The Don Cossack Army occupied the territory of the Don Cossack Region. Nowadays, Rostov, Volgograd, Lugansk, Voronezh regions and Kalmykia are located on these lands. Although Rostov was annexed here last, most of the documents about the population and history of the Region are preserved in its museums and archives.
History of the formation of the Don Cossacks
The date of the official formation of the Don Cossacks is considered to be the time of the release of the first written source, which has survived to this day. We are talking about the letter of Ivan the Terrible, in which he asks Ataman Mikhail Cherkashenin for the obedience of the ambassador of Tsar Novosiltsev, who is sending him to Tsargrad. His path passed through the Don. For this, the authorities promised to favor the Cossacks. The date of the charter is January 3, 1570. Although it is quite obvious that the Cossack Union, the Region of the Don Cossacks were formed much earlier. Because otherwise, the king simply had no one to turn to.
But the document shows that since that time the Don Cossacks officially guarded the southern borders of the kingdom. At the end of the 16th century, it occupiedterritory with a border with a total length of about 800 kilometers. It was located on the banks of the Don and its tributaries. And after another century, the Cossacks of the Don Cossacks were the main armed force that fought against the Turkish and Polish invaders. For their service they received money, gunpowder, lead, cloth and bread.
Autonomy and self-government
The Don Cossacks gradually divided into two groups: thrifty and gout. The former were mostly old-timers and settled in the lower lands, the latter were settlers and settled in the upper reaches of the river. Until the beginning of the XVIII century. the lands of the Don Cossack Region were autonomous and were under the control of the military circle and elected executive bodies. Before the campaign, the elections of the ataman, who had unlimited power, were held. The army was divided into hundreds and fifty, headed by centurions, Pentecostals and cornets. After the Bulavin uprising, the Don Cossack Host was subordinate to the Military Collegium.
Since 1763, the Cossack service has become mandatory for life. The war of the peasants of 1773-1775 was the end of the autonomy of the Cossacks. Don was captured by the tsarist troops. But this was not the end of their "self-will", which continued for a long time after that.
Don's lack of independence
1769-1775 - the formation of the Cossack team of the St. Petersburg Legion and the five hundred Army of the Don Ataman Regiment.
1797 - foundation of the Don Cossack artillery. A year after this, the allocation of the Cossacks took place inan independent regiment, and their ranks were like those of the army. At the same time, the salary of the Cossacks was equalized to the payments of the corresponding ranks.
In 1798-1800, the foremen of the Cossacks received the same rights as the Russian nobility, and acquired serfs. The following innovations took place:
- introduction of 30 years of military service;
- Definition of the military kit;
- introduction of the position of a military foreman as an assistant to the regimental commander, his deputy;
- separation of clothes into military and everyday home clothes.
Reform of 1835
Innovation of 1835 provided for each Cossack share in the amount of 30 acres. But already in 1916, this size was reduced to 11, and convenient land was only 9.8 acres of land. At the beginning of the 20th century, more than half of the Cossack families were forced to rent out these allotments in order to pay debts for military equipment. Only a fifth of the farms were prosperous at that time.
After the reform of 1835, all the Cossacks were divided into military and civilian. The area of the Don Cossacks expected the following changes:
- rearmament;
- section of military territory;
- compulsory military service of the male population from 18 to 43;
- prohibition of settlement on the territory of the troops of strangers;
- turning the Cossacks into a closed estate with a lifetime belonging to it;
- approval of a new military kit.
Statement Area TroopsDonskoy
In 1874, the approval of a new staff of internal management took place. It consisted of a military headquarters, management of individual military departments and artillery. 1875 - the introduction of the official name of the Don Cossack Region. In the same year, the term of military service was reduced to 20 years.
During the reign of Alexander III, the Don Cossack Oblast (Donetsk District) was annexed to the city administration of Taganrog and Rostov Uyezd. They made new civil districts. In the same year, the posts of chieftains of departments were abolished.
The February Revolution of 1917 contributed to the formation of the Don military government. Ataman A. M. Kaledin became its head. It opposed the rise of the Soviets. In 1918, the formation of the Don Soviet Republic took place, where anti-Soviet uprisings constantly broke out. In 1920, the Don Cossack army ceased to exist and was restored only in the 90s of the twentieth century.
