Kuban Cossack Host: history, photo

Military art has always been a significant part of the life of many nationalities and states. After all, as soon as a person picked up a stick, he began using his power to subjugate his own kind. This negative love of violence has haunted humanity throughout its history. This fact led to the fact that in each nationality a separate class of soldiers distinguished by professionalism and ruthlessness appeared.

It should be noted that there were similar warlike castes in the territory of the Slavic states. The history of their formation is quite interesting considering the fact that in the territory of modern Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other CIS countries, permanent wars for territorial domination between different states were conducted. Thus, the constant military conflicts substantially hardened the population living in the countries represented.

Speaking specifically about the Russian Federation, in this state the most famous military community is the Kuban Cossacks. The creation of this army was carried out for years, and their activities are still alive today.

The article will consider the most striking stages in the development of the Kuban Cossacks, as well as the specifics of this military formation.

Who are the Kuban Cossacks?

The history of the Kuban Cossack army dates back to very distant times. Today, it is quite difficult to present the entire chronology of the existence of this military formation, since it is still operating in the territory of the Russian Federation, which will be discussed later in the article. Nevertheless, given historical facts, the Kuban Cossack Host is part of the entire Cossacks in the Russian Empire, which was based in the North Caucasus. In other words, this formation played the role of modern border guards.

From historical sources it is known that the military headquarters of the Kuban Cossacks was based in Yekaterinodar (the modern name of the city is Krasnodar). Despite the fact that the Kuban Cossack Host was a typical military group, one of the elements of the Russian Empire's army, an ethnos formed on its base. This fact today allows us to talk about the Cossacks not just as soldiers, but as a separate nationality, along with Russians, Chechens, Kazakhs, etc.

History of creation

Cossacks of the Kuban Cossack army were not originally a homogeneous ethnic mass of patriots of their state. After all, as already stated earlier, the history of the creation of this formation is quite complicated. The Kuban Cossack Host was formed from several groups of Cossacks, who by the middle of the 18th century were quite numerous in the territory of the Russian Empire.

Of course, the progenitors of the Cossack regiments of the Kuban need to rightly consider Zaporozhye Cossacks, which appeared in the XVI century. As we know, they were originally based on the territory of modern Ukraine, on the island of Khortitsa, which is located near the modern city of Zaporozhye. Subsequently, Zaporozhye Cossacks became a threat to the imperial power, because of the organized military formation turned into ordinary bandit groups. Therefore, by the end of the XVIII century, the Cossacks as such received the status of "outside the law". However, this fact did not become the final point in the development of such formations.

Black Sea Cossacks

In 1774, the Russian Empire gets access to the Black Sea. At this stage, Turkey ceased to pose a threat, and Rzeczpospolita, one of the most powerful states in the west, was on the verge of total collapse. Therefore, the need to retain the Cossacks in their historical place was no longer required. In addition, these formation by the end of the XVIII century began to turn into gangster structures. Confirmation of this fact is the support of the Cossacks by the Pugachev uprising. Thus, in 1775 it was decided to completely destroy Zaporizhzhya Sich and all its inhabitants. In this massacre only 12,000 Cossacks could survive, who later fled to the mouth of the Danube.

The army of loyal Cossacks

It should be noted that the emergence of the Transdanubian Sich became a weighty argument for Turkey, which acquired additional forces of 12,000 soldiers. In turn, the Russian Empire, seeing a threat to its territorial interests in the south of the country, stops the process of eliminating the Cossacks. Moreover, in 1787, Grigory Potemkin created an army of loyal Cossacks from among the previously persecuted members of the same regiments. With their help, the Russian Empire not only strengthens in the south, but also wins the Russian-Turkish campaign of 1787-1792.

Creation of the Kuban Cossacks

The Kuban Cossack Host, whose photo is presented in the article, was formed in 1792. After the Russian-Turkish campaign, a delegation headed by the judge of the Black Sea forces Anton Golovaty was sent to the capital of the Russian Empire. The delegation was assembled in order to ask the "enlightened monarchy" for the resettlement of the Black Sea Cossacks. The negotiations took place from March to May 1792. The "leadership" of the empire did not want to single out to the Cossacks the surroundings of Taman and the land on the right bank of the Kuban. In this case, the position of the imperial power was clear - the unwillingness to create a formation similar to the Cossacks, which can betray at any time. However, agreement was nevertheless achieved. Thus, since 1792 regiments of the Kuban Cossack army began to be located on the territory of Taman and Kuban. These lands were transferred to them "into an eternal and hereditary possession", which is generally confirmed by the existence of the Kuban Cossacks today.

