Bubnov - Taras Bulba
In 1907, an argot dictionary was published in France, in which the following aphorism was cited in the article "Russian": "Scratch a Russian - and you will find a Cossack, scratch a Cossack - and you will find a bear."
This aphorism is attributed to Napoleon himself, who indeed described the Russians as barbarians and identified them as such with the Cossacks - like many Frenchmen, who could call both the hussars and the Kalmyks or Bashkirs Cossacks. In some cases, this word could even become synonymous with light cavalry.
How little we know about the Cossacks.
In a narrow sense, the image of a Cossack is inextricably linked with the image of brave and freedom-loving men with a stern warlike look, with an earring in their left ear, long mustaches and a hat on their heads. And this is more than reliable, but not enough. Meanwhile, the history of the Cossacks is very unique and interesting. And in this article we will try to very superficially, but at the same time meaningfully understand and understand who the Cossacks are, what is their peculiarity and uniqueness, and how the history of Russia is inextricably linked with the original culture and history of the Cossacks.
Today it is very difficult to understand the theories of the origin of not only the Cossacks, but also the very word-term "Cossack". Even today, researchers, scientists and experts cannot give a definite and precise answer - who are the Cossacks and from whom did they come.
But at the same time, there are many more or less probable theories-versions of the origin of the Cossacks. Today there are more than 18 of them - and this is only official versions. Each of them has many convincing scientific arguments, advantages and disadvantages.
However, all theories fall into two main groups:
- theory of the runaway (migration) emergence of the Cossacks.
- autochthonous, that is, local, indigenous origin of the Cossacks.
According to autochthonous theories, the ancestors of the Cossacks lived in Kabarda, were the descendants of the Caucasian Circassians (Cherkas, Yases). This theory of the origin of the Cossacks is also called eastern. It was she who was taken as the basis of her evidence base one of the most famous Russian historians, orientalists and ethnologists V. Shambarov and L. Gumilyov.
In their opinion, the Cossacks arose through the merger of Kasogs and Brodniks after the Mongol-Tatar invasion. The Kasogs (Kasakhs, Kasaks, Ka-azats) are an ancient Circassian people who inhabited the territory of the lower Kuban in the 10th-14th centuries, and the Brodniks are a mixed people of Turkic-Slavic origin, who absorbed the remnants of the Bulgars, Slavs, and also, possibly, the steppe Oghuz.
Dean of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University S. P. Karpov, working in the archives of Venice and Genoa, found there mentions of Cossacks with Turkic and Armenian names, who guarded against raids medieval city Tana* and other Italian colonies in the Northern Black Sea region.
*Tana- a medieval city on the left bank of the Don, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe modern city of Azov (Rostov Region of the Russian Federation). It existed in the XII-XV centuries under the rule of the Italian trading republic of Genoa.
One of the first mentions of the Cossacks, according to the Eastern version, are displayed in the legend, the author of which was the Bishop of Russian Orthodox Church Stefan Yavorsky (1692):
“In 1380, the Cossacks presented Dmitry Donskoy with the icon of Our Lady of the Don and participated in the battle against Mamai on the Kulikovo field.”
According to migration theories, the ancestors of the Cossacks were freedom-loving Russian people who fled beyond the borders of the Russian and Polish-Lithuanian states either due to natural historical reasons or under the influence of social antagonisms.
The German historian G. Steckl points out that“The first Russian Cossacks were baptized and Russified Tatar Cossacks, since until the end of the 15th century. all the Cossacks who lived both in the steppes and in the Slavic lands could only be Tatars. Of decisive importance for the formation of the Russian Cossacks was the influence of the Tatar Cossacks on the border of the Russian lands. The influence of the Tatars was manifested in everything - in the way of life, military operations, ways of fighting for existence in the steppe. It extended even to the spiritual life and appearance Russian Cossacks"
And the historian Karamzin advocated a mixed version of the origin of the Cossacks:
“The Cossacks were not only in Ukraine, where their name became known from history around 1517; but it is likely that in Russia it is older than the Batu invasion and belonged to Torki and Berendei, who lived on the banks of the Dnieper, below Kyiv. There we find the first dwelling of the Little Russian Cossacks. Torki and Berendei were called Cherkasy: Cossacks - also ... some of them, not wanting to submit to either the Mughals or Lithuania, lived as free people on the islands of the Dnieper, fenced with rocks, impenetrable reeds and swamps; lured to themselves many Russians who fled from oppression; mixed with them and under the name Komkov made up one people, which became completely Russian all the easier because their ancestors, having lived in the Kiev region since the tenth century, were already almost Russian themselves. More and more multiplying in number, nourishing the spirit of independence and brotherhood, the Cossacks formed a military Christian Republic in southern countries Dnieper, began to build villages, fortresses in these places devastated by the Tatars; undertook to be the defenders of the Lithuanian possessions from the Crimeans, Turks and won special patronage of Sigismund I, who gave them many civil liberties along with lands above the Dnieper rapids, where the city of Cherkasy is named after them ... "
I would not like to go into details, listing all the official and unofficial versions of the origin of the Cossacks. Firstly, it is long and not always interesting. Secondly, most theories are only versions, hypotheses. There is no unambiguous answer about the origin and origin of the Cossacks as a distinctive ethnic group. It is important to understand something else - the process of formation of the Cossacks was long and complex, and it is obvious that representatives of different ethnic groups were mixed at the core of it. And it's hard to disagree with Karamzin.
