History UsefulNotes / Cossacks

* In ''Film/{{Snatch}}'', Avi refers to Boris (whom he thinks is Russian) as a "Cossack". Because Avi is Jewish and Cossacks were involved in anti-Jewish pogroms, this is meant as an insult.

* ''[[Literature/SienkiewiczTrilogy Ogniem i Mieczem]]'' Polish historical novel from 1884, set during the Khmelnytsky Uprising of the Zaporozhian Cossacks.

* In ''Film/{{Snatch}}'', Avi refers to Boris (whom he thinks is Russian) as a "Cossack." Because Avi is Jewish and Cossacks were involved in anti-Jewish pogroms, this is meant as an insult.

* In ''Franchise/{{Tintin}} [[Recap/TintinTintinInTheLandOfTheSoviets in the Land of the Soviets]]'', among the many encounters with DirtyCommunists Tintin has in the RandomEventsPlot, there's one where he finds himself in the middle of a Russian winter, frozen after an involuntary bath and at the mercy of a Cossack (who looks like he's from Kuban). The Cossack wants to bring him to the [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre OGPU]] for a bounty, and turns out to be [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong quite buff]] when Tintin gets thawed and fights him.

Zaporozhian Cossacks lived between the core Ukrainian lands and the peninsula of Crimea, with the Registired or Town Cossacks moving into core Ukraine after the creation of Hetmanate. Kuban Cossacks settled between the Russian European core lands and the North Caucasus. Those Cossacks were away from Russian bureaucrats, but in return took the first hit from any southern attackers.

* Don Cossacks, named because of the river Don. Gradually formed after Brodnici ("ford men", a large multi-ethnic group in southern Ruthenia) intermingled with Mongols and Cumans (traditional seminomad rivals and allies of Ruthenian princes) in the Steppe and thus adopted independent steppe-wandering style of life, as well as their name (the word "Cossack" has Turkic origins, usually reffering to "free men", who could not find their place in society and went into the steppes, where they acknowledged no authority -- some other Turkic names have the same etymology -- the UsefulNotes/{{Kazakh|stan}} people for example) from these nomads. Joined by adventurous Russian nobles and runaway peasants, the Don Host became an important part of [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Muscovite Tsardom]]'s politics, while staying independent from the Tsar until the beginning of 18th century. After the suppression of Bulavin's revolt by the Russians, the Don Host was completely incorporated into Russia as an irregular military organization with some privileges, but less autonomy.

Zaporozhian Cossacks were "stationed" between the core Ukrainian lands and the peninsula of Crimea, with the Registired or Town Cossacks moving into core Ukraine after the creation of Hetmanate. Kuban Cossacks settled between the Russian European core lands and the North Caucasus. Those Cossacks were away from Russian bureaucrats, but in return took the first hit from any southern attackers.

In the 16th century, a group of Don Cossacks led by the famous ataman Yermak embarked on a campaign to conquer Siberia. Yermak perished during this campaign, but it started the Cossack colonization of the Siberian frontier, and Siberian cossacks becoming a new large Cossack group.

Unlike the regular Imperial Russian Army units which had to submit to slavelike discipline (the Imperial Russian Navy was even worse in this regard), Cossacks enjoyed a much higher level of personal initiative and autonomy, due to their traditions of quasi-independence summarized in the proverb ''bow down to no one save the God and Emperor himself''. This strengthened their [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Proud Warrior Race]] spirit and during the early stages of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI they enjoyed a well-deserved reputation for courage and ruthlessness.

During the Civil War, the Cossacks divided; the poorer ones fought for the Reds, the richer ones for the Whites, though there were also the idea of independent Don and Kuban Republics. In Soviet Russia, the Cossack hosts were eliminated in 1920. During WWII some old Cossack commanders from the Civil War supported the Nazis (and were recognised as "Ostrogoths" by Hitler's regime to mask the idea of working together with the Slavs), while Soviet Union also "restored" old Russian Cossack Hosts, even though these were mostly formed from new guys, with many Cossacks eliminated under Lenin's purge of counter-revolutionaries or fled outside, as much more Cossacks joined the White Army (as most of them were complacent to the Imperial policy to respect the Cossack's free and autonomous lifestyle, in contrast to ill-treated sailors in which lots of them joined the Reds) and Ukrainian anarchists led by Nestor Makhno.

