One of the favorite topics of historical and political Russophobic speculation is the dissolution of the Zaporozhian Sich. Supporters of "political Ukrainianism" consider this event unambiguously as another confirmation of the "anti-Ukrainian" policy Russian state throughout the history of the latter. August 14, 2015 marks 240 years since Catherine II signed the Manifesto "On the destruction of the Zaporizhzhya Sich and its inclusion in the Novorossiysk province." The Manifesto said: “Through this we wished to announce throughout Our Empire, to the general knowledge of Our loyal subjects, that the Sich Zaporizhzhya had already been completely destroyed, with the extermination for the future of the very name of the Zaporizhian Cossacks ... We considered ourselves now obligated before the Empire, before God To destroy the Sich of Zaporozhye and the name Kozakov, borrowed from it, with ours and before humanity itself in general. As a result of that, on June 4, Our Lieutenant-General Tekelliem, with the troops entrusted to him from us, occupied the Zaporizhzhya Sich in perfect order and complete silence, without any resistance from the Cossacks ... now there is no more Zaporizhian Sich in political and name-bearing... . Thus, the manifesto of the empress put an end to the centuries-old existence of the Zaporizhzhya Sich - a unique military-political formation that played a significant role in Russian history. Although modern Ukrainian (in particular) authors view this event exclusively through the prism of the confrontation between "Muscovy" and "Free Ukraine", in reality it was due to more geostrategic considerations. The Russian Empire, expanding its territory to the southwest and reaching the borders of the Crimean Khanate, no longer needed the neighborhood of the uncontrolled Zaporizhian Sich, which repeatedly acted on the side of the fierce enemies of Russia - the Commonwealth, Sweden, the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire.
Zaporizhzhya Sich - a unique military republic
Originally the Zaporozhian Sich played important role in the protection of the Slavic lands from the raids of the Crimean Tatar army. Zaporizhzhya Cossacks were considered excellent warriors and, I must say, they repeatedly confirmed their glory - it was not for nothing that they were afraid of both the Commonwealth and the Crimean Khanate. At the same time, it would hardly be correct to define the Zaporozhian Sich as a "Ukrainian" political entity. Let's start with the fact that the ethnonym "Ukrainians" itself appeared only in late XIX century and was introduced into public consciousness thanks to the efforts of Austro-Hungarian propaganda. Until that time, the ancestors of a significant part of modern Ukrainians were called “Little Russians” in Russia, and they called themselves “Russians” or “Rusyns”. Concerning Zaporozhye Cossacks, then they never identified themselves with the Little Russian population, moreover, they tried in every possible way to distance themselves from it. There is no doubt that a strong Little Russian component was present in the Zaporozhian Sich, especially in the later stages of its existence. However, among the Sich there were people of Turkic (Crimean Tatar, Nogai, Turkish), Polish, Hungarian, Litvinian (Belarusian), Greek, Armenian origin, and there were a lot of them - but no one calls the Zaporizhzhya Sich a Polish, Tatar or Greek military-political entity. Meanwhile, the way of life of the Zaporozhye Cossacks in more had similarities with the way of life of the nomadic Turks, rather than with the way of life of the Little Russian peasantry. Even in speech communication Zaporozhye Cossacks used a lot of Turkic words, starting with such fundamental concepts as actually “Cossack”, “kosh”, “ataman”, “esaul”, etc. This is explained not only by the close proximity to the Crimean Khanate and the Nogais. The Cossacks were largely the descendants of the Christianized groups of the Turkic population who adopted the Russian language - the same wanderers. In turn, these groups of the Turkic population were also formed not from scratch, but included, assimilated the pre-Turkic population of the Steppe - the same Iranian-speaking Alans. long time the ethnic community of the Cossacks was called Cherkasy. N.I. Karamzin writes: “let us remember the Kasogs, who, according to our chronicles, lived between the Caspian and Black Seas; Let us also remember the country of Kazakhia, which was established by the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus in the same places; we add that the Ossetians still call the Circassians Kassakhs: so many circumstances together make us think that Torquay and Berendeys were called Cherkasy, they were also called Cossacks ”(Karamzin N.I. History of the Russian State). Thus, the Cossacks were formed almost independently of the Little Russian population, and to pass off the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks as the ancestors of modern Ukrainians is a very controversial political maneuver.
Admission to the Zaporozhian Sich was carried out if the candidate met several basic requirements. Firstly, the visitor had to be "free" by origin, that is, a nobleman, a Cossack, a priest's son, a free peasant or even a "basurman", but not a serf. Secondly, he had to speak the "Cossack language", that is, the dialect of the Russian language spoken by the Cossacks. Thirdly, the candidate had to be Orthodox by religion, and if he professed a different religion, then be baptized into Orthodoxy. Among the Cossacks there were many baptized Catholics, Muslims and even Jews. Arriving in the Zaporizhian Sich, the Cossack candidate mastered the military art and customs of the Cossacks, and only after seven years could he become a full-fledged "comrade" of the Zaporozhian Sich. In addition, the Cossacks were forbidden to marry and maintain regular relationships with women - this made them related to European military religious orders. Naturally, representatives of such a structure treated the peasant population of Little Russia with a certain contempt, which, however, was characteristic of any warriors and nomads who placed themselves disproportionately above the peasants - farmers and urban artisans and merchants. With even greater rejection, the Cossacks treated Catholics - Poles and Uniates - residents of the Galician lands belonging to the Commonwealth - the very "Westerners" who today, for some reason, consider themselves descendants of the "Zaporozhian Cossacks" (although where are Lviv and where is the Zaporozhian Sich? ). At the same time, among the Cossacks there were many Polish gentry who converted to Orthodoxy, who, for some reason, fled from the Commonwealth to the Zaporozhian Sich. Some of these gentry became conductors of anti-Russian sentiments and influenced some of the Cossacks, spreading among them the rejection of "Muscovy" and sympathy for the Commonwealth. It is likely that it was they who introduced into the Cossack consciousness and ideology of non-belonging of the Cossacks to the Russian world. So, among the Cossack elite, the concept of the Khazar origin of the Cossacks spread - supposedly the Cossacks actually ascended to the ancient Khazars, who converted to Orthodoxy before Russia straight from Constantinople. By this, the anti-Russian part of the Cossack elite sought to undermine the religious ties of the Russian state and the Cossacks, cut off the Cossacks from the Russian world and give historical justification possible conflicts between the Cossacks and the Russian state.
