Zaporozhye Sich: land ownership in Ukraine The Cherkassy elder Dmitry Vishnevetsky played a decisive role in the history of the Ukrainian Cossacks. His eventful life did not last long, but was full bright episodes. Vishnevetsky decided to create a base for the Cossacks,

“Transdanubian Sich” The third part, fulfilling the order of the Sultan, moved to the arm of the Danube and founded the Sich near the city of Dunajtsa, driving out the Don Cossacks “Nekrasovtsy” who lived there, who at one time, not wanting to obey the government, fled from Russia. “Transdanubian Sich”

Zaporizhian Sich The nest of the Cossacks was the Zaporizhian Sich. Cossack strength grew here; From here, for the most part, came the main leaders of the rebels and dashing gangs who walked the sea to the fear of the Turks; daredevils from all sides converged here. Where the Dnieper, having made its way between

On August 14, 1775, Catherine II (1729-1796) issued a manifesto “On the destruction of the Zaporozhye Sich and its inclusion in the Novorossiysk Province.” “We wanted to announce throughout our Empire,” the document said, “that the Zaporozhye Sich has already been completely destroyed with the extermination for the future of the very name of the Zaporozhye Cossacks...”.
At the end of the 15th century, on the borders with the steppe (Wild Field), where the Tatars had previously reigned supreme, people began to settle, who for one reason or another had become marginalized. These were fugitive peasants, hiding criminals, disgraced nobles, and simply “dashing heads” - those for whom a peaceful life was not to their liking and for whom a saber was more valuable than a wife. All of these were “desperate” people, accustomed to danger and not particularly valuing either their own or the enemy’s life. They began to be called Cossacks (from the Turkic “free man”). At the end of the 16th century, the Cossacks would turn into a military class. Then not only those who only wanted to wave a saber would come to the Sich, but also those who considered it their duty to defend the fatherland from the steppe inhabitants. And yet, the Sich will never lose its marginality, and war will forever remain the main source of Cossack income.
In 1556, Prince Dmitry Vishnevetsky (1516-1563) with his people, who sought to create a barrier against Tatar raids, somehow organized this motley brethren and tried to direct their energy in the right direction. He built a fortification beyond the Dnieper rapids, on the island of Malaya Khortytsia. The beginning of the Zaporozhye Sich is usually associated with this event.
Ukrainian word“Sich” means the same as the Russian “zaseka”, that is, a defensive fortification built using forest debris. The trees, cut down (cut) at the height of a man, fell with their tops to the side from where one could expect an enemy attack. The rows of fallen trees were an almost impassable obstacle for the Tatar cavalry. And since the Zaporozhye Cossacks built their fortified points on the Dnieper islands, it was almost impossible to take them.
Subsequently, the word “Sich” began to designate the capital (military and administrative center) Zaporozhye Cossacks, as well as the region beyond the Dnieper rapids, where a kind of Cossack “republic” emerged.
Founded by Dmitry Vishnevetsky, the Khortitsa fortress existed until 1558, when it had to be abandoned due to lack of strength (there was a mobile war with the Tatars). But in the seventies years XVI century, the Sich arose again, now on the island of Tomakovka (near the modern city of Manganets, Dnepropetrovsk region). In 1593, the capital of the free Cossacks was moved to the Dnieper island of Bazavluk, now flooded by the Kakhovka reservoir. In the future, the Sich will change its place more than once.

In 1569, the Union of Lublin was concluded, uniting the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a single state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (sometimes simply called Poland). Thus, the Ukrainian lands, together with Zaporozhye, which were previously part of Lithuania, found themselves within the borders of the new state. It changed a lot. Firstly, Ukrainian peasants found themselves under the rule of Polish Catholic feudal lords: socio-economic oppression was supplemented by religious oppression, which increased the influx of fugitives to Zaporozhye. By the way, not only peasants, but also nobles will leave. Secondly, the attitude of the authorities towards the Cossack freemen changed. Of course, the government of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was not pleased with the population drain, but, on the other hand, it was forced to put up with it. The fact is that the Polish kings, unlike Lithuanian princes, wanted to “really” control the entire territory formally subject to them. And if Lithuania treated the southern Ukrainian lands as an abandoned outskirts, then Poland was not satisfied with this approach. However, it did not have sufficient strength to protect the southern borders of the state from Tatar raids and needed the help of the Cossacks.
Therefore, in 1576, King Stefan Batory granted the Cossacks the right to a military structure, and their ataman - hetman kleinods (regalia). Six thousand Cossacks were included in special lists (register). They were given a salary for border protection service.
Of course, after the reform of Stefan Batory, social stratification began among the Cossacks. Registered Cossacks became an elite compared to those who were not included in the register. These were called golutvenny Cossacks (from the Ukrainian “golota” - golytba, poor peasants) - there were indeed enough marginalized people among them. However, despite the fact that social differentiation within the Sich slowly progressed, it did not lead to harsh confrontation among the Cossacks, at least until the second half XVII century. The Sich has always been considered a “community of equals,” a kind of “military democracy.” Regardless of financial situation, every Cossack had the right to participate in the military assembly (rada) and could be elected to any position.
The supreme body of the Sich was the Sich Rada, which decided all the most important issues. The Sich Rada elected a koshev (from the Ukrainian kosh - “camp”) ataman - the head of the military administration in the Zaporozhye Sich, as well as a military judge, military captain and a military clerk. All together they made up the Troop Sergeant Major. They were elected for one year, but could be replaced earlier if the army was dissatisfied with them.
The army itself was divided into kurens, into which the Cossack countrymen united. A long log barracks that served as a Cossack “dormitory” was also called a kuren. Each kuren elected a kuren chieftain, who was in charge of the household and all internal affairs. Women were not allowed into the Sich, although some Cossacks had families and wives “on the side.”

