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De-Cossackization
De-Cossackization (Russian: Расказачивание, romanized: Raskazachivaniye; Ukrainian: Розкозачення, romanized: Rozkozachennja) was the Bolshevik policy of systematic repression against the Cossacks in territories of the former Russian Empire between 1919 and 1933, especially the Don and Kuban Cossacks in Russia, aimed at the elimination of the Cossacks as a distinct collectivity by exterminating the Cossack élite, coercing all other Cossacks into compliance, and eliminating Cossack distinctness. Several scholars have categorised this as a form of genocide, whilst other historians have highly disputed this classification due to the contentious figures involved, which range from "a few thousand to incredible claims of hundreds of thousands".
The campaign began in March 1919 in response to growing Cossack insurgency. The process has been described by scholar Peter Holquist as part of a "ruthless" and "radical attempt to eliminate undesirable social groups" that showed the Soviet regime's "dedication to social engineering". Throughout this period, the policy underwent significant modifications, which resulted in the "normalization" of Cossacks as a component part of Soviet society.
Cossacks were simultaneously both an ethnicity and a grouping of special social estates in the Russian Empire from the 16th to the early 20th century. Because of their military tradition, Cossack forces played an important role in Russia's wars of the 17th–20th centuries such as the Crimean War (1853–1856), the Napoleonic Wars, various Russo-Turkish Wars, and the First World War of 1914–1918. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the tsarist regime deployed Cossack detachments to perform police service and to suppress revolutionary movements, especially in 1905–1907.
Following the October Revolution of 1917, a conflict broke out between the new Bolshevik Communist regime in Russia and many Cossacks. In the Don territory, the Ataman of the Don Cossacks, Alexey Kaledin, declared that he would "offer full support, in close alliance with the governments of the other Cossack hosts" to Kerensky's forces (the Bolsheviks' opponents in the civil war).[citation needed] Establishing ties with the Ukrainian Central Rada and with the Kuban, Terek, and Orenburg hosts, Kaledin sought to overthrow the Soviet regime in Russia. On 15 November 1917, White Generals Kornilov, Alekseev and Denikin began to organize a force that would become the Volunteer Army in the Cossack cultural capital, Novocherkassk. Imposing martial law, Cossack leader Kaledin started to advance in late November. On 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1917, after a seven-day battle, his forces occupied Rostov. However, on 25 February [O.S. 12 February] 1918, Bolshevik troops pushed back successfully and occupied Rostov and Novocherkassk. The remnants of the White Cossacks, headed by Ataman Pyotr Kharitonovich Popov, fled into the Salsk steppes, in an event known as the Steppe March.
After the Imperial German army invaded and occupied Rostov on 8 May 1918, a government headed by Ataman Krasnov was formed in the Don province. In July 1918, the White Cossack forces of Ataman Krasnov launched their first invasion of Tsaritsyn (present-day Volgograd). Soviet forces counterattacked, however, and drove out the White Cossacks by 7 September. On 22 September, Krasnov's forces launched a second invasion of Tsaritsyn, but by 25 October Soviet troops had pushed Krasnov's forces back beyond the Don. On 1 January 1919, Krasnov launched a third invasion of Tsaritsyn. Soviet forces repelled the invasion again and forced Krasnov's forces to withdraw from Tsaritsyn in mid-February 1919.
The policy was established by a secret resolution of the Bolshevik Party on 24 January 1919, which ordered local branches to "carry out mass terror against wealthy Cossacks, exterminating all of them; carry out merciless mass terror against any and all Cossacks taking part in any way, directly or indirectly, in the struggle against Soviet power". On 7 February the Southern Front issued its own instructions on how the resolution was to be applied: "The main duty of stanitsa and khutor executive committees is to neutralize the Cossackry through the merciless extirpation of its elite. District and Stanitsa atamans are subject to unconditional elimination, [but] khutor atamans should be subject to execution only in those cases where it can be proved that they actively supported Krasnov's policies (having organized pacification, conducted mobilization, refused to offer refuge to revolutionary Cossacks or to Red Army men)." There were also proposals for the "mass resettlement" of poor peasants in Cossack territories, which would ultimately result in Sovnarkom implementing the forced migration of Cossacks in April.
In mid-March 1919 alone, Cheka forces condemned more than 8,000 Cossacks to death. In each stanitsa, summary judgements were passed by revolutionary courts within minutes, and whole lists of people were condemned to execution for "counterrevolutionary behavior".
The Don region was required by the Soviets to make a grain contribution equal to the total annual production of the area. Almost all Cossacks joined the Green Army or other rebel forces. Together with Baron Wrangel's troops, they forced the Red Army out of the region in August 1920. After the retaking of the Crimea by Red Army, the Cossacks again became victims of the Red Terror. Special commissions in charge of de-Cossackization condemned more than 6,000 people to death in October 1920 alone. The families and often the neighbours of suspected rebels were taken as hostages.
