In the region of Eastern Europe, since antiquity, there has been a confluence of numerous cultures. Between the Caucasus and the Balkans were Hellenes, Romans, Christians, Jews, Mongols and Ottoman Turks, among other peoples. This meeting of cultures produced new civilizations, countries and cultural groups. One of these groups was the Cossacks, a kind of militarized society that was organized in villages and had as its main characteristic the horse use in their daily and military activities.
Cossack knights settled in countries like Russia and Ukraine, forming a population that, at the beginning of the 20th century, it reached more than two million individuals. The word “Cossack” derives from Russian "kozac", which, in turn, refers to the Turkish "kazac", meaning, roughly, “free man”, “free individual”.
The skills with horses, including military maneuvers, the Cossacks inherited from the Mongolian tradition, which peaked at the time of the emperor Genghis Khan, who developed a real war machine with only armies of knights, without needing infantry. Besides the use of the horse, another outstanding characteristic of the Cossacks was the handling of sabers and spears during combat. This feature also suited the cavalry well, since blows delivered against opponents, with the aid of the horse's speed, became deadly.
The Cossacks who settled in Russia and Ukraine played a strong role in First World War, as they fought on the side of the tsarist monarchy. However, they only stood out even after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Russian Cossacks fought against the Red Army Bolshevik, who had been the armed wing of the revolution. The Cossack army was also known as white army, having as one of the main leaders Nestor Mahkno, a Ukrainian anarchist.
As they did not constitute a formally organized army, the coats were also characterized by the practices of plunder, that is, in addition to destroying the enemy, they plundered his goods and also destroyed his entire structure. organizational. Several were the targets of Cossack attacks. One example was Hasidic Jews from regions like Poland.
* Image credits: Shuttersock and Mikhail Marovskiy
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/cossacos-russos.htm