In the perception of the Zaporizhzhya Sich, as the researcher of Ukrainian nationalism Nikolai Ulyanov rightly notes, two main contradictory trends have been established since ancient times. According to the first trend, the Zaporizhian Cossacks were an expression of truly popular aspirations, an example of democracy and self-government. Any oppressed person, according to this theory, could flee to the Sich, cling to the Cossacks. The way of life of the Cossacks, based on everyday self-government, ran counter to the orders of most state formations of that time - both European and, moreover, Asian. The second trend, on the contrary, affirms the aristocracy of the Zaporozhian Sich. Its adherents characterized the Cossacks only as "knights", that is, "knights", aristocrats. It was this point of view that was established among a part of the Polish gentry, who, as early as the 16th century, began to romanticize the image of the Zaporizhzhya Cossack as an ideal warrior - an aristocrat who practically renounced worldly vain life and devoted himself to military affairs. Cossack as a free knight - this image impressed many Polish gentry who saw in him the embodiment of their own ideology. Recall that the concept of "Sarmatism" later spread among the Polish gentry - supposedly the Polish gentry comes from the Sarmatians - the legendary warriors of the Eurasian steppes. As you know, the gentry also gravitated towards self-government, however, “internal democracy” was combined with the most severe oppression of the Little Russian and Belarusian peasants subject to the gentry. Democracy and self-government were for the elite, and the rest of the inhabitants of the Commonwealth were not considered “pans” as people - so, “dog krev”, that is, “dog blood”. However, another part of the Polish gentry treated the Zaporizhian Cossacks with poorly concealed or not concealed contempt, since they saw in them more robbers than "knights". The crown hetman Jan Zamoysky said that the Zaporozhye Cossacks go not for the sake of serving the fatherland, but for the sake of booty. Robbery remained the main source of livelihood for the "core" of the Zaporozhian Sich - those very free Cossacks who never went to serve the king. Children of the Steppes, they could not and did not want to exchange their free spirit for the need for systematic military service, accompanied by the rejection of their former way of life and submission to any kind of discipline. However, the prospect of receiving a regular salary from the Polish crown inspired a significant number of Cossacks, who saw in the service of the Commonwealth a safer and more reliable source of livelihood than "free bread" with constant raids and subsequent punitive expeditions of Polish or Turkish troops into the Zaporozhian Sich. .
In 1572, part of the Cossacks entered the service of Polish king, after which it received the name of "registered" Cossacks and actually turned into a kind of professional army, in contrast to the Zaporizhzhya Sich, who preserved the traditions of the Cossack freemen. The Zaporozhian Sich was not recognized by the Commonwealth, which used registered Cossacks in the fight against it. The latter played a crucial role in carrying out punitive operations against the Zaporozhian Sich. In turn, the Sich people were very indignant that the registered Cossacks call themselves Zaporozhye Cossacks - after all, having switched to the service of the king, and then to the Russian tsar, the registered Cossacks ceased to be free and renounced the traditions of the Sich, turned into an ordinary border guard performing police functions. Registered Cossacks from 1572 were officially called “The Army of His Royal Grace Zaporozhye” and performed tasks of border guard and police service on the southern borders of the Polish-Lithuanian state, participated in military campaigns against the Crimean Khanate. At the same time, the registered Cossacks also met opposition from the Polish gentry - even despite the fact that there were many gentry in the ranks of the Zaporizhzhya army, who for some reason turned to the Cossacks. The Polish gentry did not want to share privileges with "some Cossacks" and this also became one of the reasons for the dissatisfaction of the Cossacks with the Commonwealth and its policy in Little Russia. Ultimately, in 1648, a grandiose uprising broke out against the Commonwealth, in which the Little Russian peasantry played the leading role, and the Cossacks, led by Bohdan Khmelnitsky, played the leading role. As a matter of fact, the transition of the Cossacks under the jurisdiction of the Russian Empire was direct result uprising of Bogdan Khmelnytsky. At the same time, Khmelnytsky himself can hardly be described as a pro-Russian politician - his transition to the side of Russia was rather a forced step, caused by the desire to put pressure on the Commonwealth, to demonstrate to her the “independence” of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks.
Cossacks and Russia: victories, betrayals, punishments and forgiveness
In 1654, the Army of His Royal Grace Zaporizhia passed into the service of the Russian Tsar and was renamed the Army of His Royal Majesty Zaporizhia. Thus, registered Zaporozhye Cossacks voluntarily chose to serve the Russian state. The Zaporizhian Lower Army, that is, the Sich, who remained an autonomous military force and were involved in military campaigns against Crimean Tatars. However, the uncontrolled Zaporozhian Sich caused a lot of trouble for the Russian state. Firstly, the Sich did not disdain predatory attacks on the territory of both the Commonwealth and the Crimean Khanate, which led to problems in the relationship of the Russian state with the Polish king and the Turkish sultan. Secondly, the hetmans, who felt the growing limitations of their power on the part of the Russian tsars, were dissatisfied and periodically went over to the Polish side. Most famous example the transition of the Cossacks to the side of the opponents of Russia is a betrayal of Hetman Mazepa. Like his ideological heirs three hundred years later, Mazepa used the methods of manipulating the consciousness of ordinary Cossacks and Little Russians. In particular, he announced that Peter I wanted to drive all the inhabitants of Little Russia “beyond the Volga” and accused Russian authorities in that they ruin the Little Russian lands worse than the Swedes and Poles. On March 28, 1709, ataman Gordienko and hetman Mazepa signed an allied treaty with Sweden, after which Mazepa took an oath of allegiance to King Charles XII of Sweden. The Cossack mass supported Mazepa because they were dissatisfied with the policy of Peter I, since he introduced fines to cover the damage caused to the Russian treasury by the constant attacks of the Cossacks on Turkish caravans. 