Some oriental historians believe that the Tatars were the ancestors of the Cossacks, and that, allegedly, the first detachments of the Cossacks fought on the side against Rus' in the Battle of Kulikovo. Others, on the contrary, argue that the Cossacks were already on the side of Rus' at that time. Some refer to legends and myths about gangs of Cossacks - robbers, whose main trade was robbery, robbery, theft ...
For example, the satirist Zadornov, explaining the term for the emergence of the well-known children's yard game "Cossacks-robbers", refers to "unbridled by the free character of the Cossack class, which was" the most violent, uneducable Russian class.
It's hard to believe, because in the memory of my childhood, each of the boys preferred to play for the Cossacks. And the name of the game is taken from life, since its rules imitate reality: in tsarist Russia, the Cossacks were people's self-defense, protecting the civilian population from the raids of robbers.
It is possible that in the original basis of the early groups of the Cossacks there were various ethnic elements. But for contemporaries, the Cossacks evokes something native, Russian. I recall the famous speech of Taras Bulba:
The first communities of the Cossacks
It is known that the first communities of Cossacks began to form as early as the 15th century (although some sources refer to an earlier time). These were communities of free Don, Dnieper, Volga and Grebensky Cossacks.
A little later, in the first half of the 16th century, the Zaporozhian Sich was formed. In the 2nd half of the same century - communities of free Terek and Yaik, and at the end of the century - Siberian Cossacks.
In the early stages of the existence of the Cossacks, the main types of their economic activity crafts were (hunting, fishing, beekeeping), later cattle breeding, and from the 2nd floor. XVII century - agriculture. An important role was played by military booty, later - by the state salary. Through military and economic colonization, the Cossacks quickly mastered the vast expanses of the Wild Field, then the outskirts of Russia and Ukraine.
In the XVI-XVII centuries. Cossacks led by Ermak Timofeevich, V.D. Poyarkov, V.V. Atlasov, S.I. Dezhnev, E.P. Khabarov and other explorers participated in the successful development of Siberia and Far East. Perhaps these are the most famous first reliable references to the Cossacks, beyond doubt.
V. I. Surikov "Conquest of Siberia by Yermak" The whole history of Russia is made by the Cossacks.
Lev Tolstoy
Don steppe
Alexander Vinokurov
Cossack family - no translation
The steppe breathed the smell of the Don,
Drowsy spicy and thick;
Your pitiless pity
The sun drank from above...
Tumbleweed jumped the field
Mirages trembled somewhere;
The wind whistled solo
The steppe eagle was circling above...
Among the boundless distance,
unperturbed by the heat,
Villagers, from an article by the ancient Romans,
They squinted, in Razinsky's way, cunningly ...
Cossack
Alexander Lyays
He was a rider, a warrior, a plowman.
He fought for Russia.
Chopped the enemy, not knowing fear.
IN three wars risked his life.
I remembered about the church and about God,
And he was faithful to his wife.
And here it is, like so many,
Enemies put to the wall.
When it, for the sake of order,
To write down what and how,
They asked: - Who are you, uncle?
He only said one thing: - Cossack.
Cossack field
Alexander Lyays
I go out into the Cossack field.
The wind blows on the grass.
How much in the heart of old pain,
Doom heavy in the head.
Whistling lingering, ringing and screams
They are still in my ears.
Again manes, checkers, spades
They fly into the eternal battle.
And expanded lava
Gushing blood, as then.
The smell of that bloody grass
I remember forever.
Both the rider and the grunt,
I live in the battle of the past.
Forever I fly to the attack,
Forever - fall into that grass.
Where are you, black muzzle,
A whip and a strong saddle?
Only God alone knows
How many of us have been killed here.
No matter how I fight and cry,
Friends will not rise.
Oh you, foal joy,
God's share or dog's,
Field, Polyushko Cossack,
My eternal thought.
Field, Polyushko Cossack,
My eternal thought.
Cossacks
Alexander Chenin
A horse and a sword, a whip, a cap,
Yes, stripes on the pants.
In an open field - in mortal combat
There was a Cossack, like fear to enemies.
Pike for battle, saber in hand
And the avalanche went!
Screams, snores, groans of anguish; -
Horses, people, where are your own?!
Fury, courage, dexterity, strength, -
Everything was prepared for nothing!
Be calm Mother - Russia; -
Life for Faith, for the Tsar!
The fight is over, the horse is covered in wounds,
They caught themselves.
There is medicine in different herbs,
There will be scars, so what.
Cossacks! Legends, tales.
Ilya Muromets - hero; -
He is the beginning of your glory
Embellished at times.
For the Tsar, and even against,
That freedom, then robbery.
But protection and support
There was always a dashing Cossack.
---
They beat the reds, they beat the whites,
They even wanted to be on their own.
Songs were composed about the proud and the brave,
Will, freedom, like a core in the soul.
The storms subsided, the ranks thinned, -
Everyone was leveled in the Soviet Country,
Only from photographs looked sternly
Faces of grandfathers who died in the war.
New time and new songs.
Now the Cossack is not with a spear on a horse,
But preserved by birth and honor
The image of a defender in our Country.
The grains of traditions lived in your life,
As the gene pool of our ancient Rus'.
Free from gloss and dust,
Be an example; - you are very needed!