The main enemies of the Zaporozhye Cossacks for a long time were the Tatars and Turks. The Crimean Tatars, supported by Turkey, carried out systematic predatory raids on Ukrainian and South Russian lands, ruining them and driving the population into slavery. The Cossacks responded with sea and land raids into Crimea and Turkey.
On Cossack boats (“gulls”), the Cossacks descended down the Dnieper into the Black Sea, devastating Turkish and Tatar possessions. They also made long-distance raids across the Bosporus into the Mediterranean Sea. More than once the Cossack fleet appeared under the walls of Istanbul. The largest Cossack naval commander was Hetman Peter Sahaidachny. Under his leadership, the Cossacks took the Turkish fortress of Varna in 1605, captured Sinop and Trebizond in 1616, and then, having destroyed the Turkish fleet, took Kafa (present-day Feodosia), freeing several thousand Christian captives who were to be sold into slavery.
In 1621, near Khotyn, a forty-thousand-strong Zaporozhye army led by Hetman Sagaidachny, united with a thirty-five-thousand-strong Polish-Lithuanian army, won a brilliant victory over the two-hundred-thousand-strong army of the Turkish Sultan. Unfortunately, Sagaidachny was seriously wounded in the battle and died from his wounds a year later. In the 60-70s of the 17th century, the Cossacks, under the leadership of Koshe Ataman Ivan Sirko, undertook a number of successful campaigns in the Crimea, and also participated together with Russian troops in the Chigirin (1677-78), Crimean (1687 and 1689) and Azov campaigns (1695-78). 96).
However, the Cossacks fought not only against the “basurmans”. Zaporozhye Cossacks (they were still called Cherkasy at that time) took an active part in the events of the Time of Troubles (1605-1618) in the Moscow state, fighting on the side of False Dmitry I, False Dmitry II and Polish invaders. In 1618, the Zaporozhye army, led by Hetman Sagaidachny, even besieged Moscow. But, at the same time, this did not stop the Cossacks from raising anti-Polish uprisings, demanding independence.
This was the uprising organized by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the spring of 1648. Unable to defend the independence of Ukraine, Khmelnytsky turned to Moscow for help (1654). The war lasted until 1667 and ended with the annexation of Left Bank Ukraine and Kiev to Russia.

The transfer to the citizenship of the Moscow sovereign had almost no effect on the internal order in the Sich. Serious conflicts with tsarist government began only under Peter I, who not only forced the Golutven Cossacks to pay a poll tax, but also began the construction of fortresses near the Zaporozhye Sich.
After the betrayal of Hetman Ivan Mazepa, in the spring of 1709, Koshevoy Ataman Konstantin Gordeenko, with almost the entire foreman and eight thousand Cossacks, went over to the side Charles XII. In response, Peter sent to the Sich punitive expedition under the command of Colonel Peter Yakovlev. He approached the Sich along the Dnieper and, with the help of Cossack Colonel Ignatius Galagan, took it by storm on May 14, 1709. The captured Cossacks were executed, and the fortifications of the Sich were destroyed.
On May 26, 1709, Peter I issued a manifesto announcing the destruction of the Sich and ordering that “from now on the Cossacks should not be allowed into Russian borders,” with the exception of those who would come alone and confess, without weapons. Accusing the Cossacks of treason, Peter wrote: “...The Cossacks in some cases appeared... submissive, however, they never abandoned their evil intentions, they did it cunningly and always sought the time to fulfill that plan of theirs, like thieves and robbers...”.
After the destruction of the Old Sich, the Cossacks tried to found their own in 1710 new capital at the confluence of the Kamenka River into the Dnieper (in the current Kherson region), but the following year, by order of Peter I, it was also destroyed by Hetman Ivan Skoropadsky and General Ivan Buturlin. The surviving Cossacks on the "gulls" crossed into the possessions Crimean Khan and founded on the left bank of the Dnieper, in the Aleshki tract near modern Kherson, the so-called Aleshkovskaya Sich.
But the Cossacks did not feel particularly comfortable in their new place. The close proximity to the Nogais and Crimean Tatars forced us to be on guard all the time. In the end, it was decided to seek ways of reconciliation with the Russian government. But the Cossacks received permission to return to their homeland only under Anna Ioannovna, in 1734. They founded the new, or Podpilenskaya Sich, on the island of Chertomlyk, at the mouth of the Podpilnaya River. The new Sich was only a weak shadow of the old one. Having begged forgiveness from the Russian government, the Cossacks had to obediently fulfill its demands. In 1736, a fortification was built in Sich, which housed a permanent royal garrison: Moscow never ceased to treat the Cossack freemen with suspicion. It had to be put up with as long as the Sich was needed to protect the southern borders of the empire from the attacks of the Crimean Tatars. But after the defeat of the Crimean Khanate and its transition to Russian protectorate (1772), the fate of the Sich was sealed.
The Russian government had several reasons for dissatisfaction with the Sich. Firstly, fugitive peasants and soldiers continued to flock here, seeking salvation from conscription. The Cossacks, as a rule, did not extradite fugitives. Secondly, the Cossacks prevented the introduction of serfdom in southern Ukraine, considering these lands their own. Thirdly, the willfulness of the Cossacks led to constant conflicts with neighboring states. The Cossacks not only accepted fugitives from the Right Bank of Ukraine, which belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but also joined the detachments of the Haidamaks (the so-called participants in the Cossack and peasant uprisings against the Polish gentry and the Catholic clergy). The last uprising of the Haidamaks in 1768 (“Koliivshchyna”) was hardly suppressed with the help of Russian troops. The ongoing raids of the Cossacks on the southern lands, despite the ban of the Russian government, complicated relations with Turkey. Thus, the reason for the start of the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774 was the attack of the Cossacks on the Turkish border town of Balta.
At the beginning of May 1775, Lieutenant General Pyotr Tekeli received an order to occupy the Sich and put an end to the free structure and self-will of the Cossacks. With an expeditionary force of twenty-five thousand, Tekeli besieged Sich. Everything happened quickly and without bloodshed: the impressive appearance of the cannon battery placed by the general opposite the Zaporozhye fortifications convinced the Cossacks, and on June 5, 1775 they surrendered without a fight. The Sich was destroyed, and on August 14, a manifesto from Catherine II followed, authorizing the liquidation of the Sich “with the destruction of the very name of the Zaporozhye Cossacks.”

