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History of Cossacks

Beginigs of Cossacks

to be written

Cossacks in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

to be written

Chmielnicki's Uprising

to be written

Cossacks in Imperial Russia

In the Russian Empire the Cossacks constituted ten separate voiskos, settled along the frontiers: Don, Kuban, Terek, Astrakhan, Ural, Orenburg, Siberian, Semiryechensk, Amur, and Ussuri voiskos. The primary unit of this organization was the stanitsa, or village, which held its land as a commune, and might allow persons who were not Cossacks (excepting Jews) to settle on this land for payment of a certain rent. The assembly of all householders in villages of less than 30 households, and of 30 elected men in villages having from 30 to 300 households (one from each 10 households in the more populous ones), constituted the village assembly, similar to the mir, but having wider attributes, which assessed the taxes, divided the land, took measures for the opening and support of schools, village grain-stores, communal cultivation, and so on, and elected its ataman (elder) and its judges, who settled all disputes up to an amount that the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica gives as "£10" (or above that sum with the consent of both sides).

Military service was obligatory for all men, for 20 years, beginning at the age of 18. The first 3 years were passed in the preliminary division, the next 12 in active service, and the last five years in the reserve. Every Cossack was bound to procure his own uniform, equipment and horse (if mounted), the government supplying only the arms. Those on active service were divided into three equal parts according to age, and only the first third (approxiately age 18-26) were normally in active service, while the rest were effectively reserves based at home but bound to march out as soon as an order was given. The officers were supplied by 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.

The total Cossack population in 1893 was 2,648,049 (including 1,331,470 women), and they owned nearly 146,500,000 acres of land, of which 105,000,000 acres were arable and 9,400,000 under forests. This land was divided between the stanitsas, at the rate of 81 acres 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 rent to different persons, also from various sources (trade patents, rents of shops, fisheries, permits of gold-digging, etc.), as also from the subsidies they received from the government (about £712,500 in 1893), was used to cover all the expenses of state and local administration. They had, besides, a special reserve capital of about £2,600,000. The expenditure of the village administration was covered by village taxes. The general administration was kept separately for each voisko, and differed with the different voiskos. The central administration, at the Ministry of War, was composed of representatives of each voisko, who discussed the proposals of all new laws affecting the Cossacks.

In time of war the ten Cossack voiskos were bound 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 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 Tisuri Cossacks) was sufficient to supply their needs and usually to left a certain surplus, they carried on extensive cattle and horse breeding, vine culture in Caucasus, fishing on the Don, the Ural, and the Caspian Sea, hunting, bee-culture, etc. The extraction of coal, gold and other minerals found on their territories was mostly rented to strangers, who also owned most factories.

A military organization similar to that of the Cossacks was also introduced into certain districts, which supplied a number of mounted infantry sotnias ("hundreds"). Their peace-footing on the eve of World War I was as follows:

• Daghestan, six regular squadrons and three of militia.
• Kuban Circassians, one sotnia.
• Terek, eight sotnias.
• Kars, three sotnias.
• Batum, two infantry and one mounted sotnia.
• Turkomans, three sotnias.
• In total, 25 squadrons and 2 companies.

Russian Revolution and Cossacks

to be written

Cossacks in the World War II

to be written soon

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please update as needed.