History of linear Cossacks

It should be noted that the Kuban Cossack Host was formed not only exclusively from the Black Sea Cossacks. The Kuban regiments also included the so-called "linear Cossacks", which became part of a large military formation in 1860. However, the history of the Caucasian linear Cossack army begins in the middle of the 15th century. The progenitor of the linear regiments were the Khoper Cossacks.

History of the Khoper Regiments

The Khoper Cossacks lived on the territory of the Khoper and Medveditsa rivers from 1444 onwards. But in the XVIII century, these regiments made an uprising against the power of Peter I. The reaction of the monarch was immediate and cruel.

In the period from 1708 to 1716, virtually no one lived on the territories between these rivers. However, since 1716 the Cossack regiments that were participants of the Northern War have returned here. For military valor during the war with Sweden, the Khoper Cossacks were allowed to build their fortress in their historical homeland. Subsequently, the army developed so much that part of it was transferred to the North Caucasus to protect the borders of the Russian Empire. And in 1860, as already mentioned earlier, this part of the Cossack army was transferred to the Kuban military formation.

The modern stage of development of the Kuban Cossacks

The Kuban army of Cossacks exists to this day in the territories that were allocated to them at the end of the 18th century. This military formation plays the role of secret frontier guards. It should be noted that the Kuban Cossacks were participants in the First World War and the Great Patriotic War. The last historical period, which began in 1945, significantly abolished the role of Cossacks in the sphere of public administration and service. Nevertheless, this formation was never disbanded, even taking into account the political doctrine of the Soviet Union.

Atamans of the Kuban Cossack army throughout the history of its existence with all their strength defended the rights of their people, which by 1945 could already be called a completely separate ethnos. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the territory of the Russian Federation, the Cossack communities were united in order to increase the identity and glorification of the ethnic minorities of the state. Since that time, there is such an organization as the Kuban Cossack Host Society (KVKO).

KVKO

Its history KVO begins in 1990. The first ataman of this military organization was Vladimir Gromov. It should be noted that the fighting efficiency of the KVKO divisions is at a fairly high level. This is confirmed by the participation of this organization in the Abkhaz war. In 1993, KVKO units were the first to enter the city of Sukhum. Later, the Kuban Cossack Host was included in the "State Register of Cossack Societies of the Russian Federation". This means that the activities of CICO have become legal. In addition, there are regalia of the Kuban Cossack army and a peculiar structure of society. To date, the organization plays a role more law enforcement than military authority.

Territorial structure of ICCO

The Kuban army Cossack society has its territorial structure, which allows us to speak about the considerable development of not only the organization as a whole, but also its activities. To date, the structure of KVKO consists of the following territorial units:

1. The Yeysk Cossack department.
2. Caucasian Cossack department.
3. Taman Cossack department.
4. Ekaterinodar Cossack department.
5. Maikop Cossack department.
6. Batalpashinsky Cossack department.
7. The Black Sea Cossack district.
8. Sukhumi special Cossack department.

This structure allows KVKO to exercise its law enforcement functions much more efficiently and as quickly as possible.

Culture of the Kuban Cossacks

In addition to a significant role in the military sector of the Russian Federation, the Kuban Cossacks are a rather interesting ethnic social formation. His cultural traditions date back to the Zaporozhye Cossacks. Kuban warriors are quite close on the cultural issue with indigenous Ukrainians. There is also a Cossack form of the Kuban Cossack Army, whose design was also formed historically.

The article presented the Kuban Cossack Host. The origins of the formation and structure of this organization date back to the time of the existence of Zaporozhye Cossacks, who, in fact, became the progenitors of the Kuban army. This ethnic formation still operates on the territory of modern Russia. Let's hope that this island of Slavic culture will not get lost in the abyss of centuries!