Cossacks
Alexander Chenin
Where are all the Cossacks from?
Where does this blood come from?
Life left its marks
Mustaches, forelocks and a proud eyebrow!
Mother of sons blessed
Then she waited anxiously.
Tired of housekeeping
How does she need help?
The Cossack returned from a campaign,
They went to distant lands.
Maiden of a princely family
I brought it from there for myself.
The maiden did not grieve for long,
The Cossack gave his love.
And gradually I realized
That he became dear to her and sweet.
Family, kids, respect,
Obychiy, speaking all kindred.
And a new generation
More beautiful and stronger.
The Cossack has his own worries, -
Campaigns, fees, many days.
And all homework
And she got the honor to keep.
From generation to generation
The Cossack proudly walked by.
Brave, smart, in all patience,
Prayed to God and waited.
She ran the household, did not grumble,
She taught children; - all by herself.
Soul and heart tried on
How will she live if she is a widow.
The war mowed down the husbands,
The sons did not return.
And with her Mother - Russia
Throwing on a scarf, she moved on.
Calm, peaceful our time
And the Cossack family became stronger.
The Cossack carries the seed
And she, by right, a pedestal!
Cossack
Valery Starz
We should take some Paris.
We would have sabers unsheathed in the attack.
Hey Musyu, it's not for nothing that you're trembling all over
And not in vain did it with fear.
We should take some Berlin.
It happened once, however.
Replacing the peaks with a carbine,
The cavalry followed the tank.
We should take some Istanbul.
To stun with a dashing Cossack word.
Basurmanin will say: "Well, he turned it down!
We fought only near Azov."
Somewhere across the seas Washington.
Our horses will get tired of swimming there.
But when we capture their backwater,
No one will drive us out of there.
We should take something else.
The horses are tearing the bridle.
If by fate we are destined
The Cossacks will fight for their faith.
Cossacks
Vladimir Kryakin 2
The horse is endowed with a beautiful mane,
Lush tail and two pairs of hooves.
Who has not seen how powerful, beautiful
The horse rushes across the open field.
The neck will bend in a swift jump,
The trembling will pass in the overheated earth.
Cossack women looked after them from under their hands,
How the Cossack raced, sitting in the saddle.
It is impossible to live in the steppe without horses,
From an early age, a guy with a saddle is friendly.
If you suddenly become anxious,
Taking the saber, he left his house.
So in the old days lived great-grandfathers, grandfathers,
Our bow to them to the ground.
Fought with a fierce enemy until victory,
They brought peace and tranquility to their native land.
Kuban Cossack
Elena Zhukova-Zhelenina
He's still just a child
Kid, not tall.
He sits on a horse from the cradle.
Accumulate a little bit of strength
Will become a "noble" Cossack.
And dressed like a Cossack:
There is a Kubanka and a hood *,
"Give the guy a saber in his hands, -
After the stanitsa will shout ...
By the fire in the Kuban choir
A funny voice is heard.
Cossacks skillfully echoing,
The song is led by a small one.
Everyone laughs: Cossack,
And it sounds like a big one.
Fishing, cunning, dexterous.
Oh! Fighting boy!
Look, little Cossack
What a detachment of Cossacks!
Instantly rushed, shooter,
Step equal
mine with them.
Soul of a Cossack
Elena Pankratova 3
Oh, the soul of a Cossack, a free bird,
Above the village, above the steppe is circling.
The native land always guards,
Evil hordes drive away.
Though his soul is harder than stone,
Only a bad word hurts.
Honor and love settled in it,
She will not betray, no matter what they promise her.
After all, his soul is marked by God
After all, the soul of a Cossack is for the Fatherland!
Cossacks
Elena Sergeevna Safronova
The Cossacks are a special tribe,
Where are the hardened hands.
Honor is high and time is valuable,
When the earth calls and the father's house.
Blood is hot, warlike, no doubt.
The checker solves the life ailment,
Blame before God is not shameful
And boldly enter the Cossack circle.
Surnames are proudly kept,
Their roots are centuries old.
While the Russian villages are standing
Blessed be our Cossacks!
Cossack
Elena Sergeevna Safronova
Some people say that I'm proud.
Others - a girl anywhere.
A Cossack is alive in my blood,
My joy and sorrow.
The trouble is that the steppe has not seen,
I did not bend my back on the melon.
The trouble is that the braids did not braid
On a chaste shoulder.
Do not sting the gold of wheat,
I did not bake fragrant bread.
I don't know which station
My great-grandmother lived.
Is it not from her look perky,
To the earth stored love.
And the temper is hot and stubborn
Donated native blood.
She will show her
When I sing the song.
And no one will talk about me
That I am not related to Father DonU.
Dashing Cossacks
Elena Zhukova-Zhelenina
The dashing Cossack has everything from a raid and a jerk.
How intense is the passion of such a Cossack!
I walk along the bank, I carry full buckets ...
I see two people standing there, talking with a saber on their side.
I smile at those two and seem to stumble.
Both fly up quickly, I'll walk side by side with them.
Ah, you eagles, Cossacks, are always easy to rise,
Words are always cunning, but deft actions.
How they ride a horse! I will see them in my dreams!
They both promised to visit me at once ...
It is not easy for the heart to choose from two lovely one.
I'll tell fortunes on daisies ... Let them tell me who?