The liquidation of the Zaporozhye Sich and the distribution of Zaporozhye lands to landowners forced many Cossacks to flee to the possessions of the Turkish Sultan. The bulk of the fugitives were the Zaporozhye poor, who were threatened with enslavement. The Turkish government was interested in the Cossacks coming into its service, and therefore allowed them to settle in the border area near Ochakov. In total, according to various estimates, from five to seven thousand Cossacks fled to Turkey.
Catherine II demanded the extradition of the fugitives. But the Turks did not agree to this. On the contrary, they moved the Cossacks away from the border, to the right bank of the Danube, so as not to be an eyesore for the empress. In 1778, the Sultan officially recognized the Cossacks as his subjects. On Turkish lands, the Cossacks founded the Transdanubian Sich, which changed its location several times until it settled in the Georgievsky arm of the Danube. Life for the Cossacks in Turkey, according to the Ukrainian historian Mikhail Grushevsky, was not bad, only “the conscience of the Cossacks tormented them that they had to help the Busurmans fight against Christians.” Therefore, the Transdanubian Sich gradually melted away due to the flight of individual detachments of Cossacks to their coreligionists in Russia.
In response to the mass “exodus” of the Cossacks to Turkey, the Russian government arrested former military officers and chieftain Pyotr Kalnishevsky. Kalnishevsky spent more than 25 years in prison in Solovetsky Monastery, where he died in 1803, said to be aged 112.
And yet, when another war between Russia and Turkey began in 1787, the Russian government turned for help to the former Cossacks who still remained in Ukraine. From them the so-called “army of loyal Cossacks” was created, renamed in 1788 to the Black Sea Cossack army. In the Russian-Turkish War of 1787-1791, the Black Sea Cossacks had to fight their former compatriots from the Transdanubian Sich.
A different situation arose in May 1828, at the beginning of the new Russian-Turkish war (1828-1829). Then part of the “Turkish” Cossacks, led by the Koshe chieftain Osip Gladky (1789-1866), near Izmail, went over to the side of the Russian army. In response to this, the Turks destroyed the Transdanubian Sich, brutally dealing with the Cossacks who remained there. Of those who decided to stay on Russian territory, the Azov Cossack Army was formed. He was settled between Mariupol and Berdyansk. In 1860, it was resettled to Kuban and, together with the Black Sea Army, joined the Kuban Cossack Army.
“It was all over the place—harmati (guns) were roaring in Ukraine; if they were pricked, the Cossacks were forced to panic. They fought, they gained fame and freedom; passed - the graves remained on the field,” wrote Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861), summing up the two-century history of the Zaporozhye Sich.

source - nnm.ru

28.08.2013 0 7398

The first settlements of free people in the steppe, near the rapids of the Dnieper, appeared in XIII-XIV centuries. Gradually, the inhabitants of these places began to be called “Cossacks.” The word of Turkic origin passed into the Russian language from the Mongol-Tatars. Usually they were called robbers who hunted on the highways. And sometimes - security guards who were hired to defend against these same robbers.

Cossack is different from Cossack

In the middle of the 16th century, scattered Cossack detachments began to unite into a single force. In 1553, the Volyn prince Dmitry Vishnevetsky founded a wooden and earthen castle on the island of Malaya Khortytsia, building it at his own expense. This is how the first Sich - Khortytsia - arose. Vishnevetsky’s relationship with the Polish king did not go well. But he established close friendship with the Muscovite kingdom. Being a distant relative of Ivan the Terrible, Vishnevetsky and his Cossacks received Active participation in campaigns against the Crimean Tatars. However, soon the Crimeans, together with the Turks, ravaged Khortytsia. Vishnevetsky took possession of the city of Belev (in the modern Tula region) and left the Dnieper forever. And the Cossacks again scattered into separate small settlements. And then the kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth drew attention to the Dnieper freemen.

