ataman
Cossacks appeared in the attack on Napoleon, in the front line of fighting with the Ottoman Empire in the south, and in the process of expanding to Siberia. During the First World War alone, the Cossacks with a population of just over 4 million provided 360,000 soldiers for the Russian army. It can be said that the vast majority of mature men in Russian Cossacks have been involved in the war.
Russian expansion in Siberia
However, Russia's performance in World War I disappointed almost all Russians, including Cossacks, who also suffered more than 40,000 casualties in the war. But Russia got nothing. This is also an important reason why Cossack, regarded by the Tsar as the most trustworthy force, did not support the Tsar during the February Revolution.
ataman
After the February Revolution overthrew the czar's rule in Russia, the October Revolution broke out and the Russian Civil War broke out. At this time, the Cossacks also split. Some Cossacks, especially the poor Cossacks at the bottom, turned to the Bolsheviks and stood on the side of the revolution. They are also called Red Cossacks. Many famous figures have emerged in the Red Cossack, such as Butioni and mironov.
ataman
Because Cossacks have always enjoyed various privileges in Russia, they occupy much more land and cultivated land than ordinary Russian civilians. So these Cossacks, who occupy more resources, strongly oppose the Bolsheviks and join the White Army.
Cossacks, as a military group, have been expanding their territory for the tsar. Therefore, the Cossacks have a powerful military force that ordinary people do not have. When the Bolsheviks promulgated and implemented a series of policies against Cossacks, such as confiscation of land, violent requisition of food and property, physical destruction of Cossacks and other measures, Cossacks rebelled unexpectedly.
ataman
In the traditional military area of Cossacks, a large number of Cossacks began to rebel. Cossack's strong mobilization and organization ability and military accomplishment made the Red Army, which came to suppress it, retreat one after another. Cossack even drove the Red Army out of the Don River basin directly.
Moreover, the Bolshevik policy of eliminating Cossacks was not only violently resisted by the white Cossacks, but even supported the Bolshevik Red Cossacks and began to oppose this fierce policy. 19 19, mironov led the Red Cossack to openly refuse to carry out Bolshevik orders.
ataman
However, the long-term war and the limited population resources of the Cossack, coupled with the internal division of the Cossack, made the Cossack uprising unsustainable. 19 19 At the end of the year, the Cossack rebellion was finally put down. The Cossack Uprising lasted for several years, which also made the Bolsheviks realize that the overly tough policy was not suitable for Cossacks, and it was not worth the loss.
So they used carrots and sticks instead, giving the Cossacks some respect and preferential treatment. However, the lifestyle, customs and culture of the Cossacks are still firmly and gradually eliminated, and the land on which the Cossacks depend for survival and maintenance is confiscated. Finally, the Cossacks gradually merged into the main body of the Russian nation.
ataman
Therefore, during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, although a large number of heroic and skillful Cossacks joined the Soviet Red Army and played an important role in the Soviet-German battlefield, at this time Cossacks were no longer independent armed forces, but dispersed to various units of the Soviet Union. Cossack cavalry can be seen in both the fierce fighting in Stalingrad and the Soviet invasion of northeast China.