Transbaikal Cossacks Nikolai Nikolaevich Smirnov
1. Cossacks - who are they?
1. Cossacks - who are they?
The very word “Cossack” Turkic origin, which means “daring man”, “free man”.
This definition most accurately reflects the meaning of the concept “Cossack”, although different nations there were many options for its interpretation. The dispute between historians about the origin of the word “Cossack”, as well as who the Cossacks are in general, remains unresolved.
In the works of many old Russian scientists there was an unshakable confidence that the Cossacks were part of a certain people, their special branch. Others identify the Cossacks with nomadic peoples Indo-Iranian race, who came from Asia, where they lived in the upper reaches of the Yenisei and in the east of Lake Baikal, reaching in the west to the Angara River.
There are works where the Cossacks are considered the descendants of several southern Azov and Black Sea tribes, who, having become related to each other, formed a special nation - the Cossacks.
There are also those who consider the North Caucasus to be the ancestral home of the Cossacks.
A lot can be argued, but one thing is clear: whatever the origin of the word “Cossack,” ultimately the Russian people with their own language, customs and culture became its bearer. How did it happen that numerous southern tribes bearing the name Kos-Saki (Ka-Saka), Meoto-Kaisars, Alans-Ases, Tanaits, Asians Khakass, Khasaks, Kai-Saks, etc., who were the ancestors of the Cossacks, according to some scientists, spoke Russian, adopted Russian culture and customs, disappeared without a trace into everything Russian, leaving only minor signs of their existence?
It is obvious that the powerful wave of Rus that swept the south significantly surpassed the local tribes, swallowed them up, which is why everything Russian began to predominate.
In addition, some of the huge southern spaces was not inhabited by anyone at all, so the Russians who moved to these lands had no one to assimilate, and they completely lived according to their customs and laws, preserving all the signs of national culture, but changing them in accordance with the conditions of existence.
Without a doubt, the settlers, communicating with the nomads, adopted part of their culture and customs, became related to the local tribes, absorbing some of their external signs, but the roots remained Russian. This can be confirmed by the Transbaikal Cossacks.
To modern Cossacks you should be proud of your Slavic origin, and not look for an ancestral home in Scythia, Asia or the Caucasus.
Thus, it can be assumed that the Cossacks are a unique Slavic population, formed outside of Rus' and in conditions independent of it.
Leaving their homeland for various reasons, Russian people settled on unoccupied lands in the endless southern steppes outside the borders of Rus', where danger threatened them from all sides. Reflecting the attacks of nomads on their villages, the Cossacks themselves carried out raids, expeditions and trips to uncharted lands. War became a profession for these people, shaping their character and unique way of life.
“The existence of the Cossacks, as a border warlike population, was natural and necessary due to the geographical position of Ancient Rus', due to the openness of its borders,” wrote historian S.M. Soloviev. Characterizing national significance Cossacks, he noted that “there should have been and indeed were Cossacks on all borders, especially on those borders where no one dared to settle without having the character of a warrior, ready to always repel and guard the enemy. The border is stocked with Cossacks.”
In its organization, the Cossack community was both economic and military. At the head of its administration was a circle, that is, a meeting of all Cossacks. The circle had administrative and supreme judicial power. For executive activities, the circle chose a military foreman - ataman, his assistant - esaul, and a military clerk (scribe) for written affairs.
Executor of the will of the Cossack circle in peacetime, the ataman had unlimited power during a war or campaign. At that time, Cossacks were chosen to become atamans primarily based on their business qualities, and not by property status, as it became much later. They were presented to the ataman high demands: personal bravery and courage in battle, the ability to competently command a detachment on a campaign, knowledge of military affairs, strong and weaknesses enemy; Possessing a strong will and the ability to captivate people to achieve their goals. The chieftain must be a good administrator in times of peace, take care of the Cossacks, and understand them. When choosing an ataman, his intelligence and ability to correctly assess the situation and make a decision were taken into account. Random people were not elected as atamans - only those whom they knew well and to whom the Cossacks could trust their lives.
In peacetime, the Cossacks were engaged in cattle breeding, hunting and fishing. Farming was not encouraged among them, since it was believed that the land enslaved people, required constancy and peace, and the incessant raids of the steppe nomads made this activity impossible. The Cossacks received bread from the royal treasury or from Russian merchants in exchange for fish, furs, or goods obtained during campaigns.
The focal nature of settlement and the great distance from each other did not allow Cossack communities to maintain close ties with each other. Over time, when the flow of Russian settlers became free border lands increased, the number of Cossacks also increased, their military activities, there was a need to unite the disunited Cossack communities into an army with a common circle and elected atamans.
Having turned into a formidable force, the Cossack troops in the 15th–17th centuries more than once undertook military campaigns in the Crimea, to the coast of the Black and Caspian Seas, and dared to openly fight the Tatar and Turkish army, even reached distant Persia.
The Cossacks were armed with sabers, pikes, light firearms (carbines, pistols, muskets), and they also had artillery.
