Until the 1930s, Ukrainian was an official language in Kuban along with Russian, and many Kuban Cossacks considered themselves ethnic Ukrainians. This gave modern Ukraine a reason to consider this territory historically its own, unfairly given to Russia.
Kuban Cossack Army
How did the Kuban Cossack army appear? Its history begins in 1696, when the Don Cossack Khopersky regiment took part in the capture of Azov by Peter I. Later, in 1708, during the Bulavinsky uprising, the Khopers moved to Kuban, giving rise to a new Cossack community.
A new stage in the history of the Kuban Cossacks began in late XVIII century, when after the Russian-Turkish wars of 1768-1774 and 1787-1791, the Russian border moved closer to the North Caucasus, and the Northern Black Sea region became entirely Russian. There was no longer a need for the Zaporozhye Cossack army, but the Cossacks were needed to strengthen the Caucasian borders.
In 1792, the Cossacks were resettled to Kuban, receiving land as military property.
This is how the Black Sea Cossacks were formed. In the southeast of it was located the Caucasian linear Cossack army, formed from the Don Cossacks. In 1864 they were united into the Kuban Cossack Army.
Thus, the Kuban Cossacks turned out to be ethnically two-part - Russian-Ukrainian. Is it true,
Until the beginning of the 20th century, class consciousness prevailed among the Cossacks rather than ethnic consciousness.
Changes made themselves felt already at the end of the 19th century, when two completely new “trends” emerged. On the one hand, the War Ministry of the Russian Empire began to think about eliminating the Cossack class - in the conditions of the beginning of the 20th century, the cavalry faded into the background. On the other hand, among the Cossacks the number of people not associated with military service, but engaged in intellectual work, grew. It was in their midst that the idea of the “Cossack nation” arose. Its development was accelerated by the connection of the Black Sea residents with the Ukrainian national movement.
The fragile neutrality was destroyed by the October Revolution, which the Kuban government did not recognize. The Kuban Rada announced the formation of the independent Kuban People's Republic. It was stipulated that the republic was part of Russia with federal rights, but what kind of Russia were we talking about? It wasn't clear.
Neither white nor red
The new Republic was constitutional. Its main legislative body was the Regional Rada, but the Legislative Rada, elected from among its members, constantly acted and implemented current legislation. The Regional Rada elected the Head Ataman (head of the executive branch), and the Ataman appointed the government responsible to the Legislative Rada. Kuban intellectuals - teachers, lawyers, transport service employees, doctors - joined the work of the new institutions.
In March 1918, the Kuban Rada and the government had to leave Ekaterinodar. The government convoy united with the Dobrovolsk army of Lavr Georgevich Kornilov, who soon died and his place was taken by General Anton Ivanovich Denikin. Since the Kuban government did not have own army, an agreement was concluded according to which the Volunteer Army recognized the powers of the Kuban authorities, and Kuban agreed to the military leadership of volunteers. The agreement was made when both forces had no actual power and nothing to share.
The situation changed in the fall of 1918, when the Volunteer Army was able to occupy most Kuban region and some territories in the Stavropol region. The question arose about the organization of power. First of all, it concerned the relationship between the Volunteer Army and the Kuban, since the region was the most important rear area for Denikin’s troops. In the army itself, Kuban residents accounted for up to 70% of the personnel.
And here a conflict began between the volunteers and the Kuban Rada about the balance of powers. The conflict went along two lines. Firstly, it was of a political and legal nature.
Kuban politicians associated Denikin's army with the old, tsarist Russia and its inherent centralism.
The traditional mutual hostility between the military and intellectuals was evident. Secondly, representatives of the Black Sea Cossacks saw the Volunteer Army as a source of national oppression. In Denikin’s army, indeed, the attitude towards Ukraine was negative.
Denikin's failed project
As a result, any attempt by A.I. Denikin's move to extend his power to the territory of Kuban was perceived as reactionary. The lawyers who were responsible for the agreement between the “reluctant allies” had to take this into account. As one of them, Konstantin Nikolaevich Sokolov, wrote:
“It was difficult to get Kuban to delegate part of its powers to Denikin.”
Throughout 1918-1919, several meetings of commissions were organized to regulate the structure of the white South.
But the debates each time reached a dead end. If Denikin's lawyers stood for dictatorial power, unity of command in the army and common citizenship, then the Kuban people demanded to preserve parliamentarism, form a separate Kuban army and protect the privileges of Kuban citizens.
The fears of Kuban politicians were fair: among the volunteers they were irritated by parliamentary democracy and the Ukrainian language, which was used in the Rada along with Russian. In addition, the conditions of the civil war required Denikin and his entourage to concentrate power and resources in their hands. The coexistence of several state entities, albeit united by the fight with Moscow, complicated the adoption and implementation of any decision.
As a result, an agreement was reached when it was too late. In January 1920, the “South Russian Government” was created, headed by Denikin, the Council of Ministers, the Legislative Chamber and the autonomy of the Cossack troops. But the front at that moment was already collapsed, the white armies were retreating to the Black Sea. In the spring of the same year, Ekaterinodar fell, and Kuban statehood was virtually eliminated.
As part of the RSFSR
The Soviet government transferred Kuban to the RSFSR, forming the Kuban-Black Sea region.
The Soviet authorities met the Cossacks halfway: the first 12 years Soviet authorities in Kuban they used the Ukrainian language along with Russian.
It was used for training, conducting research, office work, and publishing the press. However, this did not end well - real confusion began, since the locals only spoke it, and few knew literary language. As a result, there was a shortage of personnel. In 1924, Kuban became part of the North Caucasus region, which also included the Don and Stavropol regions, which contributed to further Russification. Already in 1932, the Ukrainian language in these places lost its official status.
Thus, Kuban in the first quarter of the twentieth century. went through a difficult evolution from a region of the Russian Empire with the special status of the Cossack class to a subject of the RSFSR, bypassing the specific periods of Cossack statehood and the experiment of Ukrainian national-cultural self-determination within the framework of Soviet society.
Kuban regional government during the years of revolution and Civil War in Kuban in 1917-1920
In the turning-point years of the 20th century for Russia, history modeled a unique situation in Kuban, which gives an idea of the nature of the activities of regional authorities, alternative first to the central Provisional Government, and then to the Soviet and Denikin regimes. For almost three years (from April 1917 to March 1920), a government was in power in the Kuban, proclaiming its own “third” path in the revolution, which gave rise to A.I. Denikin called the situation that developed in 1917 in the Cossack regions of Southern Russia a “triple power” (Provisional Government, Soviets and Cossack authorities). Although modern historians are inclined to believe that, in fact, in post-revolutionary Russia, including in the South, a plurality of power developed (adding to the mentioned political “trio” with civil committees and other bodies of revolutionary self-government), during the Civil War in Kuban the main roles in the military-political confrontation belonged to Soviet power, or more precisely to the Bolsheviks, who brought the revolution to the region on the bayonets of out-of-town soldiers, the Cossack Rada and government that opposed them, and, finally, the command of the White Army. Thus, the Kuban Cossacks and their authorities found themselves between the “hammer and anvil” of the forces of revolution and counter-revolution.
During this time in Kuban, called the Kuban region in 1917, and in 1918-1920. Kuban Territory, 3 chieftains were replaced in power (generals A.P. Filimonov, N.M. Uspensky, N.A. Bukretov), 5 chairmen of the government (A.P. Filimonov, L.L. Bych, F.S. Sushkov , P.I. Kurgansky, V.N. Ivanis). The composition of the government changed even more often - a total of 9 times.
This “ministerial leapfrog” was largely a consequence of the contradictions between the Ukrainian-speaking Black Sea and Russian-speaking linear Cossacks of the Kuban. The first, economically and politically stronger, stood on federalist (and often openly pro-Ukrainian separatist) positions. The second traditionally focused on “Mother Russia”, obediently following in line with the “single-indivisible” (from the slogan “Great, united, indivisible Russia”) policy.
The contradictions were not limited to intra-military ones, since the Kuban Cossacks themselves made up less than half of the region’s population, while owning 80% of the land. Class contradictions between the Cossacks and non-resident peasants were antagonistic in nature in the Kuban, which determined the particular severity of political confrontation and armed struggle. Even after the creation of a coalition regional government in 1918 and the convening of the Rada with the participation of representatives of the nonresident peasantry, the contradictions between the two main classes of the Kuban did not disappear.
In addition to internal confrontation, the Kuban government and the Rada constantly experienced tension in relations with the command of the White Army - generals L.G. Kornilov, then A.I. Denikin and, finally, P.N. Wrangel. These contradictions especially intensified in the middle of 1919, when the chairman of the Kuban Rada N.S. Ryabovol died at the hands of the White Guard “combat comrades” in the fight against Bolshevism, and as a result of the notorious “Kuban action” - the dispersal of the Rada, priest A. Kulabukhov was executed .AND. Figuratively speaking, the Kuban Cossacks, who fought on both sides of the front line, were “friends among strangers and strangers among their own.” This is just the general picture; the historical context was much more complex.
So, three weeks after the February Revolution of 1917, control of the Kuban region and the Black Sea province passed to the commissioners of the Provisional Government, cadets K.L. Bardijou and N.N. Nikolaev, and the appointed ataman, Major General M.P. Babych, was removed from office and sent into retirement “with a uniform and a pension.”
The new government sought to prevent confrontation with the Cossack administration in the regional departments and tried to rely on it. In the instructions sent out in mid-March by the Provisional Kuban Regional Committee on the election of civil committees, the conduct of this important action was entrusted to the Cossack governing bodies. At the same time, re-elections of atamans and Cossack self-government bodies were held in March and April. Supporters of the overthrown regime, the most odious representatives of the old authorities, were removed.
The first major disagreements openly emerged at the regional congress of representatives of settlements in the Kuban region, held in Ekaterinodar from April 9 to 18. More than a thousand people came to it: 759 representatives of villages, auls, villages and farmsteads, as well as delegates from parties, various organizations and groups. The leading role at the congress was played by the Socialist Revolutionaries, which predetermined the nature of the decisions made at it. The congress confirmed the powers of civil committees as bodies new government, however, did not extend their functions to territories with a Cossack population, where ataman rule was maintained. The congress thus consolidated the existence of two parallel governance structures in the region. Instead of the Provisional Kuban Executive Committee, on the basis of parity representation of Cossacks, highlanders and nonresidents, the congress elected a regional council of 135 people and its executive committee, which included 2 representatives from Cossacks and nonresidents from each department and 4 from the highlanders. However, the congress revealed serious contradictions between the Cossacks and non-residents and was unable to reach agreement on the issues of changing the administration of the region, providing equal rights with the Cossacks to the non-military population, the regulation of land ownership and land use. The last issue was especially hotly debated. The congress confirmed the rights to shared lands and military property, and postponed the adoption of the final decision until the convening of the Constituent Assembly.
Even during the congress of authorized settlements, its Cossack participants declared themselves the Military Rada. On April 17, the Cossack Congress confirmed the creation of the Kuban Military Rada and formed the Provisional Kuban Military Government. It included seven members of the Kuban Regional Executive Committee and eight representatives of the Cossacks elected by the Rada. It was decided that until the next session of the Military Rada the government should be part of Executive Committee. N. S. Ryabovol, who was the head of the board of the Black Sea-Kuban Railway before the revolution, became the Chairman of the Rada. The government was headed by Colonel of the General Staff, formerly the ataman of the Labinsk department, A.P. Filimonov, and later - L.L. Bych. On October 12, 1917, A.P. Filimonov was elected ataman of the Kuban Cossack army.
Some of the leaders of the Rada, the so-called “Black Sea people” or federalists, to whom N.S. belonged. Ryabovol, L.L. Bych, were supporters of the autonomy of Kuban, its “independent” existence, others - the “lineists” adhered to the course of development of the region as part of a single and indivisible Russia. Ataman A.P. Filimonov also belonged to them. Throughout the years of the Rada's existence, there was an ongoing struggle between these groups.
On the basis of the “Temporary Regulations on the Supreme Bodies of Government in the Kuban Territory”, management in the region was transferred to the Kuban Rada, which was to be elected by the “eligible” or full-fledged local population: Cossacks, highlanders and indigenous peasants. At the same time, nonresident peasants who had been settled for less than three years and workers were deprived of the right to vote. The “Regulations” stipulated that from among its members the Kuban Rada should form a Legislative Rada and elect a military chieftain. Executive power was vested in a military government consisting of 10 cabinet members, three of whom were representatives of highlanders and nonresidents. It was accountable to the Legislative Rada. In the political field, the Rada’s program defended the inviolability of Cossack rights and privileges while maintaining the inferiority of non-residents. In the economic sphere, a course was taken to preserve traditional land ownership and land use, as well as the development of private property. Such a program, supported by statements about the unity of interests of all Cossacks, allowed the Rada to attract thousands of those of them who, not wanting a return to autocratic orders, could not give up their land plots and rights and were ready to defend them, regardless of where the threat came from .
Throughout May and June 1917, the military government acted jointly with civilian committees. This alliance was confirmed by the decisions of the First All-Russian Cossack Congress, held in early June in Petrograd. It expressed support for the Provisional Government, and also announced the preservation of the integrity of the property of the Cossack troops and the development of their self-government. The contradictions between the Cossacks and non-residents, which had already openly appeared at the regional congress of peasant-Cossack deputies, intensified during the July events of 1917. Back in June, the military government announced a break with non-residents, and on July 2, the Cossack representatives left the meeting of the Kuban regional executive committee, left its composition and formed the Kuban Military Council.
On July 9, K. L. Bardizh, fulfilling the decision of the Provisional Government, announced the transfer of power to the Kuban Rada and the abolition of the regional Council and executive committee. In turn, the Rada began to liquidate local Soviets. In village verdicts, executive committees were recognized as undesirable and dissolved. Ataman administration was restored in the villages, and the authority of the elders was restored in the villages. This did not always happen peacefully: clashes often arose between supporters and opponents of the military government.
Thus, if in the center of Russia on July 4th the period of the so-called. “dual power” ended with the transfer of power into the hands of the Provisional Government, then in the Kuban the Cossack government began to play “first fiddle.” The Second Regional Rada, which met from September 24 to October 4, i.e. even before the armed uprising in Petrograd, on October 7, she adopted the first Constitution of the Kuban - “Temporary basic provisions on the highest authorities in the Kuban region.” Management of the region, renamed the region, was transferred to the regional Rada, which was to be elected not only by the Cossacks, but also by the rest of the “eligible” population - mountaineers and indigenous peasants. Thus, non-residents who had less than three years of residence and workers were deprived of the right to vote. In the newly created regional government, three out of ten seats were allocated to representatives of the non-Cossack population, incl. Highlanders
Consequently, not only the Cossack military class, but also the rest of the population of the region fell under the jurisdiction of the Kuban regional legislation. At the same time, non-residents, along with workers, were infringed on their voting rights and were actually not allowed into the legislative and executive bodies. Naturally, in the region where the Cossacks constituted a minority of the population, the adoption of such a constitution was perceived as an act of coup d'etat. Socialist parties sounded the alarm about the creation of an “aristocratic republic” in Kuban. As in July, the Kuban parliamentarians anticipated the development of events in Petrograd, preparing a Cossack republic as an alternative to the not yet proclaimed state of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Its “intra-class” democracy was in no way combined with authoritarianism in relation to the rest of the population of the region.
