Zaporizhzhya Sich is a fortified cell of the non-registered Zaporizhzhya army (grassroots) from the second half of the 16th to the end of the 18th century. It was located beyond the rapids of the Dnieper on the island of Khortitsa. Its creation was the impetus for the consolidation of the Ukrainian Cossacks. The Zaporizhzhya Sich strongly influenced the formation of the self-consciousness of the Cossacks and the establishment of their organizational structure. Information has been preserved about seven Sichs, which successively replaced each other. We will try to figure out what other influence the Zaporizhian Sich had on the course of history, what it is and for what purpose it was created.
Device
Zaporizhzhya Sich is an island fortress, which was surrounded by ramparts with a palisade. There were guns around the perimeter. Between the ramparts there was a wide area, on the edge of which there were barracks-kurens, where the Cossacks-Cossacks lived. There were several thousand of them in the Sich. Sometimes the number reached ten thousand. The permanent composition was called kosh. On the territory there was also a church, a school, houses of senior officials, military and outbuildings. The Sich Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and its clergy were subordinate to the Kiev-Mezhigorsk Archimandrite. An open place near the church was the center of the social and political life of the Zaporizhzhya Sich. Therecouncils and meetings were held.
Behind the ramparts was a bazaar, where merchants came with their goods. The Secheviks sold their products there. As a rule, it was game, fish. Zaporizhzhya Sich is a territory that was originally completely free from landlord power. Pans and serfs were not there. Mutual relations between the Sich were built not under the usual coercion, but on contractual terms. Every person was free. The top of the Zaporozhian Sich, of course, had privileges. Senior officials often became owners of large winter huts, watermills, herds of cattle, etc.
Elective power
Zaporozhian Sich is a paramilitary organization with a clear hierarchy of power. Despite the fact that every Cossack was free, there were still social differences. A we althy foreman was subject to a mass of poor Sich. Between these class groups there was a layer of small proprietors - the middle class. From among the we althy Cossacks, the elite was elected by universal suffrage, which concentrated administrative power in their hands. She led the army and controlled finances, and also represented the Sich in diplomatic relations.
Despite the suffrage of each Cossack, the foreman almost always achieved favorable decisions for himself. The Zaporozhian Sich is an entity called the Cossack Republic.
Sich society was divided into kurens. The highest authority was the Cossack Rada, which decided the most important issues. Everyone took part in itSich. It was there that the ataman was chosen. The Rada could also remove him from office. The Sich had their own court. There was a judicial code and a system of punishments. For stealing from brothers, disobeying orders and insolence towards higher command, for raping a woman during a campaign (there were no women in the Sich), sodomy and other offenses, one could lose his head by a court decision.
Education
Zaporizhzhya Sich is a place where a lot of attention was paid to education. For the children of the Cossacks, schools operated at the churches. There they were taught literacy, music, singing, etc. Another indicator of the cultural development of the Sich was a respectful attitude towards books, which were considered of great value. Only we althy Cossacks could afford to buy them. The book was considered one of the best gifts. It is believed that the origin of the word "cut" is Slavic. This is a derivative of "slash" - a battle, a battle with swords. The meaning of the word "cut" for the Ukrainian Cossacks was inextricably linked with their fortress on the island of Khortytsya and elsewhere. It has become synonymous with home.
Campaigns of the Cossacks
The Cossacks carried out sea and land campaigns against the Poles, Turks, Tatars, Muscovites. For Russia and Poland, the Sich was for a long time a convenient counterweight and at the same time a barrier from the Crimean Tatars and Turks. However, freedom-loving Cossacks often fought with them. For the Ukrainian peasantry, which languished under the yoke of the Poles, the Sich became a symbol of the struggle against the oppressors.
Cossacks led all peasant uprisingsagainst the Polish gentry. They were a military and driving force. Cavalry prevailed in the land campaigns of the Cossacks. They went out to sea on small ships - the so-called seagulls. Each of them contained 50-70 soldiers. Ahead was the ship of the ataman with a flag. Each Cossack was armed with a saber, had two guns, carried six pounds of gunpowder, balls for falconets, had one Nuremberg quadrant for orientation.
Liquidation of the Sich
After the Russian-Turkish wars of the XVIII century, in which the Cossacks also took part on the side of Russia, the Crimea was annexed and the Black Sea coast was recaptured. The immediate threat from the Turks and Tatars to the empire disappeared. In the same period, the devastating uprising of Pugachev took place, which greatly frightened Catherine II. Having lost its geopolitical significance, the Zaporizhzhya Sich with its freemen was a potential source of danger for the ruler. It was these reasons that led to its elimination. After the capture of the fortress on Khortitsa, most of the Cossacks were resettled to the Kuban and Don.