The Cossack foreman was offended by the imposition of a fine for the "basurman" and preferred to support Mazepa, who had transferred to the service of the Swedes. As a result, the aggravation of relations between the Zaporozhian Sich and Russia developed into a phase of armed conflict. Although what conflict could be between major state, which had a strong regular army, and a military-political organization, which, in fact, was a relic of the Middle Ages. Three regiments of Russian regular troops under the command of Colonel Yakovlev laid siege to the fortifications of the Sich. However, the Cossacks defended themselves quite skillfully and even managed to capture a number of prisoners, who were subsequently brutally killed. However, the Cossack colonel Ignat Galagan, who was familiar with the Sich defense system, helped the Russian troops take the fortress by storm. She was burned, 156 Cossacks were executed.
A crushing blow was dealt to the Sich, however, a significant part of the Sich soldiers remained in arms even after the defeat Swedish troops near Poltava, it moved to the Kherson region, where a new Sich was founded in the area where the Kamenka River flows into the Dnieper. However, soon the new Sich was destroyed military units under the command of Russian-controlled Hetman Skoropadsky and General Buturlin. The remnants of the Cossacks retreated to the territory controlled by Ottoman Turkey, and tried to establish a new Sich there, but immediately faced opposition from the local Turkic population. As a result, the foreman submitted a request to Peter I to allow the Cossacks to return to the Russian Empire. Without Russia, the Cossacks, as it turned out, could not exist. However, Peter, as a tough man, refused the Cossacks, and only during the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna, the Cossacks managed to regain Russian citizenship. But, despite the return to Russian citizenship, it was obvious that historically the Zaporozhian Sich had outlived its usefulness. An absolutist monarchy was established in Russia, within which there was no place for an autonomous quasi-state formation, which was the Zaporozhye hetmanate. Discontent central government The behavior of the Cossacks intensified during the reign of Catherine II. First of all, in 1764, Catherine issued a decree on the abolition of the hetmanship in Little Russia and appointed Count P.A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky. It is noteworthy that the Little Russian population perceived the ongoing changes in the political and administrative structure of the region rather positively, as they were tired of harassment and requisitions from the hetman and foreman.
The Cossacks remained potentially dangerous for social order part of the population of the Russian Empire, since the traditions of the freemen created the basis for the spread of anti-government sentiment in the event of the slightest attack on the rights of the "free Cossacks". When the uprising of Yemelyan Pugachev broke out, the tsarist government questioned the loyalty of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks. Although the Cossacks did not support Pugachev and did not come out on his side for the most part, Catherine II believed that if such uprisings were repeated, the armed and explosive mass of the Cossacks could oppose the central government. Moreover, ordinary Cossacks were dissatisfied with the policy of strengthening the central government in Little Russia, and some of them, despite the refusal of the majority of the Cossacks to support Pugachev, still took part in the uprising. For the empress, who was afraid of a repetition of the Cossack uprising, only in Little Russia, this was enough. She was suspicious of all Cossack troops, but the Zaporizhzhya Sich aroused the greatest fear in the queen. In addition, the Zaporizhzhya Sich in the period under review practically lost its “applied” military-political significance. The borders of the Russian Empire were shifting to the south and southwest, the need for Cossacks in the territory of Little Russia disappeared. In the absence of a permanent military service, the Cossacks became a harmful and dangerous class, because they did not use their "passionate" potential. Meanwhile, the need for combat-ready contingents carrying border service, appeared on the new frontiers of the Russian Empire, including the Caucasus, and forces Don Cossacks to protect the Caucasian borders of the Russian Empire was clearly not enough. Another factor that contributed to the decision to dissolve the Zaporozhian Sich was associated with its reactionary role for the socio-economic development of Little Russia and New Russia. Medieval in essence military-political education Zaporizhzhya Cossacks created obstacles to economic growth, since the Cossacks terrorized the colonists - Serbs, Bulgarians, Vlachs, Greeks, with whom the empress sought to populate the sparsely populated lands of Novorossia. With great difficulty, the Russian authorities managed to attract colonists from among the representatives of the Eastern European Orthodox peoples, since not everyone was ready to go to the "Wild Field", the bad fame of which had been preserved in Europe since the Middle Ages. And the actions of the Cossacks, who robbed the colonists and set fire to their estates, trying to survive from the "original Cossack land", directly interfered with the tsarist policy of settling the Novorossiysk lands.
Operation of General Tekeli
After the Kuchuk-Kainarji peace treaty was concluded in 1774, and Russia gained access to the Black Sea, the military-political need for the existence of the Zaporozhian Sich completely lost its meaning. Naturally, the empress and her entourage thought about the need to dissolve the Zaporizhzhya Sich - by no means because of the mythical desire to “destroy the foundations of Ukrainian self-government”, as the events of 240 years ago are trying to present today Ukrainian historians, but due to the lack of military-political expediency of the further existence of an armed autonomous formation on the territory of the Russian Empire. On the other hand, the Zaporizhzhya Sich, in the context of a pan-European trend towards strengthening the institution of the state, could not exist as an independent or autonomous entity. The Russian Empire would not have subjugated the Zaporozhian Sich - the Cossacks and their lands would have been under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Yes and economic development Little Russian lands did not contribute to the preservation of an archaic structure, whose representatives did not disdain even predatory actions in relation to trade caravans.