The famous letter of the Zaporozhye Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan Mohammed IV, full of insults, was written in the 17th century, in response to the demand to lay down their arms.

To be called a registered Cossack was not only honorable, but also profitable. High status, honor, regular salary... But they had a very conditional relationship to the real Zaporozhye Sich.

Registered Cossacks lived not on the Dnieper, but in the town of Trakhtemirov, Kyiv Voivodeship. Their treasury, arsenal, archives and hospital were located there. They contemptuously called the real Cossacks “golyt-venny Cossacks” - from the word “golytba”. The Polish crown also did not recognize the free Cossacks of the Dnieper rapids, although it used them for military campaigns, together with the registered Cossacks. It turned out that there were two Zaporozhye Sichs at the same time: the official registered army and the wild Dnieper freemen, called the “grassroots Cossacks”. Both of them, of course, considered themselves real, and called their opponents impostors.

The “lower” Zaporozhye Sich was not a state. It was a community of free people, completely unique for the 16th-17th centuries, who lived as they wanted, without submitting to outside power. All decisions were made jointly, at smoking and kosheva radas (meetings). All Cossacks of the Sich were considered to be members of a kosh (community or partnership), which was divided into 38 kurens. A kuren is both a military unit (such as a battalion or a regiment) and a long wooden house (more like a barracks) in which the Cossacks lived. The entire territory on which the Sich was located was divided into 8 palanki (districts).

The most important person in the Sich was the Koshevoy Ataman, elected at the Koshevoy Rada. He had enormous power - he resolved disputes, passed death sentences and commanded the army. His closest assistants held the positions of judge, captain and clerk. And already behind them in seniority were the kuren atamans. In total, a little more than a hundred people occupied certain positions in the Sich. All others were equal.

Even the ataman could not challenge the decision of the Kosheva Rada, which met without fail once a year. Any Sich Cossack had the right to vote. But becoming a “Sich” was not so easy. It was not enough to simply come to the Sich and declare your desire to join the Cossacks. Several conditions had to be met.

Firstly, anyone wishing to join the Sich had to be free and unmarried. So it was easier for the runaway serfs to go to the Don than to the Cossacks. Although, in order to confirm their free status, it was enough to give their word, which, of course, many took advantage of. Secondly, only Orthodox Christians or those who were ready to change their faith were accepted. And finally, thirdly, it was necessary to learn “Sich knighthood.”

Only after seven years of training the candidate received the status of a “tested comrade” and was allowed to join the Sich. At the same time, he was given a nickname and surname - remember Gogol’s Taras Bulba or Mosiya Shilo.

Those who had not yet passed the test lived on the borders of the Sich and were called “winter Cossacks.” Those who decided to get married were also sent there. Moreover, they were all considered part of the “grassroots army”. But they did not participate in rads and received only a small fraction from war booty.

Relations between the Zaporozhye Sich and Russia have always been difficult. Until the middle of the 17th century, the Cossacks went on campaigns against Moscow more than once. During the Time of Troubles, they fought for False Dmitry I and supported the Polish prince Vladislav, who laid claim to the Russian throne.

However, as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth strengthened, the Orthodox Cossacks began to feel more and more uncomfortable in an alliance with the rigidly Catholic state. This resulted in the uprising of Boris Khmelnitsky in 1648. Being a Cossack colonel, he managed to unite the registered Cossacks with the “grassroots army” and jointly give battle to the Polish king. The result was Pereyaslavskaya Rada 1654, which announced the transition of the Cossacks to Russian rule. This is how a new autonomous entity arose - the Hetmanate. There, two Sichs began to exist side by side again: the Army of His Royal Majesty Zaporozhian (registered Cossacks) and the “grassroots army”.

The alliance with Russia was short-lived. During Northern War The fatal betrayal of Hetman Mazepa occurred. On Battle of Poltava The hetman brought only a few hundred Cossacks. But even before this, the Cossacks launched active military operations against the Russians. True, it turned out that the “regiments of the new system” created by Peter I were too tough for the Cossacks. The Sichs lost their former dashing spirit and stopped borrowing military innovations from the enemy. They became cumbersome to climb and clumsy in battle.

The further history of the Zaporozhye Cossacks is one of endless wanderings, trying to find a new home and revive their former glory. I had to ask for protection from my sworn enemies - the Turkish Sultan and the Crimean Khan. But the Cossacks did not take root there. They returned to Russia under Anna Ioannovna and founded the New, or Podpolnenskaya, Sich almost in the same place where they were defeated by Peter. They guarded the Russian border, participated in the Russian-Turkish wars, but never reached their former scale.

Catherine the Great put an end to the history of the free Cossacks, who on August 3, 1775 signed the manifesto “On the destruction of the Zaporozhye Sich and on its inclusion in the Novorossiysk province.”