After receiving information about the overthrow of the Provisional Government, martial law was introduced throughout the Kuban region from October 26, and rallies and meetings were prohibited. A telegram was sent to the departments on behalf of the ataman and the military government, in which the population was called upon to fight against Soviet power: “Having learned about the criminal rebellion of the Bolsheviks in Petrograd, the military ataman and the military government of the Kuban army decided to defend the Provisional Government with all the means at their disposal, and in in the event of the Bolsheviks seizing power in Petrograd, such power should not be recognized; to wage a merciless struggle against traitors, traitors to the motherland.”
The Kuban military government assumed full power. By his order, the post office and telegraph office in Yekaterinodar were occupied, pressure on the Soviets increased, some of which were dissolved, and numerous arrests were carried out. On November 2, the Bolsheviks went underground and on November 5 created a revolutionary committee to train armed units of the Red Guard. The tension grew every day. The slightest reason was enough for the situation in the region to worsen even more.
At this time, the 1st regional congress of nonresidents was held in Yekaterinodar, which opened on November 1. He considered issues of the legal status and land provision of the Kuban peasantry, which, however, he could not resolve. The Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik majority of the congress, which was looking for a class and inter-class compromise, did not want to enter into a conflict and break with the Cossack authorities and rejected the resolutions proposed by the Bolsheviks on recognition of the Soviet government and the abolition of martial law.
From November 1 to 11, the work of the First Session of the Kuban Legislative Rada took place in Yekaterinodar, at which the Kuban Regional Government was formed instead of the Provisional Military Government. Its chairman was L.L. Bych. The new name reflected changes in the policy of the Kuban Rada, caused by growing class-class contradictions and the search for allies in these conditions. The Rada began to seek support among the entire population of the region, declaring that it intended to express the interests of nonresidents and mountaineers. At the same time, trying to strengthen its positions, the Kuban Rada increasingly turned to the use of military force.
Particular hopes were placed on the Cossack units returning to Kuban from the front. But it was the front-line Cossacks who were in opposition to the regional government, believing that it expressed only the interests of the elite, and not the entire Cossacks. Some of the returning Cossacks and soldiers turned out to be propagandized by the Bolsheviks and subsequently formed the support of the Soviets. Head of the regional government L.L. Bych was forced to note that “in December... Cossack troops began to return to Kuban, and they made their own, and moreover, great contribution in terms of accelerating the process of Bolshevisation.” And the newspaper “Volnaya Kuban” wrote that “the hopes of the military government for the support of military units arriving from the front were not justified. Not a single military unit that returned from the front submitted to the military government.” They were echoed by General Alekseev, who bitterly stated that “the Kuban Cossacks have morally decayed.” The Cossacks themselves said: “We are not Bolsheviks or Cadets, we are neutral Cossacks.” Under these conditions, the Rada began to form its own “troops of the Kuban region” under the command of Staff Captain V.L. Pokrovsky.
In December 1917, the Kuban Rada made an attempt to enlist the support of nonresidents. For this purpose, it was decided to combine the meetings of the Rada and the 2nd session of the Congress of Nonresidents, which continued its work from December 12. However, in conditions of extreme polarization of social forces, there was no question of developing unified decisions. A split occurred both among nonresidents and among the Cossacks. The Rada managed to attract the wealthy part of nonresidents, while the poorest Cossacks declared support for the revolution together with the nonresident peasantry.
As a result, instead of joint meetings, two congresses were held simultaneously in Yekaterinodar: in the Mont Plaisir theater - a congress of labor Cossacks and some nonresidents, or the second Kuban regional congress of nonresidents, and in the Winter Theater - the 2nd regional congress of representatives of Cossacks, non-residents and highlanders, consisting of supporters of the Kuban Rada. The latter elected a united Legislative Rada consisting of 45 Cossacks, 45 nonresidents and 8 highlanders and a new regional government, made changes to the election system, expanding the rights of nonresidents. To participate in elections, a two-year period of residence in the Kuban was established. In addition, one of the ataman’s assistants had to be elected from among nonresidents. At this time, the Congress of Nonresidents demanded the transfer of all power into the hands of the Soviets and decided to recognize the Council of People's Commissars “as a power based on the entire revolutionary democracy of the country,” simultaneously announcing the non-recognition of all resolutions of the Regional Rada and the government. The resolution “On the organization of power in Kuban” adopted by the congress did not give up hope of reaching an agreement with the supporters of the Rada. The congress elected the regional Council of People's Deputies under the chairmanship of the Bolshevik I.I. Yankovsky. Thus, in December 1917 the arrangement political forces in the region has reached an extreme degree of exacerbation.
On January 8, 1918, the first session of the united Legislative Rada proclaimed Kuban an independent republic, part of Russia on a federal basis. Later, this would give Denikin’s officers, the “one-indivisibles” who stood up for a united and indivisible Russia, a reason to sneer at Cossack statehood: “And the Kuban gurgles to the waters of the Terek - I am a republic, like America.”
In the newly elected “parity” government of L.L. Bych, all 5 ministerial portfolios allocated to non-residents were received by socialists - 4 Socialist Revolutionaries and a Menshevik. If we add to this that in the recent past L.L. himself. Bych and Minister of Agriculture D.E. Skobtsov paid tribute to participation in the socialist movement, it is obvious that the government was essentially a coalition.
Thus, in the face of the threat of Bolshevism, the political leadership of the Cossacks compromised with the nonresident socialists. But it was too late - the waves of revolutionary upheavals reached the borders of the hitherto calm Kuban. And the fragile government coalition, having existed for a little more than a month, gave way to the alliance of the Rada with L.G. Kornilov. So the threat to the left led to a roll to the right. Kuban was inevitably plunging into the abyss of civil war.
After the Soviets took power in Armavir, Maikop, Tikhoretsk, Temryuk and a number of villages during January 1918, they began the formation of Red Guard detachments. In the Black Sea province, the Soviet government won even earlier - in Tuapse already on November 3, and in Novorossiysk - on December 1, 1917. Therefore, the Black Sea region became the springboard from where the attacks on Ekaterinodar began.
The second hotbed of Bolshevism in Kuban were units of the 39th Infantry Division, which arrived in an organized manner in the region from the Caucasian Front and were stationed along the Armavir-Kavkazskaya-Tikhoretskaya railway line. It was in Armavir, the first of the cities of Kuban, that Soviet power was established on January 2, 1918, and a month and a half later, the 1st Congress of Soviets of the Kuban Region was held, headed by Y.V. Poluyan. He proclaimed the power of the Soviets throughout the Kuban. Only Yekaterinodar remained in the hands of the regional government. With its occupation on March 14 (1) by the troops of I.L. Sorokin began a six-month Soviet period in the history of Kuban.
Expelled from Ekaterinodar, the Rada and the government, in the convoy of an armed detachment under the command of the newly appointed General V.L. Pokrovsky, sought a meeting with the Volunteer Army. Having admitted in an address to the population on the occasion of his departure that the Cossacks “could not protect their chosen ones,” the Rada hoped to find protection under the shadow of the bayonets of the army of General L.G. Kornilov.
February 23 (10), 1918 The volunteer army, having left Rostov-on-Don, entered the Kuban region, trying to find social support here for an organized fight against the Bolsheviks. However, these hopes were not destined to come true. “The Kuban people waited,” General A.I. Denikin later recalled. Fighting off the advancing enemy, continuously maneuvering and moving up to 60 miles a day, the army fought its way towards Yekaterinodar.
The key day was March 28 (15), when at the village of Novo-Dmitrievskaya, under the command of L. G. Kornilov, his volunteer units and the detachment of the Kuban Rada V.L. united. Pokrovsky. However, simultaneously with the unification, deep contradictions immediately emerged between the allies, which became very clear a year later, when General Denikin’s army was at the peak of its success.
The nature of the relationship between the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the South of Russia and the Kuban Cossacks is eloquently evidenced by the memoirs of Ataman A.P. Filimonova. At a meeting of representatives of the high command and the Cossacks, held on June 6-7 (19-20), 1919 in Yekaterinodar, A.I. Denikin bluntly posed the question: “Are we, representatives of the Cossacks, going with Russia, or against Rus'?” This formulation of the question outraged A.P. Filimonov, who said: “We are tired of being good guys. We want to be citizens." In the evening of the same day, during a ceremonial official dinner in the Ataman’s palace, Denikin made his now infamous toast: “Yesterday here, in Yekaterinodar, the Bolsheviks reigned. A dirty red rag fluttered over this house, and outrages were happening in the city. Damn yesterday... Something strange is happening here today - the clinking of glasses is heard, wine is pouring, Cossack hymns are sung, strange Cossack speeches are heard, the Kuban flag flutters over this house... Strange today... But I believe that tomorrow this house will flutter the tricolor national Russian banner, only Russian conversations will take place here. A wonderful “tomorrow”... Let us drink to this happy and joyful tomorrow...”
A week later, this speech had a tragic echo in Rostov, where Chairman of the Kuban Regional Rada N.S. was killed by a shot fired by a Denikin officer in the Palace Hotel. Ryabovol. From the front, widespread desertion of the Kuban Cossacks began. Later A.I. Denikin complained in his memoirs that if at the end of 1918 the Kuban made up 2/3 of his armed forces, then by the end of the summer of 1919 - only about 15%. Individual Kuban units provided up to half of the deserters.
At the same time, the Kuban Rada made a diplomatic demarche by sending an independent delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. Kuban's attempt to join the League of Nations as a full member of the world community was a fiasco. However, A.I. Denikin responded to this challenge by dispersing the Rada and hanging one of the members of the delegation - the regimental priest A.I. Kulabukhova. The “Kuban action,” as these events were called by contemporaries, was carried out by the recent “savior of Kuban,” General V. L. Pokrovsky.
The economy of the region at the time under review was influenced by all the negative factors of wartime - the collapse of transport and production connections, labor shortages, and burdensome supplies to the army. At the same time, from the second half of 1918 to the beginning of 1920, Kuban was located in the rear, which, combined with a powerful agricultural raw material potential and the presence of ports, as well as other trade routes, created a favorable conditions for economic development.
The agrarian reform developed by the regional government, due to its narrow-class nature, remained on paper, but the state of agriculture in the region spoke, if not of progress, then of stability. Thus, with a significant reduction in sown areas, the 1919 harvest in terms of total grain harvest was almost equal to the 1914 harvest, and grain yields not only did not decrease, but even increased slightly.
The development of the cooperative movement continued in the region, uniting more than 780 thousand members (with a population of 3 million in the region). Almost 900 credit, savings and loan and consumer institutions had a turnover of hundreds of millions of rubles. One thing is certain - the economy of the region, focused primarily on agricultural production, has shown its viability even in extreme conditions civil war.
The peculiarity of the development of Kuban was that it avoided decossackization, the debilitating impact of the policy of “war communism” with its committees and surplus appropriation. Under the conditions of the “White Guard regime of Denikinism,” the commodity economy of the Kuban region showed its advantage over the military-communist system of production and distribution. This relative independence of the economic and general cultural development of Kuban from the negative influence of wartime factors was no exception. A similar picture was observed in other regions that were under the rule of anti-Bolshevik governments for a long time (Don, Siberia).
From the end of 1919, military aspects began to dominate in the life of the Kuban region and the Black Sea province. Contradictions between the Rada and A.I. Denikin reached its apogee. But the fate of Kuban was now being decided on the fronts of the Civil War. At the end of February - beginning of March 1920, a turning point occurred during the fighting in the North Caucasus direction. Contrary to the encouraging saying of the Whites “winter is yours, summer is ours,” which was confirmed by victories over the Reds in the campaigns of 1918-1919, the command of the Red Army launched a victorious offensive...
So, having begun its journey together with the Cadets and the Provisional Government in the spring of 1917, the Rada, through an attempt to establish a class Cossack republic in the summer-autumn of the same year, came to a coalition with moderate socialists, but the “parity government” created at the beginning of 1918 did not last and two months.
Period 1918-1919 was marked by ongoing armed confrontation with the Bolsheviks on the external front and contradictions with General Denikin on the internal front.
The bulk of the Kuban Cossacks also went through a difficult path: from a position of benevolent and armed neutrality in 1917, armed uprisings on the side Soviet power in the spring of 1918 and against it in the summer of 1918 - autumn 1919 until the capitulation to the Red Army and reconciliation with the Bolsheviks (spring 1920) followed by the anti-Soviet white-green movement.
The non-resident peasantry and proletariat of the Kuban and Black Sea region, in 1917 unconditionally accepted the revolution in their majority, throughout 1918-1919. successively replenished the ranks of the Red Army, and then, together with the Cossacks, the “green” partisan formations. In general, the position of nonresidents, and especially workers, can be assessed as pro-Soviet.
The interaction of these vectors of behavior of various political and social forces gave that polyphonic picture of the revolution and the Civil War in the Kuban, so far from its two-color “red-white” image.
Such were the complex and contradictory conditions in which the Kuban military, and then the regional government, carried out its activities, the minutes of the meetings of which, thanks to this publication, for the first time become available to a wide readership.
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The history of Kuban can be divided into two periods: The first marked the identification of this region as promising for the formation of a state in it and took more than 2 thousand years. The second period was a struggle for this region between the main rivals Turkey and Russia, as well as those peoples who inhabited these regions; this period can be defined as 600 years. But one cannot underestimate the events that happened more than a thousand years ago, when Kievan Rus founded the Tmutarakan principality on the Taman Peninsula. Why is this period important, since there were city policies on the coast of the Black and Azov Seas? Because these cities, founded by Greek and Roman colonists, did not own the surrounding lands and conducted purely trade with local peoples. The Tmutarakan principality had all forms of administrative management inherent in the state, thereby influencing the surrounding peoples, leaving its own imprint on their culture.
We know about the history of the region in ancient times partly thanks to archaeological excavations, but more thanks to the abandoned sources of the first civilizations, actively developing in the more southern regions of the Mediterranean and the Caspian Sea. Not only are there legends about these civilizations, they are confirmed by the remaining historical monuments and writings. So we know that in the 6th century BC, on the site of Anapa and Taman, there were the ancient cities of Gorgipia, Phanagoria, Hermonassa as part of the Bosporan Kingdom. Over their 26-century history, these cities were part of the ancient state, the Pontic Kingdom, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, Great Bulgaria, the Khazar Khaganate, Kievan Rus, the Polovtsian Khanate, the Golden Horde, the Genoese Republic, the Turkish Porte, the Russian Empire and modern Russia.
Over the course of many centuries, the territory of the Kuban was repeatedly populated and devastated, large and small civilizations came, nomadic peoples were replaced by sedentary ones and vice versa. It is very difficult to understand the chronology with very scanty historical material. But nevertheless, historians were able to build a general chronology. To understand culture and the origin of nationalities, it is necessary to consider settled tribes and peoples, since their contribution has always been greater than that of nomadic tribes. The influence of Greece and Rome affected only the development of agriculture and crafts - which were the main source of trade. Therefore, the period before the first millennium was poorly marked in history.
Cossacks in the Patriotic War
Black Sea Cossacks took an active part in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the liberation campaign of the Russian army in Europe in 1813-1814, they were part of the 1st Western Army along with the Don Cossack units under the command of the ataman of the Cossack corps, Matvey Ivanovich Platov.
HISTORY OF KUBAN
4.1. Main events in the history of Kuban
About 500 thousand years ago.
