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{{Short description|Overview of the East Slavic ethnic group}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Missing information|history of the Cossacks after World War II|date=February 2015}}
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==Early history==
Several theories speculate about the origins of the Cossacks. According to one theory, [[Cossacks]] have [[Slavic peoples |Slavic]] origins,<ref>{{cite book|last1= Hill|first1= Fiona|last2= Gaddy|first2= Clifford G.|title= The Siberian Curse: How Communist Planners Left Russia Out in the Cold|chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MtmQM_fDrsEC&pg=PT81|year= 2003|publisher= Brookings Institution Press|isbn= 0-8157-9618-8|page= 81|chapter= Siberia - Plenty of Room for Error}}</ref> while another theory states that the [[Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk]] of 1710 attests to [[Khazar]] origins.<ref>The connection is in part supported by old Cossack ethnonyms such as ''kazara'' ({{lang-ru|казара}}), ''kazarla'' ({{lang-ru|казарла}}), ''kozarlyhi'' ({{lang-ua|козарлюги}}), ''kazare'' ({{lang-ru|казарре}}); cf. N. D. Gostev, "About the use of "Kazarа" and other derivative words", ''Kazarla'' ethnic magazine, 2010,
* Vasili Glazkov claims that the data of [[Byzantine Empire| Byzantine]], [[Iran]]ian, and [[Arab]] historians support that. According to this view, by 1261, Cossacks lived in the area between the rivers [[Dniester]] and the [[Volga]], as described for the first time in Russian chronicles.</ref> specifically mentioning 948 as the year when the inhabitants of the steppe under a [[leader]] named ''Kasak'' or ''Kazak'' routed the Khazars in the area of modern [[Kuban]] and organized a state called ''Kazakia'' or ''[[Cossackia]]''.<ref>Newland, Samuel J.(1991), ''Cossacks in the German army, 1941-1945'', p. 65. [[Routledge]], {{ISBN|0-7146-3351-8}}</ref>
Cossacks were{{when?|date=April 2021}} mainly East Slavs
Some historians suggest that the Cossack people had mixed ethnic origins, descending from [[Russians]], [[Khazars]], [[Ukrainians]], [[Tatars]], and others who settled or passed through the
Some [[Turkology | Turkologists]] argue that [[Cumania]]'s Cossacks descend from [[Kipchaks]], who partly originated near the northern Chinese borders and soon moved to [[Western Siberia]]. Afterwards they migrated further west into the trans-Volga region (present-day western [[Kazakhstan]]). In the 11th century they finally arrived in the steppe area north of the Black Sea in
Early Russian military{{when?|date=April 2021}} greatly admired Cossacks for their equestrian skills. Many were hired{{when?|date=April 2021}} as cavalry by Russian and Ukrainian warlords, in much the same way that they hired [[Chorni Klobuky |Black Klobuks]] as personal guards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=百度安全验证 |url=https://wappass.baidu.com/static/captcha/tuxing.html?ak=572be823e2f50ea759a616c060d6b9f1&backurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmbd.baidu.com%2Fnewspage%2Fdata%2Flandingsuper%3Fthird%3Dbaijiahao%26baijiahao_id%3D1726366894677203282%26id%3D1726366894677203282%26wfr%3Dspider%26for%3Dpc%26c_source%3Dduedge%26c_score%3D0.999100×tamp=1681113996&signature=2421bca397c738b96a5918d4a14a4977 |access-date=2023-04-10 |website=wappass.baidu.com}}</ref>
▲Some [[Turkology | Turkologists]] argue that [[Cumania]]'s Cossacks descend from [[Kipchaks]], who partly originated near the northern Chinese borders and soon moved to [[Western Siberia]]. Afterwards they migrated further west into the trans-Volga region (present-day western [[Kazakhstan]]). In the 11th century they finally arrived in the steppe area north of the Black Sea in southwestern Russia and Ukraine. They are closely related to modern [[Kazakh people| Kazakhs]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kipchak-people|title= Kipchak {{!}} people|encyclopedia= Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date= 2018-08-24|language= en}}</ref>
After 1400, the Cossacks emerge as an established and identifiable group in historical accounts. Rulers of the [[Grand Duchy of Moscow]] and of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] employed Cossacks as mobile guards against Tatar raids from the south in the territories of present-day
▲After 1400 the Cossacks emerge as an established and identifiable group in historical accounts. Rulers of the [[Grand Duchy of Moscow]] and of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] employed Cossacks as mobile guards against Tatar raids from the south in the territories of present-day southwestern Russia and southern Ukraine. Judging by the records of their names, these early Cossacks seem to have included a significant number of Tatar descendants. From the mid-15th century, Cossacks are mostly mentioned with Slavic names.<ref name=Long>
Philip Longworth, ''The Cossacks'', Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1970, {{ISBN| 0-03-081855-9}}
</ref>
All historical records of that period describe Cossack society as a loose [[federation]] of independent communities, often merging into larger units of a military character, entirely separate from, and mostly independent of other nations (such as [[Poland]], [[Ukraine]], [[Russia]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Mongolia]], or the [[Tatars]]).<ref>{{
In the 16th century, Cossack societies created two relatively independent territorial organisations:
* [[Zaporozhian Host|Zaporizhia]]
* the [[Don Cossack State]], on the river Don, separated from the Russian state by rebel [[Nogais |Nogai]] and Tatar tribes.