Cossack Cossacks
Igor Shcherban
Over the village evening, the scarlet color of the sunset
They loosened the willow braids by the river,
And boys and girls sing songs here
The land here is rich in ripe gardens,
And the wind sways the fields - wide.
Boys and girls grow and grow here,
Cossacks, well, that means - Cossacks!
Bays of light - the windows of each hut
And the moth stars dance in the sky
They love the land, dear boys and girls,
Cossacks, well, that means - Cossacks!
Cossack
Ilchenko Mykola 2
The sky spilled
Surf clouds.
Where have I been, where have I not been,
Long way home.
Service remote -
Don't bother melancholy
Side native
Painfully far.
Oh, the Cossack share -
Saber, yes on horseback.
Feathers in the field
I send my regards to my family.
Don't be sad, mama
Don't be sad, father
Chub from under the Kuban -
Life is not over.
To you, devils-enemies,
Likha will not forgive.
I'm not afraid of death
But I'm not looking.
Where the battle was burning,
My fighting horse.
Let's crush the evil
And then peace.
Scorched in fights -
Angel on the shoulder.
I'm talking
Everything is nothing to me.
I will throw my saber up -
And in the gallop of a horse.
A friend will cover his back -
Protect me.
The sky spilled
Surf clouds.
All sorrows in fiction,
Bird home...
-------------------
What is so poignant
Pain in the chest?..
Eh, stupid bullet
Finished my way...
Don Cossack!
Irina Krupinskikh
He is earthly, he is real
Not empty and not airy
And in deeds, there is no falsehood
For me he is the best
Not romantic, very tough
And in words, not balabol
But he clearly understands
That girls are the "weaker sex"
He is neither an athlete nor an artist...
Doesn't fly in the clouds
He can do everything, it's not scary with him
He is a simple, Don Cossack!
How to hug, kiss ...
In the head - intoxicating dope
Everything without words is very clear
He is earthly, he is real!!!
Cossacks and Rus'
Nadezhda Vedenyapina
Everything happened to the Cossacks in Rus',
Now in honor and honor, then all around disgraced.
Let's face it, there is no life for a Cossack without will.
They would rush, galloping in the field with the wind, arguing.
Cossacks got married with a sword before their wife
And sometimes at the dawn of years parted with life.
Hot blood boils in their Cossack veins,
The Cossack can do everything, any work is within his power.
True to their word, honor and oath
And they did not give an inch of their native land to the enemy.
The honor of Russia, as a wife, was sacredly guarded.
And they stood firm for their Motherland!
In Rus', a Cossack lives, fulfills his duty
And the traditions of the fathers honors and observes.
I will reveal the truth to you, and there is no secret in this,
There will be many long, long years for the Cossacks of Russia!
Cossacks of Russia
Nadezhda Vedenyapina
The Cossacks of Russia are valor,
Her stronghold, striving for a better life,
Her everlasting pride
Success and unbending will.
Glorious is the path of the Kuban Cossacks.
From the past to the present day
Protect the lands of their native hand,
How the sons take care of her.
In hard times, in stormy years
Only the motherland will call,
The Cossacks of Russia will rise
Under the banner - to save the Motherland.
Our great-grandfathers saved her more than once,
Grandfathers defended as best they could,
And the fathers continued their feat,
For us to grow up happy.
Glorious Cossacks of Kuban,
Motherland worthy sons
The creators and warriors of the state,
The strength and greatness of the country.
Cossacks
Svetlana Klinushkina-Kutepova
And you guess the Cossack right away -
after all, you can’t hide a free spirit in your pocket!
Only two give him orders -
God is in heaven, ataman is in the village!
May faith never leave you!
through storms, through years and through battles
carry Orthodox shrines
and proud traditions!
After all, your valor is a true property!
And you love to fight and live!
Shoulder to shoulder stands the Cossack army,
the borders barely flare up!
You are the salt of the earth, and you can't argue with that!
For you icons - Motherland and honor!
You are the spirit of Russia, you are its support!
You are Cossacks! Thank God you exist!
Cossacks
Sergey Melnikov 62
Forelock curly, golden
Playing in the wind
Horse bucks under me
Shakes his head.
Clearly we hear the order -
Checkers out, guys.
Lined up, trotting march,
Let's do it right.
And an avalanche of fellows
Glittering away,
Jumped across the steppe
Overtaking the wind.
Heard friendly - cheers,
Horse tramp.
When we are together, friends,
That is invincible.
Well, villagers, be bold,
Come on guys.
Behind Holy Rus'
And family houses.
Fear the enemy
Scream and whistle Cossack.
Hail Russian land
God, send luck.
After the battle, the Cossacks
Sit down by the fire
Drink bitter wine
And friends will be remembered.
Don't be sad, dear Don.
See, we're laughing.
Defeat the enemies of Russia
And we will return to you.
I found on the net quite interesting notes by Wrangel about Transbaikal Cossacks. I emphasize - notes. This odious personality also had such a gift as the gift of words.
“During the campaign, I managed to take a closer look at the Cossacks. In terms of development, intelligence, great resourcefulness and initiative, the Cossack is far superior to the regular soldier. His ability to navigate is especially striking. any fog, any dark night.
I once again expressed my surprise at this ability to one of the Buryats of my hundred.
“When you go somewhere, look back more often - look back; as the road seems, it will seem like that on the way back, and then you will never make a mistake. he taught me, and many times afterwards I thanked him in my heart for his advice.