Preparations for the dissolution of the Zaporizhzhya Sich began even before the publication of the manifesto "On the destruction of the Zaporizhzhya Sich and its inclusion in the Novorossiysk province." On June 5, 1775, Lieutenant General Pyotr Tekeli received an order, together with the formations of Major General Fyodor Chobra, to advance to Zaporozhye. In total, under the command of Tekeli, 50 cavalry regiments of hussars, Vlachs, Hungarians and Don Cossacks, as well as 10 thousand infantrymen. Since the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks celebrated green Christmas time, Tekeli's troops succeeded without single shot take the fortifications of the Cossacks. Lieutenant General Tekeli gave the ataman Pyotr Kalnyshevsky two hours to make a decision, after which the latter gathered the foreman of the Cossacks. At the meeting, it was decided to surrender the Zaporozhian Sich, since resistance against 50 regiments of the regular army was practically meaningless. However, Kalnyshevsky had to persuade the ordinary Cossacks for a long time not to clash with the Russian army. Ultimately, the Cossacks left the Sich, after which the artillery of the Tekeli corps destroyed the empty Cossack fortress. Thus ended the existence of the Zaporozhian Sich. Lieutenant General Tekeli was awarded a high state award- Order of St. Alexander Nevsky. Most of the Cossacks after the dissolution of the Sich remained in the territory of Little Russia. Pyotr Kalnyshevsky, Pavel Golovaty and Ivan Globa were arrested and exiled to various monasteries for treason against the tsarist government. At the same time, Kalnyshevsky, who ended up in Solovki, lived there until he was 112 years old. Part of the categorical opponents of Russian citizenship moved to the territory controlled by the Ottoman Empire, where they settled in the delta of the river. Danube and received permission from Turkish Sultan for the creation of the Transdanubian Sich. In response to the favor of the Porte, the Cossacks undertook to provide a five thousandth army to carry out the orders of the Sultan, after which they participated in punitive operations against the periodically rebellious Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbs. Thus, the "freedom-loving" and in every possible way striving to emphasize their Orthodox faith, the Sich people turned into punishers of the Sultan and suppressed their own co-religionists - the Balkan Christians. It is noteworthy that a century after the dissolution of the Sich, a regiment of Transdanubian Cossacks, total strength in 1400 officers and Cossacks, took part in Crimean War, although he did not enter into direct clashes with Russian troops.
Resettlement to the Kuban and the service of Russia
At the same time, there was no talk of the destruction of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks and even of their “scattering” over the boundless lands of the Russian Empire. Loyal to the Russian Empire, part of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, with a total number of 12 thousand people, after the dissolution of the Sich, got the opportunity to enter the Russian military service- in the dragoon and hussar regiments Russian army. At the same time, the foreman was granted the nobility - that is, there was no talk of any real discrimination against the Cossacks in the Russian Empire. Of course, in parts of the regular army, the Cossacks, accustomed to freemen, had a hard time, so they left the service. In 1787, the foremen of the Cossacks submitted a petition to Empress Catherine, in which they expressed their desire to continue serving and defend the southern borders of the Russian Empire from threats from Ottoman Turkey. On behalf of the Empress, the famous commander Alexander Suvorov took up the creation of a new army, who on February 27, 1788 took the oath of the “Troops of the Faithful Cossacks”. The foremen of the troops were handed banners and flags confiscated during the dissolution of the Sich. In 1790, two years after its creation, the Army of the Faithful Cossacks was renamed the Black Sea Cossack Host. After the end of the next Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1792, the Black Sea Cossack army, in gratitude for the valor shown in the battles against the Turks, was allocated the left bank of the Kuban for accommodation. In the same 1792, the settlement of the Kuban lands by former Zaporizhian Cossacks began. In total, more than 26 thousand people moved to the Kuban. 40 smoking villages were founded, 38 of which received the old, Zaporizhzhya names. In fact, the Zaporizhzhya Sich, only now under the control of the Russian power, was reproduced on Kuban land- under the name of the Black Sea and Azov, and then - the Kuban Cossack army.
At the new place of residence, the Cossacks could continue their usual service as guards of the Russian border, only the Nogais and Caucasian highlanders became the main opponents here. Thus, we see that for their service to the sovereign, most of the former Cossacks were awarded the Kuban land, much more fertile than the lands of Little Russia. In addition, the Cossacks were given the opportunity to continue to exist as an autonomous Black Sea Cossack army, preserving their customs and way of life. Where is the "genocide" and "discrimination" that contemporary Ukrainian nationalist authors write about? Moreover, that part of the "defectors" - the Transdanubian Cossacks, who in 1828, having had enough of life under the rule of the Turkish sultans, was not subjected to repressions, asked to return to Russian citizenship. Emperor Nicholas I responded in the affirmative to the petition filed by the ataman Josip Gladkiy and allowed the Transdanubian Cossacks to return to Russian citizenship, after which the Azov Cossack Host was formed from them, which existed until 1860 and played an important role in the coast guard of the Caucasus. After 1860, the Azov army was nevertheless disbanded, and its Cossacks were resettled in the Kuban and included in the Kuban Cossack army, formed on the basis of the Black Sea Cossack army, the Kuban and Khoper regiments of the Caucasian linear army. The further history of the Kuban Cossacks is the history heroic service Russia. Kuban Cossacks participated in most wars and conflicts of the Russian Empire, and then the Soviet Union. Heroes - Kuban took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square in 1945. It is endless to talk about the exploits of the Kuban Cossacks in the Russian-Turkish wars, the First World War, the Great Patriotic War, about the heroic path of our contemporaries who went through Afghanistan and Chechnya, other "hot spots" in the near and far abroad. Despite the fact that Little Russian traditions and even language are still preserved in the Kuban, centrifugal and Russophobic tendencies did not spread among the descendants of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks. During the Great Patriotic War, traitors from among the Cossack elite, who emigrated to Europe after the defeat of the Whites in the Civil War, tried in vain to raise the Cossacks against the Soviet regime. Indeed, the Cossacks suffered a lot in the years civil war and later - in the 1920s - 1930s, when Soviet leadership pursued a policy of denunciation. However, even the horrors of decossackization did not force most of the Cossacks to betray Russia - if two corps manned by Cossacks fought on the side of the Wehrmacht, then 17 Cossack corps, and this is not counting the Cossacks who served in all branches of the military and in the navy. Attempts by Ukrainian nationalists to spread their propaganda to the territory of the Kuban, where in the villages they still actually speak the Little Russian dialect, were not successful either during the Civil War, or during the Nazi occupation, or in the post-Soviet period. national history. But in Ukraine itself, a lot of Cossack organizations appeared, it is not clear where the “hetmans” and “atamans” came from, raising their genealogies to the Zaporizhian Sich and reflecting on the cardinal differences between the Cossacks and Russians, about the unique tradition of self-government and the “imperial genocide” of Russia, which allegedly destroyed the democratic and freedom-loving community of the Cossacks.