A characteristic feature of their offensive tactics was sudden and daring raids, the use of ambushes and “searches”. In defense, the Cossacks relied on the fortified towns, abatis, and carts they created. Widely used waterways, for which they had large boats that could accommodate 50–70 people, the necessary supplies of water, food and weapons. The Cossacks had their own code of honor and, closely connected by communal interests, were a monolithic, friendly, controlled military organization, capable of achieving great results. For example, the Zaporozhye Cossacks in 1614 destroyed 26 ships of the Turkish fleet directly off the coast of Turkey, at Cape Trebizond (Trabzon), and the Don Cossacks in 1637 took a powerful Turkish fortress Azov.
Cossack communities, transformed into an army, received a name on a territorial basis. The army was assigned land, which was transferred for use Cossack villages. Until 1719, Cossack communities were under the jurisdiction of the Orders (Razryadny, Sibirsky, Posolsky, etc.), and from 1721 they came under the control of the Military Collegium.
The election of atamans and foremen was gradually eliminated, and they began to be appointed. This is how mandated atamans appeared, i.e. appointed by the government.
The attitude of the Russian government towards the Cossacks was not clear-cut. On the one hand, the boyars and landowners could not tolerate the flight of their serfs, and on the other, it was beneficial for the government to have Cossacks on the border of the state, whose troops fought the common enemy. At the same time, the government did not incur any special material costs, as for a regular army, and the borders were guarded. Cossack communities were recognized for a certain time, and Moscow more than once turned to them for help in repelling the attacks of numerous enemies, escorting steppe expanses Russian ambassadors.
In relation to the government, the Cossacks were divided into servicemen and freemen. The former were officially considered subjects of the Russian Tsar and were obliged to carry out his orders. From among these Cossacks, the garrisons of border cities and fortresses, foot and horse regiments were recruited. For their service they received a cash and grain salary based on fixed salaries, and were provided with gunpowder and lead. They served under the command of “heads” appointed by the Rank Order.
The latter were not considered the tsar's subjects and were not obliged to serve on his orders. They participated in the campaigns of their own free will and under certain conditions. Freedom and independence were above all else for them.
The tsarist government used the services of its former subjects, but treated them with distrust. Not bound by an oath, the free Cossacks did not disdain the “robbery” trade, attacking foreign and Russian merchants and embassy caravans, which brought the government a lot of trouble. There were cases when the tsar, not wanting to aggravate foreign policy relations with neighboring states, ordered the public execution of one or more “thieves’ men.” This was the name given to free Cossacks in the 16th century. Attempts by the tsarist government to end Cossack freemen until the 80s of the 16th century did not give decisive results. As the borders of the state expanded and the border lines shifted into the territory of their habitat, the free Cossacks went to the Volga region, to Yaik, Kuban and Terek.
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TRANSBAIKAL COSSACK ARMY (ZKV) (1851-1918), an irregular military formation formed with the aim of strengthening the military potential of Russia, annexing territories located along the Amur and in Primorye on the basis of a project developed by the East Siberian. governor general N.N. Muravyov-Amursky. Approved by the Regulations on the ZKV, signed by Tsar Nicholas I on March 17, 1851. By the time of the formation of the ZKV, the Cossacks of Zab. were part of the Zab. city regiment, villages of Verkhneudinsky and Nerchinsky districts, Tsurukhaituyevsky and Kharatsaysky border departments, Tungussky and Bur. Cossack regiments. From these units a cavalry army was formed: 3 cavalry brigades (2 regiments each). Later, on the basis of a government order on the conversion of peasants Nerchinsk factories In the Cossacks and the formation of the foot army, 3 foot brigades (4 battalions each) were created.
The foot army included peasants from Verkhneudinsk district. And Nerchinsky mountain district (mountain factories), village and city and partly border Cossacks. 2 horse artillery batteries consisting of 12 guns were formed. In the summer of 1851, the ZKV consisted of 48,169 Cossacks, of which 20,410 were mounted and 27,759 were foot (after the reforms of 1897-1906, the foot battalions were disbanded). Later composition The ZKV increased: in the cavalry army - 21 thousand people, on foot - more than 30 thousand. The first cavalry brigade consisted of Russians. Cossacks who lived along the Selenga border from the Klyuchevsky guard to the Akshinsky fortress. The 1st and 2nd cavalry regiments were based here. The brigade headquarters was located in the village of Kudarinskaya. From Russian Cossacks who lived on the Aksha border along the river. Onon, Arguni, Shilka from Aksha to the village of Gorbichenskaya, consisted of the 2nd cavalry brigade. The 3rd and 4th cavalry regiments were located in this area. The brigade headquarters was located in the village of Novotsurukhaituyevskaya. Buryat Cossacks who lived behind the border line along the river. Selenge, Chikoyu, Khilku and others made up the 3rd cavalry brigade. The headquarters was in Selenginsk. Three foot brigades consisted of former mining peasants who lived between Argun, Shilka and the lower reaches of the Onon. Headquarters of the 1st Foot Brigade - Olochinskaya village; headquarters of the 2nd foot brigade - village. Shelopuginskoe; headquarters of the 3rd foot brigade - village. Byankinskoe. In Russian There were from 5 to 6 thousand Cossacks in the mounted brigades, in the Bur. cavalry - 10 thousand, in foot brigades - 10 thousand people. The affairs of the ZKV were in charge of a special Cossack department under the Chief. ex. East Sib. in Irkutsk. General Guide belonged to the East Sib. the governor general, reporting to the minister of war. In connection with the formation of the ZKV on July 11, 1851, the Transbaikal region was established with its center in Chita.