Victor BANEV

5.08.1775 (18.08). – Liquidation of the Zaporozhye Sich in connection with the Pugachev rebellion

Zaporizhzhya Sich - the military and administrative center of the Little Russian Cossacks, which was located beyond the Dnieper rapids in the 16th–18th centuries. According to researchers, the first fortress beyond the Dnieper rapids (the so-called Khortitsky Castle) was built by Prince Dmitry Vishnevetsky in 1553 on the island of Malaya Khortitsa to repel the raids of the Crimean Tatars and existed until 1557. The name "Sich" comes from the word " sekti", "carve", this name is associated with the fact that the capital was surrounded by a palisade with sharp edges carved out. Inside there was a church, outbuildings and residential buildings - smoking areas. The residential kuren was a long barracks, 30 meters long and about 4 meters wide. This word also meant a military unit: there were 38 kurens in total. (The word “Kosh” was often used with the word “Sich” and the Zaporozhian Army was sometimes called the Zaporozhye Kosh. This word is of Turkic origin and means “nomadic camp”. The Cossacks, using the word “Sich”, meant the permanent capital of the Army, and by the word Kosh they meant the entire territory nomadic troops during campaigns.)

Reception of those who came to the Zaporozhye Sich was carried out, according to D.I. Yavornitsky, under the following conditions:
– status of a free and unmarried person
– good knowledge Russian language
- belonging to the Orthodox faith
– special military training.

Newly accepted Cossacks were given new surnames in the Cossack style, for example: Ne-Ridai-mene-mati, Shmat, Lisitsya, Ne-piy-voda, etc.

In terms of national composition, the Sich mainly consisted of Little Russian Cherkasy (i.e. Russians, not to be confused with Circassians). But in addition, among those accepted there were people of different nationalities: Poles, Litvins, Tatars, Turks, Armenians, etc. The Zaporozhye army was divided into Sich and Winter Cossacks. The first were the color of the Cossacks and were called “knighthood” or “comradery”. Only these Cossacks had the right to choose a foreman from among their ranks, receive a salary and participate in government affairs. Winter Cossacks were not allowed to the Sich, but lived near it, but were also part of the Zaporozhian Army.

The Rada of Zaporizhian Cossacks was the highest administrative, legislative and judicial body. At the military councils, all the most important issues in the life of the Cossacks were discussed: about peace, about campaigns against enemies, about punishing criminals, about the division of lands and lands, about the choice of a military foreman. Military councils met without fail on January 1 (the beginning of the new year), October 1 (a temple holiday in the Sich), as well as on the 2nd or 3rd day. In addition, the Rada could be convened at any day and time at the request of the majority of the Army. The decisions of the Rada were binding on every Cossack.

Administrative and judicial authorities in the Zaporozhian Army there were up to one and a half hundred people. The main thing in the Sich was the Koshevoy Ataman. Next came the judge, captain, clerk and kuren atamans. It was actually the government of the Zaporozhye Sich. Next came the lowest command staff: signatory, podesaul, cornet, etc. Koshevoy ataman united together military, administrative, judicial and spiritual power and in war time had the powers of a dictator. The symbol of power of the Koshe chieftain is the mace. However, without the decision of the Rada, the Koshevoy Ataman could not make a single decision on his own.

Before the court, everyone was equal - the commander and the simple Cossack. The murder of a Cossack by a Cossack, beating of a Cossack in drunk, relationship with a woman and the “sin of Sodom,” defamation of a woman, insolence towards superiors, desertion, robbery of the population, concealing part of the booty and drunkenness during campaigns. The judges were all military foreman. Punishments were: chained to a wooden post in the square, chained to a cannon, mounted on a wooden mare, beaten with a whip or cues, death. They were sentenced to death for theft, even petty theft. Pillorying with cues was used for thieves, adulterers, sodomites and deserters. For the murder of a Cossack by a Cossack, the killer was placed alive in a dug hole, and a coffin with the dead man was lowered on top of him and buried.

The Zaporozhye Cossacks, in addition to their favorite sabers, spears, daggers and other bladed weapons, were armed with self-propelled guns, pistols, cannons, howitzers, and mortars. The Zaporozhian army was armed with the most advanced weapons of that time, taken from all the opponents with whom the Cossacks fought. The army was divided into three types of troops - infantry, cavalry and artillery. The number of the entire army was 10,000 - 12,000 people, of which the infantry was about 6,000 people. The elite part of the army was the cavalry. The army was divided into regiments and hundreds. The hundred was a tactical unit of the army and numbered 180 people. The regiment consisted of three hundred with a total number of 540 people. A common vehicle used by the Cossacks during steppe campaigns was a camp, that is, a quadrangular or round row of carts, which could be installed in several rows and fastened with chains.

The campaigns were mainly undertaken against the Poles, Tatars, and Turks. Land campaigns always began in the spring; for this purpose, a gathering of Cossacks in the Sich was announced. Just before leaving the Sich, a prayer service was served and then the largest cannon was fired. The movement of the troops proceeded with great caution along gullies and ravines. During the hike, it was forbidden to make fires, talk loudly, or smoke cradles. Scouts walked ahead of the troops. The main task was a surprise attack on the enemy.

Sea voyages were carried out on the so-called “gulls” - large boats that could accommodate from 50 to 70 Cossacks; each had a saber, two guns, ammunition and food. Autumn time was chosen for sea voyages, especially cloudy days and dark nights. The seagulls came straight out of the Sich and descended to the Black Sea. The news of the Cossacks going to sea terrified the coastal regions of Turkey. The Cossacks viewed the Turks as infidel invaders who had come to these lands, and also as defenders and patrons of the Crimean Tatar invaders, with whom there was a continuous war. Landing on the shore, the Cossacks killed the inhabitants, took away all valuable property, weapons, money and returned to the Sich with booty.