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Numerous historical documents of that period refer to the Don Cossacks in Russia as a sovereign ethno-cultural people with a unique warrior culture. Cossacks conducted raids and pillaging against their neighbours as important sources of income. Already in 1444 Cossacks of [[Ryazan]] were mentioned as defenders of [[Pereslavl-Zalessky]] against the units of [[Golden Horde]] and in a letter of [[Ivan III of Russia]] in 1502. The area around the [[Don River (Russia)|Don River]] was divided between the [[Crimean Khanate|Crimean west side]] and the [[Nogai Horde|Nogai east side]] after the Golden Horde fell in 1480. The vast steppe of the Don region was populated by runaway serfs, by those who longed for freedom, by people who were not satisfied with the existing social order. Over time, the culture of the Don Cossacks was formed into a united community and were called "the Cossacks".
The Don
Their first recorded naval raid into the [[Black Sea]] dates to 1538, with an attack on the fortress of [[Ochakiv]]. This was followed by more frequent and better-organised raids elsewhere, the freeing of Christian slaves being one of the chief aims, as well as the acquisition of plunder. Their success was such that they attracted the attention of the western European powers, including the Papacy, who made diplomatic overtures in the hope of launching joint ventures against the Turks.<ref>{{Cite book|title=History of economic relations between Russia and China : from modernization to Maoism|last=Sladkovskiĭ, M. I. (Mikhail Iosifovich), author.|isbn=9781351515566|pages=3|oclc=994145587|date = 5 July 2017|publisher=Routledge }}</ref> In 1539, Grand Prince [[Vasili III of Russia]] asked the Ottoman Sultan to curb the Cossacks and the Sultan replied: "The Cossacks do not swear allegiance to me, and they live as they themselves please." In 1549, the
==Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth==
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[[File:Matejko_Khmelnytsky_with_Tugay_Bey.jpg|200px|right|thumb|"[[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]] with [[Tugay Bey]] at [[Lviv]]", oil on canvas, 1885, National Museum in [[Warsaw]]. [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]] 1648–1654. Painted by [[Jan Matejko]] ]]
By 1618, the Zaporozhians were members of the Anti-Turkish League, as Schaidachny transferred his seat of power to [[Kiev]], the Polish Crown's regional capital.
The fighting qualities of the sea-going Cossacks were even admired in the Ottoman chronicles: "One can safely say that in the entire world one cannot find a people more careless for their lives or having less fear of death; persons versed in navigation assert that because of their skill and boldness in naval battles these bands are more dangerous than any other enemy." {{Citation needed|date=October 2008}}
In 1615, the raiders even sailed to the walls of [[Tsargrad|Tsarhorod]], as they referred to the Turkish capital, plundering the ports of Mizevna and Archioca. An attempt by the Turks to blockade the [[Berezan Island]], and deny Cossacks access to the sea, was defeated in the spring of 1616. The raiders went on to capture [[Kaffa (city)|Kaffa]], which was burned down after all the slaves were freed. That same year [[Trabzon|Trebizond]], in eastern Anatolia, was captured and destroyed. Sultan [[Ahmed I]] sent his fleet to the
After 1624, the Zaporozhian raids gradually died out, as the Cossacks began to devote more and more of their martial energies to land-based campaigns, fighting on one side and then the other during such conflicts as the [[Thirty Years' War]]. Their numbers expanded with immigration from Poland proper and Lithuania. [[Szlachta]] failure to regard Zaporozhian Cossacks as nobles for inclusion in the registry of professional military cossacks eroded the Cossacks' loyalty towards the Commonwealth. The Cossack attempts to be recognized as equal to the szlachta were rebuffed and plans for transforming the Two-Nations Commonwealth (Polish–Lithuanian) into [[Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth|Three Nations]] (with Cossacks/Ruthenian people) were limited to a minority view. After the civil war of 1648 (or Rebellion from the Polish viewpoint) the [[Zaporozhian Host]] gained control of parts of Ukraine in 1649, although they at various time acknowledged the Polish King over the following decades.