The duties of the assigned (appointed by the tsar) ataman of the ZKV were assigned to the military governor. From October 23, 1851, Major General P.I. Zapolsky began to carry them out. In the summer of 1852, the 1st review of the ZKV took place, which demonstrated success in its formation. On Dec. In 1852, with a special letter signed by Nicholas I, 4 cavalry regiments and 12 foot battalions of the ZKV were awarded banners. In 1872, the ZKV was divided territorially into 3 military departments, and in 1898 the 4th was created. In 1916, there were 516 military settlements, united into 63 villages. The first military department (center Troitskosavsk) exhibited the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Verkhneudinsk cavalry regiments; 2nd military department (center of Chita) - 1st and 2nd Chit. shelves; 3rd military department (center Nerchinsk) - 1st and 2nd Nerchinsk regiments; 4th military department (center of the village of Nerchinsky Plant) - 1st and 2nd Argun regiments. Military departments were also managed by atamans, who were appointed by the appointed ataman. Stanitsa and villages were governed by stanitsa and village atamans, respectively, elected by the residents of these settlements with their subsequent approval by atamans of military departments. The ZKV had its own legal proceedings, healthcare, education, trade, etc. systems, as well as law enforcement structures that reported directly to the ataman of the ZKV.
Cossacks enlisted in the ZKV, as before, guarded the borders with China and Mongolia; carried out internal service: escorted convict parties, guarded state and military facilities, and performed other police functions; accompanied diplomatic, trade, scientific and other missions and expeditions abroad - ZKV participated in scientific expeditions N.M. Przhevalsky, P.K. Kozlova, P.A. Kropotkin, G.N. Potanin and others; guarded by Russians consul in Beijing, Maimachen and Urga. ZKV Cossacks participated in the East. (Crimean) war 1853-56, Russian-Turkish war 1877-78, in the war with China 1900-01 (see Chinese campaign), Russian-Japanese. the war of 1904-05 and the 1st World War of 1914-18. In 1917, there were approx. in the ZKV. 100 full Knights of St. George from among the rank and file and approx. 50 officers awarded the Order of St. George and the Golden Arms of St. George - the most honorable military awards in Russia. OK. 10 thousand zab. Cossacks had St. George medals and crosses different degrees. In 1903, the ZKV received a military banner. First Cheat. and the 1st Verkhneudinsk regiment received St. George's banners with the inscription "For distinction in the war with Japan in 1904 and 1905." For military distinctions in China. campaign and Russian-Japanese. during the war, individual units of the ZKV received insignia for their headdresses: “For distinction against the Chinese in 1900” - the 4th and 6th foot battalions, the 4th and 5th hundreds of the 1st Verkhneudinsk regiment, the 2nd Zab. Cossack battery; “For distinction in the North. Manchuria in 1900" - 3rd Verkhneudinsk Regiment; “For Beitsang and Beijing in 1900” - 3rd hundred of the 1st Chit. regiment, “For the campaign in Korea in 1904 and 1905” - 1st Nerchinsk Regiment; “For distinction in the war with Japan in 1904 and 1905” - 1st, 3rd and 4th Zab. batteries, 2nd Verkhneudinsk, 2nd Chit., 1st and 2nd Argun regiments. St. George's silver trumpets were awarded to the 1st and 2nd hundreds of the 1st Nerchinsky Regiment - 4 with the inscription “For Eyur, Khingan and Qiqihar in 1900”; 1st, 2nd, 4th hundreds of the 1st Argun Regiment - 6 “For distinction in the North. Manchuria"; 6th hundred of the 1st Verkhneudinsk regiment - 2 “For Tianjin and Beijing in 1900”; 1st Zab. Cossack battery - 2 “For Shahe and Mukden in 1900”; 2nd Zab. battery - 2 “For the Beydalinsky pass from February 16 to 23. 1905"; 4th hundred of the 1st Verkhneudinsk regiment - 2 “For Port Arthur in 1904.”
Unequal socio-economic living conditions, incommensurate with the benefits provided by the hardships of the Cossack service, as well as active work political parties, primarily the Bolsheviks, contributed to the fact that part of the Cossack army not only suppressed the roar. movement 1905-07, some took part in it. This led to government crackdowns. After Feb. In 1917, a split occurred in the ZKV. Some of the Cossacks of the 3rd and 4th military departments, descendants of mining peasants, demanded the liquidation of the ZKV and the Cossacks as a class. The Cossacks of the 1st and 2nd military departments, the so-called “guards,” supported the marching ataman of the ZKV squadron, G.M. Semenov. Semenov on the 2nd Military Circle in August. 1917 advocated the preservation of the ZKV and subsequently formed from volunteers Special Manchu Unit to fight the Sov. ow. After the establishment of the Sov. ow. in Chita with the help of Cossack front-line soldiers of the 2nd Chita. regiment in March 1918 ZKV as state. the structure of the previous system was eliminated. Restored in full after the fall of the Soviet Union. ow. on Sept. 1918. In Aug. 1917 for the first time in the history of the ZKV elected a military ataman, Colonel V. became the Crimea. Zimin, in June 1919 he was replaced by G. M. Semenov. In Oct. 1920, after the final establishment of the Soviet Union. ow. in Zab., ZKV was liquidated for the second time. Those who went into exile. Cossacks under the leadership of Semenov self-organized along territorial lines. They formed 20 villages in Inner Mongolia, Manchuria and along the Chinese Eastern Railway.