Transbaikal Cossack in the highest degree he is hardy, never loses heart, is a good comrade and easily becomes attached to his officer. He does not have the bearing and external discipline of a regular soldier, and it is difficult to demand it from him, taking into account the passage of his service, but, having given an order, you can rely on the Cossack: he will execute it accurately and thoroughly. As a cavalryman, the Trans-Baikal Cossack, with his real training, leaves much to be desired. His horse care is extremely careless, or rather, there is no care, and one should only be surprised at the endurance and unpretentiousness of the Transbaikal horses, which can endure sometimes extremely difficult service under such conditions.
“I am often amazed at the ability of a Cossack to place an incredible amount of all sorts of objects on a saddle and in a bag. In this respect, he resembles that magician in a circus who takes out chickens, rabbits and, finally, an aquarium with fish from a cylinder before your eyes! ..
You won’t find anything at the Cossack: here are Chinese uls (a kind of pistons), and packs of Chinese tobacco, and “lendo” - a sickle for cutting kaoliang, and “tsauhagau” wrapped in paper - sweet cookies in bean oil. Several chickens and ducks are strapped to the saddle, and sometimes a whole piglet. The Cossack surprisingly quickly settles down with a snack; before you have time to rush a hundred, the water is already boiling in the pots, and the Cossack "cheats", or cooks soup.
At the crossings, I like to walk behind a hundred and watch: a hundred is drawn into some village, you look - one, another Cossack quietly leaves the ranks and turns into some courtyard. From there, hens fly out screaming, a pig jumps out with a squeal under the gate ... Upon leaving the village, order is quickly restored, and only fluff rushing from a hundred downwind indicates that the soup will be with a good fat. I must testify that until now I have not heard a single complaint about the appropriation by the Cossacks of any Chinese property - I mean indigestible items. As for any kind of livestock or fodder, their gratuitous appropriation does not constitute anything reprehensible in the concept of a Cossack.
I remember how genuinely perplexed, even indignant, my platoon officer when I paid the Chinese for food taken away during foraging.
Why, your honor, pay them, because we don’t take their property, ”he convinced me, apparently condemning my extravagance in my soul. In this regard, the Cossack will not spare his officer either: we took canned food, which we saved for a difficult moment of life, disappeared like smoke. My Hundred Commander had two bottles of red wine. One fine day, both were empty, although the bottles themselves were intact and the corks were not even opened.
Where is the wine! - strictly asks the orderly captain.
I can’t know, your high nobility, however, has leaked out - the messenger calmly answers.
After a long, careful examination, it turns out that the bottom of the bottle is imperceptibly drilled ... It is true that the Cossack, having taken out something edible himself, will certainly share it with you, no matter how hungry he himself is.
Note:The photo shows privileged Cossacks of the 2nd Argun Regiment of the Transbaikal Cossack Army during the Russo-Japanese War. The mentioned commander of the hundred is Prince Sergei Dmitrievich Obolensky. And especially for fans of Xena history. In March-April 1904, Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel spent some time in Transbaikalia, in particular in the city of Nerchinsk. If only someone could install a memorial plaque, he was a very worthy person, although our ancestors, and we, sang about him " white army, black baron, they are again preparing the royal throne for us ... ", because in itself participation in civil war, should not cross out the past merits of anyone.
“... the whole point is who needs all this independence, which, of course, violates the unity and power of Russia, dooming it in advance to lengthy internal friction, and even bloody clashes, the outcome of which, with a huge disparity in strength, there is no doubt ?
I will say frankly: not the Cossacks, in their mass, tormented and humiliated, but with the entire Russian people, a handful of convicts and murderers, this independence, hostile to Russia, is needed. It is useful to those of our neighbors who do not want to see our Motherland powerful and strong. Their dream is a weak, powerless Rus', torn apart by internal strife, without the Caucasus, with cropped outskirts.
“We, the Cossacks, don’t need all this inflated “independence” with other people’s, bad money. Its preachers are doing an evil deed, inciting hostility towards everything Russian, trying to forget everything in common that forever binds us to Russia, coming up with some fantastic theories about the origin of the Cossacks, supposedly alien - hostile to her.
From an article by A.P. Bogaevsky
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“The Bolsheviks, with the words of Trotsky, declared a cruel war on the Cossacks. From February 1918 to this day, the daily extermination of the Cossacks has not stopped. In the war, referring to starvation in the northern provinces for hard work, by shooting several hundred Cossacks deceived by the French, returning to the Don, the Bolsheviks and the Cossacks finish off. There is no longer any law, right or truth - the Cossacks are simply beaten, like Russian people who did not want to forget either their Russian blood or the holy Orthodox faith. And if the dominion of the Bolsheviks continues, nothing Cossack will remain in Russia.”
= = =
Don Cossack Nikolai Turoverov:
“Without Russia and outside of Russia, the Cossacks did not have, do not have and cannot have roads!”