Zaporozhian Sich and Ukrainian nationalism
Maidan in Kyiv. These are modern "Zaporizhzhya Cossacks"
Conflicts between Russia and individual hetmans of the Zaporizhian Sich were presented by tendentious Ukrainian researchers as examples of “Russian-Ukrainian wars”, in which the “Asian Muscovy” was opposed by a self-governing, democratic Sich. In fact, the sovereignty of the Sich was very conditional - the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks rushed between the Commonwealth and Ottoman Empire, Russia and Sweden, again between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, looking for more profitable patrons. Yes, the Cossacks had a lot of military qualities and valor, but on the other hand, is this enough to build a truly sovereign and prosperous state? As practice has shown, no. The Zaporizhzhya Sich remained an archaic military democracy, unable to organize a full-fledged economy and preserving backwardness in the Little Russian lands. Moreover, the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, with their predatory campaigns, themselves hindered the economic development of the region and, like any similar community, were doomed. The Russian Empire acted with them as humanely as possible, because if history had turned differently, and the lands of the Cossacks would have been part of the same Ottoman Turkey or even Sweden, it is likely that only memories would remain of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks. The sultan or the king could simply physically destroy the freedom-loving Cossacks, and they would have found someone to populate the fertile lands of Little Russia. The sensible part of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks perfectly understood this and saw their future exclusively together with Russia. common language and Orthodox faith contributed to the realization of unity with the Russian world, albeit despite the obvious differences in the way of life, everyday life and culture of the Great Russians and the Cossacks.
However, already in the twentieth century, Ukrainian nationalism, nurtured by the Austro-Hungarian and German political circles, and then by Great Britain and the United States, adopted the myth of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. On the other hand, the national policy of the Soviet state contributed to the cultivation of this myth. In fact, it was in the USSR that the final boundaries of the delimitation of the Great Russians and Little Russians were created - through the ongoing policy of "Ukrainization", which consisted not only in the creation of Ukraine as a political entity, including including lands that had never belonged to the number of Little Russians, but also in the approval of all kinds of myths that distorted true story Little Russian lands and their population.
As N. Ulyanov noted in his time, “once it was taken for granted that the national essence of the people is best expressed by the party that is at the head of the nationalist movement. Today, Ukrainian independence provides a model the greatest hatred to all the most honored and most ancient traditions and cultural property Little Russian people: it persecuted Church Slavonic, established in Russia since the adoption of Christianity, and even more cruel persecution has been erected on the all-Russian literary language, which for a thousand years was the basis of the writing of all parts Kyiv State during and after its existence. The independentists are changing the cultural and historical terminology, changing the traditional assessments of the heroes of the events of the past. All this means neither understanding nor affirmation, but the eradication of the national soul” (Ulyanov N. The Origin of Ukrainian Nationalism. Madrid, 1966). These words are quite applicable to political speculation around the history of the Zaporizhian Sich. Ukrainian nationalists tried to forget everything that connected the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks with Russia. The very path of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks in Ukrainian nationalist literature miraculously ends after the Manifesto of Catherine on the dissolution of the Zaporozhian Sich. Two and a half centuries of the subsequent existence of the direct descendants of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks - their blood relatives, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as part of the Russian state, is completely ignored.
Heroes of Kuban - real Cossacks, Defenders of the Motherland
Meanwhile, the Kuban Cossacks accomplished much more feats in the service of Russia than their ancestors, the Cossacks. It is impossible to look without trepidation at the orderly ranks of the Kuban Cossacks in Circassians - the very warriors who won for Russia Black Sea coast Caucasus, kept order on the southern borders of the Russian Empire, fought heroically in all the wars waged by the country in the 19th - 20th centuries. The Kuban Cossacks played an important role in providing public order during the reunification of Crimea with Russia in 2014, the Kuban people did not remain aloof from the events in Novorossiya either. The confrontation between the Russian world and its worst enemies, which unfolded on the lands of Novorossia, finally confirmed the loyalty of the true Cossacks of the Don and Kuban to Russia.
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Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, sung by traditional historiography as knights of the "free republic", in reality differ from the well-known image. What were they?
Not Slavs
The question of the origin of the Zaporozhye Cossacks has not been fully clarified. However, one thing is indisputable: there is a suspiciously large amount of Turkic in their language, clothing and way of life. Curiously, who lived in the beginning XVIII century one of the first chroniclers of the history of the Cossacks, Grigory Grabyanka, deduced their genealogy from the Khazars. And these are arguments that neither is a real representative of the Cossack foreman of the Hetmanate. A lot of similarities can be seen in the appearance of the Cossacks-Cossacks and the Ottoman Turks - a colorful sedentary, drooping mustaches, wide trousers, a curved saber. For example, in European paintings of the late XVII - early XVII I century there are images of the defeated Turks, which in appearance are very reminiscent of the Cossacks.
It is noteworthy that the folklore personification of the Ukrainian people is a Cossack with a completely non-Ukrainian name Mamai. On the Little Russian popular prints of the 19th century, Eastern rather than Slavic features are visible in his appearance. Historians confirm that the Slavic element in the Zaporozhye Cossacks began to prevail only from the beginning of the 17th century, when the oppressed poor inhabitants of the Commonwealth began to flock en masse from the oppression of the magnates to the free Sich.
Pirate Republic
It is known that there were about a dozen Zaporizhian Sichs, they arose and died away at different times and in different places. But there is no reason to believe that the Cossacks had their own statehood, no. The first Sich, which arose on the island of Khortytsya, was very modest. Given the occupation of the Cossacks, it was more correct to call it the "Pirate Republic". For example, such was the Republic of Sale - a pirate free city that existed on the Moroccan coast from 1627 to 1668.
Like a horde
In Ukrainian history, the Cossacks are dashing fellows fighting for the freedom of the Fatherland. However, the facts paint a much more unflattering picture of the Ukrainian Cossacks. In particular, on the conscience of the Zaporizhzhya knights are numerous atrocities on the lands of Belarus.
In the "Barkulabov Chronicle", compiled by the priest of the Belarusian town of Barkulabovo Fyodor Filippovich, the Cossacks appear nothing more than bandit gangs hired by the Polish king to solve their military tasks. “The Cossacks repaired the great Skoda, and they fought the glorious place Vitebsk, they took a lot of gold and silver, they cut down the polite townspeople.” Describing such "feats" of the Cossacks, the priest compared them with the Tatars, putting them on a par with the villains known to him: "Worse than evil enemies, albo evil Tatars." And here is the list of damage inflicted on Belarusian peasants by Filippovich in one of the Cossack raids: “50 wild boars, 60 pounds of honey, 500 measures of zhit, one and a half hundred yalovits (cows), 500 chickens and 300 wagons of hay.” This is without taking into account monetary losses expressed in specie. as if mamaev horde swept through the Belarusian village.