The structure of the ZKV was recreated with an elected military ataman, board, honorary judges, etc. Organized educational institutions, hospitals and other institutions. In this state, the ZKV existed until the entry of the Kr. Armies in the North China in Aug. 1945 and the Sov was liquidated. ow. The Cossacks were mostly repressed under the pretext of retaliation for cooperation with Japan and “treason to the Motherland.” With rare exceptions, the ZKV Cossacks in Manchuria during the Second World War for the most part took a patriotic position. So, formed by the Japanese from young men. Cossack emigrants units in Aug. 1945 refused to engage in battle with the Red Army. For this they were partially destroyed and partially disbanded by the Japanese. Some part of the waste. Cossacks, avoiding the owls. and Japanese repressions, emigrated to third countries, a small number returned to the USSR in the 1960s, mainly to the virgin regions of Kazakhstan. On November 16, 1991, the military founding circle marked the beginning of the formation of Cossack communities in the traditional territories of the ZKV. The public organization “Transbaikal Cossack army" Lieutenant Colonel G. V was elected the first ataman of the ZKV (public organization). Kochetov, in 1993 - Lieutenant Colonel A.V. Bogdanov (re-elected in 1997 and 2000). Since 1993, issues of legal, personnel, economic and economic development of the department have begun to be resolved. Cossacks. They began to work out various shapes interaction with the Siberian Military District (ZabVO) (trainings and rallies with Cossacks, training shooting, recruiting military units Cossacks, etc.). In the new village. Cossack settlers from Kazakhstan are located on the border of Senkina Pad. In 1997, a presidential decree “On approval of the ZKV Charter” was issued, which made it possible to intensify work on the entry of the specified company into the state system. devices, and zab. Cossacks - into the structure of the civil service on a professional basis. On November 1, 2000, the draft designs of the military coat of arms were approved, badge and banner (see Banners of the Transbaikal Cossack Army). They preserve the historical symbolism of the zab. Cossacks and take it into account current state, as well as new heraldic requirements.
Source: RGVIA, f. 2007; GACHO, f. 30.
Lit.: Cossack troops: Directory / Ed. V. K. Schenk. - St. Petersburg, 1912; Vasiliev A. P. Zab. Cossacks Historical sketch. - Chita, 1916; Smirnov N. N. A word about zab. Cossacks: East. essay-chronicle. - Volgograd, 1994; Zab. Cossacks: history, traditions, development prospects: Materials of the regional scientific-practical conference. — Chita, 2000.
TRANSBAIKAL COSSACK ARMY, irregular army in Russia. Formed by the Regulations on the Transbaikal Cossack Army dated March 17 (29), 1851 on the initiative and according to the project of the East Siberian Governor-General N. N. Muravyov (from 1858 called Muravyov-Amursky) “as a shield of Transbaikal region from possible encroachments of China” and a base for Russian colonization of the Far East . The center of the Transbaikal Cossack Army is Chita. It was headed by an appointed ataman, who reported directly to the East Siberian (in 1884-1906 Amur, then Irkutsk) governor-general. The army included Cossacks from the Chinese border line (except for the Tunkinskaya distance) and Transbaikal city and village Cossacks; peasants from the Nerchinsk mining factories were assigned to the Cossack class. Number of Cossacks (with families): 100.8 thousand people (1851), 265 thousand people (1917; 28% of the population of the Trans-Baikal region). Russians predominated; in addition to them, the army included Buryats (21 thousand people in 1917) and Evenks (3 thousand people). Since 1855 part Transbaikal Cossacks moved to the Amur region (initially voluntarily, from 1858 by lot), where they formed the core of the Amur Cossack army. In the late 1850s - early 1860s, over 14.2 thousand “penalty” lower ranks were enrolled in the Cossacks of the Transbaikal Cossack Army, expelled from service in the Internal Guard and exiled to Eastern Siberia from European Russia. The actual possession of the village communities of the Transbaikal Cossack Army included: 3.3 million hectares of land (1891), 6.7 million hectares (1904), 10.9 million hectares (1917).
In 1851-72, the Transbaikal Cossack army was divided into 3 foot brigade districts (Cossacks from the Gazimur, Ingoda, Onon and Unda river valleys) and 3 cavalry brigade districts (located along the Russian-Chinese border), each of which was divided respectively into 4 battalion or 12 hundredth districts. In 1872, the Transbaikal Cossack army was divided into 3 military departments: 1st - in the southwest of the Transbaikal region (center - the city of Troitskosavsk), 2nd - in the south (city of Aksha), 3rd - in the east (city of Nerchinsk), in 1898 the 4th department was formed - in the southeast (the village of Nerchinsky Plant).