After World War II ended and horse cavalry were rendered largely obsolete, the Cossack units who fought in the Red Army were dismissed once again and lived as farmers, entertainers, and craftsmen, although their martial traditions makes them a preferred stock for military service and they fought in Afghanistan in contemporary military units. The fate of Nazi Germany-aligned ones were far worse, as after they surrendered to the West they were simply handed back to Soviet forces, facing treason charges, albeit a number of them were White emigrants (anti-Bolshevik Russians who moved abroad after the Reds won the 1917-1922 civil war) which were never citizens of the Soviet Union to begin with. Their main German handler Helmuth von Pannwitz chose to share the fate of his men rather than running away from it.

After the fall of Soviet Union many organisations yearned for the restoration of Cossack culture. Today, the "Cossack organizations" exist, but up until recently have had little military or law-enforcement powers, other than the right to bear sabers in Russia, or acting as some honorary mounted policemen functions in Ukraine. In some cities and towns they patrol the streets as voluntary police assistance corps, still relying on cadre policemen for paperwork and with tacit or explicit consent from the official police force. Unsympathetic outside observers have warned that the Russian Cossack ethos, of conservative obedience to authority, Church and hierarchy, together with violence against demonstrators and those protesting against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's administration, places them in RightWingMilitiaFanatic territory. During the [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Winter Olympic Games]] of Sochi, the public whipping of Pussy Riot female dissenters by uniformed Cossacks, whilst the regular police stood by and did not intervene, was recorded on camera and seen around the world.

Still, the Cossack Hosts, while being mostly a farce movement nowadays, greatly influenced the history and culture of Eastern Europe. Dnieper Cossacks formed the basis for the creation of the modern Ukrainian nation and culture, while Russian Cossacks created a separate ethnographic group in South-Western Russia, with culture and traditions that persist to this day. A lot of Cossacks from the Don host native to the Donbas region and the Kuban host descended from the Zaporozhian Cossacks fought in the war that started in Donbas in 2014 on the pro-Russian side.

* Don Cossacks, named because of the river Don. Gradually formed after Brodnici ("ford men", a large multi-ethnic group in southern Ruthenia) intermingled with Mongols and Cumans (traditional seminomad rivals and allies of Ruthenian princes) in the Steppe and thus adopted independent steppe-wandering style of life, as well as their name (the word "Cossack" has Turkic origins, usually reffering to "free men", who could not find their place in society and went into the steppes, where they acknowledged no authority -- some other Turkic names have the same etymology -- the UsefulNotes/{{Kazakh|stan}} people for example) from these nomads. Joined by adventurous Russian nobles and runaway peasants, the Don Host became an important part of Muscovite Tsardom's politics, while staying independent from the Tsar until the beginning of 18th century. After the suppression of Bulavin's revolt by the Russians, the Don Host was completely incorporated into Russia as an irregular military organization with some privileges, but less autonomy.

* In ''Franchise/{{Tintin}} [[Recap/TintinTintinInTheLandOfTheSoviets in the Land of the Soviets]]'', among the many encounters with DirtyCommunists Tintin has in the RandomEventsPlot, there's one where he finds himself in the middle of a Russian winter, frozen after an involuntary bath and at the mercy of a Cossack (who looks like he's from Kuban) who wants to bring him to the [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre OGPU]] for a bounty. The guy turns out to be [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong quite buff]].

* In ''Franchise/{{Tintin}} [[Recap/TintinTintinInTheLandOfTheSoviets in the Land of the Soviets]]'', among the many encounters with DirtyCommunists Tintin has in the RandomEventsPlot, there's one where he finds himself in the middle of a Russian winter, frozen after an unvoluntary bath and at the mercy of a Cossack (who looks like he's from Kuban) who wants to bring him to the [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre OGPU]] for a bounty. The guy turns out to be [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong quite buff]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Cossacks|2022}}'', a French comic book about a young early 17th century Lithuanian Hussar from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who deserts the Polish army, joins a group of free Ukrainian Cossacks and [[GoingNative lives among them]].

[[folder:Folk Music]]

* There's a lot of Russian folk songs as well, often accompanied by the balalaika instrument.

* Cossack song such as ''Oysa ti Oyisa'' is frequently found on You Tube and elsewhere as the backing to videos featuring ''flankirovna'', a form of energetic [[{{Flynning}} sword-dancing]] which is associated with Cossack tradition. The song is also known as ''The Cossack's Prayer'' and sets the philosophy of the Cossack Way to music. Folk-rockers Music/OtavaYo perform a version using the same melodic and verse structure, but with different lyrics that appear to take the martial and nationalistic overtones out of it.

* ''ComicBook/{{Cossacks|2022}}'', a French comic book about a young early 17th century Lithuanian Hussar from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who deserts the Polish army, joins a group of Ukrainian Cossacks and [[GoingNative lives among them]].

