 Japan had its samurai. Western Europe, its knights in shining armor. North America, its cowboys of the Wild West. Ukraine, its Cossacks toward the western end of the great Eurasian Steppe. All different, each distinctive to its country or region, these figures of history and legend still shine through their respective cultures.
Cossacks (Turkic for “free man” or “adventurer”) moved from many directions into the sparsely populated grasslands north of the Black Sea, starting in the 1500s or earlier. Some were fleeing serfdom. Some were criminal fugitives. All were welcomed as equals without reference to personal history. Living as a democracy, bound by resistance to authority, they became known as fierce warriors and brilliant horsemen. Legend said a Cossack could catch an approaching bullet with his bare hand. I’ve read that to tell a child to be brave, Ukrainian parents may say, “Be a Cossack.” If that’s true, recent events suggest Ukrainians have taken that saying to heart.
2 Comments
BARBARA BLOOMFIELD
3/7/2022 01:58:15 pm
A few years ago, I re-read "And Quiet Flows the Don" an epic, sympathetic, novel of (a branch of) Cossacks of Ukraine, written by Mikhail Sholokov between 1925 and 1940. I found a Wikipedia article on the Cossacks which gave me a bit more historic context about them. They were not quite as "free" as the article you posted suggests. They were actually mercenaries of the Russian Empire who traded serfdom for a contract that entitled the Empire to call them up as cavalry on demand. They were also at least partly responsible for the destruction of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (a relative haven in Europe for Jews since the 1300's) by a rebellion that led to establishment of an independent Cossack state in Ukraine, no doubt in collusion with the Russian Empire. The Chmielnicki Uprising (around 1648) included massacres of civilians in towns in the Commonwealth; towns where most Jews in the Commonwealth lived. While the Uprising wasn't specifically aimed at destroying Jewish communities (they just happened to be in the way), there aren't too many Jews in the world who know any history that would not shudder at the mention of Cossacks. 3/7/2022 07:09:15 pm
Wish I had an answer, too. Yes, the points you make about Cossacks are well taken, definitely including attacks on Jews. The articles I found gave the impression of a good bit of variety over time and among Cossack groups. They frequently served as mercenaries, sometimes for Poland against Russia and sometimes for Russia against Poland, and sometimes for both against the Ottoman Empire. Until perhaps the past couple of centuries, their pattern seems to be that they were happy to fight pretty much anyone for pay - but either bargained for semi-autonomy or turned against whoever employed them if the employer tried go get them under real control. Russia, Poland, whoever. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin.
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