In peacetime on real military service there was a third of the Transbaikal Cossack army. The Cossacks carried out border, escort and guard duty, kept patrols on the border, and caught fugitives; performed zemstvo duties for the maintenance of roads, post offices, and apartments for passing troops.
Transbaikal Cossacks took part in the defense of the lower reaches of the Amur River and De-Kastri Bay (now Chikhachev Bay) in Crimean War 1853-56 (2.5 thousand Cossacks), in the suppression of the Yihetuan movement in China in 1900-01 (8.5 thousand Cossacks), in the Russian-Japanese War 1904-05 (over 19 thousand Cossacks). 9 cavalry regiments and 5 batteries [up to 14 thousand people; they were mainly part of the 1st Transbaikal Cossack Brigade (from December 1915 a division; operated in Poland, Polesie and Galicia), the 2nd and 3rd Transbaikal Cossack Brigades (operated on the Caucasian Front near Lake Van)].
In April 1917, after February Revolution, the 1st Transbaikal Regional Cossack Congress in Chita decided to liquidate the Cossack class; in August 1917, the 2nd Congress decided to cancel this decision. In March 1918, the Cossack faction of the 3rd Transbaikal Congress of Soviets proclaimed itself the 3rd Regional Cossack Congress, which again decided to liquidate the Transbaikal Cossack army. After practicing Cheats in parts Siberian Army Provisional Siberian Government (August 27, 1918) The Transbaikal Cossack Army was restored. It was finally abolished in April 1921, with the adoption of the constitution of the Far Eastern Republic.
During the Civil War of 1917-22, the Cossacks of the Transbaikal Cossack Army were part of both the Red Army (about 5.5 thousand people in 1918) and the Reds partisan detachments(mainly in the southeast of Transbaikalia, in 1920 - 10 cavalry and 2 infantry regiments), and as part of the White armies: in 1918 in the Special Manchurian detachment of G. M. Semenov (mainly officers of the Transbaikal Cossack army), in 1919 - in 1st and 2nd Transbaikal Cossack divisions(14 cavalry regiments, 4 batteries, about 6.5 thousand people; were part of the Kolchak armies), in 1920 - in the Far Eastern Army (over 1.8 thousand people in October 1920). In 1921-22 in Primorye, a number of formations of the Transbaikal Cossack Army acted as part of the White Rebel Army, then - the Zemstvo Army. On the territory of the Transbaikal Cossack army itself, fierce battles took place near the village of Nerchinsky Zavod and the villages of Bogdat (April - September 1919) and Sretensk (April 1920). At the end of 1920, after the retreat of Semenov’s troops to Manchuria, about 20 thousand people settled there in 18 villages on the rivers Khaul, Derbul and Gan, mainly Cossacks of the Transbaikal Cossack Army (in the 1945-60s, some of the village residents either voluntarily left or were deported to the USSR, some went to other countries). Created in 1990 in Chita public association Transbaikalian military Cossack society, which operates in the territories of the Republic of Buryatia, Chita region and Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug.
Lit.: Vasiliev A.P. Transbaikal Cossacks: In 3 volumes. Chita, 1916-1918. Blagoveshchensk, 2007; Sibiryakov N.S. The end of the Transbaikal Cossack army // The Past. M., 1990. T. 1; Smirnov N. N. A word about the Transbaikal Cossacks. Volgograd, 1994; Vasilevsky V.I. Transbaikal Cossack Army. M., 2000.
In November 1905, Cossacks participated in all major meetings of soldiers of the Chita garrison and workers of the Chita railway workshops. The council of soldiers and Cossack deputies of the RSDLP, elected at a meeting on November 22, included such famous Cossacks as Ts. Ranzhurov, K. Beloglazov, A. Belomestnov, G. Gantimurov, P. Selyaev, A. Lopatin, K. Peshkov, M. Kozulin, K. Ryumkin, I. Perevalov, A. Prostokishin, M. Bratenkov, G. Shishkin.
The third part of the Trans-Baikal villages comes out with demands of a political nature, using rallies and so-called “revolutionary negotiations”. They are characterized by calls to convene a Constituent Assembly, to equalize the Cossack class with others in serving military service, to shorten the period of valid army service, introduce an income tax, destroy the wine monopoly, seize the lands of His Majesty's cabinet and expel the royal officials.
Good things, as we know, are forgotten sooner. The people still remembered the Cossacks more as “whip riders”, “lamp holders” who helped stifle freedom. Therefore, the Bolsheviks, the Socialist Revolutionaries, and even the Cadets dreamed of eliminating the Cossacks as a class. But the Provisional Government was the first to have a hand in this after the February Revolution of 1917.
Under pressure from Minister of War A. Guchkov, on April 17, the First Congress of Cossacks of the Trans-Baikal Region took place in Chita. Delegates are not elected to it, but only representatives of the villages and rear are sent Cossack units. The front-line soldiers are left aside, fearing their obvious resistance, because the issue of eliminating the Cossack class was on the agenda of the congress. In fact, the Cossack section of the First Congress of the Rural Population is declared a congress.
