Cossacks are a unique phenomenon in Eastern Europe, which is not found anywhere else in the world. The homeland of the Cossacks is the lower reaches of the Dnieper. On the islands of this deep river, the first Sichs were located - the fortifications of the Cossack troops.
Hetmans of Ukraine were known far beyond their lands. The exploits of the Cossacks in the fight against the Ottoman Empire are remembered in many countries of Western and Eastern Europe.
History of the emergence of the Cossacks
The very concept of "Cossack" is not of Slavic origin. It belongs to the Turkic or Turkish language. It means "guardian", "free man". The first news about the Cossacks dates back to the 15th century. The complaint of the Crimean Khan to the Lithuanian prince mentions people who wrecked Turkish ships at the mouth of the Dnieper between Cherkassy and Kyiv.
After that, documents and annals increasingly mention the Cossacks as militant groups who lived their way. Their number increased each time due to the "departure". So calledenslaved villagers who did not have their own land and in search of a better life went to the sparsely populated lands of the forest-steppe belt of modern Ukraine.
Later they will create their own state of the Zaporizhian Army. This name is due to the fact that the Cossacks settled beyond the rapids of the Dnieper. It was there that they created their fortifications and fought against the raids of the Tatars. They were headed by the hetmans of Ukraine.
Creation of the first Cossack Sich
The first hetmans of Ukraine (atamans) are little known. The name of Prince Dmitry Vishnevetsky (1550-1563), who is mentioned in folklore under the nickname Baida, is associated with the creation of the first Sich. It is known that he was from a family of Volyn landowners.
He gathered in 1553 a group of 300 Cossacks and went beyond the rapids of the Dnieper to fight the Tatars, who devastated the lands and kept the small population of the border territories in fear.
The first Sich was created on the island of Malaya Khortitsa. The Tatars tried several times to destroy this fortification. They succeeded in 1557. Prince Vishnevetsky was forced to leave the Sich. However, he did not stop fighting the Tatars.
The death of the first hetman is shrouded in many legends. It is known that he was captured by the Turkish army in 1563 in Moldova. He was taken to Istanbul (Tsargrad), where he was killed. He was hung from a metal hook over the sea.
Some legends say that Bayda was very impressed with the Turkish Sultan and he invited him to convert to Islam, marry his daughter and become the best warrior. But the Cossack refused and insultedpublicly the faith of the Sultan and his entire family. For this, the first hetman of Ukraine was executed.
The first "registries" of the Cossacks
As the Cossacks increased in numbers and had a special military organization, it became a serious threat not only to the incoming Tatars, but also to the Kingdom of Poland. It was he who owned the Ukrainian lands after signing the Union of Lublin with the Principality of Lithuania in 1569.
To control this military power, it was necessary to subdue the Cossacks. Such an attempt was made by Zhigmont August. He invited 300 Cossacks to enter the "registry" and receive a certain payment from the king for their service. The hetmans of Ukraine were at the head of the registered Cossacks. However, this number was an insignificant part of those who considered themselves Zaporozhye Cossacks.
The significance of the hetman in the Zaporizhia Army
The Sich became the administrative and political center by the 16th century. All power in the Cossack order belonged to the Sich Rada. Every Cossack had the right to vote.
| Administration of the Zaporozhian Sich | |
| Sich Rada | Carried out domestic and foreign policy, declared war, made peace, repaired the court, worked with embassies. |
| Hetman (ataman) | The highest military, administrative, judicial power. During the war, his power is unlimited, in peacetime, all his decisions were agreed with the Sich Rada. |
| Army clerk | Management of the Sich Chancellery, diplomatic correspondence and all documentation. |
| Army Judge | Court, enforcement of laws. |
| Military osavul | Hetman's assistant in military and administrative affairs. |
From the table it is clear that all power belonged to the Sich Rada. The hetmans of Ukraine were limited in their decisions. In addition, their position was elective, it was not inherited. If necessary, the ataman could be changed.
The most famous hetmans
Cossacks have existed since the 15th century. During this time, many hetmans and atamans were elected to the Sich. All of them played their part in history. However, the most famous are the following hetmans of Ukraine.
The list is presented in chronological order of their reign:
- Dmitry Vishnevetsky (Baida).
- Petro Konashevich (Sagaidachny).
- Bogdan Khmelnitsky.
- Ivan Mazepa.
- Kirill Razumovsky.