The settlement of Kuban by ancient people
About 100 thousand years ago.
Ilskaya site.
About 3-2 thousand years BC. e.
Bronze Age in Kuban.
EndIX- VIIIV. BC e.
The beginning of the use of iron in Kuban.
VV. BC e. –IVV. n. e.
Bosporan kingdom.
VII-X centuries
Khazar Khaganate.
X-XIcenturies
Principality of Tmutarakan.
1552
Adyghe embassy to Ivan IV.
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Cossacks are Nekrasovites in Kuban.
1778.
Construction by Suvorov of the Kuban fortified line.
1783
Annexation of the Right Bank of Kuban to Russia.
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Relocation of the Black Sea Cossacks to Kuban.
1793.
Founding of Ekaterinodar (renamed Krasnodar in 1920)
1794
The base of the first pages.
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Participation of the Black Sea Cossacks in the war with France.
Beginning XIX century – 1864
Caucasian War.
1860
Formation of the Kuban region and the creation of the Kuban Cossack army.
1875
The first railway in Kuban.
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Civil War.
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Creation of collective farms.
Education of the Krasnodar region.
The beginning of the battle for the Caucasus.
Fighting on Malaya Zemlya.
Liberation of Krasnodar from fascist invaders.
Complete liberation of Kuban from the German occupiers.
Novorossiysk was awarded the title of hero city.
The law on symbols of the Krasnodar region has been adopted.
4.2. The first settlements in Kuban
The ordinary population buried their dead in simple shallow holes in common cemeteries. According to the Meotian ritual, vessels with food and drink and personal belongings of the deceased were placed in the grave: weapons for warriors, jewelry for women.
Questions and tasks
1. What tribes lived in the Northern Black Sea region?
2. What territories were inhabited by the Meotians?
3. Compare the occupations of the population at that time with modern types of economic activity. What common features can be identified?
4.4. Bosporan Kingdom
On the northern coast of the Black Sea V–IV V. BC e. a large slave state was formed - Bosporan. The city became the capital of the state Panticapaeum, present-day Kerch. The second large city was Phanagoria (on the southeastern shore of the Taman Bay.) The city was surrounded by a powerful stone wall and properly planned. Its streets were located perpendicular to each other. The entire territory was divided into an upper and lower city. Currently, due to the partial subsidence of the coast and the advance of the sea, part of the city is under water. The center is located on the lower plateau. There were large public buildings, temples, statues of the ancient Greek gods Apollo and Aphrodite. The streets of the city were paved, and drains were installed under the pavements to drain rainwater. There were numerous stone-lined wells. In the western part there was a large public building intended for physical education. In the houses of wealthy slave owners, the rooms were plastered and covered with paintings. On the southeastern outskirts of Phanagoria there was a quarter of potters. Residents of Phanagoria and nearby villages were engaged in agriculture. They plowed with a heavy wooden plow and a team of oxen. There were iron hoes and sickles. They sown mainly wheat, as well as barley and millet. Around the city, orchards were cultivated in which pears, apples, and plums were grown. Cherry plum. There were vineyards on the hills surrounding Phanagoria. Caught in the strait and seas a large number of fish, especially sturgeon, which were exported to Greece, where they were highly valued, were famous.
Phanagoria had two harbors - one sea, where ships arriving from Greece moored, and the second - a river on one of the branches of the Kuban. From here, ships loaded with goods sailed up the Kuban to the lands of the Meotians. IN IV century AD, Phanagoria experienced a catastrophe - a significant part of the city was destroyed and burned. The city was destroyed during the invasion of nomads - the Huns.
Questions and tasks
1. Where was the Bosporan kingdom located?
2. Name the capital and second major city.
3. What was Phanagoria?
This is interesting Phanagoria The Bosporan state was at one time the largest Greek public education in the Northern Black Sea region. It was located on both sides of the Cimmerian Bosporus, now the Kerch Strait, and occupied its European part (Eastern Crimea, including Feodosia, and the entire Kerch Peninsula) and the Asian part (Taman Peninsula and adjacent territories up to the foothills of the North Caucasus, as well as the area at the mouth of the Tanais River – Don). Phanagoria was one of the largest cities of the Bosporan kingdom. At that time it had its own acropolis or fortress, which was burned during the Phanagorian uprising against Mithridates. After the victory of the townspeople and the death of Mithridates VI Phanagoria received autonomy under pressure from Rome, since it contributed to the death of the enemy of the Romans and the establishment of the latter’s influence in the Bosporus, but the son of Mithridates VI Pharnaces near the middle I V. BC e. besieged and destroyed the city. During the period of Queen Dinami's struggle with Roman influence in the Bosporus, Phanagoria took the side of the queen. Rome was forced to recognize the new Bosporan dynasty, and Dynamia, in turn, as a sign of loyalty to Rome, renamed it around 17-12. BC e. Phanagoria to Agrippa. At the beginning of our era, three wineries were built among residential areas - cemented or stone platforms for squeezing grape juice. The grapes were crushed with their feet, and the remaining pulp was further squeezed out in bags or baskets. Growing grapes and selling wine were important types of economy in Phanagoria, as in Panticapaeum and other cities of the Bosporus. It is about this period that Strabo writes that in the Bosporus they carefully protect the grapevine, covering it for the winter with a large amount of earth, which suggests that special creeping grape varieties were cultivated here. B III V. n. e. on the site of public buildings in the city center there is a winery, from which the remains of two cisterns (reservoirs) for draining the squeezed juice have been preserved. It is interesting that initially local grape varieties were cultivated in the Northern Black Sea region, and at the beginning of the century. e. As a result of selection and importation from Greece, grapes with larger seeds and berries appear here. It must be assumed that grape cultivation was carried out mainly on lands located near Greek cities. B IV V. AD Phanagoria still remains a major city, while many cities of the Bosporus were ravaged by the Goths. At the end IV V. The Huns invaded the Bosporus. The first wave went west, and the second, rounding the Sea of Azov from the east, attacked Phanagoria. From that time on, the Bosporan state ceased to exist, but the destroyed city was restored. Excavations have hidden the remains of structures V - I X centuries. In the Middle Ages, the ancient Russian Tmutarakan principality was located on the Taman Peninsula. In 965, the Kiev prince Svyatoslav attacked the Khazars who lived along the Donets and Donets, after which the former lands of the Bosporan kingdom became a colony of Kyiv. Svyatoslav's son Vladimir, baptized in the Crimean Chersonese, divided his lands among 12 sons who had grown up in paganism, so that together with them they would escape from themselves and their former wives. One of the younger sons, Mstislav, inherited distant Tomatorkan (Greek “Tamatarkha” on the site of the current village of Taman, 23 km from Sennoy). After the death of Vladimir in 1015, Mstislav's appanage became a separate principality, breaking ties with its metropolis. She maintained this position for about 100 years, and then the Circassians conquered her. The Byzantines and Venetians traded here, but in 1395 the city was thoroughly destroyed by the troops of the Mongol Khan Tamerlane (Timur), and in 1486. - Muslim troops. Thus passed the earthly glory of Phanagoria. |
4.5. Principality of Tmutarakan
In the 10th century, according to chroniclers, the Kiev prince Vladimir founded on the Taman Peninsula Principality of Tmutarakan. Its center was the city Tmutarakan. In the city there was a princely house, many beautiful buildings, some of them decorated with marble, and a towering church built of stone. Most Tmutarakan residents lived in houses made of mud brick, covered with sea grass. Some streets were paved with stone. The city was defended defensive walls. Behind them were craft gardens. Residents of Tmutarakan were engaged in crafts, trade, agriculture and fishing. The city itself was located on the shore of a good sea harbor, connecting water and land routes from the east and west. Kievan Rus used them for lively trade with the peoples of the North Caucasus. Merchant boats brought furs, leather and bread here, and returned back along the Black Sea and Dnieper, loaded with fabrics, jewelry, glassware and weapons prepared in the workshops of eastern artisans.
With the feudal fragmentation and weakening of the ancient Russian state, the position of the principality in the Kuban also changed. It became the subject of a struggle between contenders for the Kiev throne. Thus, the envoy of the Byzantine emperor, taking advantage of the gullibility of the Tmutarakan prince, entered his house and poisoned him. Another prince was captured by the Byzantines and kept for two years on the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean Sea. However, the treacherous neighbor of Rus' managed to take possession of Tmutarakan only in the middle of the 19th century. II century, when Kievan Rus was fragmented into warring principalities. Subsequently, the Polovtsians took possession of the principality.
Questions and tasks
1. Visit the local history museum. Get acquainted with the material on the history of our region related to X – XII centuries
2. Where was the Tmutarakan principality located? What is the connection between the history of Tmutarakan and the history of the Kyiv state?
Legends were the Black Sea region
Pearl of Gorgippia
In ancient times Anapa was called Gorgippia. The greatest of the commanders of antiquity, Iskander (Iskander was called na), had a military leader who combined courage, high military skill and nobility. Iskander sent him on the most difficult campaigns, and they always ended in victory. This was the case in the last battle. But here Iskander’s favorite was seriously wounded and soon died, leaving behind his wife and son. Iskander did everything so that the wife of the deceased did not need anything, and he adopted young Konstantin and was personally involved in his upbringing.
Young Konstantin could not be blamed for his lack of courage. But to a greater extent he inherited nobility from his own father, intelligence from his adopted father, and tenderness from his mother. Iskander saw in his adopted son not a warrior, but a politician, and chose the appropriate job for him. He sent him to the northern shores of the Black Sea to Gorgippia in order to come into contact with the northern peoples, establish trade with them and ensure a wide flow of necessary goods from there. Constantine arrived in Gorgippia surrounded by a retinue of magnificent servants, accompanied by a detachment of brilliant warriors. This made a strong impression in Gorgippia. The leaders of both the nearest and the most distant tribes sought to see the messenger of the great Iskander. Konstantin generously showered everyone with gifts and won everyone's respect. From the northern shores of the Black Sea, bread, honey, timber, furs, wool, and leather went to Iskander's empire.
Konstantin received many reciprocal signs of attention from the local nobility. One of the leaders of the Dzikh tribe presented him with five young slave girls as a gift. They were one more beautiful than the other. According to Constantine himself, the young Russian princess Elena was distinguished by her divine beauty.
Having accepted the gift, Constantine secretly granted freedom to the four captives and helped them return to their homes. He kept Elena with him, creating conditions for her worthy not of a slave, but of a mistress. The girl was more than indifferent to this. Longing for her home, she did not notice the favorable attitude of the new owner towards her. She was not touched by the beauty of Constantine himself, who was admired by others.
“You are as dissatisfied as before,” Konstantin once told her.
-Tell me, Elena, what are you missing? Everything will be for you!..
Frowning, without raising her eyes, Elena was silent.
- I'm not a slave trader. I do not and will not have a harem. Four of your friends are already free,” Konstantin continued. “You are here with me because I don’t want, I can’t lose you.”
Elena's face expressed despair, tears rolled from her eyes.
- Forgive me, Elena. It's not my fault that we met like this. But I love you and I’m ready to prove...
“Do you love me?” Elena interrupted. – Are you ready to prove it? Then do with me the same as with your friends. Let me go home. Come visit us and let's talk about love. And now I am a slave, and you are the master who can do anything. I don't believe…
“I love you,” Konstantin repeated. – I can’t imagine love without reciprocity. I can't imagine life without you. What can I do to make you believe my love? Order...
For the first time, Elena glanced furtively at Konstantin. Yes, he's handsome. However, she responded:
- I already said...
Sighing, Konstantin bowed and left.
Then a messenger who arrived from Alexandria delivered him Iskander’s challenge. Konstantin left. His father greeted him with a smile.
“I am pleased with your success and intend to encourage you,” he told his son, “Ask for whatever you want as a reward, Konstantin.”
“Thank you, father,” answered Konstantin. “So high mark done by me, your truly divine generosity is the highest reward for me. I don't need anything else.
- But I wouldn’t refuse your advice...
And Konstantin told Iskander about his feelings for the Russian slave Elena and his desire to achieve reciprocity from her. After listening to the frank story, Iskander thought for a moment, then said:
- Build for her at the place of the first meeting a palace of such beauty that, upon entering it, your Elena will answer “I love you.”
Constantine returned to Gorgippia with a caravan of ships loaded with precious building materials for the palace of love.
Arriving in Gorgippia, Constantine found Helen even more beautiful. Construction of the palace began without delay.
When Constantine brought the one in whose honor it was erected into the pentagonal palace, built of marble and decorated with yakhont, emerald and turquoise, a miracle happened. As soon as she crossed the threshold, Elena was transformed. The sadness and detachment disappeared, the face lit up with a smile, the eyes flashed with delight. She mechanically extended her hand to Konstantin and said, as if the mutual love between them was not the beginning, but a continuation:
_ You love... Oh, how you love me!...
Konstantin and Elena did not live long where they met. They ended their journey in Alexandria. The pentagonal palace became the pearl of Gorgoppa, which was later renamed Anapa. They say that when, many centuries later, Timur the Iron Leg, having completely destroyed seven hundred cities of the Caucasus, went to the sea and captured Anapa, the beauty of the palace struck him. For the first time, Timur’s hand, which knew no pity, did not rise to the building overshadowed high love and nobility. He bowed to it and left it untouched. The palace disappeared later, during the fiercest battles for Anapa. But the legend of the palace, a hymn to the beauty of the Russian girl Elena, is still alive today.
4.6. Who are the Cossacks
Most of the modern cities and villages of the region were founded by Cossack settlers. The places for the first 40 villages were determined by lot, and the names of most of them the Cossacks brought with them from Ukraine, where they were derived from the names of famous Cossacks (Titarovskaya, Vasyurinskaya, Myshastovskaya) or from the names of cities: Poltavskaya (Poltava), Korsunskaya (city . Korsun).
One of the first villages was named Ekaterininsky. It was destined to become the capital of the Cossack region. According to legend, military ataman Zakhary Chepega, pointing his hand at the thorny thickets near Karasun Kut, exclaimed: “There will be hail here!”
For some peoples, armed border protection is entrusted to special groups of the population. In Russia they are called the Cossacks. Scientists believe that the word “Cossack” itself is borrowed from Turkic languages, where “Cossack” means “free man.” In the Middle Ages, this was the name given to free people who served as scouts or guarded borders in Rus'. The earliest group of Russian Cossacks formed in XVI century on the Don from fugitive Russian and Ukrainian peasants. Subsequently, Cossack communities developed in different ways. On the one hand, they fled to the outskirts of the state from serfdom, on the other, they arose by royal decree to protect the borders of the empire. By 1917, there were 11 Cossack troops in Russia: Amur, Astrakhan, Don, Transbaikal, Kuban, Orenburg, Semirechenskoe, Siberian, Terek, Ural and Ussuri.
Cossack groups, as a result of contacts with the local non-Russian population, differed from each other in terms of language, way of life, and form of farming. At the same time, all Cossacks had something in common that set them apart from other Russians. This allows us to talk about the Cossacks as one of the Russian subethnic groups (“sub-peoples”).