= = =
You can often hear from independents about the hard life of the Cossacks under the tsars. As an example, they sometimes cite Nekrasov Cossacks. But it’s better to read not the interpretation of the “Cossacks”, but the version SAMIH Nekrasovites:
From a letter of Nekrasov Cossacks to Ataman Bogaevsky (1921)
“You write that our grandfathers left their native Russia, avoiding the persecution of the cruel authorities. We consider it our duty to declare that we consider any authority legally established to be from God and did not know cruelty from it in Russia, but went away from the insults of our own Cossack brothers, who did not agree with us in church hopes and for the most part did not sympathize with our views, the last and made our fathers depart from evil into the creation of good. And now, for more than two hundred years, we have found shelter in Turkey, and, living here, having preserved all our quests, customs and faith, we continue to be faithful sons of the Church of Christ and offer prayers for the Russian Tsar to this day, praying to the Almighty for the speedy end of the summer of interregnum.
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May Christ the Savior protect you and the army of the Don, and may He send the Sovereign Crown Bearer to Russia, who can pacify and introduce truth and order in Holy Rus'.
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Don Ataman, General Krasnov:
« Somehow, in early August, they came to my village. Trostenets regiment commanders and said:
Can't you. Your Excellency, tell the Cossacks about the Cossack troops, their geographical location, their relationship with Russia?
And what?
Yes, the dream of creating a separate common Cossack state, independent of Russia, ruled by its chieftains, with its own senior chieftain or council of chieftains, persists among young people.
Yes, how do you think about it?
We understand that this is impossible ... But it would only be good. Because if this dirty trick continues, Russia will perish, and we will perish with it. And so, perhaps, we will resist our Cossack republic.
Okay, I said.
On August 9 at the agricultural school, in a vast recreational hall, I appointed a message. Cossacks gathered, as never before, a lot. I hung up the map Russian Empire, drew on the blackboard with small squares, triangles, lines and dots all eleven Cossack troops, told the history of their formation, pointed out that only three troops represented a more or less compact mass: Donskoy, Kuban and Terek, and the rest were not only separated from each other thousands of miles from each other, but even the most Cossack villages are scattered in small patches among the non-Cossack population. In the Don army, Cossacks make up only 60%, and even less in the Kuban army. Under such conditions, the Cossacks can live only in complete friendship with Russia, and there is no need to think about any "independence". The gloomy Cossacks dispersed. I approached a group of Umanians, reasonable, firm Cossacks, crests.
What remains for us to do, Mr. General, - one of them told me. - Not otherwise than the whole Cossacks have to disappear.
There was no need to be so indignant at the old regime,” I said. - Under the Sovereign Emperor, you lived well. They took care of you and protected your rights.
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Don Ataman, General Kaledin:
“Russia must be united. Any separate aspirations must be set at the very bud.
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Don Ataman, General Krasnov:
« At the top were thoughts of unity. Commissioner of the provisional government of the Caucasian Army, member of the State Duma V.A. Kharlamov rushed about the creation of the South-Eastern Union from the Cossack troops and the Caucasus. Suspicious intellectuals stuck to this idea, yesterday's swindlers, head waiters of Moscow restaurants, who felt power and profit, signed agreements to stay firm and inviolable, argued about federation and confederation, not clearly understanding the very words, and in Novocherkassk he was already sitting at the same table with the most honest Kaledin, General from the cavalry and Knight of St. George, intoxicated Cossack Podtelkov from the officer messengers of the L.-Gds. His Majesty's 6th Donskoy battery, yesterday carrying firewood to the kitchen of his "pan", pounded his fist on the table and demanded from the ataman recognition of the authority of the "council" formed in the village of Kamenskaya.
Kaledin shot himself, unable to bear the struggle with empty chatter. Children died defending the honor of their fathers, their fathers painted themselves in the protective color of non-party membership, and sailors and Red Guards were already “walking with a sovereign step” to Novocherkassk to bring the Cossacks into the Soviet faith.
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The position of the glorious Kuban Shkuro in relation to Russia and the independents:
After Pokrovsky, I spoke, greeted with shouts of "Hurrah" and stormy applause from the Rada. Excited and excited by the warm reception, I delivered a speech, carrying out the same idea as Pokrovsky, but expressed it in a milder formulation. I ended my speech with a toast for the commander-in-chief, for the Kuban army, the Cossacks and Russia.
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Ryabovol asked me to nominate my candidacy for atamans.
- You are a natural Cossack, and all our hope is on you. Support us,” he urged me, but I decisively rejected this proposal, referring to the fact that I was still young for such a post, inexperienced in politics, and besides, an enemy of the separatist tendencies of the left elements of the Rada and a supporter of Veli
which Russia.Shkuro.
= = =
IN Shkuro's reminiscences of how the descendants of the Zaporizhian Cossacks perceived themselves:
They did not share Petlyura's separatist ideals at all and were not at all interested in him, considering him to be something like an eccentric, a psychopath.
— What kind of Ukrainians are we, we are Russians, they declared, only we are Cossacks.
The fact is that the left-bank Khokhols - direct descendants of the Cossacks - were proud of their nickname "Cossacks" and dreamed of restoring the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks.
(A. G. Shkuro. Notes of a white partisan)
It is noteworthy that the descendants of the Cossacks did not see any contradiction in the fact that they are both Cossacks and Russians. Such double identification apparently did not bother Shkuro either. But for some reason, modern Cossacks raise the question in the context of OR-OR, as if the Cossacks are not Russians.
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Don Ataman, General Krasnov:
“With my departure, the southeastern union was realized, and the supreme circle appeared with chairman V.A. Kharlamov, and the Cossacks surrendered their last positions near Novorossiysk and the Cossack troops, both independent and not independent, were wiped off the face of the earth.