They did not spare even minors
However, Fyodor Filippovich was much more shocked by the wildness of the customs of the Cossacks. In their excesses, according to the chronicler, the Cossacks went so far as to rape a six-year-old girl. Her half-dead tradesman carried her in his arms to show the royal envoy, who came to pacify the Cossacks. Looking at this terrible sight, "all the people wept," wrote the chronicler.
The hero of the Ukrainian epic Severin Nalivaiko repaired no less lawlessness. In 1595, he captured Mogilev with a detachment of two thousand, his people burned up to 500 houses in the city, and “philistines, boyars, people so courteous as husbands, like wives, small children were beaten, chopped, defiled [raped - auth.], belongings tezh the indecent ones were taken from the camps and from the houses.
“For some reason, all this disgrace in modern Ukrainian historiography is called “people’s rebellion against the Polish-gentry panuvannya under the wire of Nalivaika,” Ukrainian publicist Oles Buzina was perplexed. “Although it was an ordinary robbery that ended for Severin with a quartering in Warsaw - a well-deserved punishment for any maniac, despite its “historical” significance.”
Both yours and ours
In Ukraine, they like to talk about Russian aggression, but they forget that back in 1618, the troops of Hetman Sagaidachny, hired by the Polish government, invaded the Russian kingdom to help Prince Vladislav take the throne of Moscow. Putivl was the first on the way of the twenty thousandth Zaporizhian army, followed by Livny, Yelets, Lebyadin, Dankov, Skopin, Ryazhsk. Even modern Ukrainian historians Oleksandr Chuvardinsky and Anatoliy Paliy admit in their book Hetman Sahaydachny that the Cossacks destroyed "many men, women and children before infancy". Sahaidachny managed to reach the Arbat Gate, where he was stopped by the troops of Dmitry Pozharsky. But in less than a year and a half, the hetman will send an embassy to Moscow with a message, the essence of which was that the Zaporizhzhya Host wishes to serve the Russian government. Especially Sagaidachny asked that "their sovereign granted, like his lackeys."
Cossacks-cannibals
When in 1612 the militia of Minin and Pozharsky blocked the Poles and the Cossacks who joined them in the Kremlin, the invaders were in for an inevitable famine. Everything went into food then: cats, dogs, belts, horse harness, books. But when this was over, the besieged began to eat each other. The Kyiv merchant Bohdan Balyka, who survived this siege, left us his memories of the Moscow campaign of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. He described how his compatriots, who went wild with hunger, first ate the prisoners, then ate the Voronets soldier dug out of the grave; the Cossack Shcherbina, who was executed for looting, did not hang for an hour on the gallows - his "infantry was cut off at once and cut into pieces and eaten."
Do not steal
Life in the Zaporizhzhya freemen was strictly regulated, violators of the order were especially monitored. Depending on the severity of the crime, punishments and executions were applied. The murder of one Cossack by another without delay was punished death penalty. The most terrible is burying alive in the ground, in the same coffin with the dead. However, if the offender turned out to be a noble Cossack or a brave warrior, he could be pardoned and limited to a fine.
The most condemned crime in the Sich was theft. For a small theft, they could be severely flogged, and "for big faults they broke an arm and a leg."
Cossacks swear
Linguists considered that the famous letter of the Cossacks to the Turkish Sultan Mehmed IV contains 26 curses. Before sending troops to the Zaporizhzhya Sich, the Sultan sent a demand to the Cossacks to submit to him as the ruler of the whole world and the viceroy of God on earth. In their response, the Cossacks changed all the numerous titles of the Sultan, turning them into mocking insults, accompanied by selective profanity. “What a hell of a person you are, if you don’t have a naked ass of a hedgehog,” is one of many.
redemptive forelock
On the one hand, the legendary Zaporizhzhya forelock was a very practical solution to the issue of hygiene. Many researchers of the Cossacks believe that the custom of shaving baldly, leaving only a strand of hair, appeared among the Cossacks during long military campaigns - in this way they prevented lice.
Another version says that the seasoned Cossack accumulated so many sins throughout his life that he could not avoid hell. And according to legend, a long forelock was needed in order to merciful god could pull the hero out of the underworld.
Cossack "seagulls" - the first submarines
Some historians consider the warships of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, the so-called "seagulls", as a prototype of modern submarines. The designs of some "seagulls" had two bottoms, between which a ballast load was placed. Thanks to this feature, the ship was deeply immersed in the water and could approach the enemy unnoticed. Immediately before the battle, the ballast was thrown out, and the ship, fully armed, appeared before the astonished enemy.
In 1634, the Dominican abbot Emilio Dascoli in his “Description of the Black Sea and Tartaria” noted: “On the sea, not a single ship, no matter how large and well-armed, is safe if, unfortunately, it meets with“ seagulls ”, especially in calm weather. The Cossacks are so brave that not only equal forces, but even twenty "seagulls" are not afraid of the thirty galleys of the padishah, as is seen annually in practice.
Igor Sokurenko. Head of the ensemble "Cossack Duke" on the set of the film "School. Directed by Pavel Lungin
In the Zaporozhian Sich, relations between the Cossacks were fraternal, but subordination also took place, and not age was taken into account, but the time of entry into the Sich. Whoever joined the partnership earlier, he called the newly joined “son”, and the last first one was “father”, even if the father was 20 years old, and the “son” - 40. A newcomer became a real Cossack only when he learned the Cossack “regula” (military orders and methods) and the ability to obey the chieftain, foreman and all the comrades.
Of course, different people came to the Sich, including those with a dark past - murderers, rogues, criminals. None of them demanded explanations about their past life, but they had to either radically change or leave, otherwise they quickly got acquainted with strict rules Cossack democracy. Judgment and reprisals were swift and ruthless.
Of the crimes, murder was considered the greatest. Since the Cossacks considered themselves brothers, the murder was regarded as "fratricide"; fratricides were buried in the ground alive along with the dead.