Living near the Crimean Tatars, who considered their main occupation to be raiding Russians, the Zaporozhye Cossacks took measures to protect their borders from a sudden invasion. The Cossacks' means of security were horse patrols (bekets) of Cossacks along the eastern and southern borders. For guard beckets, raduts were built - outposts along the left bank of the Dnieper at distances of 15 - 18 km from each other, so that one could see the other from one radut. To warn of attacking Tatars, a pillar was made of barrels stacked on top of each other, on top of which a bunch of straw was lit.

Unfortunately, the Cossacks attacked not only the Tatars and Turks. Several thousand Cossacks came to the reign. In 1606 they plundered Pronsk, Mikhailov, Zaraysk, and Ryazan. Then in 1611 they continued to attack Kozelsk, and in 1612 they attacked Vologda. In 1618 they joined the campaign of the Polish prince Vladislav against Moscow; The Cossacks were led by Koshevoy Ataman Peter Sagaidachny. The Belsk Chronicle describes the capture by the Cossacks at the beginning of this campaign of the city of Livny (at the confluence of the Livenka and Sosna rivers, a tributary of the Don, now in the southeast of the Oryol region), led by Koshevoy ataman Pyotr Sagaidachny: “...And he came, Pan Sagadachny, with Cherkassy near the Ukrainian city near Livny, and took Livny by storm, and shed a lot of Christian blood, killed many Orthodox peasants with their wives and children innocently, and committed desecrations to many Orthodox Christians, and desecrated and destroyed the churches of God, and robbed all Christian houses and many wives and captured the children..."

The main sources of income in the Sich were: military booty during campaigns, foreign and domestic trade, wine sales, tribute from transportation, and later also state cash salaries. According to custom, the Cossacks gave the best part of the booty to the church, and divided the rest among themselves. As noted by foreigners who visited the Sich on trade, embassy or other business, the money remaining after the division could be drunk by the Cossacks to the last penny. Concealing part of the loot by a Cossack was considered a crime. The second significant part of the income came from the taverns located on the lands of the Zaporozhian Army and the collection from the troops of merchants, merchants, industrialists and Chumaks passing through the lands. A significant part of the income came from “smoke taxes,” that is, a tax on housing within the Army. The last source of income was the salary received by the Cossacks from Polish king(registered Cossacks), and then from the Moscow Tsar.

An analysis of the letters of the foremen of the Zaporozhian Army indicates that these were literate people, they wrote in Russian not only competently, but also stylistically correctly. The Cossacks had their own schools: Sich, monastery and parochial. Boys who were forcibly taken by Cossacks to the Sich or brought by their parents studied in Sich schools. The monastery school existed at the Samara Hermitage-Nicholas Monastery. Parochial schools existed at all churches on the territory of the Zaporozhian Army.

The Zaporozhye Cossacks firmly adhered to the Orthodox faith. The Church sanctified everything the most important stages life and activities of the Cossacks. Since Little Russia was occupied by the Poles, and in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the Orthodox faith was brutally persecuted, especially after, the defense of the faith fell to the lot of the Cossacks, giving them perseverance. This circumstance, together with the strengthening of Polish-Jewish oppression, became the cause of the Cossack uprisings.

In 1648, the Cossacks began a war of liberation, led by the hetman (see the article about him). Unable to defeat the Poles on their own, the Cossacks turned to the Moscow Tsar for help. In 1654, it was convened, declaring the reunification of Little Russia with Russia. Russian troops supported the rebel Cossacks, which led to the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667. The war ended with the Andrusevsky Truce, under the terms of which the territories lying east of the Dnieper (left-bank Ukraine), as well as Kyiv and the surrounding area on the right bank, went to Russia; right-bank Ukraine remained with Poland.

So, despite the excesses of robbery (considered a crime by the Cossacks themselves), the Little Russian Cossacks played a historically important role in preserving Russian identity and restoring the Russian territorial affiliation of Little Rus'. At first, Little Russia was only formally part of Russian Empire, the hetmans retained all income from the cities and villages of Little Russia. However, being under the authority of the Russian Tsars inevitably led to a limitation of their omnipotence and, accordingly, to discontent among the Cossack elders. Anti-Russian intrigues, “hush-ups”, treasonous transitions to the Polish side began...

However, the state unification of the Empire required increased control central government over the annexed territories in the south. In 1764, she appointed the illustrious governor-general of Little Russia and released
. This reform did not cause discontent among the Little Russian population, because it improved their situation. Then in 1773 the terrible period began (1773–1775), in which the core of the rebels were the Ural Cossacks - and this aroused the Empress’s suspicions regarding the loyalty of the wayward Zaporozhye Cossacks, in whom sympathy for Pugachev was noticeable and many supported him. On August 5, 1775, a manifesto “On the destruction of the Zaporozhye Sich and on its inclusion in the Novorossiysk province” followed.

The main reason for the abolition of the Zaporozhye Sich was the state uselessness of the Cossacks in this place, because the previous external threats to which it resisted had disappeared. With the conclusion (1774), Russia regained access to the Black Sea and protected Crimea from Turkish influence, preparing to annex it. In the west, weakened by the “noble democracy,” the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was on the verge of collapse and the so-called so-called. .