Each of them should be dedicated to a separate book. The first representative of the list was mentioned above.
Petro Konashevich (1614-1622)
His name is associated with the era of the heroic campaigns of the Cossacks against the Ottoman Empire. At this time, the Cossacks made many naval raids on Turkish galleys. They freed prisoners and plundered captured ships.
It is known that Petro Konashevich was born in the village of Kulchitsy (modern Lviv region) in the familysmall Ukrainian landowner. He was educated at the Ostroh Academy and the Lviv Fraternal School.
His nickname is connected with the name of the bow and quiver for arrows - sagaydak. Thanks to his skill in shooting accurately from a bow, he was nicknamed Sahaidachny.
The victory in the Battle of Khotyn in 1621 brought glory and death to the hetman. This battle decided the outcome of the Turkish-Polish war. In addition, she showed that it was possible to defeat the Ottoman army, and stopped the further seizure of European states by the Islamic world. Enraged by defeat, the Janissaries killed their own Sultan, which led to the further decline of the Turkish Empire.
Heavily wounded, he died a few months later in Kyiv as the greatest hetman of Ukraine. Sahaidachny divided all his property between his wife and fraternal schools.
Bogdan Khmelnitsky(1648-1657)
Born in 1595 in the family of a Cossack centurion. He also took part in the Turkish-Polish war. His father was killed in it. Khmelnytsky himself was seized by the Turks and sent to Constantinople, where he spent two years in captivity.
After many successful sea campaigns against the Turks, he was appointed centurion. Bogdan Khmelnitsky with the Cossacks took part in the war with Spain on the side of France in 1646. Thanks to them, the fortress of Dunkirk was taken.
Khmelnitsky became the one who raised the national liberation uprising in the Ukrainian lands against the Polish omnipotence, which covered all segments of the population. A Cossack state was created, which led the externalpolitics with many countries. In his policy, the hetman was looking for allies from different sides: among the Crimean Khanate, the Moscow Kingdom, and European countries. He stopped his choice on cooperation with Russia, which he approved with the entire Zaporozhye Host at the Pereyaslav Rada.
Bogdan Khmelnitsky died in 1657. After that, the period of Ruins (devastation) began on the Ukrainian lands. The Hetmanate, like all Ukrainian lands, will be divided between Poland and Russia into the Right-Bank and Left-Bank, respectively. In each of the parts, their hetmans of Ukraine are elected. The list of Cossack leaders has doubled since then.
Ivan Mazepa (1687-1708)
The most controversial personality among the hetmans is Ivan Mazepa. His mind, education, ability to manipulate people allowed him to be the hetman of the Left-Bank Ukraine for more than 20 years.
He was born in 1639, received a good education, was in the service of the Polish king, later the Hetman of the Right-Bank Ukraine Petro Doroshenko. During the mission, he was captured and handed over to the Left Bank Hetman, but he was able to gain a foothold in the new conditions.
He found a common language with Peter the Great, received from him a gift of land and was one of the richest people in Europe. He donated a lot of money to the development of education, the construction of Orthodox churches. The style of these buildings will eventually be attributed to the Mazepevsky or Cossack baroque.
In the outbreak of the Northern War, Ivan Mazepa (hetman of Ukraine) goes over to the side of Sweden. However, he did not receive the support of allCossacks and was defeated in the Battle of Poltava in 1709. Together with the Swedish king Karl Mazepa hid in Moldova, where he died in the same year at the age of 70.
His act in Soviet times was seen solely as a betrayal. Modern Ukrainian historians are inclined to believe that Ivan Mazepa, first of all, defended the interests of himself and the Hetmanate.
Kirill Razumovsky (1750-1764)
The last hetman of Ukraine is Kirill Razumovsky. He was an educated young man who was appointed to govern the Hetmanate at the age of 22. The choice was due to the fact that his elder brother Alexei was the favorite of the Russian Empress Elizabeth.
He did not look like the former chieftains and spent most of his time in St. Petersburg. However, the period of his reign is rightfully considered the “golden autumn” of the Hetmanate.
With the coming to power of Catherine II, everything changes and in 1764 the last hetman of Ukraine renounces the mace. Part of the Cossacks became the Army of the Faithful Cossacks, later the Black Sea, and even later the Kuban Cossack Host. Those who did not submit went over to the side of the Turkish Sultan and founded the Transdanubian Sich.