Federal Agency for Education
State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education Kuban State Technological University
(KubSTU)
Department of History and Social Communications
HISTORY OF KUBAN
Krasnodar
Compiled by: Ph.D. ist. Sciences, Associate Professor I.V. Skvortsova
Ph.D. ist. Sciences, Art. Rev. M.A. Lavrentieva
Ph.D. ist. Sciences, Art. Rev. A.S. Bochkareva
1. Topic 1. Kuban in ancient times. Bosporan Kingdom
2. Topic 2. Steppes of the Kuban region during the Middle Ages and Modern times
3. Topic 3. Annexation of the Kuban region to Russia. Socio-economic and political development in the 18th – 19th centuries.
4. Topic 4. Kuban region at the beginning of the 20th century.
5. Topic 5. Soviet Kuban
6. Topic 6. Krasnodar region in the post-Soviet period.
History of Kuban
Topic 1 Kuban in ancient times. Bosporan Kingdom (2 hours)
1. Territory and climate. Archaeological cultures of the Stone and Bronze Ages.
The history of Kuban is attractive both for its past and its present.
In the Eurasian civilization that took shape over centuries, Kuban has long been the great crossroads where the paths of many tribes and peoples, the great cultures of the East and West, converged. Here “every stone hums with the voices of eras” (poet I. Selvinsky)
Meotians and Sarmatians, Scythians and Greeks, Italians and Cumans, Nogais and Circassians, Zaporozhye Cossacks and Russian peasants - left their mark on the Kuban land.
Northwestern Caucasus ( modern territory Kuban) has always attracted people with its natural geographical conditions, richness of flora and fauna. According to scientists, primitive man came to Kuban from the south, walking along the rivers and passes of the Caucasus Mountains. This was more than 500 thousand years ago.
Archaeologists have discovered sites of people of the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic) on the Black Sea coast and in the foothills of the Caucasus.
The main activities of ancient Stone Age man were gathering and hunting. Archaeological finds in the area of the village of Ilsky allow us to conclude that about 2,400 bison were destroyed here. Gradually, large animals were almost destroyed.
Man began to hunt more medium and small animals and engage in fishing.
During the Middle Stone Age-Mesolithic period (10-6 thousand years BC), man invented the bow and arrow, which contributed to the transition from collective to individual hunting. At this time, he tamed a dog, which became his faithful assistant for thousands of years.
During the Mesolithic era, the natural geographical environment changed significantly. The territory of Europe is almost freed from many meters of ice. The climate in Kuban has also warmed. Its nature at that time was significantly different from modern.
On the site of the Taman Peninsula there was a whole group of islands. Along the Kuban rivers the steppe alternated with forest. Along the Azov coast, where estuaries overgrown with reeds now predominate, trees of heat-loving species (hornbeam, elm, chestnut, etc.) grew.
During the New Stone Age-Neolithic period (approximately 6-3 thousand BC) - people begin to engage in cattle breeding and agriculture. Stone axes appeared for cutting down trees and clearing areas for crops and livestock. By this time, man had already used domestic animals such as bulls, goats, and pigs.
The appearance of metal (initially copper) meant a significant leap in the development of mankind. The Caucasus was the oldest center of copper smelting, and then iron. Changes in climatic conditions and improvements in tools made certain adjustments to the landscape of Kuban. Gradually, its natural and geographical appearance became the same as it was found by Russian settlers of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Northern part of Kuban, i.e. right bank of the river Kuban (Prikubanye) is a vast treeless plain - steppe. The southern part, or the left bank of the Kuban (Zakubanye), is a mountainous area.
The Kuban River, dividing the region into two almost equal parts, is the largest river in the North Caucasus. It originates on the slopes of the highest mountain in the Caucasus, Elbrus. Until 1871, the Kuban carried its waters along the main channel to the Black Sea. Then, thanks to human activity, it rushed into the Sea of Azov.
2. Early Iron Age in Kuban. Iranian-speaking nomads.
Beginning of the 1st millennium BC (9th – 8th century BC) – time of transition from Bronze Age to iron. Iron appeared in the Northwestern Caucasus in the 8th century. BC. and in the 7th century. BC. displaces bronze. With the production of iron comes a boost to the development of crafts. There is a separation of crafts from agriculture. Property inequality increases and a class society emerges.
In the 7th century BC. Greek city-colonies emerge in the Northern Black Sea region. The nature of the region and the tribes inhabiting it were described by the ancient Greeks. At the same time, Scythians appeared in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, who had a huge influence on the development of the tribes of the Kuban region. Scythians is a collective name for nomadic tribes belonging to the Iranian group of Indo-European languages.
The Scythians made military campaigns in Western Asia and Transcaucasia through the Caucasus (for the purpose of enrichment). One of the Scythian bridgeheads for raids was Transkuban. It was here that the Scythians returned with their loot. From the middle of the 7th century. BC. Rich Scythian burial mounds appear here. The most famous among them are Kostroma, Ul, Kelermes, Ulyap with the richest burial goods: jewelry and utensils made of gold, weapons. Gold jewelry from these mounds is in the State Hermitage.
Local tribes of the Kuban region adopted weapons from the Scythians (akinaki swords, helmets, bronze triangular arrowheads), and animal-style themes in art. By the 5th century. BC. part of the Scythians was assimilated by the local population of Kuban, and in the 4th century. BC. - under the pressure of other Iranian-speaking nomads, the Sarmatians, the Scythians were forced to leave the territory of the Kuban region.
The main settled population of Kuban were the Meotians. Meotians is the collective name of the tribes that lived along the eastern shore of the Sea of Azov (Meotids in Greek), the Kuban region and Transkuban region. The Meotian tribes were the indigenous population Northwestern Caucasus.
8th-7th centuries BC. - the time of formation of the Meotian culture. These tribes lived in settlements located along the banks of rivers and estuaries. A large number of Meotian settlements and burials have been discovered on the territory of our region, making it possible to reconstruct their culture, economy, social order. The main occupation of the Meotians is agriculture. Agriculture was arable. In addition, they were engaged in cattle breeding, fishing, and beekeeping. Among the crafts, pottery was the most widespread.
The Meotians conducted brisk trade with the Greek cities of the Northern Black Sea region. The peak of trade occurs in the 4th century. BC. With the Greeks they traded wheat, cattle, leather, fish, receiving in return wine, jewelry, and luxury goods. The place of trade with the Greeks was called emporium. Trade with the Bosporus contributed to the collapse of the clan system. The social system of the Maeotians is a military democracy. The Meotians actively participate not only in the economic, but also in the political life of the ancient cities of the Northern Black Sea region.
At the turn of the 2nd-3rd centuries. AD under pressure from Iranian-speaking nomads, the Alans, the Meotians moved from the Right Bank of the Kuban to the Trans-Kuban region, where, together with other related tribes, they laid the foundations for the formation of the Adyghe-Kabardian peoples.
Northern neighbors of the Meotians in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. There were Sarmatian nomads. Sarmatians – common name Iranian-speaking tribes settled from Tobol to the Danube. In the 4th century. BC. A large Sarmatian tribe, the Siraks, settled in the Kuban. They subjugate the Meotians, receiving tribute from them. At the end of the 3rd century. BC. A military-political Syraco-Maeotian alliance of tribes takes shape. The leading position in it remains with the Siraks. This union resisted the onslaught of the Bosporus on the local Kuban tribes. Later, the Bosporus itself experienced pressure from the military alliance. The process of nomads settling on the earth is gradually underway, and the interpenetration of Meotian and Sarmatian cultures is observed.
The Sarmatians took an active part in the events of world history, as described by ancient authors: they made military campaigns in Asia Minor, at the turn of the 2nd-1st centuries. BC. – first half of the 1st century. BC. took an active part in the struggle of the Bosporan king Mithridates VI Eupator with Rome (on the side of Mithridates). In the middle of the 1st century. BC. The Syraxian alliance controlled the passes of the Caucasus, the Siraxes carried out predatory campaigns in Transcaucasia. But from the 1st century. AD A new force appears in the steppes - the Alans (nomadic Iranian-speaking tribes related to the Sarmatians), who put an end to Sirak rule in the Kuban region. In the 2nd-3rd centuries. AD The Siracs, together with the Meotians, were forced into the foothills.
3. Bosporan kingdom: socio-economic, political and cultural development.
7th – 6th centuries BC. - the period of the Great Greek Colonization. During this period, the Greeks founded colonies on the Mediterranean coast and in the Black Sea region. The reasons for colonization were various - a lack of land in Greece, and the search for new markets, sources of raw materials (metals), and political struggle in Greece itself, when the losing side had to look for a new habitat and other reasons.
Among the metropolises that developed new lands, the city of Miletus stands out. In the 7th-6th centuries. BC. The Milesians founded on the coast of the Northern Black Sea region such city-polices as Panticapaeum (present-day Kerch), Hermonassa (modern Taman), Gorgippia (modern Anapa), Phanagoria (modern Sennaya), Feodosia, etc. The distance between the cities did not exceed 10 km. Colonies - free policies, were an urban center surrounded by an agricultural district - chora. Supreme power in the colony was exercised by the people's assembly, executive power by elected boards.
Colonies were not founded out of nowhere, but in territories where local tribes lived, whom the Greeks called barbarians. Greek colonies put pressure on the barbarians, in response to this, local tribes raided cities and destroyed the chora. At the end of the 5th century. BC. on the Bosporus, as the Greeks called their new homeland, the cities are surrounded by defensive walls.
In 480 BC. The Greek city-states of the Black Sea region are united into a single state - the Bosporus Kingdom. The commonality of trade and economic interests, joint opposition to the barbarians are the reasons for the unification of Greek cities. Panticapaeum became the capital of the new state. The state was headed by archons, whose power was hereditary. At first the Archeanactids ruled, then power passed to the Spartocid dynasty. Economic basis power was land ownership and ownership of the ruling dynasty of trading harbors, a monopoly on the grain trade. From the end of the 5th century. BC. The Bosporus mints its own coin.
The economic and political heyday of the Bosporan kingdom occurred in the 4th century. BC. At this time, active trade was carried out with Athens and other cities of Greece. The basis of Bosporan trade was the export of grain. As ancient inscriptions testify, in the second half of the 4th century. BC. Up to 1 million poods of grain were delivered annually from the Bosporus to Athens. Fish, cattle, leather, and slaves were also exported to Greece. And from Greece, wine, olive oil, metal products, fabrics, precious metals, and art objects were imported to the Bosporus. From 3rd-2nd centuries. BC. Craft production flourishes in the Bosporus, especially jewelry and glass making.
The predominant form of land relations in the Bosporus was large-scale land ownership using slave labor, as well as medium-sized land ownership. The grain exported to Greece came from the holders of such lands, and was also bought from the Meotians, and taken as tribute from the subject tribes. From the end of the 4th century. BC. Viticulture appears in the Bosporus and winemaking begins. But there was not enough wine and it had to be imported from Greece in special clay vessels - amphoras. The Greeks of the Bosporus traded grain for wine with the Maeotians. A wide variety of amphorae are found in Meotian burials.
In the first half of the 3rd century. BC. There is a financial crisis in the Bosporus, a struggle for power begins, and a tendency towards autonomy is observed. End of 2nd-1st centuries BC. - a turbulent time for the Bosporus: internal uprisings, struggle with Rome. As a result of the unsuccessful struggle of King Mithridates VI Eupator with Rome, the Bosporus submitted to the empire. The Bosporan kings are now appointed by Rome.
Decline is again replaced by prosperity. 1st-2nd centuries AD - the time of economic prosperity of the Bosporan kingdom. King Aspurgus also strengthens the political position of the Bosporus and introduces the custom of deifying kings. At the same time, the barbarization of the Bosporus was taking place - the process of penetration of the culture of local tribes into the Greek one (type of clothing, changes in funeral rites, etc.).
In the 3rd century. AD The Bosporus is experiencing a crisis, to which is added a strong onslaught of barbarian tribes. Germanic Gothic tribes penetrate the Bosporus and pirate the Black Sea. The Bosporus territory becomes a base for their raids. The kings are no longer able to cope with the current situation. From the 4th century AD The minting of Bosporan coins ceases. In the 80s 4th century The Huns invade the Bosporus, destroying everything in their path. The Huns put an end to the existence of the Bosporan kingdom. Life in some cities ceases forever, while in others it is still a greenhouse, but no longer within the framework of the state. In the 5th-6th centuries. the territory of the former Bosporan kingdom becomes a province of the Byzantine Empire.
Thus, the Bosporan kingdom is the first state on the territory of our region. It existed for about a thousand years, exerting a huge influence on the local Kuban tribes and drawing them into the orbit of world history. Archaeological research of the cities and necropolises of the Bosporan kingdom continues and not everything has been studied yet.
Topic 2. Steppes of the Kuban region during the Middle Ages and Modern times (2 hours)
4. Adygs and Nogais: socio-economic, political and cultural development in the 16th – early 18th centuries.
1. Turkic-speaking nomads in the Kuban region.
The Middle Ages is usually called the period in European history that lasted from the 4th century. to 15th century The period of the early Middle Ages - 4-5 centuries. called the era of the “great migration of peoples”. If we talk about Kuban, this is the replacement of Iranian-speaking nomads by Turkic-speaking ones. Xiongnu was the name of a powerful tribal union that advanced from Northern China to the west. They included various tribes: Ugrians, Sarmatians, Turks. In Europe they were called Huns. In the 4th century. The Huns invaded the Kuban region. The Goths were the first to experience their blow. The power of Hermanamikh in the Black Sea region fell. Some of the Goths fled to the Roman Empire to save themselves, some entered the Hunnic Union, and only a small part remained in the Black Sea region. The Gothic historian Jordan, describing the Huns, said that “the Huns are children evil spirits and witches; they are centaurs."
The Huns conquered the Alans and destroyed the cities of the Bosporus. Following them, a wave of Turkic-speaking nomads moved into the steppe. An empire of the Huns was created in the steppes. It consisted of different ethnic tribes and was united by force of arms. Attila was at the head. The bulk of the Huns moved from the steppes of the Kuban region further to the West, while those who remained in the Black Sea region received the name Akatsir in the sources.
The earliest Turkic speaking groups affected by the Hunnic movement who appeared in the Kuban - Bulgarians who came from the Volga. They appeared on the historical scene in 354, and in the 5th-7th centuries. occupied all the steppes and foothill zones of the Ciscaucasia. The Bulgarians were included in the Hunnic state.
2. Medieval states on the territory of the region: Turkic Kaganate, Great Bulgaria, Khazar Kaganate, Tmutarakan Principality.
In 576, the steppe inhabitants of the North-Western Caucasus were united as part of the 1st Turkic Khaganate (center in Mongolia). All tribes that entered the Kaganate began to be called Huns.
Hunnic-Bulgarian nomads of the Azov and Black Sea regions in the 6th century. were tribes divided into several military-political organizations. Each tribe was headed by a ruler - a khan. The governor of the North Caucasus steppes of the Turkic Kaganate was Turksanf.
In 630, the Western Turkic Khaganate collapsed. The consolidation of the nomadic tribes of the North Caucasus began. Thus, in the eastern Ciscaucasia the Khazar state is being formed, in the Azov region two main unions will settle down and the Kutriguts, having concluded an agreement, will absorb all the Bulgarian peoples. In 635, the Khan of the Kuban Bulgarians Kubrat united the Azov and Black Sea Bulgarians, as well as part of the Alans and Bosporans, into the state of Great Bulgaria. The main territory of Great Bulgaria is the steppes of the right bank of the Kuban, Taman, the Stavropol Upland, and sometimes the left bank of the Kuban. Phanagoria became the center of the new state. Phanagoria was located in a very advantageous location.