There were several Cossack uprisings against the Commonwealth in the early 17th century. The largest of them was the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]], which together with [[Deluge (history)|The Deluge]] is considered as one of the events that brought an end to the Golden Age of the Commonwealth. This uprising distanced Cossacks from the Commonwealth sphere of influence, only to make them subject to the [[Tsardom of Russia]] under the [[Treaty of Pereyaslav]] (1654), and established their realm as [[Left-bank Ukraine]] in 1667 under the [[Treaty of Andrusovo]], and the [[Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686]].
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''This section derives originally from the [[1911 Encyclopædia Britannica]]''
[[File:007 Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate and Russian Empire 1751.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Historical map of Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate and territory of Zaporozhian Cossacks under rule of Russian Empire (1751).]]
In the Russian Empire, the Cossacks constituted
All Cossack males had to perform military service for 20 years, beginning at the age of 18. They spent their first three years in the preliminary division, the next 12 in active service, and the last five years in the reserve. Every Cossack had to procure his own uniform, equipment and horse (if mounted), the government supplying only the arms.
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Cossacks on active service were divided into three equal parts according to age, and only the first third (approximately age 18–26) normally performed active service, while the rest effectively functioned as reserves, based at home but bound to march out at short notice. The officers came from the military schools, in which all Cossack voiskos had their own vacancies, or were non-commissioned Cossack officers, with officers' grades. In return for this service the Cossacks received from the state considerable grants of land for each voisko separately.
In 1893, the Cossacks had a total population of 2,648,049 (including 1,331,470 women), and they owned nearly 146,500,000 acres (593,000 km<sup>2</sup>) of land, including 105,000,000 acres (425,000 km<sup>2</sup>) of arable land and 9,400,000 acres (38,000 km<sup>2</sup>) under forests. Each ''stanitsa'' controlled a share of the land, divided up at the rate of 81 acres (328,000 m<sup>2</sup>) per each soul, with special grants to officers (personal to some of them, ''in lieu'' of pensions), and leaving about one-third of the land as a reserve for the future. The income which the Cossack voiskos received from the lands (which they rented to different persons), also from various sources (trade patents, rents of shops, fisheries, permits for gold-digging, etc.), as also from the subsidies they received from the government (about £712,500 in 1893), went to cover all the expenses of state and local administration. They had, besides, a special reserve capital of about £2,600,000. Village taxes covered the expenditure of the village administration. Each voisko had a separate general administration, and administrative structures differed within the different voiskos. The central administration, at the Ministry of War, comprising representatives of each voisko, discussed the proposals of all new laws affecting the Cossacks.
[[File:Russian cavalry.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Russian cossacks on the front. 1915]]
In time of war, the ten Cossack voiskos had to supply 890 mounted sotnias or squadrons (of 125 men each), 108 infantry sotnias or companies (also 125 men each), and 236 guns, representing 4267 officers and 177,100 men, with 170,695 horses. In time of peace they kept 314 squadrons, 54 infantry sotnias, and 20 batteries containing 108 guns (2574 officers, 60,532 men, 50,054 horses). Altogether, on the eve of World War I the Cossacks had 328,705 men ready to take up arms.
As a rule, popular education amongst the Cossacks stood at a higher level than in the remainder of Imperial Russia. They had more schools and a greater proportion of their children went to school. In addition to agriculture, which (with the exception of the Ussuri Cossacks) sufficed to supply their needs and usually to leave a certain surplus, they carried on extensive cattle and horse breeding, vine culture in the [[Caucasus]], fishing on the [[Don River, Russia|Don]], the [[Ural River|Ural]], and the [[Caspian Sea]], hunting, beekeeping etc. The Cossacks mostly rented out rights to extract coal, gold and other minerals found on their territories to strangers, who also owned most factories.
