Why Russia never loved the Cossacks

In the minds of the modern Russian, Cossacks seem to be brave defenders of the Russian land, a little reckless, with their own specific way and long traditions. But for some reason, the relationship between the Cossacks and the rest of the population of our vast Motherland has long been not the best way.





This was most acute during the Civil War. The Bolsheviks perceived the Cossacks as their opponents and made every effort to destroy them as a class. So that policy gossip had deep historical roots.

Cossacks and Russians

Since ancient times, the Cossacks opposed the rest of the Russian people. Even in the class hierarchy of the Russian Empire, the Cossacks were higher than the Russian peasantry and representatives of other nationalities, the so-called "foreigners."

There is a version that there are even ethnic differences between Cossacks and Russians. According to this assumption, the first Cossacks were representatives of nomadic Turkic peoples on the outskirts of Russia - Torques, Berendeys, black hoods and others. Gradually, they mixed with the Slavic population, converted to Orthodoxy, creating a kind of subethnos.

Even today, in some Cossack regions, for example, in the Kuban, one can sometimes hear something like "they have it there, in Russia." In Sholokhov's "Quiet Don" old man Melekhov said:



Hitler took advantage of these contradictions in his time, equating the Cossacks with the Aryans and calling them descendants of the Ostrogoths. Many of them succumbed to Nazi propaganda and went to serve in the Cossack units of the Wehrmacht.

The Russian peasantry and the working class reciprocated the Cossacks. Moreover, in the Russian Empire they performed not only military functions, but also punitive ones. Cossacks participated in the suppression of peasant unrest in villages and strikes in cities. They were especially active in suppressing the 1905 revolution.

It is also noteworthy that when Denikin agreed on joint actions with the Terek Cossacks during the Civil War, they set him an interesting condition, demanding that every city they captured should be given for three days for looting. Somehow it does not fit very well with the fact that the Cossacks are Russian people.

Cossacks and “foreigners”

If the Cossacks were not too ceremonious with their Russian compatriots, then the development of land and the expansion of the Russian state were sometimes accompanied by real atrocities against the indigenous population. Often lands were taken away by force, villages were completely cut out, along with women and children. The Cossacks and the slave trade did not disdain.

The memory of the development of Siberia and the Caucasus by Cossacks still remains in the depths of memory of those who were then called "foreigners." For example, recently, the unexpectedly stiff resistance of the Buryat population was caused by the project of installing a monument to the founding Cossacks in Ulan-Ude. In Russia and the post-Soviet republics, examples of the dismantling of monuments dedicated to the Cossacks are also known.

Cossacks and power

Cossacks have long enjoyed privileges from Russian tsars and Russian emperors. In return, they became loyal and ardent supporters of the monarchy and defenders of the country. Cossacks proved themselves in all wars, defended Russia from invaders. Many of them laid their heads on the battlefields of their country.

In contrast to the predominant peasant population of the country, which was serfs, the Cossacks were free people who owned their own land and cultivated it on their own or through wage labor. For this, they were grateful to the authorities and were ready to protect it from any threats - both foreign and domestic. Even the imperial family entrusted the Cossacks with ensuring their safety.

After the deposition of the monarchy, the Cossacks became not only unnecessary, but also dangerous for the new government. It was an armed, trained and uncontrolled force. The Cossacks felt relieved of service. In a number of Cossack regions, separatist sentiments even arose and intensified.

Then the Bolsheviks took the path of physically eliminating the rich stanchiks and equating them with the non-Cossack population of the Cossack regions. We can say that then the Cossacks ceased to exist.

In the post-Soviet era, movements for the revival of traditions intensified. The Cossacks began to revive. Of course, it will never play the role that it played in the Russian Empire in modern Russia. It is more about the cultural and historical component. Cossack songs, costumes, ceremonies make the lives of these people brighter and more interesting, make you feel proud of your ancestors.

Now the Cossacks have turned from a formidable and weakly controlled force into a vibrant decoration that brings joy to people.