In the middle of the 7th century, after the death of Kubrat, the state broke up into a number of independent hordes. Among them stood out the hordes of Kubrat's sons, the khans Batbai and Asparukh. At the same time, taking advantage of the weakening of Great Bulgaria, Khazaria expanded its borders at the expense of the steppes. Under the onslaught of the Khazars, Khan Asparukh moved to the Danube, where, together with the Slavs, he invaded Thrace. Having settled in Thrace, the Bulgarians were assimilated by the Slavs, nevertheless leaving them their name and giving the name to the country. Kubrat's eldest son Khan Batbay (Batbayan, Bayan) remained in the Kuban and submitted to the Khazars, but enjoyed relative independence. The Bulgarians paid tribute to the Khazars, but pursued an independent foreign policy.
Bulgarian settlements in the Kuban of the 8th-10th centuries. were of an open type (without fortifications). The population led a sedentary lifestyle. The leading form of economy was cattle breeding. Pottery was a common craft. The production of iron and products made from it was also developed.
In the 7th century The eastern coast of the Sea of Azov and the lower reaches of the Kuban were included in the Khazar Kaganate. The Khazars are Turkic-speaking tribes, from the 5th century. settled in the Lower Volga region and the North Caucasus. The Khazar Khaganate occupied the territory from the Caspian to the Black Seas and was a powerful military power. The capital of the Kaganate was Semender in Dagestan, and later Itil on the Volga. At the end of the 7th century. Phanagoria became the center of the Khazar administration in the Kuban region, and from the 9th century. the administration of Southwestern Khazaria moved to Hermonassa. The city received a different name - Tumen-Tarkhan, the Circassians called it Tamtarkai, the Greeks - Tamatarkha, the Russians - Tmutarakan. From Tumen-Tarkhan it was possible to control the Kerch Strait and all of Taman.
Trade and agriculture played a major role in the Kaganate. The central government gave independence to the provinces. State religion of the Kaganate since the 8th century. became Judaism. Over time, the power of the Kaganate began to weaken, subordinate tribes rebelled, and separatism was observed in the provinces. The outskirts of the Kaganate began to outstrip the center in development. The Guzes, or Torks, who came in the second half of the 9th century, began to settle in the steppe regions of our region. from the Lower Volga. They began to destroy the Khaganate, and in 965 the Kiev prince Svyatoslav finally defeated Khazaria. The movement of the Circassians from the foothills to the Kuban began again.
Following Svyatoslav in the 70-80s. 10th century Pechenegs, Turkic tribes, appear in the steppes. They destroy agricultural crops and Bulgarian settlements. There is an outflow of steppe dwellers to the foothills. Pechenegs in the 11th century. replaced by Polovtsy (self-name - Cumans). The Polovtsians waged wars with farmers in the southern Russian steppes. The basis of their economy is nomadic cattle breeding. In the 12th century The social system of the Polovtsians changes: from military democracy they move to a feudal society. The social stratification of the Polovtsians was as follows: khans (rulers), feudal lords (warriors), ordinary nomads, black people (dependents). The formation of Polovtsian statehood was interrupted in the 13th century. Mongol-Tatars, the nobility was destroyed, the population was conquered by the Horde.
After the defeat of the Khazar Kaganate (965), the Kiev prince Svyatoslav and his retinue moved to Taman and captured the city of Tumen-Tarkhan, which the Russians called Tmutarakan. At the end of the 10th century. (988) under Prince Vladimir, Tmutarakan and Kerch with agricultural districts formed the territory of the Tmutarakan principality, which became part of Kievan Rus. Vladimir's son Mstislav was sent to reign in Taman. Tmutarakan was a major political and economic center. The population was multi-ethnic: Russians, Greeks, Jews, Kosogi, etc. Mstislav, nicknamed the Daring, took tribute from the local tribes. During his reign, the Tmutarakan principality experienced a period of prosperity. The principality controlled the Don region, Kuban, Lower Volga and determined the policy of the entire North Caucasus.
After the death of Mstislav, Tmutarakan became a place for rogue princes. Since 1094, Tmutarakan has not been mentioned in Russian chronicles. The Polovtsians cut off the Tmutarakan principality from Kievan Rus. The city began to submit to Byzantium. Under the Genoese (13th century), the Matrega fortress was built on the site of Tmutarakan. The city was involved in world trade with Western Europe and the East. In the 15th century The Taman Peninsula became part of the Crimean Khanate.
3. Italian colonization of the Northern Black Sea region.
From the second half of the 13th century. to 15th century On the shores of the Black and Azov Seas there were colonies founded by residents of Genoa. The Mongol-Tatar invasion disrupted trade between West and East. It was necessary to look for new trade routes to the East. And they were found - through the Azov and Black Seas. A fierce struggle broke out between Genoa, Venice, and Byzantium for possession of the northern coast of the Black Sea. Genoa prevailed in this battle.
On the coast of the Black and Azov Seas, 39 trading settlements (ports, marinas, parking lots) were founded, stretching from Taman to modern Sukhumi. The center of the Genoese colonies became Kafa (Feodosia) in Crimea. On the territory of our region, the Genoese founded the cities of Matrega (modern Taman), Kopa (Slavyansk-on-Kuban), Mapa (Anapa).
The main form of colonial activity of the Genoese in the North-West Caucasus was intermediary trade. With the local Adyghe population it was of an exchange nature, because The Circassians conducted subsistence farming. Agricultural goods, fish, timber, and slaves were exported from the Black Sea. Imports included salt, soap, colored glass, ceramics, Jewelry. By the 14th-15th centuries. Numerous uprisings of the local population broke out against the Genoese merchants. In the 15th century the threat to the Genoese began to come from the Turks. By the end of the 15th century. they captured the Crimea and the Caucasus, which were included in the Ottoman Empire.
Genoese domination in the Northern Black Sea region had both negative and positive aspects. The first includes the predatory nature of their trade and management, the slave trade, which hampered the development of Adyghe society. Positive aspects include the accelerated differentiation of Adyghe society, cultural exchange between peoples, some improvement in the material life of the Circassians.
4. Adygs and Nogais: socio-economic, political and cultural development in the 16th – early 18th centuries.
During the early Middle Ages, Adyghe tribes lived in the region. Adygs are the collective name for a group of related tribes in the North Caucasus. In Europe they were called Circassians. From the 15th century The Circassians became dependent on the Crimean Khanate.
The main occupation of the Circassians is agriculture. Vegetable gardening and horticulture were developed. The Circassians were also engaged in cattle breeding, great attention devoted to horse breeding. Trade was poorly developed and existed in the form of barter. Before the active Turkish expansion, the Circassians for the most part professed Christianity.
By the middle of the 16th century, the Circassians, who lived in the foothills of the left bank of the Kuban, were completing the process of decomposition of patriarchal-tribal relations. And by the second half of the 18th century, the Western Circassians and Nogais had developed a class-class structure characteristic of feudal society. At the top of the emerging feudal social hierarchical ladder among the Circassians were pshi- princes who were the owners of the land and the population living on it. The closest vassals of the Adyghe princes were the pshis Tlekotleshi, which means “strong lineage” or “born of a powerful one.” Having received land and power, they distributed plots of land between work – nobles who stood somewhat lower on the hierarchical ladder, and community members - tfokotlyam, receiving from them labor and in-kind rent. Another category of peasants were pshitli serfs. They were in land and personal dependence on the feudal owners.
The main feature of feudal relations among the Circassians was feudal ownership of land. The peculiarities of mountain feudalism include the presence of such patriarchal clan remnants as kunachestvo (twinning), atalystvo, mutual assistance, and blood feud. Atalychestvo is a custom according to which a child after birth was transferred to be raised by another family.
Domestic trade was poorly developed due to the subsistence economy; it had the character of a simple exchange of goods. The Circassians did not have a merchant class and did not have a monetary system.
Turkic-Mongolian tribes lived on the Right Bank Kuban Nogais, who led a mainly nomadic lifestyle and were engaged in cattle breeding. Their murzas (mirzas) - large feudal lords, heads of individual hordes and clans - owned several thousand heads of cattle. In general, the feudal elite, small in number (four percent of the population), owned approximately two-thirds of the entire nomadic herd. The uneven distribution of the main wealth - livestock - was the basis of the class-class structure of society.
Nominally at the head of the entire Nogai horde was khan together with the heir Nuradin and the military leader. In fact, by this time the horde had already broken up into smaller entities, loosely connected both with each other and with the supreme ruler. At the head of these uluses were Murza who have achieved the hereditary transfer of their ownership rights. A significant layer of the Nogai nobility consisted of the Muslim clergy - akhuns, qadis, etc. The lower strata of Nogai society included free peasants and cattle breeders. The next group were Chagars- serf peasants who were both economically and personally dependent on the top of the Nogai feudal lords. At the lowest level of Nogai society were slaves The Nogais professed the Muslim religion.
A feature of nomadic feudalism among the Nogais was the preservation of the community. However, the right to regulate migrations and dispose of pastures and wells was already concentrated in the hands of the feudal lords.
The low level of socio-economic relations delayed the development of a unified socio-political organization. Neither the Trans-Kuban Circassians nor the Nogais developed a single state. The natural economy, the absence of cities and sufficiently developed economic ties, the preservation of patriarchal remnants - all these were the main reasons for feudal fragmentation in the North-West Caucasus.
Topic 3 Annexation of the Kuban region to Russia. Socio-economic and political development in the 18-19 centuries. (4 hours)
1. Cossacks in Kuban, Nekrasovites. Russia in the struggle for Crimea and the North Caucasus.
1. Cossacks in Kuban: Nekrasovites. Russia in the struggle for Crimea and the North Caucasus.
In the mid-17th century, a religious and social movement arose in Russia, which went down in history under the name “schism” or “Old Believers.” The reason for its manifestation was the church and ritual reform, which Patriarch Nikon began to carry out in 1653 in order to strengthen church organization. Relying on the support of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Nikon began to unify the Moscow theological system based on Greek models: he corrected Russian liturgical books according to contemporary Greek ones and changed some rituals (two fingers were replaced by three fingers; during church services, “Hallelujah” began to be pronounced not twice, but three times, etc.
Although the reform affected only the external, ritual side of religion, it clearly showed Nikon’s desire to centralize the church and strengthen the power of the patriarch. Discontent was also caused by the violent measures with which the reformer introduced new books and rituals.
Various sections of Russian society came out to defend the “old faith.” The masses, coming to the defense of the “old faith,” thereby expressed their protest against feudal oppression, covered up and sanctified by the church. One of the forms of peasant protest was their flight to the southern outskirts of the state, in particular to the Don, or even outside the country to the Kuban.
In 1688, Tsar Peter I ordered the Don military ataman Denisov to destroy the refuge of schismatics on the Don, and to execute them themselves. However, the schismatics, having learned about the sovereign’s intentions, decided to seek salvation outside the country: in the steppes of Kuban and Kuma. The Kuban schismatics were led by Pyotr Murzenko and Lev Manatsky.
In 1692 from the territory Don Cossacks Another party of schismatics entered the Kuban, accepting the patronage of the Crimean Khan. It was settled between the Kuban and Laba rivers. The settlers received the name “Kuban Cossacks” after the name of the main river of their new places of residence. With the permission of the khan, they built for themselves on the elevated bank of the Laba River a stone town, which later (after the Nekrasovites moved to Kuban) received the name Nekrasovsky town.
In September 1708, one of the outstanding leaders of the Bulavinsky uprising, ataman of the Esaulovskaya village of the Don Cossack army, Ignat Nekrasov, fearing reprisals by government troops against the rebels, went with his families to Kuban (according to various sources, numbering from three to eight thousand people). Here, uniting with the Kuban Cossack army, the fugitives organized a kind of republic, which for seventy years was continuously replenished with Cossacks from other places and peasants who fled from serfdom. The “ignat-Cossacks” (as the Turks called them) arrived at their new place of residence not as humiliated petitioners, but as an army with a banner and seven guns. The Crimean Khan Kaplan-Girey, hoping to use the Nekrasovites in the future as a fighting, well-trained armed force, allowed them to settle in the lower reaches of the Kuban, between Kopyl and Temryuk, freeing them from taxes and providing internal autonomy. Having united with the Kuban Cossacks of Savely Pakhomov, the new inhabitants of the Kuban region built the towns of Golubinsky, Bludilovsky and Chiryansky on the hills, thirty miles from the sea. The approaches to them were covered by floodplains and swamps. In addition to natural defense, the Nekrasovites fortified their towns with earthen ramparts and cannons.
In the new place, the Nekrasovites built boats and small vessels, carrying out fishing, traditional for their way of life. In addition, one of their favorite pastimes was hunting and horse breeding. During the military operations of the Crimea with the Russians, Kabardians and other peoples, the Nekrasovites were obliged to supply at least five hundred horsemen.
The life of the Nekrasovites in Kuban is reflected in the sources mainly by its external military manifestations. Their relations with the Russian government consisted of an alternation of daring Cossack raids and retaliatory punitive expeditions. Up to three thousand Nekrasovites took part in some campaigns. The government of Peter I took measures: by decree of the military board, the death penalty was introduced for failure to report Nekrasov's agents. In November 1722, special letters were sent to the Don about sending their own spies to the Kuban under the guise of merchants and “On precautions against the arrival of the Cossacks and Nekrasovites.”
In 1728, the Kalmyks waged fierce battles with the Nekrasovites in the Kuban. Subsequent skirmishes dragged on for another ten years. Since the late 1730s, the activity of the Nekrasovites has been decreasing. Around 1737, Ignat Nekrasov passed away. Around 1740, the first division took place: 1,600 families went by sea to Dobrudzha, where two towns were initially founded on the Danube estuaries: Sarykoy and Dunavtsi. Another part of the Nekrasovites moved to Asia Minor, near Lake Manyas.
In a foreign land, the Nekrasovites retained the forms of government and life that existed for them in the Kuban. They lived according to the so-called “Testaments of Ignat,” their first chieftain. This document reflected the position of common Cossack customary law, the norms of which were grouped into 170 articles. Absolute power in the society of the Nekrasovites was vested in the People's Assembly - the Circle. Atamans with executive functions were elected annually. The circle controlled the actions of the atamans, could replace them ahead of schedule and call them to account.
The covenants prohibited the exploitation of other people's labor for the purpose of personal enrichment. Those engaged in one craft or another were obliged to donate a third of their earnings to the military treasury, which was spent on the church, maintaining a school, weapons, and benefits for the needy (the infirm, the elderly, widows, orphans). “The Testaments of Ignat” prohibited the establishment of family ties with the Turks, on whose territory they lived after resettlement from the Kuban. At the beginning of the 19th century, a small group of Old Believers returned to Russia.
In the second half of the 18th century, the Black Sea problem played an important role in the foreign policy of Catherine II, where the main place belonged to the Crimean issue, since the Crimean Khanate and its component - the right bank Kuban - opened Russia to the Black Sea, which it still did not have, and for the Turks these were strategically important territories in the fight against Russia.