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{{Further|Red Cossacks}}
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}
In the Civil War that followed the Russian Revolution, the Cossacks found themselves on both sides of the conflict. Many officers and experienced Cossacks fought for the White Army, and some of the poorer ones joined the Red Army. Following the defeat of the White Army, a policy of [[Decossackization]] (''Raskazachivaniye'') took place on the surviving Cossacks and their homelands since they were viewed as a potential threat to the new regime. This involved dividing their territory amongst other divisions and giving it to new autonomous republics of minorities, and then actively encouraging settlement of these territories with those peoples, but there were also arrests and violent repressions. This policy of resettlement was especially true for the Terek Cossacks land. The Cossack homelands were often very fertile, and during the collectivisation campaign many Cossacks shared the fate of [[kulak]]s. The famine of 1933 hit the Don and Kuban territory the hardest. According to Michael Kort, "During 1919 and 1920, out of a population of approximately 3 million, the Bolshevik regime killed or deported an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 Cossacks",<ref>Kort, Michael (2001). ''The Soviet
==World War II==
When the war broke out the Cossacks found themselves on both sides of the conflict. Most fought for the Soviet Union; however, some chose to settle old scores by collaborating with the Germans, especially after the Soviet Union's initial series of defeats, including the loss of much of the army of Ivan Kononov, a former Soviet major who defected to the Germans on the first day of war with some of his 436th regiment, and served around the German-occupied city of [[Mahilyow|Mogilev]], guarding lines of communications against [[Soviet partisans]].
In the summer of 1942, the German armies entered territories inhabited by the Cossacks. There in the open steppe resistance was futile, but nevertheless many, despite their hatred of Communism, refused to collaborate with the invaders of their country. While collaboration was inevitable, most of the leaders were former Tsarist officers who wanted to avenge their defeat by the Communists, but many recruits came from [[prisoner-of-war]] camps. On some occasions relatives separated by the Russian Civil War met each other again on different sides of the conflict and killed ruthlessly.
During the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], Cossacks attacks, some led by [[Semyon Budyonny]], were able to keep the Germans from entering the Caucausus, where particularly the Terek and the Kuban Cossacks were able to prevent the Germans from taking the mountains. Not only was the region rich in oil, but it was also the key to [[Iran]] and [[Iraq]].
From 1943 onward, the Cossacks were kept mostly in the southern part of the front, where their use in reconnaissance and logistics proved invaluable. Many went on through [[Romania]] and into the [[Balkans]] during the final stages of the war.
Most of the collaborators, who some say numbered over 250,000 (although current figures claim the true number was not even a third of that){{citation needed|date=January 2020}} were the Don Cossacks, who, formerly the largest and strongest host, suffered the worst under Soviet collectivization policies. Kuban and Terek Cossacks, on the other hand, fought almost exclusively for the Red Army, and even in most desperate situations their heroism was evident. Being the largest Red Army Cossack host, the Kuban Cossacks in 1945 triumphantly marched on [[Red Square]] in the famous Victory Parade.
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Many of the collaborators fled the Soviet advance (often chased by Soviet Cossacks) but under Soviet-Allied [[Betrayal of the Cossacks|agreements]] thousands of them were handed back to the USSR. Following the death of [[Joseph Stalin]], large numbers of the repatriated were allowed to return to their native lands, under a promise of secrecy. Only after 1991, with the collapse of the Communist regime in the USSR, could they openly mourn the lost members of their communities.
The division of the Cossacks in both the [[Russian Civil War]] and the Second World War continues to be a controversial issue
==In Russia today==
{{Main|Registered Cossacks of the Russian Federation}}Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in Russia emerged numerous cossack communities all over the country. In Russia, both registered and unregistered communities identify with cossackism. The Cossack communities in Russia cooperate with each other as well as with the Russian Orthodox Church. End of 2018 the Cossacks have set up an All-Russian Cossack Community to coordinate cultural work and strengthen the Cossack roots (such as to introduce the original Cossack costumes again).<ref>{{Citation|title=Казаки объединились во Всероссийское казачье общество - Россия 24|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxWsJ9NupMc| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200617234927/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxWsJ9NupMc&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2020-06-17 | url-status=dead|language=en|access-date=2019-09-17}}</ref>
==In Ukraine today==
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