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The Cossacks, who dreamed of having their own army, serve in the red Soviet cavalry and instead of the Cossack divisions are listed in the numbered cavalry divisions.
The cup of humiliation has been drunk to the end.
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The Third International is methodically finishing its main work: it is destroying the Cossacks, who for nearly four hundred years have served as the backbone of Russia and its Sovereigns.
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Don Ataman, General Krasnov:
“The Cossacks have never risen against their mother, Russia, and they will not rise now. To talk about Cossack "independence" is to do the work of Kondraty Bulavin, to teach the Cossacks to revolt, to lead them by a straight road to "... high mansions in the middle of the field, which is two: whether with pillars with a crossbar."
There will be no Cossacks outside of Russia.”
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P lastwords Ataman Don Cossacks, P.N. Krasnova, a kind of testament to his nephew Nikolai (who went through 10 years of camps after Lienz ...). These words help in many ways to understand Krasnov's understanding of all his life path, his struggles, his choices during and after the Civil War:
“... Bitter truth is always more expensive than sweet lies. It was enough self-praise and self-deception, self-consolation, with which our emigration was sick all the time. Do you see where the fear has led us all to look the truth in the eye and admit our delusions and mistakes? We have always overestimated our strength and underestimated the enemy. If it were the other way around, life would not end like this now ...
Whatever happens, don't you dare hate Russia. Not she, not the Russian people - the culprits of universal suffering. Not in him, not in the people, lies the cause of all misfortunes. There was a change. There was sedition. Those who were the first to love and protect their homeland did not love their homeland enough. It all started from above, Nikolai. From those who stood between the throne and the breadth of the people... Russia has been and will be. Maybe not the one, not in a boyar outfit, but in a sermyag and bast shoes, but she will not die. You can destroy millions of people, but they will be replaced by new ones. The people will not die. Everything will change when the time comes. Stalin and the Stalins will not live forever. They will die, and many changes will come... The resurrection of Russia will take place gradually. Not right away. Such a huge body cannot recover immediately ... ".
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Cry of Ataman Dutov
The veche bell of the Cossacks hums loudly and authoritatively. From the distant Don, his ringing rushes.
Older brother! Your alarm was heard by the sons of the Urals, they have been waiting for it for a long time. They've been fighting for two years for the great Mother Russia and a free Cossack will.
Grebensky, Sunzhensky, Labinsk, Black Sea, the entire stormy Terek and the glorious Kuban again took up their watchtowers and vigilantly protect Rus'.
Irtysh, remembering the past, sent the descendants of Yermak to strengthen Russian statehood.
And the alarm is getting stronger and stronger, and its sounds are floating in the air wider and wider.
So they reached the Amur and Baikal, joyfully responded in the hearts of the Cossacks, and the formidable regiments grow and grow.
And the alarm is buzzing.
The distant Ussuri stretched out and, hearing native sounds, started up and merged into the general current.
And the alarm sounds...
The quiet Semirechye, pressed close to China, stretches its hands to its siblings and rejoices at the quick help, having heard invocative sounds.
Astrakhan is convulsing, but the joyful ringing of the Cossack bell inspires the sons of the Volga.
And the alarm is getting louder and louder...
Sound you too, dear stanitsa, in your veche bells, and you too, sound the tocsin in your villages.
Light the signal milestones...
All the Cossacks stood up, stood up firmly, and there is no end to it.
From the Black Sea to the shores of the Ocean, regiments are menacingly moving. Steel peaks sway like forests.
The old Cossack rejoices, it is easy for him to die, seeing the friendship and power of the Cossack, seeing that the children did not shame his gray hair and remember the former glory.
The young Cossack also rejoices that God brought him to take part in the defense of the Cossack's freedom and to thank Nurse Rus for her worries.
Become, Cossack, denser.
Let the red, crimson, blue and yellow stripes show the whole world that the Cossack is still alive, his fiery heart is alive, his spirit is alive, and his free blood flows quickly, and there is no power to topple this age-old community.
On the blood and bones of their ancestors. free hunting-comon people, Cossack nests were created
Eternally free, alien to intrigues, the Cossack communities always stand for the right of the state. And the Cossack, who is always free, cannot allow unbridledness, betrayal and the sale of his Motherland.
The Cossack was and is a faithful son of the Motherland and loves her more than his life.
And the alarm is buzzing and buzzing.
And the old Cossack takes off his grandfather's sword from the wall, leaves to the defense of Orthodox Rus'.
And the violent heads of young people bow before the gray Cossack head, and their cheerful laughter subsides.
Glory to you. Quiet Don; glory to the exuberant Terek; the glory of the beautiful Kuban; glory to the free Urals; glory to the old Irtysh; glory to the cold Baikal; Glory to Amur and Ussuri.
Free villagers hear the alarm, and its sounds are joyful to them.
Rus' is great, Rus' is quiet, homespun, Rus' is Orthodox; Do you hear the Cossack alarm. Wake up, dear, and strike all the bells in your old Kremlin - Moscow, and your alarm will be heard everywhere .
drop it great people, a foreign, German yoke.
And the sounds of Veche Cossack bells will merge with your Kremlin chime, and Great Rus', Orthodox Rus' will be indivisible.