* ''Film/TarasBulba'' 2009 Russian film featuring Zaporozhian cossacks, based on novel of the same name by Creator/NikolaiGogol. There's an older Hollywood version of the movie starring the great Creator/YulBrynner as Taras himself.

* Cossacks play major roles in Gogol stories like ''Film/TarasBulba'' (see above), including ''Literature/ATerribleVengeance.''

* Appear frequently in Ukrainian folk songs regardless of the genre -- epic ballads, love songs, humorous / bawdy songs... anything really. "Dumy" (historical /epics ballads) in particular feature a lot of cossacks and hetmans, often mentioned by name, for example Dmytro Vyshnevetsky, Ivan Mazepa or Bohdan Khmelnytsky. More common in areas around the Dnipro river than in other parts of the country.
* There's a lot of Russian folk songs as well.

* Cossack song such as ''Oysa ti Oyisa'' is frequently found on You Tube and elsewhere as the backing to videos featuring ''flankirovna'', a form of energetic [[{{Flynning}}sword-dancing]] which is associated with Cossack tradition. The song is also known as ''The Cossack's Prayer'' and sets the philosophy of the Cossack Way to music. Folk-rockers Music/OtavaYo perform a version using the same melodic and verse structure, but with different lyrics that appear to take the martial and nationalistic overtones out of it.

* ''ComicBook/{{Cossacks|2022}}'', a French comic book about a young early 17th century Lithuanian Hussar from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who deserts the Polish army to join a group of Ukrainian Cossacks and [[GoingNative live among them]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Cossacks}}'', a French comic book about a young early 17th century Lithuanian Hussar from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who deserts the Polish army to join a group of Ukrainian Cossacks and [[GoingNative live among them]].

* Appear frequently in Ukrainian folk songs regardless of the genre -- epic ballads, love songs, humorous / bawdy songs... anything really. "Dumy" (historical /epics ballads) in particular feature a lot of cossacks and hetmans, often mentioned by name, for example Dmytro Vyshnevetsky, Ivan Mazepa or Bohdan Khmelnytsky. More common in Eastern Ukraine than in the Westernmost parts of the country.

* In Russian folk songs as well.

For a long time in popular culture, the Cossack look has been the primary image that pops in foreigner's minds when they think of what Russians look like, the same way {{Americans are Cowboys}}. This is due to the fact that the iconic Cossack hats and [[ThatRussianSquatDance dance]] are closely associated with Russians in movies abroad. These days however, they share that spot with DirtyCommunists.

After the fall of Soviet Union many organisations yearned for the restoration of Cossack culture. Today, the "Cossack organizations" exist, but up until recently have had little military or law-enforcement powers, other than the right to bear sabers in Russia, or acting as some honorary mounted policemen functions in Ukraine. In some cities and towns they patrol the streets as voluntary police assistance corps, still relying on cadre policemen for paperwork and with tacit or explicit consent from the official police force. Unsympathetic outside observers have warned that the Russian Cossack ethos, of conservative obedience to authority, Church and hierarchy, together with violence against demonstrators and those protesting against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's administration, places them in RightWingMilitiaFanatic territory. The public whipping of "Pussy Riot" female dissenters by uniformed Cossacks, whilst the regular police stood by and did not intervene, was recorded on camera and seen around the world.

* In Russian folk songs as well. The [[https://youtu.be/TPeriSAdum0 "Cossack Patrol"]] is one of the most famous, especially its cover by the Red Army Choir.
* The Russian folk song "Music/StenkaRazin" (with lyrics by Dmitri Sadovnikov) describes a fictional episode in the life of the eponymous hero, a Don Cossack chief. The song describes the Cossacks as wild and warlike, and Stenka sacrifices his beautiful young bride, a Persian princess, to maintain the loyalty of his men.

* A Cossack shows up in ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'' as an assassin working for Moriarty to kill a [[UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} gypsy]] who might have been sent information on his plans.

Still, the Cossack Hosts, while being mostly a farce movement nowadays, greatly influenced the history and culture of Eastern Europe. Dnieper Cossacks formed the basis for the creation of the modern Ukrainian nation and culture, while Russian Cossacks created a separate ethnographic group in South-Western Russia, with culture and traditions that persist to this day. A lot of Cossacks from the Don host native to the Donbas region and the Kuban host descended from the Zaporozhian Cossacks fought in the Ukrainian civil war that started in 2014 on the pro-Russian side.

* ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' opens with the Jewish village of Shostka being subjected to a pogrom by Russian Cossacks, while the equivalent cat versions of the Cossacks terrorize Jewish mice.