uniforms, yellow stripes, yellow epaulets with a green edging, dark green cap with a yellow band;

Cossacks in Russia guarded 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, in Siberia, Far East, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

By the beginning of World War I, there were eleven Cossack troops:

Don Cossack army, seniority - 1570 (territories of the present Rostov, parts of Volgograd, Lugansk, Donetsk regions and Kalmykia)

Orenburg Cossack army, 1574 (Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan regions in Russia, Kustanai in Kazakhstan)

Orenburg Cossacks

Terek Cossack army, 1577 (Stavropol Territory, Kabardino-Balkaria, S. Ossetia, Chechnya, Dagestan)

Siberian Cossack army, 1582 (Omsk, Kurgan regions, Altai Territory, North Kazakhstan, Akmola, Kokchetav, Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk, East Kazakhstan)

Ural Cossack army, 1591 (until 1775 - Yaitskoye) (Ural, former Guryevskaya in Kazakhstan, Orenburg (Ileksky, Tashlinsky, Pervomaisky districts) in Russia)

Transbaikal Cossack army, 1655 (Zabaikalsky, Buryatia)

Kuban Cossack army, 1696 (Krasnodar, Adygea, Stavropol, Karachay-Cherkessia)

Astrakhan Cossack army, 1750 (Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov)

Semirechensk Cossack army, 1852 (Almaty, Chimkent)

Amur Cossack army, 1855 (Amur, Khabarovsk)

Ussuri Cossack army, 1865 (Primorsky, Khabarovsk)

On November 6, 1906, regular Cossack regiments were deployed in more than 30 cities of the Russian Empire, including two guards and an autocratic escort (regiment) in St. Petersburg, two each in Moscow and Saratov, one each in Orel, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Kozlov , Voronezh, Kyiv, Vladimir-Volynsky, Kharkov, Kursk, Poltava, Romny, Kremenchug, Elizavetgrad, Nikolaev, Odessa, Yekaterinoslav, Bakhmut, Penza, Samara, Astrakhan, Riga, Vilna, Minsk, etc., several hundred each - in Helsingfors etc. All other Cossack regiments were concentrated in the Warsaw and Caucasian military districts.

The number of Cossacks

The Kuban Cossack Host was the second largest Cossack formation in the Russian Empire until 1917, with 1.3 million Cossacks. In the first place was the Don army with 1.5 million Cossacks. Third - Orenburg with 583 thousand Cossacks, Terskoe - 278 thousand Cossacks. The total number of Cossacks was 4.4 million people.

At the end of the 19th century in Russia (not counting Finland), there were 771 peasants per 1000 inhabitants, 107 philistines, 66 foreigners, 23 Cossacks, 15 nobles, 5 clergy, 5 honorary citizens and 8 others. Further, the Cossacks live exclusively in Cossack regions, amounting to 1000 people in the Don region 400, Orenburg - 228, Kuban - 410, Terek - 179, Astrakhan - 18, Amur - 179, Trans-Baikal - 291, Ural - 177. Thus, the Cossacks made up only 2.3 percent of the population while.

The term of the Cossack service

According to the "Regulations on military service and military service of the Cossacks of the Kuban and Terek troops" of June 3, 1882, approved by Alexander II - the service staff of the Kuban Cossacks was divided into 3 categories: preparatory - service life 3 years, drill - 12 years and spare - 5 years , that is, a total of 20 years of compulsory service, both for privates and for officers. Later, some concessions were introduced and on the eve of WWI, the service life was 18 years. Cossack youth began their service at the age of 21, having passed a one-year preparatory grade.

The structure of the Cossack regiments

Under each regimental name, there were 1,2,3 regiments corresponding to the terms of service (see above). With general mobilization, the army consisted of 33 cavalry regiments. Regimental territorial districts were divided into hundreds of sections headed by officers, as well as into areas for manning artillery batteries. Villages and farms were forever assigned to certain parts. Khopersky, known since the end of the 17th century, was considered the oldest among the Kuban regiments (his 200th anniversary was celebrated in 1896). Thus, the Cossacks from childhood knew their regiment or battery, a hundred, had fathers and brothers who served in older units. This, of course, contributed to strong adhesion and mutual responsibility in parts of the Cossacks.

Scouts

The Kuban army was the only one in which there were always foot Cossack units - plastun battalions. The presence of plastun battalions speaks not only of the special traditions of the Kuban people, but also that there were many poor Cossacks there. Platunov were collected from all over the region in 6 mobilization centers. According to the number of battalions of the first stage, they were the cities: Yekaterinodar, Maykop, the villages of Kavkazskaya, Prochnookopskaya, Slavyanskaya, Umanskaya. The battalions were numbered in order: from the 1st to the 6th were the first, from the 7th to the 12th - the second, from the 13th to the 18th - the third.

Horse Cossack regiments were six hundred strong. One hundred included 125 Cossacks. The staff of the wartime regiment consisted of 867 lower ranks (750 Cossacks, the rest were sergeants, senior and junior sergeants, clerks and trumpeters) and 23 officers. The peacetime regiment did not differ much, about a hundred Cossacks less.

The regiments were brought together in divisions - Caucasian, usually uniting the regiments of the Kuban and Terek troops; Kuban, consisting only of Kuban.

From the second half of the 19th century, the places where the First Kuban units were usually deployed and served were determined. The Life Guards of the 1st and 2nd Kuban hundreds of the tsar's personal convoy were in the capital. A separate Kuban Cossack cavalry division of two hundred was located in Warsaw. The 1st Linear Regiment as part of the 2nd Cossack consolidated division was in the Kiev military district. Since the 80s, the 1st Taman, 1st Caucasian Cossack regiments and the 4th Kuban battery were part of the Transcaspian brigade, which was constantly located in the area of ​​​​the city of Merv, not far from the border with Afghanistan. Most of the Kuban army was located in the Caucasus. At the same time, only one cavalry regiment and one battery were stationed in the Kuban region itself. The remaining regiments and batteries were in Transcaucasia: 1st Khopersky, 1st Kuban, 1st Uman, 2nd Kuban battery as part of the 1st Caucasian Cossack division; 1st Zaparozhsky, 1st Labinsky, 1st Poltava, 1st Black Sea, 1st and 5th Kuban batteries as part of the 2nd Caucasian Cossack division. In addition to the named combat units, the army had a contingent of local teams and permanent militia.