All delegates (with a small number of abstentions) adopted a resolution: “The Cossack estate, as a relic of antiquity and a consequence of the existence standing armies, must be destroyed and compared with all free citizens of Russia."
The congress proposed to abolish the position of the ataman, to form district zemstvos, but for the first period of the war the state should provide the Cossacks with weapons, horses and uniforms.
In the Trans-Baikal villages, the decision of the congress is ambivalent. Some approve, others oppose. Pronounced opponents of the liquidation of the Cossack class are Sretenskaya and Verkhneudinskaya villages. Transbaikal Cossacks are divided into “citizens” and “Cossacks”. Naturally, the poor and middle strata gravitate towards the former, while the more prosperous and part of the middle strata gravitate towards the latter. 
This division could not but affect itself later, during the civil war, which confronted the Cossacks with a painful choice: for what power to shed blood?
In August 1917, the second regional Cossack Congress, prepared by Captain G. Semenov, General I. Shilnikov and cadet S. Taskin, will take place in Chita. He cancels the decision of the First Congress and restores the Cossack class. The Transbaikal Cossack Army joins the Union of Cossack Troops of Russia.
After the establishment of Soviet Power, the Third Cossack Congress would take place in March–April 1918. The majority of delegates vote for the liquidation of the Cossack class. But five months later, power in Transbaikalia is seized by Yesaul G. Semenov(during the civil war, lieutenant general, ataman of the Transbaikal, Amur and Ussuri Cossack troops) and by his order restores atamans and Cossack rule in the villages. 
Flying over Argun
Curses and moans
And red foam
The wave is boiling
Chopped with a saber
Fate and shoulder straps.
Cossack share -
Someone else's war.
Sons against fathers,
Brother against blood brother,
And the saber is sharper,
And the bullet - more precisely,
But everyone is destined
Terrible fee -
Universal grief of mothers.
Farewell, ataman,
We are tired of the battle,
And the horses are tired of galloping through blood.
Funeral candles flicker in churches,
And us by order
They rush to curse.
We fought too
For happiness and freedom.
The Cossack Fatherland is the same for everyone.
The soul is pierced by eternal pain:
Will she forgive our mutual sin?
The setting sun of the Manchurian border.
Destiny to die under the roof of a foreign land.
Lord, help us in our native villages
With my last bow, still to visit.
And the waves of Arguni beat desperately,
And the steppe wind took the bit between its teeth.
Not children, but grandchildren
Come back one day.
Dauria is our native land.
During the existence of the Far Eastern Republic, a Constitution was adopted, one of the articles of which abolishes “class divisions of citizens, class advantages and privileges” and, thus, automatically eliminates the Cossack class. But still, the struggle over whether to exist or not to exist is being completed by the Soviet government.
Despite the fact that the Soviets are not initially the initiators of decossackization, they, as authorities, play decisive role in the liquidation, or rather, the destruction of the Cossacks.
On January 24, 1919, the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) accepted circular letter in relation to the Cossacks, and five days after that, Ya. Sverdlov signed a directive, which historians call the “terrible directive.” Here is a line from it: “Carry out a merciless mass terror in relation to all Cossacks."
Thus, with the stroke of one person’s pen, more than two million people are sent to the scaffold and into exile (about 125,000 were executed), among them women, children, and the elderly.
IN to a greater extent The Cossacks of the Don and Kuban are suffering. In Transbaikalia, repressions begin in 1921. Many Cossacks go beyond the Argun and settle on the Chinese side in the area of the so-called Three Rivers: Khulu, Derbul and Gan. The places here are not inhabited. At first, the unfortunate emigrants build dugouts, hoping for a quick return to native land. But years pass, the power in Russia does not change, we have to settle down thoroughly. However, they do not allow us to live in peace. The Cossacks are constantly subject to raids and robberies from the Soviet coast.
The Cossacks as a class are being liquidated, but the idea of revival among the Cossack people does not die.
The Transbaikal Cossacks - the terror of the samurai - were a stronghold of order and statehood on the farthest borders of the Motherland. Exceptionally brave, decisive, strong in training, they always successfully resisted the best enemy units.
Story
Transbaikal Cossacks appeared for the first time in the forties of the eighteenth century, when the Don and Orenburg Cossacks volunteered to move to the still undeveloped new Russian lands. Here, the state had excellent opportunities for the development of mineral resources, the quantity of which gave rise to legends. The borders with the eastern and not very peaceful neighbors had to be protected, and hardly anyone could do this better than the Transbaikal Cossacks.
In addition, constant and vigilant monitoring was necessary local population- the Buryats, in whom the blood of Genghis Khan was still seething, the Tungus, who also did not trust the newcomers too much. The Transbaikal Cossacks seemed to continue the baton. It was their forces that annexed the Urals, Orenburg region, and Siberia to the empire. The forts on the Angara and Lena were founded by the Cossack units of the atamans Perfilyev and Beketov, and we still honor among the first explorers national hero, Cossack navigator Semyon Dezhnev.
