Cossacks
Cossack (Russian Kazak (Казак); plural, Kazaki (Казаки), Polish Kozak; plural, Kozacy, from the Turkish quzzaq, "adventurer", "free-booter"), is the name given to a portion of the population of Eastern Europe. Cossacks inhabited parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, particularly in areas now comprising southern Russia and Ukraine. They should not be confused with the ethnic group, the Kazakhs (Kazakh is spelt Kazak (Казак) in the native language). It was also the name given to kind of light cavalry in Poland-Lithuania regardless of its ethnicity.
Up to 1917 (Russian Revolution), Cossacks were traditionally endowed with certain special privileges. In return they had to give military service, all at a certain age, under special conditions.
Russian Cossacks
Main article: History of Cossacks
Terminology
- Voisko (Slavic word, literally means "army", probably of Polish origin) - a major cossack military and administrative unit.
- Ataman - a Russian cossack military leader or subordinate leader (possibly derived from Hetman, which in its turn derived from German Hauptmann ("headman" or "captain")
- Sotnia ("hundred") - a military unit.
- Stanitsa - cossack settlement, a village.
- Cossack, Prikazny, Uryadnik (minor and major), Podkhorunzhiy, Khorunzhiy, Sotnik, Podyesaul, Yesaul, Voiskovoy starshina, -- cossack military ranks (from lowest up)
History
Valuing the relative freedom they enjoyed in Imperial Russia, the Cossacks mainly fought against Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War of 1919, both within the White Army and as partisans.
At the same time, many poor Cossacks also joined the Red Army. This notwithstanding, after the victory of the Soviet Communists, the new regime repressed the Cossack culture and way of life. During the Nazi invasion of the USSR the Cossacks once again joined the opposing sides of the conflict. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, efforts to revive the Cossack traditions have grown.
Ukrainian Cossacks
External article:
Terminology
History
External article:
The Cossack Image
Cossacks have long appealed to romantics as idealising freedom and resistance to external authority, and their military exploits against enemies of the Russian people have contributed to this favorable image. On the other hand they have often become a symbol of repression because of their use in suppressing popular uprisings during the Tsarist period.
Literary reflections of Cossack culture abound in Russian literature: one might particularly mention the work of Leo Tolstoy and of Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov.
See also