Thus, there was no longer any need to maintain the presence of Cossacks in their historical homeland to protect the southern Russian borders. At the same time they traditional image life often led to conflicts with the Russian authorities - in particular in connection with repeated pogroms of Serbian settlers in Novorossiya by Cossacks.

Catherine's Manifesto stated:

“We wanted to announce throughout Our Empire... that the Zaporozhye Sich has already been completely destroyed with the extermination for the future of the very name of the Zaporozhye Cossacks... We now considered ourselves obligated before God, before Our Empire and before humanity in general to destroy the Zaporozhye Sich and the name of the Cossacks from it borrowed. As a result of this, on June 4, our Lieutenant General Tekelius, with the troops entrusted to him from us, occupied the Zaporozhye Sich in perfect order and in complete silence without any resistance from the Cossacks... Now there is no Zaporozhye Sich in its political ugliness, therefore there are no Cossacks of this name...”

The Zaporozhye Cossacks were dissolved without any reprisals. Former petty officers were given nobility, and lower ranks were allowed to join the hussars and dragoons. But Catherine did not forgive the three Cossacks for their previous insults: Pyotr Kalnyshevsky, Pavel Golovaty and Ivan Globa were exiled to different monasteries for treason towards Turkey, although even here their fates were varied, for example, Kalnyshevsky on Solovki was able to live up to 112 years and even after amnesty, he chose to remain in his place of exile.

In 1787, former Cossack elders submitted a petition addressed to the Empress, in which they expressed their desire to continue to serve. The "Army of Faithful Cossacks" was formed, which participated in. At the end of the war, the army was transformed into the Black Sea Cossack Army, and as a sign of gratitude they were allocated the territory of the Kuban, which it settled in 1792–1793. In 1860, the Black Sea Cossack Army was merged with the two left regiments of the Caucasian Line Army and became known as the Kuban Cossack Army.

Of the 5 thousand Cossacks who went to Turkey, the Sultan allowed the founding of the Transdanubian Sich (1775–1828). But the Cossacks had to participate in suppressing the uprisings of the Orthodox peoples of the Balkans who shared their faith. Unable to bear it, in 1828 the Transdanubian crossed over to the side of Russia and were pardoned. Of these, the Azov Cossack Army (1828–1860) was formed primarily for the coast guard and especially distinguished itself in. In 1860, the Azov Army was disbanded and the Cossacks were resettled to Kuban.

Today, when the revival of Cossack traditions has begun, it is important for us to maintain scientific and historical accuracy and to treat the history of the Cossacks honestly in an Orthodox manner. He had glorious pages and sacrificial deeds, and there were downfalls - just like in other parts of the Russian people. Our failures and sins should not be glossed over and varnished, but the right lessons should be learned from them so as not to be repeated. In addition, many anti-Russian myths have long been propagated: supposedly the Cossacks are not Russians, but a separate nation that has always been oppressed by Muscovites in every possible way. Allegedly there were “Russian-Ukrainian” and “Russian-Cossack wars”. The abolition of the Zaporozhye Sich by Catherine the Great is presented as its “destruction to the ground” - which contradicts documentary data. There was no destruction of the New Zaporozhye Sich in 1775. All buildings were preserved and continued to serve their intended purpose for the new settlers. The former last Zaporozhye Sich was turned into the city of Pokrovsk.

The most famous written monument to the history of the Zaporozhye Sich is the response of the Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan at the end of the 17th century.

“Sultan Mohammed IV - to the Zaporozhye Cossacks. I, the Sultan and ruler of the Sublime Porte, brother of the Sun and the Moon, the deputy of Allah on Earth, the ruler of the kingdoms - Macedonian, Babylonian, Jerusalem, Greater and Lesser Egypt, king over kings, lord over lords, incomparable knight, invincible warrior, owner of the tree of life , persistent guardian of the tomb of Jesus Christ, guardian of God himself, hope and comforter of Muslims, intimidator and great defender of Christians, I command you, Zaporozhye Cossacks, to surrender to me voluntarily and without any resistance and not to make me worry with your attacks. Sultan Mohammed IV."

The Cossacks responded to this letter:

“You, Sultan, are the Turkish devil, and the damned devil’s brother and comrade, the secretary of Lutseper himself. What the hell kind of knight are you if you can’t kill a dick with your bare ass. The devil is dying, and yours is being devoured. You son of a bitch, you son of a bitch, the blue Christian mothers will not be under you, we are not afraid of your army, we will fight you with land and water, forgive your mother. The Babylonian cook, the Macedonian charioteer, the Jerusalem bravirnik, the Alexandrian goatman, the pig of Great and Lesser Egypt, the Armenian villain, the Tatar sagaydak, the Kamenets kat, the whole world has a blaze, the gaspid himself has a grandson and our h... hook. You are a pig's face, a mare's ass, a breeding dog, an unchristened forehead, motherfucker... That's what the Cossacks said to you, shabby. You will not graze Christian pigs. Now it’s over, because the date is not known and the calendar is not possible, the month is in the sky, the year is in the sky, and the day is the same for us as it is for you, for this kiss on our ass! Signed: Kosh Ataman Ivan Sirko with all the Zaporozhian Kosh.” Sich Cossacks - that was the name of the Cossack border guards.
The Zaporozhye Sich is the very first state border drawn by the Romanovs (Novo-ROM) between Moscow Russia (Muscovy, Moscow Tartaria, etc.) occupied by them in the 18th century and " Crimean Khanate" (by the unconquered remnant of Muscovy).
Initially, the Zaporozhye Sich was on the side of the legitimate government - the Moscow Kingdom. But, subsequently, they were bribed by the promise of the Romanovs, the so-called. "Cossack freemen" i.e. allowing the Cossacks to have their own land (in Muscovy, this was forbidden to them by law) and went over to the side of the Romanovs. This moment was captured by Repin - when the Cossacks who defected write an insulting message to their Tsar (the “Turkish Sultan”). After this betrayal of the Cossacks, the Romanovs moved further south...