First campaigns
Kurbat Ivanov and his Cossacks were the first to reach Lake Baikal. Then the widespread settlement of Transbaikalia began, friendly ties were established and strengthened with the natives, who were trained and even included quite often in their army. The Transbaikal Cossacks, whose origin dates back to the campaign of Erofey Pavlovich Khabarov (1649), annexed the Amur region to Russia, and in 1653 the Chita fort was built - the future capital of the Transbaikal Cossacks. The name of Pavel Beketov, the Cossack who founded the city of Chita, is famous to this day. Russia grew with new territories, extremely rich, beautiful and useful.
In order for the Cossacks to be able to further advance to the east, such a stronghold on Lake Baikal was simply necessary. Those who came settled in, the life and everyday life of the Transbaikal Cossacks improved, more and more new Cossack regiments were organized, which by the middle of the eighteenth century were formed in By the way, the Buryats, due to their belligerence, brought glory to their newfound homeland, since many regiments were created and trained from them specifically to strengthen border control. Despite the fact that there were no official borders with Mongolia, and Manchuria generally did not welcome the appearance of Russians in these places, rather, on the contrary, such a step was simply necessary. This is how a full-fledged Cossack army, unprecedented in quality at that time, was created.
Border line
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a long line fortified fortresses (fortresses) built by the Cossacks. At the front line there were traditionally towering observation towers - “watchmen”, where all year round and several Cossack patrols were present around the clock. Also, each border town constantly sent reconnaissance to the mountains and steppes - a detachment of twenty-five to one hundred Cossacks.
That is, the Cossacks of the Trans-Baikal Territory created a mobile border line. She notified about the enemy and was able to repel the enemy on her own. However, there were still few Cossacks for such a long border line. And then the emperor resettles many “walking people” to the eastern borders to serve as border guards. The number of Cossacks in Transbaikalia increased sharply. Then the official recognition of the Transbaikal Cossack Army came - in March 1871.
Governor General
I came up with this method of protection eastern borders who drew up a project for creating a Cossack army, and the sovereign and the Minister of War willingly approved this work. On the outskirts of a huge country, a powerful army was created that could compete with any enemy. It included not only Don and Siberian Cossacks, but also Buryat and Tungus formations. The peasant population of Transbaikalia also increased.
The number of troops reached eighteen thousand people, each of whom began his service at the age of seventeen, and retired only at the age of fifty-eight. His whole life was connected with border protection. Here, depending on the service, the traditions of the Transbaikal Cossacks were formed, since their whole life, raising children, and death itself were associated with protecting the state. After 1866, the established service life was reduced to twenty-two years, and the military regulations were an exact copy of the regulations of the Don Army.
Feats and defeat
Not a single military conflict over many decades has passed without the participation of the Transbaikal Cossacks. Chinese campaign - they were the first to enter Beijing. The battles of Mukden and Port Arthur - songs are still sung about the valiant Cossacks. Both the Russo-Japanese War and World War I were accompanied by legends of strength, perseverance and desperate courage Transbaikal warriors. The costume of the Transbaikal Cossack - a dark green uniform and yellow stripes - terrified the Japanese samurai, and if their numbers did not exceed the Cossacks by more than five times, they did not dare to attack. And even with greater numbers, they most often lost.
By 1917, the Cossack army beyond Baikal already numbered 260 thousand people. There were 12 large villages, 69 farmsteads and 15 settlements. They defended the tsar for several centuries, served him faithfully to the last drop of blood, which is why they did not accept the revolution even in Civil War fought decisively against the Red Army. This was the first time that they did not win because their cause was not just. Thus, the largest colony was formed in Harbin, China, created by Transbaikal Cossacks driven out from Russian territory.
Alien
Of course, not all Transbaikal Cossacks fought against the new Soviet government; there were also those who supported the Reds. But still, most of them went under the leadership of Baron Ungern and Ataman Semyonov and eventually ended up in China. And here in 1920, every single Cossack army was liquidated by the Soviet authorities, that is, disbanded. Only about fifteen percent of the Transbaikal Cossacks were able to go to Manchuria with their families, where they created Three Rivers - a series of villages.
From China they have been disturbing for some time Soviet borders raids, but realized the futility of this and closed themselves off. They lived their own traditions, their own way of life until 1945, when Soviet army launched an attack on Manchuria. The very sad time came when the Transbaikal Cossack troops, covered in glory, completely crumbled. Some emigrated further - to Australia - and settled in Queensland, some returned to their homeland, but not to Transbaikalia, but to Kazakhstan, where they were assigned a settlement. The descendants of mixed marriages did not leave China.
Return
The capital of the Transbaikal Cossack army has always been Chita. A few years ago, a monument to Pyotr Beketov, the Cossack and founder of this city, was unveiled there. History is gradually being restored, the life and traditions of the Transbaikal Cossacks are returning. Lost knowledge is being collected bit by bit - from old photographs, letters, diaries, and other documents.
Above you can see a photo of the First Verkhneudinsk Regiment, which was part of the Cossack army. At the time of filming, the regiment was on a long - two-year - mission in Mongolia, where the 1911 revolution took place. Now we know that the Cossacks supported her, blocked Chinese troops, guarded communications and, of course, fought valiantly, as always. Mongol campaign quite little known. This was mentioned more than others at that time not even by the ataman, but by Yesaul Semyonov, who attributed most of the victories to himself personally.