Theft, robbery, concealment of stolen things (even one), communication with a woman and sodomy sin (homosexuality) were punishable by death in the Sich. It was not allowed to bring women into the Sich, even if it was a mother or a sister. However, the offense of a woman was also punished if the Cossack dared to discredit her, for this "reaches out to the disgrace of the entire army."
Death was also punished by those who committed violence in Christian villages, unauthorized absences and drunkenness during the campaign, and disobedience and insolence to commanders. The role of the investigator was performed by the military captain, the executors of the sentences were the convicts themselves, if there were several of them, then they had to execute each other in turn.
For theft, they were usually tied or chained to a pillory, where the offender was beaten with cues (sticks) of their own. For not repaying a debt, they were chained to a cannon until the debtor repays the debt or someone else pays for it. For great theft (theft in especially large sizes) the perpetrators were waiting for shibenitsa (gallows). Šibenitsa stood outside Kosh, and outsiders could also be present at the execution. Stories have come down to us that a girl who agreed to marry a criminal could save a Cossack from Shibenitsa. Moreover, any girl was suitable, even an unfamiliar one.
In connection with this custom, they told a case when a horse with a criminal was already brought to the gallows, a girl under a white veil came out to meet him as a sign that she was ready to marry the condemned. The Cossack, condemned to death, asked the girl to remove the veil from her face, but when he saw that she was severely disfigured by smallpox, he declared: “Yak mata taku dzyuba is better to give to the oak tree” and followed on towards his death.
In addition to shibenitsa, in rare cases, an iron hook (hook) borrowed from the Poles was used, on which the convict was hung by the ribs (like a carcass in a butcher's shop) and left until he died. They sometimes also used a sharp stake (stake), on which they "planted" the convict. The executed were buried by crippled beggars who asked for alms in the Sich at the city gates. The beggars filmed the executed and buried them in the pasture, for which they were allowed to remove clothes from the dead and put on their own, shabby ones.
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It has long been a custom in Zaporozhye not to hang a single thief until he confesses, is freed from sin and partakes in the Holy Mysteries, for there is no judgment in the next world for those who have already been condemned here, recognized their sins and repented.
Neither title nor high post. The Sich people kept their customs for a long time. So, being in the ranks of the Russian army (during the time of Catherine the Great), such an incident occurred. One bureaucratic Cossack was guilty of something and Potemkin, the commander of the army (in the war against the Turks), asked Colonel Golovaty to reprimand the culprit. The next day, Golovaty reported to "his lordship" that the order had been carried out:
They scolded the guilty in their own way.
- How did you scold him? - asked the prince.
- But simply: they put it down, rolled it with those cues so that the wine barely got up ...
- How! Major? - shouted the brightest. - Yes, how could you?
- And really they were able to force it, they barely knocked down the four of them: it was not given. However, they dumped him, but what kind of bidah, what's the major's fault? His majorship has nothing to do with it, that's all he has left!
The Zaporozhian army was divided into Sich and winter Cossacks. Sich - the Cossacks of the Sich itself, were called chivalry or comradeship. Its backbone was made up of Cossacks, mainly of Slavic origin, strong, well-built, distinguished by courage in battle and always single (or having broken their marriage ties). Only chivalry had the right to choose a foreman (chiefs) from their midst, manage affairs in the army, divide the booty and receive grain and monetary salaries for the Sich.
Family Cossacks, although they were allowed in Zaporozhye, did not dare to live in the Sich, but settled in the steppe in settlements, winter quarters and waterskins. There they were engaged in arable farming, crafts and crafts and were called among the Cossacks “Zimovchaks”, “Sidny”, “Gnizdyuks”. In addition to the Cossacks, ordinary peasants also lived on the territory of Zaporozhye, who were considered subjects - "commons" - of the Zaporizhzhya comrades and were called pospils.
In the event of war, the Sich and Winter Soldiers formed a single army.
"The army of the Dnieper, Kosh, riding, grassroots and all being in the fields, meadows, clearings and all the tracts of the sea, Dnieper and field" - this was called on solemn occasions full name Army Zaporizhia.
The army was governed by its own democratic laws, the mechanism of which was much more perfect than Greek and Roman democracy, not to mention modern democracies.
At the heart of power in Zaporizhia lay the bulk - the Cossack comradeship. For solutions important issues the timpani convened all the Cossacks to Sich Square, where the Rada (to rejoice - to consult) took place - the Cossack Circle or the Military Council.
At the Rada, each Cossack could openly express his opinion or proposal and had the right to vote. But after the decision was made by a majority of votes, everyone (even those who disagreed with it) were obliged to comply with it.
Neither the nobility of the family, nor the class origin, nor the seniority of years had any meaning in the Sich. Only courage, experience, intelligence had authority. Everything was done together and for the community.
Even the elected chieftain in the Sich was the first among equals and could not decide anything of vital importance without the will of the Cossacks.
Broad democracy in the Sich did not at all imply anarchy. The whole mass of the Cossack brotherhood was divided into certain groups kind of hierarchical ladder. Young people stood at the first stage of it - newly arrived youth, passing the regulation (Cossack training), each experienced Cossack took care of 2-3 young Cossacks. Behind the young men at the second stage was the bulk of the Sich Cossacks, above them were the foremen - battle-hardened honored warriors. Above the foremen stood the ataman with his entourage.
Outwardly, in Peaceful time, this structure was not conspicuous - everyone was equal and treated like brothers. AT war time this structure acquired rigidity with a clear control system. The ataman had unlimited power and was free to dispose of the life of any Cossack, including the most honored one.
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In peacetime, the Sich was open system. No one was forcibly kept here. Any Cossack could leave the Sich for a while or forever. In wartime, leaving without the permission of the Military Chancellery was not allowed. Those who left the Sich had the right to return, they were accepted again.
Cossacks of the Dnieper freemen
Zaporizhzhya Sich has been a symbol of unbridled prowess, dashing freemen and reckless courage for several centuries. But who are they - Zaporozhye Cossacks? Where did they come from, how did they live and where did they go?
The first settlements of free people in the steppe, near the rapids of the Dnieper appeared in the XIII-XIV centuries. Gradually, the inhabitants of these places began to be called "Cossacks". Word Turkic origin passed into Russian from the Mongol-Tatars. Usually they were called robbers who hunted on high roads. And sometimes - the guards who were hired to defend themselves from these very robbers.