In September 1768, Türkiye declared war on the Russian Empire. Military operations took place on three fronts - in the south (Crimea), in the west (Danube) and in the Caucasus. Victories of the Russian army on the Lower Danube under the command of P.A. Rumyantseva, successful actions Russian fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, where the squadron G.A. Spiridova defeated the Turkish fleet in Chesme Bay in June 1770, which had a huge impact on the peoples who were under the Turkish yoke. The Nogais and Tatars, who were vassals of Turkey, refused to submit to the Ottoman Porte. Türkiye asked for peace. On July 10, 1774, the Kuchuk-Kainaj peace treaty was signed.
The vassal dependence of Crimea on Turkey was eliminated, Russia received the lands between the Dnieper and the Southern Bug with Kinburn, Kerch and the right to unhindered navigation of merchant ships in the Azov and Black Seas and the Black Sea straits. In 1777, Russia achieved the proclamation of its protege Shagin-Girey as the Crimean Khan. On April 8, 1783, Catherine II published a manifesto on the annexation of Crimea, Right Bank Ukraine and Taman to Russia. On July 5, 1783, the Nogais swore allegiance to the Russian Empire. This event indicates the fact of formalization of the entry of Taman and the Right Bank Kuban into Russia.
Thus, in the 16th-18th centuries, Kuban attracted the attention of Russia, Turkey and the Crimean Khanate. The struggle for priority among the peoples of the North Caucasus began with with varying success. The feudal elite in these conditions had to maneuver, relying on certain foreign policy forces and accepting the intercession of the strongest states, depending on the moment. At the same time, Russia did not forcefully impose its citizenship on the peoples of the Kuban region, which could not be said about Turkey and its vassals, the Crimean khans. It was in the fight against the aggressive Crimea that the Circassians were forced to turn to Russia for protection.
2. Settlement of the Left Bank Kuban. Caucasian War.
Externally, the political situation in the second half of the 18th century required the Russian government to take serious measures to strengthen the country's defense capability. It was necessary to find forces and means to protect the southwestern borders of the Russian Empire from attacks by Nogai, Crimean, Tatar and other peoples. The government saw a way out of this situation in the former Zaporozhye Cossacks.
For a long time, the Zaporozhye Cossack army was a large and cheap force in the empire. Having liquidated the Sich in 1775, as a source of constant numerous unrest among the Zaporozhye Cossacks, the government still needed the experience and military practice of the Cossacks, primarily due to the greatly aggravated Russian-Turkish relations.
The beginning of the future Black Sea army can be considered the order of Prince G. A. Potemkin dated August 20, 1787.
The army led by A.V. Suvorov under the command of S. Bely, A. Golovaty and Z. Chepega took part in the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791. In April 1788, it received the name Black Sea Cossack Army, for its courage and loyalty.
On June 30, 1792, Catherine II signed the highest Charter, granting the army the eternal possession of the island of Phanagoria and all the lands of the Right Bank Kuban from the mouth of the river to the Ust-Labinsk redoubt, so that the border of military lands became the Kuban River on one side, and the Sea of Azov on the other. to Yeisk town. In 1820, Black Sea Region became part of the Caucasian province and was subordinate to the head of the Separate Caucasian Corps, General A.P. Ermolov. In 1827, the Black Sea region became part of the Caucasus region.
Good neighborly relations between the Circassians and the Cossacks gradually began to deteriorate due to cattle theft, the capture of prisoners, and skirmishes that broke out. These conflicts became increasingly complicated. The highlanders began to unite to attack the Black Sea cordon line. In 1816, the troops stationed in the Caucasus were united under the command of General Ermolov, the hero of the war of 1812.
According to the Treaty of Adrianople in 1829, the entire Black Sea coast from Anapa to Batum went to Russia, which Turkey recognized as the possession of Russia “for eternity.” From now on, in accordance with the principles of international law, strengthening Russia's position in the Caucasus became its internal matter.
However, despite the terms of the Adrianople Peace Treaty, Turkey continued to incite the highlanders against Russia, sending emissaries to the Trans-Kuban region and spreading rumors about the imminent arrival Turkish troops to the Caucasus.
In 1836, all existing and newly created fortifications on the coast from Anapa to Poti began to unite into a single Black Sea coastline. Having discovered that Russia had seriously and for a long time taken up the improvement of the coast, Turkey moved the center of its inciting activities to the Kuban and to the foothill areas - to the mountaineers. The fight intensified again. England, fearing for its positions in India and the adjacent territories of Afghanistan, as well as Iran and the entire Middle East, provided Turkey with all possible assistance. The propaganda of jihad (holy war against infidels) has revived again. The ideology of jihad became muridism, a mystical movement in Islam. One of the principles of Muridism stated that a Muslim cannot be a subject of a heterodox monarch (meaning an Orthodox king). The head of the jihad was the imam - the highest: the spiritual leader. Shamil, a talented, strong-willed and formidable ruler of the North-East Caucasus, who claimed power over all Muslims of the North Caucasus, became such a leader. The militant state he created was called the Imamate, in which the power of Shamil was declared sacred. He united many Circassian tribes around himself, creating an army of 20 thousand. The uprising swept the Ciscaucasia, Chechnya and Dagestan. In 1840, it spread to Adygea. Raids and attacks on Russian garrisons became more frequent. In 1844, General Count Vorontsov became commander of the Russian army.
Things got worse among the mountaineers social contradictions. The imam's governors, the naibs, turned into feudal lords, imposing taxes and duties on the subject tribes. As a result, masses of poor peasants who had previously supported the Imamate began to move away from it. Uprisings began against Shamil: first in Avaria, then in Dagestan, and in 1857 Chechnya fell away from the Imamate. On April 1, 1859, Russian troops stormed the center of the Tamil movement - the village of Vedeno in mountainous Chechnya. Shamil fled to Dagestan with a small detachment, but even here he did not receive the expected support. On April 26, 1859, in the Dagestan village of Gunib Shamil surrendered along with his retinue. After the capture of Shamil, the national liberation movement of the mountaineers began to decline, but the Circassians continued to fight for another 5 years.
On May 21, 1864, a solemn prayer service dedicated to the victorious conquest of the Caucasus was served in the Kbaada tract. At the banquet of the same day, the Emperor's viceroy in the Caucasus, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, proclaimed a special toast to the Cossacks of the Kuban Cossack Army, who, with their tireless labors and brave courage, contributed to the conquest of the Caucasus. A special rescript of Alexander II established a cross and a medal for the conquest of the Western Caucasus.
The war is officially over. Painstaking work began on the arrangement of the newly acquired part of the Empire.
3. Socio-economic development of the North-West Caucasus.
Black Sea region at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century. was an area of extensive cattle and horse breeding. Among the linear Cossacks, cattle breeding was also well developed, but the development of cattle breeding here was hampered by frequent raids by mountaineers. But even in this situation, cattle breeding satisfied the needs of the Cossacks in their everyday life and in the service. In the Kuban, horses, cattle, sheep and goats were bred. Black Sea horses were distinguished by their extraordinary endurance and strength and therefore were equally suitable for cavalry and artillery.
Cattle were famous in the south of Russia; it was a meat breed exported by the Black Sea people from Zaporozhye. The Black Sea people bred sheep that were not purebred, with coarse wool, but very hardy. They provided meat and wool and were distinguished by high offspring. The bulk of the livestock was in the hands of the wealthy Cossacks; the poor often did not even have draft labor. Mountain peasants were also involved in breeding large and small livestock, and the feudal nobility were involved in horse breeding. Among the Circassians, cattle breeding was more developed in the foothill steppe zone and in the Kuban lowland. The feudal elite of the "aristocratic" tribes (princes, nobles) owned huge herds of horses, as well as stud farms. The mountain peasants had very few horses or none at all.
If in the pre-reform period cattle breeding was the main industry in the Kuban, then agriculture at that time played an auxiliary role. Despite the presence of fertile land, in general, agricultural yields in the Black Sea region were low. The low yield was explained by the fact that farming was carried out without proper crop rotation, using fallow and fallow systems. Known progress in soil cultivation began only in the 50s. XIX century, when the folding system gradually began to be replaced by a three-field one. The settlers quickly adopted the farming experience of local peoples. The timing of sowing and harvesting various crops was mastered, and seeds adapted to local conditions were selected. In the fields of the Black Sea region and the Caucasus line, winter crops were sown - wheat and rye, and spring crops - rye, wheat, millet, buckwheat, oats, barley, peas. The area under these crops quickly increased, and grain yields gradually increased. In harvest years, there was a surplus of grain that was sold. In general, the Cossacks along the line, just like in the Black Sea region, grew grain for their own needs and only sold its surplus in good years.
The Adygs, who lived in the Trans-Kuban region, have been engaged in arable farming since ancient times and have accumulated extensive experience in farming. Their most common field crop was millet. The Circassians also sown corn, wheat, rye, barley, and oats. Agriculture was most developed among the Western Circassians in the mountainous zone, where they planted orchards, vegetable gardens and melons. The population of Kuban also grew fiber crops - hemp and flax. Hemp was used to produce yarn and oil, and flax, unlike in the central part of Russia, was used mainly for the production of technical oil. In the Caucasian Linear Army, hemp and flax were also sown, from which they wove linen and made ropes. Vegetables, fruits and potatoes occupied an important place in the diet of the population. Residents of Kuban were also familiar with the potato culture; they planted it little by little on many farms. Potato yields fluctuated significantly from year to year due to heat and locust infestations. But the plantings of this crop gradually grew.
Residents of Kuban successfully engaged in gardening. Almost every Cossack hut had a small garden. For gardening in Yekaterinodar, a military garden was established with a nursery, in which there were 25 thousand bushes of grapevines and 19 thousand fruit trees exported from the Crimea.
The Western Circassians, who lived in the mountains of the Northwestern Caucasus, were famous for their gardens. The productivity of orchards here was high, especially apples and pears. Good grape varieties were also grown.
Industry in Kuban in the pre-reform period developed at a slow pace. Industrial enterprises and handicraft industries in the areas of the Caucasian linear and Black Sea Cossack troops were small. Almost every village had its own blacksmiths, carpenters, joiners, masons, millers, weavers, tailors and shoemakers. Women spun flax, hemp, and wove cloth and linen. The main occupation of the Trans-Kubans was the export of timber and the manufacture of various wooden products for sale: agricultural implements, transport, household utensils. The bulk of enterprises and factories in the Caucasian Linear Army and the Black Sea region were represented by oil mills, tanneries, lard-making, pottery, brewing, brick, alcohol-smoking, flour mills and other enterprises. Craftsmen concentrated mainly in cities - Ekaterinodar, Yeisk. In these cities in 1857 there were 5 lard factories, 27 tanneries, 67 oil mills, 42 brick factories, 3 pottery factories and 1 brewery. The combined arms trades of the Cossacks included the extraction of oil and salt. Oil from the Taman Peninsula was used very little in the pre-reform period. Salt mining was important for the Cossacks of Kuban. Salt was necessary for fishing; it was the subject of barter trade with the mountaineers, and through its sale the income of the military treasury was replenished. Special Cossack teams extracted salt from the lakes. In Kuban, which has numerous rivers on its territory and access to the Black and Azov Seas, fishing industries have successfully developed. In the first half of the 19th century. Kuban gradually became involved in the all-Russian market, its trade was carried out through barter yards, fairs, bazaars, and shops. Adygs and Nogais of Kuban at the end of the 18th - first half of the 19th century. were still at the stage of early feudalism with patriarchal-tribal remnants. From the nomadic lifestyle of the Nogais in the first half of the 19th century. Gradually they began to settle down.
4. Culture and life of the Cossacks and Circassians in the 18th-19th centuries.
Over the course of a millennium, economic and cultural ties of varying degrees of intensity have been maintained between Russia and Kuban. Due to the peculiarities of the process of settlement and economic development, Kuban has become a unique region where elements of traditional Eastern Ukrainian culture interact with elements of Southern Russian culture. The northern and northwestern part of the region, the Black Sea region, was initially populated mainly by the Ukrainian population, and the eastern and southeastern villages (the so-called linear ones) by the Russian population.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries. on a significant part of the steppe territory of the Kuban there were low turluch or adobe residential buildings, whitewashed on the outside, elongated in plan, covered with hipped thatch or reed roofs. Each dwelling was decorated with carved wooden cornices, platbands with relief or through carvings. In the Black Sea villages the roof was covered with bunches of straw or reeds. To decorate the roof, “skates” were installed on the ridge. In the eastern regions of the region in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Round houses also became widespread. They were built of logs, turluch, often with an iron or tiled roof. Such houses usually consisted of several rooms, a veranda, and a front porch.
In the first room (small hut) there was a stove, long wooden benches (lavas), and a small round table (cheese). There was usually a wide bench for dishes near the stove, and a wooden bed near the wall where the “holy corner” was located. The second room (great hut) usually contained high-quality, custom-made furniture: a cupboard for dishes (hill), a chest of drawers for linen and clothes, forged and wooden chests. Factory-made dishes that were used on holidays were stored in the slide. Often icons and towels were decorated with paper flowers.
The clothing of the Cossacks largely preserved the traditions of the places of their former residence, but was influenced by local peoples. This is especially true for men's suits and Cossack uniforms. In summer and spring, men wore a light beshmet, shoes on their feet, and a hat on their heads; in winter, a burka and a bashlyk were added. During festive times, the Cossacks wore satin beshmets, set with silver; squeaky calf boots, cloth uniform trousers; girded with a belt with a silver set and a dagger. In summer, Cossacks rarely wore Circassian shorts and wore beshmets. The Cossacks' winter clothing consisted of fur coats with a deep smell, with a small collar made of tanned white and black sheepskins, and beshmets quilted with cotton wool.
Traditional women's costume was formed in the second half of the 19th century. It consisted of a skirt and a jacket (the so-called couple). The suit was made from factory fabrics - silk, wool, velvet, calico. Sweatshirts (or “bowls”) came in a variety of styles: fitted at the hips, with a basque frill; the sleeve is long, smooth or strongly gathered at the shoulder with puffs, with high or narrow cuffs; stand-up collar or cut to fit the neck. Elegant blouses were decorated with braid, lace, stitches, garus, and beads. They liked to sew fluffy skirts, finely gathered at the waist from four to seven stripes, each up to a meter wide. The skirt at the bottom was decorated with lace, frills, cord, and small folds. An obligatory accessory of a woman's costume was an underskirt - a “spider”.
In addition to Russian (to Russians in pre-revolutionary Russia included Great, Little and Belarusians) in the Kuban region, according to the 1897 census, lived Germans, Jews, Nogais, Azerbaijanis, Circassians, Moldovans, Greeks, Georgians, Karachais, Abkhazians, Kabardians, Tatars, Estonians and some others. Of the 1,918.9 thousand people, Russians made up 90.4%, more than one percent were Adygs (4.08%) and Germans (1.08%), the rest were less than 1%.
The second largest group of the indigenous population of the region were the Adygs - Circassians. At the end Caucasian War The issue of integration of the Adyghe peoples became acute before the government. into the state body. For this purpose, the resettlement of the highlanders to the plain began. However, this process was difficult and often painful. Some traditions were difficult to overcome (for example, cattle and horse theft). In response to cattle thefts, fines were imposed on the society to which the traces led, which caused discontent among the mountain population. However, in general, the government’s measures to introduce the highlanders to the all-Russian culture were more encouraging than prohibitive. This was especially evident in the development of the education system among the mountaineers.