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De-Cossackization
De-Cossackization (Russian: Расказачивание, romanized: Raskazachivaniye; Ukrainian: Розкозачення, romanized: Rozkozachennja) was the Bolshevik policy of systematic repression against the Cossacks in territories of the former Russian Empire between 1919 and 1933, especially the Don and Kuban Cossacks in Russia, aimed at the elimination of the Cossacks as a distinct collectivity by exterminating the Cossack élite, coercing all other Cossacks into compliance, and eliminating Cossack distinctness. Several scholars have categorised this as a form of genocide, whilst other historians have highly disputed this classification due to the contentious figures involved, which range from "a few thousand to incredible claims of hundreds of thousands".
The campaign began in March 1919 in response to growing Cossack insurgency. The process has been described by scholar Peter Holquist as part of a "ruthless" and "radical attempt to eliminate undesirable social groups" that showed the Soviet regime's "dedication to social engineering". Throughout this period, the policy underwent significant modifications, which resulted in the "normalization" of Cossacks as a component part of Soviet society.
Cossacks were simultaneously both an ethnicity and a grouping of special social estates in the Russian Empire from the 16th to the early 20th century. Because of their military tradition, Cossack forces played an important role in Russia's wars of the 17th–20th centuries such as the Crimean War (1853–1856), the Napoleonic Wars, various Russo-Turkish Wars, and the First World War of 1914–1918. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the tsarist regime deployed Cossack detachments to perform police service and to suppress revolutionary movements, especially in 1905–1907.
Following the October Revolution of 1917, a conflict broke out between the new Bolshevik Communist regime in Russia and many Cossacks. In the Don territory, the Ataman of the Don Cossacks, Alexey Kaledin, declared that he would "offer full support, in close alliance with the governments of the other Cossack hosts" to Kerensky's forces (the Bolsheviks' opponents in the civil war).[citation needed] Establishing ties with the Ukrainian Central Rada and with the Kuban, Terek, and Orenburg hosts, Kaledin sought to overthrow the Soviet regime in Russia. On 15 November 1917, White Generals Kornilov, Alekseev and Denikin began to organize a force that would become the Volunteer Army in the Cossack cultural capital, Novocherkassk. Imposing martial law, Cossack leader Kaledin started to advance in late November. On 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1917, after a seven-day battle, his forces occupied Rostov. However, on 25 February [O.S. 12 February] 1918, Bolshevik troops pushed back successfully and occupied Rostov and Novocherkassk. The remnants of the White Cossacks, headed by Ataman Pyotr Kharitonovich Popov, fled into the Salsk steppes, in an event known as the Steppe March.
After the Imperial German army invaded and occupied Rostov on 8 May 1918, a government headed by Ataman Krasnov was formed in the Don province. In July 1918, the White Cossack forces of Ataman Krasnov launched their first invasion of Tsaritsyn (present-day Volgograd). Soviet forces counterattacked, however, and drove out the White Cossacks by 7 September. On 22 September, Krasnov's forces launched a second invasion of Tsaritsyn, but by 25 October Soviet troops had pushed Krasnov's forces back beyond the Don. On 1 January 1919, Krasnov launched a third invasion of Tsaritsyn. Soviet forces repelled the invasion again and forced Krasnov's forces to withdraw from Tsaritsyn in mid-February 1919.
The policy was established by a secret resolution of the Bolshevik Party on 24 January 1919, which ordered local branches to "carry out mass terror against wealthy Cossacks, exterminating all of them; carry out merciless mass terror against any and all Cossacks taking part in any way, directly or indirectly, in the struggle against Soviet power". On 7 February the Southern Front issued its own instructions on how the resolution was to be applied: "The main duty of stanitsa and khutor executive committees is to neutralize the Cossackry through the merciless extirpation of its elite. District and Stanitsa atamans are subject to unconditional elimination, [but] khutor atamans should be subject to execution only in those cases where it can be proved that they actively supported Krasnov's policies (having organized pacification, conducted mobilization, refused to offer refuge to revolutionary Cossacks or to Red Army men)." There were also proposals for the "mass resettlement" of poor peasants in Cossack territories, which would ultimately result in Sovnarkom implementing the forced migration of Cossacks in April.
In mid-March 1919 alone, Cheka forces condemned more than 8,000 Cossacks to death. In each stanitsa, summary judgements were passed by revolutionary courts within minutes, and whole lists of people were condemned to execution for "counterrevolutionary behavior".
The Don region was required by the Soviets to make a grain contribution equal to the total annual production of the area. Almost all Cossacks joined the Green Army or other rebel forces. Together with Baron Wrangel's troops, they forced the Red Army out of the region in August 1920. After the retaking of the Crimea by Red Army, the Cossacks again became victims of the Red Terror. Special commissions in charge of de-Cossackization condemned more than 6,000 people to death in October 1920 alone. The families and often the neighbours of suspected rebels were taken as hostages.