Very informative information, but I had some doubts. It is unlikely that the Zaporozhye Cossacks indulged in robbery and robbery under such strict discipline; most likely, the Haidamaks were guilty of such an unbecoming occupation.

The Zaporozhye Sich is a fortified cell of the unregistered Zaporozhye army (lower) from the second half of the 16th to the end of the 18th century. It was located beyond the rapids of the Dnieper. Its creation became an impetus for the consolidation of the Ukrainian Cossacks. greatly influenced the formation of the Cossacks’ self-awareness and the establishment of their organizational structure. Information has been preserved about seven Sichs, which successively replaced each other. We will try to figure out what other influence the Zaporozhye Sich had on the course of history, what it is and for what purpose it was created.

Device

Zaporozhye Sich is an island fortress, which was surrounded by ramparts with a palisade. There were cannons along the perimeter. Between the ramparts there was a wide square, on the edge of which stood the barracks-kureni, where the Cossack Cossacks lived. There were several thousand of them in the Sich. Sometimes the number reached ten thousand. The permanent composition was called kosh. On the territory there was also a church, a school, houses of senior officials, and military outbuildings. The Sich Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and its clergy were subordinate to the Kiev-Mezhygorsk Archimandry. The open space near the church was the center of social and political life of the Zaporozhye Sich. Councils and meetings were held there.

Behind the ramparts there was a bazaar where merchants came with their goods. The Sich farmers sold their products there. As a rule, it was game, fish. Zaporozhye Sich is a territory that was initially completely free from landowner power. There were no lords or serfs there. Relations between the Sich members were not built on the basis of ordinary coercion, but on contractual terms. Every person was free. The top of the Zaporozhye Sich, of course, had privileges. Senior ranks often became owners of large winter huts, herds of livestock, etc.

Election of power

Zaporizhian Sich is a paramilitary organization with a clear hierarchy of power. Despite the fact that every Cossack was free, there were still social differences. The rich elder was subordinate to the mass of poor Sichs. Between these class groups there was a layer of small owners - middle class. The elite were elected by universal suffrage from among the wealthy Cossacks, who concentrated administrative power in their hands. She led the army and controlled finances, and also represented the Sich in diplomatic relations.

Despite the suffrage of every Cossack, the foreman almost always achieved decisions that were beneficial to himself. Zaporozhye Sich is an entity called the Cossack Republic.

Sich society was divided into kurens. The highest authority was the Cossack Rada, where most decisions were made important questions. All Sich members took part in it. It was there that the Koshe chieftain was elected. The Rada could have removed him from office. The Sichs had their own court. There was a judicial code and a system of punishments. For theft from fellow soldiers, disobedience to orders and insolence towards higher command, for the rape of a woman during a campaign (there were no women in the Sich), sodomy and other offenses, one could lose one’s head by court decision.

Education

Zaporizhzhya Sich is a place where a lot of attention was paid to education. For Cossack children, schools operated at churches. There they were taught literacy, music, singing, etc. Another indicator cultural development The Sich had a respectful attitude towards books, which were considered of great value. Only wealthy Cossacks could afford to buy them. The book was considered one of the best gifts. It is believed that the origin of the word “sech” is Slavic. This is a derivative of “cutting” - with swords. The meaning of the word “sich” for the Ukrainian Cossacks was inextricably linked with their fortress on the island of Khortytsia and in other places. It has become synonymous with home.

Cossack campaigns

The Cossacks carried out sea and land campaigns against the Poles, Turks, Tatars, and Muscovites. For Russia and Poland, the Sich was for a long time a convenient counterweight and at the same time a barrier from the Turks. However, the freedom-loving Cossacks often fought with them. For the Ukrainian peasantry, which languished under the yoke of the Poles, the Sich became a symbol of the struggle against the oppressors.

The Cossacks led all the peasant uprisings against They were the military and driving force. In the land campaigns of the Cossacks, cavalry prevailed. They went to sea on small ships - the so-called seagulls. Each of them accommodated 50-70 warriors. Ahead was the ship of the Kosh Ataman with a flag. Each Cossack was armed with a saber, had two guns, carried six pounds of gunpowder, cannonballs for falconets, and had with him one Nuremberg quadrant for orientation.

Liquidation of the Sich

After Russian-Turkish wars XVIII century, in which the Cossacks also took part on the side of Russia, Crimea was annexed and the Black Sea coast was recaptured. The immediate threat from the Turks and Tatars to the empire disappeared. During the same period, something devastating happened that greatly frightened Catherine the Second. The Zaporozhye Sich, which had lost its geopolitical significance, with its freemen, was a potential source of danger for the ruler. It was these reasons that led to its liquidation. After the capture of the fortress on Khortitsa, most of the Cossacks were resettled to the Kuban and Don.