Mountain schools existed from 1859 until the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose of their creation was to introduce the mountaineers to education and enlightenment, and to train management personnel from the local environment. District and primary schools were created, and district schools corresponded to district schools in Central Russia; their graduates could be admitted to the 4th grade of Caucasian gymnasiums without exams. Primary schools corresponded to Russian ones, with the exception of replacing Orthodox teaching with Muslim ones.
The settlement of the lowland zone by mountaineers had a beneficial effect on the development of everyday culture. The layout of houses in Adyghe villages became more orderly, and streets covered with gravel appeared in the villages. Shops and public buildings began to be built in the center of the village, and the ditches and fences that surrounded the mountaineer villages during the war gradually disappeared. In general, the Russian authorities did their best to spread new building traditions among the Circassians, which contributed to the appearance of ceilings, glazed windows, and single-leaf doors made of boards fastened with hinges in Circassian dwellings. Russian factory products appeared in everyday use: iron beds, chairs, cabinets, dishes (including samovars), kerosene lamps.
Oral folk art occupied a significant place in the spiritual culture of the Circassians. Nart legends continued to live an active life. The life of the main characters of the Nart legends Sosruko, Sataney, Adiyukh, their sayings and moral standards remained for the Circassians of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. a model of courage, boldness, love for the Motherland, an example of honesty and nobility, loyalty in friendship.
Of course, literacy development, enrichment traditional culture borrowing had a beneficial effect on the development of mutual understanding between the highlanders and the Cossacks. The Russian administration sought to lift the veil hiding the rights and customs of these peoples, to look into their inner life.
The process of cultural influence was two-way. The Cossacks adopted some everyday traditions from the Circassians. Thus, in the linear and Trans-Kuban villages they stored feed for livestock in large wicker baskets, installed wicker fences, used wicker beehives coated with clay, and borrowed some elements from the forms of ceramic dishes.
The significant influence of mountain culture affected the weapons and clothing of the Cossacks. Linear Cossacks were the first to wear Circassian clothing, and in the early 1840s. For the Black Sea Cossacks, a single uniform was established following the example of the linear ones. This uniform became uniform for the Kuban Cossack army formed in 1860; it consisted of a black cloth Circassian coat, dark-colored trousers, a beshmet, a bashlyk, and in winter - a cloak, a hat, boots or leggings. Circassian, beshmet, burka are direct borrowings from the Circassians.
Significant role in cultural life cities played in the region. Ekaterinodar remained the center of socio-political and cultural life. Local cultural centers Novorossiysk, Maykop, Yeisk, Armavir are beginning to play an increasingly important role. Educational and public institutions appeared in them, groups of people seeking cultural communication were formed. Musical and theatrical life, new newspapers and magazines were published. Since the 1860s, after the end of the Caucasian War, a network of educational institutions was formed, as a result of public initiative, libraries appeared, local newspapers began to be published, Kuban historians, economists, and geographers published their works.
Topic 4 Kuban region at the beginning of the 20th century. (2 hours)
1. Economy of Kuban, features of its development.
In February 1860, the reformer Tsar Alexander II signed a decree creating a new administrative unit of the Russian Empire - the Kuban region. It included the lands of the Right Bank Kuban, inhabited by the Black Sea and linear Cossacks, and the Trans-Kuban region, traditionally represented by mountain peoples. And in November of the same year, the Black Sea Army was renamed the Kuban Cossack Army. In March 1866, the Black Sea District was established, subordinate to the head of the region. In 1896, a law was passed on the formation of the Black Sea province with its center in Novorossiysk.
The abolition of serfdom in Kuban had its own characteristics. A significant part of the mountain aristocracy was not interested in reform and the associated loss of privileges received for centuries. The complexity and contradictory interests of various social groups forced the government to carry out reform in the Kuban carefully and prudently - first resolve the issue of land plots, and only then begin to abolish serfdom dependencies.
The education reform made it possible to open schools not only for government agencies and public organizations (churches opened parochial schools), but also for private individuals.
The reforms carried out and, above all, the abolition of serfdom gave rise to the rapid development of capitalism in Russia.
Kuban saw the beginning of the 20th century at the height of its economic potential. Agriculture was still the leading sector of the economy, but significant changes were taking place in it. Cattle breeding, especially horse breeding (Kuban horses were purchased for the military districts of central Russia) and sheep breeding continued to be profitable, but its position was significantly replaced by arable farming. The development of transport routes, which facilitated trade turnover, led to the reorientation of agriculture towards the production of wheat, which is in demand not only in other regions of Russia, but also abroad. As they said then, golden wheat took the place of silver fleece. The sown area increased to 3 million dessiatines, 60% of which was wheat. In 2nd place was barley (up to 15%), necessary for the production of beer, popular among the Cossacks. In addition to grain, sunflower and tobacco were widely cultivated. In terms of harvesting the highest grades of tobacco (Turkish), Kuban took 1st place among the tobacco-growing regions of Russia. Sunflower, once brought to Kuban by settlers from the Voronezh and Saratov provinces, took 3rd place in the sowing wedge. Viticulture became widespread, the centers of which were Temryuk, Anapa, Novorossiysk and Sochi. On the eve of the war, Kuban harvested up to 1 million pounds of grapes. Since 1910, fodder beets began to be sown in Kuban, and since 1913, sugar beets. At the same time, the first sugar factories began to be built.
Already at the end of the 19th century. Kuban has become an important supplier of agricultural products. Kuban vegetable and animal oil, vegetables, fruits, grapes, and eggs were in great demand. Every day 5 wagons of eggs were sent to Moscow. In addition to Moscow, other sales markets were St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Vilna, Rostov, Baku, etc.
The number of advanced large farms grew. Industry also developed intensively. The processes of concentration and monopolization of production and growing differentiation of society, characteristic of the economy of all of Russia, are reflected in the economy of the region. Industry was concentrated in large cities - Ekaterinodar, Novorossiysk, Armavir, Yeisk. The process of creating monopolies, trusts, syndicates, and cartels began, although not as widely as in other regions. Oil production increased sharply, new oil pipelines were built. In 1911, an oil refinery opened in Yekaterinodar.
Banks are penetrating the regional economy. Back in 1885, the first branch of the State Bank in Kuban was opened, credit organizations appeared, and in 1900 the process of creating private banks began. In the Kuban, branches of the Volga-Kama, Azov-Don, St. Petersburg and other large banks appeared, which became co-owners of large enterprises.
2. Kuban people in the First World War.
On July 19, 1914, Germany declared war on the Russian Empire. Although the actual territory of the Kuban region and the Black Sea province were in the rear, the war most directly affected Everyday life Kuban people
On the very first day of the war, the mobilization of reserve lower ranks began. In total, more than 100 thousand Cossacks went to the front. The army fielded 37 cavalry regiments, 24 Plastun battalions, 1 separate cavalry division, 1 separate Plastun division, 51 hundred, 6 artillery batteries. Nonresidents were sent to army regiments, volunteers from among the highlanders served in the Circassian and Kabardian regiments of the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division (“Wild”). Cossack units were traditionally distinguished by good training and high moral qualities: bravery, daring in battle, mutual assistance.
Already in August 1914, Savenko was awarded the St. George Cross for the battle near Rovno. Kuban Cossacks fought on all fronts of the World War - from the Baltic Sea to the deserts of northern Iran. Usually the Cossack cavalry acted independently, as part of the Cossack cavalry divisions.
In the fall of 1914, German and Turkish warships made several raids on the shores of the Black Sea province, firing at a number of ports, including Novorossiysk. The war had important consequences for the region in terms of the economy and population. The huge demand of the fronts for food and other agricultural products made very stringent demands on the national economy of the region and province. At the same time, the mobilization of a significant part of the most economically active part of the population, primarily the Cossacks (12% of the Cossacks were drafted into the active army), significantly complicated the work. Already in the first months of the war, an ever-increasing flow of refugees from combat areas poured into the region. If in 1913 2.9 million people lived in the Kuban region, then in 1916 – 3.1 million. Naturally, the growth was due to representatives of the non-military class, which, among other things, complicated the already tense issue of land use.
The war caused a decline in agricultural production, because... The Cossacks left the farms and the traditionally numerous seasonal workers in the Kuban did not come, and among those who came, men made up about 20%. All this led to a significant reduction in cultivated areas.
Kuban did not experience a shortage of food during the war, and had a surplus of grain grain, although less than in pre-war years. However, fixed government purchasing prices coupled with a general increase in consumer goods led to a growing imbalance in the market. The Kuban people preferred to hold back their grain. In 1917, 40 million poods were exported, while in 1913 - more than 100 million poods.
The war strengthened the division of society, even Cossack society, into rich and poor, and embittered people. The needs of the front led to the growth of industry in the region and province and, accordingly, an increase in the percentage of the proletariat in the population. War inflation assumed alarming proportions: meat had risen in price by 1.5 times by 1916; bread - twice, butter - 6 times. Administrative measures to control prices led to the development of a black market. The growth of discontent was taken advantage of by agitators of various opposition parties and groups - from cadets to anarchists. The stubborn struggle of the gendarmerie department throughout the war restrained the activities of leftist parties. In 1916 alone, three members of the Bolshevik city committee were arrested in Yekaterinodar. War hardships led to a new rise in the protest movement among peasants and, especially, workers, which declined in 1914-1915. In 1916, there were 26 strikes (12 in 1915) and 87 peasant uprisings. In general, it can be noted that at the fronts the Cossacks showed traditionally high fighting qualities, but the population in the rear was extremely tired of the war and by 1917 had become very susceptible to anti-monarchist and especially anti-war agitation of left-wing political organizations.
3. Political movements in Kuban. Civil War.
Acute social contradictions within the empire against the backdrop of a clear weakening of the autocratic regime led to a social explosion in 1905. Already in January, metal workers in Yekaterinodar, cement workers in Novorossiysk, and railway workers at many stations went on strike. A wave of demonstrations swept through the cities of the region under the slogan of democratic freedoms and the convening of the Constituent Assembly. May Day demonstrations in Yekaterinodar and Novorossiysk took place under the slogan “Down with the Tsarist autocracy.” Sochi took the baton of the revolution; on December 28, barricades appeared on the streets, the workers created a squad and essentially took power, the headquarters of the squad controlled order in the city, regulated prices, organized supplies, and distributed food. The peasants of the surrounding villages sent their troops to support the workers' squad. However, in general, the Cossacks as a class remained faithful to their oath to the sovereign emperor.
A characteristic feature of the revolutionary events of 1905 in the Kuban was the high activity of the peasantry in them. After the defeat of the revolution, repression intensified, including in Kuban. They led to the defeat in a number of places of Social Democratic groups and Socialist Revolutionaries, who, however, having gone underground, retained their fighting capacity. In the elections to the Duma of the 1st – 4th convocations, Social Democrats I.P. Pokrovsky, L.F. Gerus and V.I. Mirtov, Socialist-Revolutionary P.S. were elected from Kuban. Shiroky, statistician F.A. Shcherbina, cadet K.L. Bardizha and others.
After the February revolution, power in the city of Yekaterinodar, the administrative center of the Kuban region, passed to the civil committee, the majority of seats in which were occupied by the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks left this committee. The Cossacks supported the traditional form of governance of the region - the ataman. As a result, dual power arose.
In September 1917, the Kuban Cossack Rada decided to separate Kuban from Russia. The Kuban-Black Sea region was proclaimed - an independent federal republic.
At the beginning of November 1917, the Bolsheviks convened a regional congress of nonresidents and highlanders, which declared the actions of the Rada illegal and demanded its dissolution. It was proposed to create an equal government of Cossacks, non-residents and highlanders.
The October Revolution of 1917 opened a new page in the history of Russia.
In November 1917, at the 1st session of the Kuban Legislative Rada, instead of the Provisional Military Government, the Kuban Regional Government was formed under the chairmanship of L.L. Bych.
At the same time, civil war was brewing. In December 1917, an order was signed on the formation of volunteer detachments on the territory of Kuban. The 1st Regional Congress of Soviets met in Armavir in February 1918. At this congress it was decided main question– about allocating land to the entire population of Kuban. The congress also outlawed the Kuban military government.
At the beginning of March 1918, the army of General L.G. entered the Kuban region. Kornilov. The volunteer army sought to get to Kuban, since it was believed that the Cossacks would support the white cause. The assault on Ekaterinodar by the Volunteer Army began on April 9, 1918. On April 13, the army commander, General L.G., was killed by an artillery shell. Kornilov. And General A.I. took command. Denikin. The defense of the city was led by A.I. Avtonomov, commander-in-chief of the troops of the Kuban Soviet Republic. The assault on Ekaterinodar was considered unsuccessful, and A.I. Denikin ordered the Volunteer Army to begin a retreat to the Don.
In the spring of 1918 German command demanded ships of the Black Sea Fleet from Soviet Russia. Officers and sailors, who refused to surrender their ships to the Germans, on April 29 and 30, under fire from German guns, withdrew part of the warships (battleships Volya and Free Russia, 9 destroyers, 5 destroyers) from Sevastopol and headed for Novorossiysk. On May 1, 1918, the Germans occupied Sevastopol.
On May 28, 1918, the III Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the Kuban Region and the Black Sea Governorate opened in Yekaterinodar. The congress was attended by 562 Bolsheviks, 242 Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, 78 non-party members and 200 delegates from front-line units. On the issue of unification of Kuban and the Black Sea region, G.K. made a report. Ordzhonikidze. At his proposal, the Kuban-Black Sea Soviet Republic was created. The newly formed republic was part of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic.
The Kuban-Black Sea region was formed in March 1920 after the liberation of the main part of the territory from the White Guards and interventionists. Compared to the current Krasnodar Territory, the region was wider due to the following included in it: the Batalpashinsky department (now the territory of Karachay-Cherkessia), two districts of the Armavir department (now part of the Stavropol Territory) and Adygea (now a republic). More than 100 nationalities lived in the region, including citizens of other states: Bulgarians, Hungarians, Greeks, Latvians, Germans, Poles, Czechs, Estonians, etc.
Topic 5 Soviet Kuban (2 hours)
1. Socio-economic development of Kuban in the pre-war period.
Production in Kuban in the pre-war period was predominantly agricultural. Until March 1920, Kuban industry developed as a market one, despite civil war, the enterprises were functioning. From the very first days of Soviet power, banks, factories, and factories were nationalized. And not only large ones, but even enterprises with one employee.
Authorities in Kuban paid Special attention land issue. In a short time, the nationalization of large privately owned lands was carried out. Church, monastery and officer lands were transferred to the jurisdiction of stanitsa and rural revolutionary committees.
The administrative center of Kuban - the city of Ekaterinodar - was renamed Krasnodar. In November 1920, the Kuban-Black Sea Regional Party Committee, in a resolution on the report of the head of the Regional Land Department, established the main position of the land policy of the Soviet government: “The right to use the land is enjoyed by all workers on it ( Cossacks, mountaineers, peasants, agricultural workers, etc.) without distinction of gender, religion or nationality.” With the help of the surplus appropriation system, the Bolsheviks of Kuban were able to ensure the supply of grain to the state by May 1921 (about 32 million poods of grain).