And there were people of much higher caliber - even future white generals. For example, in the photo above is G. A. Verzhbitsky, who succeeded in a quick assault on the Chinese - Sharasume.
Traditions
The government of the Cossacks was always military, despite the fact that agriculture, cattle breeding and various crafts were especially developed in all of them. Active service determined both the life and the rest of the life of a Cossack, regardless of his position in the army. Autumn was spent in field service, winter was combat training, the regulations were repeated. Nevertheless, oppression and lawlessness were practically never encountered among the Cossacks; here there was the greatest social justice. They conquered the land and therefore considered themselves entitled to own it.
Men even went to field work, hunting and fishing armed, as if going to war: the nomadic tribes did not warn about attacks. From the cradle, children, even girls, were taught to ride horses and wield weapons. Women who remained in the fortress when everything male population was at war and repeatedly successfully repelled raids from abroad. There has always been equality among the Cossacks. Traditionally, smart, talented people and those with great personal merit were elected to leadership positions. Nobility, wealth, and origin did not play any role in the elections. And everyone obeyed the atamans and the decisions of the Cossack circle unquestioningly: from young to old.
Faith
The clergy was also elected - from the most religious and literate people. The priest was a teacher for everyone, and his advice was always followed. The Cossacks were the most tolerant people of those times, despite the fact that they themselves were deeply, even devoutly, devoted to Orthodoxy. Tolerance was determined by the fact that the Cossack troops always included Old Believers, Buddhists, and Mohammedans.
Part of the spoils from the campaigns was intended for the church. Temples were always lavishly decorated with silver, gold, expensive banners and dishes. The Cossacks understood life as serving God and the Fatherland, so they never served half-heartedly. Every task was completed flawlessly.
Rights and Responsibilities
The customs of the Cossacks are such that women there enjoy veneration and respect (and rights) on an equal basis with men. If a Cossack is talking to an elderly woman, he should stand, not sit. The Cossacks never interfered in women's affairs, but they always protected their wives, defended and defended their dignity and honor. In this way the future of the entire people was ensured. The interests of a Cossack woman could be represented by her father, husband, brother, son, godson.
If a Cossack woman is a widow or a single woman, then the ataman personally protects her. In addition, she could choose an intercessor for herself from among the village residents. In any case, she should always have been listened to at any authority and definitely helped. Any Cossack must adhere to morality: honor all old people as his own father and mother, and every Cossack woman as his sister, every Cossack as his own brother, every child as his own. Marriage is sacred for a Cossack. This is a Christian sacrament, a shrine. No one could interfere in the life of the family without an invitation or request. The man bears the main responsibility for everything that happens within the family.
Life
The Transbaikal Cossacks almost always furnished their huts the same way: with icons, a corner table on which lies the Bible next to a hat and candles. Sometimes the pride of the family - a gramophone or piano - was located nearby. Near the wall there is always a beautifully made bed, antique, with patterns, on which our great-grandfathers rested. The special pride of the Cossack woman is the patterned valance on the bed, lace embroidered pillowcases on numerous pillows.
There is usually a shaky thing hanging in front of the bed. Nearby there is a huge chest where the girl’s dowry is kept, as well as a camp chest, always ready for war or service. There are a lot of embroideries, portraits and photographs on the walls. In the kitchen corner there are clean dishes, irons, samovars, mortars, and jugs. Bench with water buckets. A snow-white stove with all the attributes - grips and cast iron pots.
Composition of the Transbaikal Cossacks
At the very beginning, Evenki (Tungus) military formations were also present here. The forces were distributed as follows: three cavalry regiments and three foot brigades (from the first to the third - Russian regiments, the fourth - Tunguska, the fifth and sixth - Buryat) guarded the borders and carried out internal service, and when in 1854 rafting along the Amur was carried out and border posts were founded along the rest of the border, the Amur Cossack army also appeared. For Transbaikalsky alone, this border line was too large.
At the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, the Transbaikal residents fielded fifty guards, four cavalry regiments and two artillery batteries for peacetime. The war required more: nine regiments of cavalry, three reserve hundreds and four artillery batteries in addition to the above. Of the Cossack population of 265 thousand, more than fourteen thousand people served.
Present tense
With perestroika, the Transbaikal Cossacks began their revival: the Bolshoi was convened in Moscow in 1990 Cossack circle, where it was decided to recreate the Transbaikal Cossacks. Literally a year later this was accomplished right up to the organization of the ensemble. It’s called “Transbaikal Cossacks”. Ataman was elected in Chita, and became one in 2010. And in 2011, the 160th anniversary of the appearance of the Cossacks beyond Lake Baikal was widely celebrated.
The anthem of the Transbaikal Cossacks has remained almost the same, it glorifies our dear Transbaikal, which did not take off its hat before any enemy force, very poetically sewing into the blue of Lake Baikal sunbeam, like a Cossack stripe (yellow), also sings about love for Russia, about the memory of the forefathers who served her.