Cossack Cossack strife
AT mid-sixteenth centuries, scattered Cossack detachments began to unite into a single force. In 1553 Volyn Prince Dmitry Vishnevetsky founded a wooden and earthen castle on Malaya Khortitsa Island, having built it at his own expense. Thus, the first Sich - Khortitskaya - arose. Relations with the Polish king at Vishnevetsky did not work out. But he brought close friendship with the Muscovite kingdom. Being a distant relative of Ivan the Terrible, Vishnevetsky and his Cossacks took an active part in campaigns against the Crimean Tatars. However, soon the Krymchaks, together with the Turks, ravaged Khortitsa. Vishnevetsky took possession of the city of Belev (in the modern Tula region) and left the Dnieper forever. And the Cossacks again crumbled into separate small settlements. And then the kings of the 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 a demand to lay down their arms.
The fact that it would be nice to have a permanent army in the south, capable of repelling the Turks if necessary, the Poles have long dreamed of. Sigismun II August in 1572 issued a decree on the creation of a "registered Cossacks". 300 people were accepted into the service, who swore an oath to faithfully serve the crown, repel Tatar raids, suppress peasant unrest and participate in royal campaigns. This Cossacks was solemnly named the Army of His Royal Grace Zaporozhye. Subsequently, King Stefan Batory doubled the number of registered Cossacks.
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 Zaporizhzhya Sich.
Registered Cossacks did not live on the Dnieper, but in the town of Trakhtemirov in the Kyiv province. There were their treasury, arsenal, archives and hospital. They contemptuously called the real Cossacks "bad-vein Cossacks" - from the word "bad". The Polish crown also did not recognize the free Cossacks of the Dnieper rapids, although they used them for military campaigns, together with the registered Cossacks. It turned out that two Zaporizhian Sichs existed at the same time: the official registered army and the wild Dnieper freemen, who received the name "grassroots Cossacks". Both of them, of course, considered themselves real, and called their opponents impostors.
The Muscovite state has always taken the "grassroots" Sich seriously: as a good ally in the fight against the Turks and Tatars, but a dangerous enemy during the Polish campaigns. After all, the Cossacks knew how to fight and loved. The Cossacks were always armed with the most advanced weapons of those peoples with whom they fought. Trusting a sharp saber, the Cossacks did not forget about pistols, rifles and cannons. And their light ships "seagulls" terrified the seas and rivers.
"Lesser Chivalry"
The "grassroots" Zaporozhian Sich was not a state. It was a completely unique community for the XVI-XVII centuries. free people who lived the way they wanted, not submitting to outside authorities. All decisions were made jointly, at smoking and kosh councils (meetings). All the Cossacks of the Sich were considered to be part of the kosh (community or partnership), which was divided into 38 kurens. Kuren is and military unit(like a battalion or regiment), and a long wooden house (rather a barracks) in which the Cossacks lived. The entire territory on which the Sich was spread was divided into 8 palanoks (districts).
The most important person in the Sich was the ataman, who was elected by the kosh council. 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 chieftains. In total, just over a hundred people occupied certain positions in the Sich. All the rest were equal.
Even the ataman could not challenge the decision of the koschevoi council, which was meeting in without fail once a year. Any Sich Cossack had the right to vote on it. But becoming a Sich was not so easy. It was not enough just to come to the Sich and declare their desire to join the Cossacks. Several conditions had to be met.
Firstly, those wishing to join the Sich had to be free and unmarried. So it was more convenient 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 the floor, which, of course, many used. Secondly, only Orthodox or those who were ready to change their faith were accepted. And finally, thirdly, it was required to learn "Sich chivalry".
Only after seven years of training did the candidate receive the status of a “tried comrade” and be admitted to the Sich. Then he was given a nickname-surname - remember Gogol's Taras Bulba or Mosiah Shilo.
Those who have 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. At the same time, they were all considered part of the "grassroots army." But they did not participate in the Rada and received only a small fraction of the spoils of war.
The laws established in the Sich were extremely severe. Theft was considered a serious crime, which was always punishable by death. For fights, desecration of a woman or robbery of the Orthodox population, they were beaten with a whip, chained to a pole. But the most terrible punishment awaited the one who shed the blood of his fellow Cossack. The killer was laid alive in the grave, a coffin with his victim was placed on top and buried. Deserters were especially despised by the Cossacks - they were stoned to death. Perhaps only such tough measures could keep this explosive mixture gathered on the Dnieper.
Union with Russia
Relations between the Zaporozhian Sich and Russia have always been difficult. Before mid-seventeenth centuries, the Cossacks went to Moscow on campaigns more than once. In the Time of Troubles, they fought for False Dmitry I, supported the Polish prince Vladislav, who claimed the Russian throne.
However, as the Commonwealth became stronger, the Orthodox Cossacks began to feel more and more uncomfortable in an alliance with a 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 the Pereyaslav Council of 1654, which announced the transfer of the Cossacks under Russian rule. Thus, a new autonomous entity arose - the Hetmanate. There, again, two Sichs began to exist side by side: the Army of His Royal Majesty Zaporozhye (registered Cossacks) and the "grassroots army".
The alliance with Russia was short-lived. During Northern war there was a fatal betrayal of Hetman Mazepa. On the Poltava battle the hetman brought only a few hundred Cossacks. But even before that, the Cossacks launched active hostilities 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 Sich people lost their former dashing, stopped borrowing military innovations from the enemy. They became heavy on the rise and clumsy in battle.
As a result, in May 1709, the Zaporizhzhya Sich was completely defeated by three Russian regiments under the command of Peter Yakovlev. The fortresses were destroyed, the kurens were burned, the Cossacks were dispersed or killed, and about 400 people were taken prisoner, and many were later executed.
The further history of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks is an endless wandering, in an attempt to find a new home and revive the former glory. I had to ask for protection from sworn enemies- Turkish sultan and 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 Russian border, participated in the Russian-Turkish wars, but never reached their former scope.
An end to the history of the free Cossacks was put by Catherine the Great, who on August 3, 1775 signed a manifesto "On the destruction of the Zaporizhzhya Sich and its inclusion in the Novorossiysk province."