Sound the alarm, Russian people, beat harder, call your sons, and
we will all be friends for holy Rus' ...Newspaper "Russian East" (Chita),
Published according to the almanac "Cossack circle"
Napoleon about the Cossacks:
“Give me 20 thousand Cossacks and I will conquer the whole world”
Napoleonic General Morand:
“What a magnificent sight the European cavalry presented, gleaming with gold and steel in the rays of the sun, how much enthusiasm and courage! ... And this most beautiful cavalry of France crashed and melted from the actions of the Cossacks, whom she considered unworthy of herself.”
French General De Bart:
“Don Cossacks are the best of all light troops. Russia has always taken the maximum benefit from them in wars ... All the numerous cavalry gathered under the banner of the Great Corsican (Napoleon) died mainly under the blows of the Cossacks of Ataman Platov.
French General Vintsegorod:
English General Nolan:
"The Cossacks in 1812-1815 did more for Russia than its entire Army."
Stendhal:
“The name of the Cossack for the French thundered with horror, and after they met in Paris, they opened themselves to them as heroes from ancient myths. They were pure as children and great as gods."
Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov:
"Cossacks are the eyes and ears of the army!"
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin:
“Where the Cossacks came from is not exactly known, but in any case it is older than the Batu invasion in 1237. These knights lived in communities, not recognizing the power of Poles, Russians, or Tatars over themselves.
Alfred Kuri, German soldier, 1942:
“Everything I heard about the Cossacks during the war of 1914 pales in front of the horrors that we experience before the Cossacks now. One memory of a Cossack attack terrifies me and makes me tremble. Nightmares haunt me at night. Cossacks are a whirlwind that sweeps away all obstacles and obstacles in its path. We are afraid of the Cossacks, as the retribution of the Almighty.
(from the report of the fascist colonel under the village of Shkurinskaya):
“Before me, the Cossacks. They have instilled such mortal fear in my soldiers that I cannot advance any further."
Vladimir Putin
“I especially want to say about the Cossacks. Today millions of our fellow citizens belong to this estate. Historically, the Cossacks were in the service of the Russian state, defended its borders, participated in military campaigns of the Russian Army. After the revolution of 1917, the Cossacks were subjected to the most severe repressions, in fact - genocide. However, the Cossacks survived, preserving their culture and traditions. And the task of the state is to help the Cossacks in every possible way, to involve them in carrying military service and military-patriotic education of youth.
p.s. Before the storming of Paris by Russian troops in March 1814, the entire French capital, by order of the emperor, was pasted over with colorful popular prints depicting Cossacks. On cartoon prints, they were depicted as demons setting fire to the houses of innocent citizens (see. appendix A,M). The Cossacks entering Paris were met by crowds of citizens who wanted to see the demons in the flesh. However, instead of monsters, stately riders with impeccable bearing entered the city, having a reputation as invincible warriors, who received respect and honor not only among the people, but also from the rulers.
It is no coincidence that the Russian people had a dream to become like the Cossacks: “The people dream of becoming Cossacks,” wrote Tolstoy L.N. And the Cossacks themselves sought to achieve their ideal - a warrior with personal dignity, self-respect, aware of his rights.
The role of the Cossacks in the historical and cultural events of the twentieth century was ambiguous. Faithful defenders of the throne, the Cossacks became associated with the stranglers of freedom. And after October 1917, the Cossacks were deprived of all rights and privileges, forcibly deported by the Bolsheviks and the Soviet authorities to various regions of vast Russia, many of them were imprisoned in camps, physically destroyed.
L. Trotsky was right when he stated: "The Cossacks are capable of self-organization." It received an impetus for revival during the years of severe trials - during the wars of 1939, 1941-1945. Then dozens of Cossack units and formations were formed, showing examples of courage, valor and heroism on all fronts, which reaffirmed the loyalty of the Cossacks to the Fatherland, their patriotism and valor.
The history of Russia is inseparable, inseparable from the history and culture of the Cossacks. The role of the Cossacks in Russian history, without exaggeration, one of the most important, albeit sometimes controversial. The history of Russia is one of the most significant in terms of the phenomenal image of the Cossacks. After all, there were great Cossacks - pioneers and discoverers, true patriots of the land of Russian Cossacks - defenders of the fatherland, playing the role of an "outpost", a heroic outpost, carrying out border service, defending and preserving the integrity of Russia as a state, territory and civilization. There were others - the Cossacks of troubled times. We will not name them. But - this is history, it endures and forgives everything, if only they remember and do not repeat mistakes.
The Cossacks took an active part in all peasant wars and many popular uprisings. Since the 18th century, the Cossacks have been directly involved in all the wars of Russia. The Cossacks especially distinguished themselves in the Russian-Turkish wars of the 17th-18th centuries, the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), Patriotic war(1812) and foreign campaigns (1813-1814), the Caucasian War (1817-1864), Crimean War (1853-1856), Russian-Turkish war(1877-1878) and in the First World War... Cossacks heroically fought the enemy on a mass scale during the Great Patriotic War.
Thus, the merits of the Cossacks in the development of Russian history and culture are enormous: they expanded and guarded the borders Russian state, spread high moral ideals, traditional values, were an example for the majority, forming unshakable stamina, love of freedom, honor, and courage. Their special Cossack spirit had a great influence on the formation of the Russian mentality. It is no coincidence that by the beginning of the twentieth century, the Cossacks began to symbolize the Russian Empire.