The 10th Party Congress (March 8-16, 1921) proclaimed a transition from the policy of “war communism” to the New Economic Policy (NEP). The main stage of this transition was the replacement of surplus appropriation with a tax in kind. All newspapers in Kuban published an article by V.I. Lenin "On the food tax." Taking into account the complex and unique ethnic situation in the Kuban, the Bolsheviks annulled the cases of holding citizens accountable for failure to comply with food appropriation. Property that had been confiscated was returned. The population of the Maikop department, who completed the food appropriation system, was allowed to freely exchange their products for industrial goods. As part of the NEP, the Bolsheviks transferred large factories and factories to economic accounting and subordinated them to state trusts. Small businesses were rented out. State trade was developed. Two department stores opened in Krasnodar, one in Armavir, one in Novorossiysk. State Bank branches began to function in Krasnodar and Novorossiysk.
In 1922-1923 the network was restored school institutions. Transformations of educational work have begun. Schools were opened with teaching in national languages for national minorities. There were higher educational institutions in Kuban. In 1924, a new administrative-territorial division of the Kuban region was carried out. Kuban was divided into four districts - Kuban, Black Sea, Armavir and Maikop - as part of the South-Eastern Territory, and then the North Caucasus Territory (with the center in Rostov-on-Don).
Since the XIV Party Congress (December 18-31, 1925), the USSR entered a new period of socialist construction - the period of industrialization and preparation for the complete collectivization of agriculture. The industry and agriculture of Kuban experienced serious personnel problems. The industrialization of the region was carried out through a radical change in the structure of industry. Emphasis was placed on the development of heavy industry sectors - coal, oil, metallurgy, chemical, cement and mechanical engineering. Taking into account the agrarian specifics of the region - agricultural engineering. The decisive condition for the reconstruction of the national economy was the creation of an energy base. In 1928, construction of power plants began in Krasnodar and Novorossiysk. On November 27, 1929, the North Caucasus Regional Committee adopted a resolution “On the complete collectivization of the North Caucasus.” From this moment on, mass collective farm construction began in the Kuban. In the second half of the 30s. In the 20th century, a wave of repression swept across Kuban, as well as throughout the country. The Kuban NKVD authorities “uncovered” dozens of “counter-revolutionary”, “nationalist”, “fascist”, “Cossack” rebel organizations. The “participants” were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment and execution.
Particular attention was paid to heavy industry. Industries such as oil and cement developed rapidly. At the Absheronsk field, for the first time in the USSR, the production of soot from natural gas. In 1935, after a radical reconstruction, the country's largest oil and fat plant named after. Kuibyshev in Krasnodar. In 1937, the plant named after. Sedina produced the first rotary machine. On September 13, 1937, a decree was signed on the division of the Azov-Black Sea region into the Rostov region and the Krasnodar region. Construction of a reservoir system has begun in the region. Ensuring energy supply to the cities and villages of the region was important. Hydroelectric power stations were built.
In 1940, grandiose plans for the further development of Kuban were outlined. Large investments were planned in the field of preschool and school education and healthcare. In the second half of 1941, the war began. The progressive development of the country was interrupted by the Nazi invasion.
2. Kuban in the Great Patriotic War.
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union without declaring war. Already on June 22, a meeting of the Krasnodar regional committee of the CPSU (b) was held, at which issues related to the transition to martial law were discussed - problems of providing communications, organizing rallies, speeding up harvesting, etc. mobilization soon began, which covered 13 ages in its first period (June 1941 - November 1942). The result of mobilization activities was the formation of three rifle and one mountain rifle divisions, two corps - rifle and tank, divisions - tank and aviation. By the end of 1941, 6.5 thousand Soviet Cossacks were undergoing military training as part of the divisions. And at the beginning of 1942, the 17th Cossack Cavalry Corps was formed from these divisions. Cossack troops became a source of pride for Kuban. First combat mission received the corps (which from the summer of 1942 became known as the 4th Guards Corps) in May 1942. It was ordered, together with the sailors of the Azov flotilla, to take measures to protect the eastern coast of the Azov Sea. The task was completed - the Cossacks thwarted the plans of the Nazi command to land air and sea landings from the Crimea in the Eastern Azov region.
The Kuban people, who were not liable for military service, also contributed to the overall Victory. At the plant named after Sedin produced individual components of tanks, casings of armor-piercing shells, and mortars. Tikhoretsky factories built armored trains. At the Krasnodar Oktyabr plant, the production of components for the shells of the famous “Stalinist organs” - “Katyusha” was mastered. Food industry enterprises were oriented towards the needs of the front - the Crimean canning plant produced flamethrowers and pots, the Adygei one - cans for flammable mass and mines. The city brewery has started production anti-tank hedgehogs, also supplying carbon dioxide to the Red Army.
In the fall of 1941, when the invaders came close to the borders of the region, large-scale work on the construction of defensive structures began in Kuban.
On July 25, 1942, one of the most important and bloodiest battles of the Great Patriotic War began - the battle for the Caucasus, which lasted until October 1943. At the same time, the defensive period of this battle began, during which a number of operations were carried out, including: Armaviro- Maykop, Novorossiysk, Tuapse, etc. In the summer of 1942, fascist German troops launched an offensive in the south of our country. The invaders were attracted by the coal of the Donbass, the oil of the Caucasus, as well as the fertile lands of the Don, Kuban and Stavropol.
To repel the enemy, it was necessary to combine the efforts of all the troops located in the Caucasus.
From August 9, 1942 to February 12, 1943, the occupation of Krasnodar continued. 13 thousand inhabitants died as martyrdom.
From the first days of the occupation of Kuban, a partisan movement developed here. To coordinate actions, the Southern headquarters of the partisan movement is created (led by P.I. Seleznev, first secretary of the regional party committee). In total, 6.5 thousand people took part in the partisan movement of Kuban. 78 Krasnodar partisans were awarded orders and medals of the USSR. At the end of July and throughout the first half of August 1942, heavy defensive battles took place on the fields of Kuban. In January 1943, a new stage of this grandiose battle began - the offensive of Soviet troops in the North Caucasus. During the North Caucasus strategic operation (January 1-February 4, 1943), the republics of the North Caucasus, part of the Rostov region and the territory of our region were liberated. On January 16, 1943, the Krasnodar operation began with the forces of several armies. On February 12, 1943, the city was completely liberated from the invaders.
3. Economy of Kuban in 1945 – 1985.
During the German occupation, Novorossiysk and Armavir were turned into piles of ruins, the cities of Krasnodar and Tikhoretsk, Yeisk, Maikop, Kropotkin and others were destroyed. The railways to Novorossiysk and Taman, oil wells were disabled, the Krasnodar oil refinery was blown up, the cement factories of Novorossiysk were destroyed, sea port. The region's agriculture suffered huge losses. Before the occupation, 166 hospitals operated in the Krasnodar Territory; after the liberation, 55 remained. In Krasnodar, the buildings and equipment of both tram parks were destroyed, 2.2 km of rail track was removed and taken away; Almost the entire housing stock was destroyed. The pride of Krasnodar residents, the buildings of the Winter and Summer theaters, were blown up and burned with all their property.
The liberation of the Krasnodar region from the Nazi invaders presupposed its gradual reorientation towards peaceful life. The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR in May 1943 approved the program of restoration work in the Kuban. First of all, transport and energy problems were solved, bridges across the Kuban, Laba, Belaya, Kurdzhips rivers, and ferry crossings were restored. The work was carried out with the participation of military units.
As a result, already in 1943, 143 bridges, 6 crossings, 111 km of railway tracks, 2 tunnels, and some power plants were restored.
On August 28, 1944, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR outlined measures to restore the region's agriculture and set the task: in the next 2-3 years, to bring the area of winter wheat to the pre-war level, to increase livestock farming, and to increase the yield of all crops. Five-year plan for the restoration and development of the national economy of the USSR for 1946-1950. He planned the complete restoration of railway transport and the construction of 22 enterprises. Based on a special resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated November 1, 1945, Krasnodar and Novorossiysk were included in the list of Russian cities subject to priority restoration. Hundreds of volunteers left for construction work in these cities from the regions of the region, as well as from other regions of the country.
During the occupation, 1,415 school buildings were destroyed. In 1943-1949. In Kuban, 855 school buildings were restored and built.
Krasnodar region by the beginning of the 1950s. He overcame the consequences of the war and restored the glory of the “all-Union granary”, increasing the acreage and strengthening the material base of collective farms.
In the early 1950s. In the Krasnodar region, 115 different types of crops were cultivated. In 1954, the activities of the Krasnodar Thermal Power Plant were restored.
The second half of the 20th century was of particular importance for our country. Already in the 1950s, acute socio-economic problems emerged and deepened in the 1980s: growing distrust in government, strengthening consumer sentiment, which was accompanied by a decrease in industrial growth, and a demographic crisis.
At the turn of the 1950s - 1960s. The formation of the territory of the Krasnodar Territory was completed.
In the second half of the 20th century, many settlements changed their status. Already during the war years, new cities appeared: Apsheronsk, Khadyzhensk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Labinsk; in the late 1950s - early 1960s. – 11 more new cities appeared (including Goryachiy Klyuch, Krymsk, Korenovsk, Timashevsk).
In 1960, the famous pioneer camp “Orlyonok” was opened. In 1954, the Armavir Pedagogical Institute began work.
In 1957, construction began on 14 sugar factories and the Krasnodar Cotton Factory.
By the beginning of the 1960s. The region gained fame as a resort region and an all-Union health resort.
1960 – 1970s were complex and contradictory in the history of the country. This twenty years (until the mid-1980s) went down in the history of the Soviet state as the “era of stagnation.” Economic difficulties were aggravated by the growing crisis in public life.
In the 1970s In the region, much attention was paid to the development and implementation of a comprehensive system for increasing production efficiency, its specialization and concentration. 34 enterprises participating in the program received an economic effect. Agricultural production developed unevenly. During this period, the mechanization of production in the region's agriculture sharply increased. The area of irrigated land has increased. For this purpose, the largest reservoir in the Caucasus, the Krasnodar reservoir, was built.
By the beginning of the 1980s. Kuban was one of the leading regions of the country economically.
Topic 6 Krasnodar region in the post-Soviet period (2 hours)
1. Revival of the Cossacks.
2. The socio-economic situation in the region at the turn of the century. Problems of national relations.
3. Modern Kuban.
1. Revival of the Cossacks.
Kuban has long been called the Cossack region, despite the fact that even before the 1917 revolution, Cossacks made up a minority of the population of the Kuban region. The Cossacks largely determined the historical appearance of the region and its cultural identity. During the years of Soviet power, which abolished the estates, including the Cossacks, and even in emigration, the Kuban Cossacks and their descendants managed to preserve their traditions and culture. At the first signs of liberalization of Soviet society in the late 80s, young historians - enthusiasts of the revival of the Cossacks - openly declared themselves in Krasnodar: A. Berlizov, V. Gromov, F. Bunin, A. Gorban and others. Later from the university history study circle A mass social movement grew in Kuban.
On October 12–14, 1990, the founding All-Kuban Congress took place, which elected the Kuban Cossack Rada, headed by Ataman V.P. Gromov. In 1991 – 1992 The initiative of the Cossack community received recognition at the state level when, following the decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the Law “On the Rehabilitation of the Cossacks” was adopted. Since then, on April 26, Kuban, as well as in other Cossack regions, has celebrated the Day of Rehabilitation of the Cossacks. The formation of the Cossack movement in the region was not easy. They tried to divide the Cossacks into “whites” (supporters of private land ownership) and “reds”, who considered it right to follow the traditions of Cossack public land use. The first were actively supported by Governor V.N. Dyakonov, but most of the Cossacks followed Ataman V.P. Gromov, who managed to prevent the politicization of the social movement.
Recognition of the succession of the revived Kuban Cossack army was the return to the homeland of the military banner, which was kept in exile, as well as the holding of the First International Congress Kuban Cossacks. In 1995, the Legislative Assembly of the region adopted the Law “On the Rehabilitation of the Kuban Cossacks,” completing the process of its legal recognition at the regional level. Three years later, the Kuban Military Cossack Society was included in State Register Russian Federation, and his ataman V.P. Gromov was awarded the rank of Cossack general by decree of the President of the Russian Federation.
The process of reviving the Cossacks in the Kuban would have been impossible without turning to cultural origins and spiritual foundations. In this regard, the long-term creative activity of the Kuban Cossack Choir under the direction of V.G. stands out. Zakharchenko. The streets of cities and villages of Kuban began to return their historical names, and in 1990 the Krasnodar State Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve was named after E.D. Felitsyn. Nine years later, the opening of a restored monument in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Kuban Cossack Army took place in Krasnodar. In 2005, a monument to the Kuban Cossack pioneers was inaugurated, erected in front of the regional administration building. On the central street of the capital of Kuban, work has begun to restore the military temple of Alexander Nevsky and the monument to Catherine II.
2. The socio-economic situation in the region at the turn of the century. Problems of national relations.
Since the fall of 1990, the economic crisis in the country and, naturally, in the region has sharply worsened. The leadership of Kuban is trying to rectify the situation by introducing a coupon system and bans on the export of products outside the region
Discontent with the authorities is growing in society. Formed and actively operating various movements democratic, nationalist and separatist. The political consciousness of the inhabitants of the region at this time is extremely contradictory. On the one hand, in March 1991, at an all-Union referendum, the majority of Kuban residents spoke in favor of preserving the USSR, and on the other hand, on June 12 of the same year, in the elections of the President of the RSFSR, 46% of voters (a relative majority) voted for B.N. Yeltsin, who pursued a course towards Russian independence from the Union center.
Already in 1989, local organizations of republican, democratic and other parties appeared in Krasnodar. The decisive blow to the latter’s ideological monopoly was the exit from the CPSU following B.N. Yeltsin of its most democratically minded members. The Kuban communists who left the party in the fall of 1990 were clearer than anyone else that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), created the day before, headed by the former first secretary of the Krasnodar regional committee I.K. Polozkov personified the most conservative part of the CPSU.
With the loss of the Communist Party's former unity and hegemony in the political sphere, Soviet authorities began to play an increasingly important role in governance. In March 1990, N.I. was elected chairman of the Krasnodar Regional Council of People's Deputies. Kondratenko. In August 1991, the chairman of the regional council was dismissed from office on charges of supporting the State Emergency Committee. By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin, the first governor (head of administration) of Kuban, was appointed general director of one of the Krasnodar enterprises V.N. Dyakonov. At an extraordinary session on August 29, 1991, people's deputies elected A.M., associate professor of the history department of Kuban State University, as chairman of the regional council. Zhdanovsky. During the year of the governorship of V.N. Dyakonov, who considered the development of farming and private land ownership a priority in Kuban agriculture, corporatized collective and state farms, deprived of state support, catastrophically reduced production. The young farming movement, despite huge loans and administrative support, could not compensate for the decline that had begun in the agricultural sector. As of January 1, 1993, the number of peasant (farm) households amounted to 16.1 thousand. In 1992, farmers in the region produced 1.5% of the total grain and potatoes, 2.6% of vegetables, 4.2% of sugar beets and 8.8% of sunflowers
As a result of a short but dramatic apparatus struggle for power, in December 1992, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, N.D. Egorov, who had previously headed the regional government, and in the recent past the chairman of a collective farm, was appointed head of the regional administration. In the political sphere, Egorov's governorship marked the end of the Soviet era, which ended with the shooting of the White House in Moscow in October 1993 and the dissolution of the Supreme Council. Having managed to adopt the Charter (basic law) of the Krasnodar Territory in November, the regional Council of People's Deputies ceased its activities on December 8. In accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, adopted in December 1993, representative and legislative bodies of state power were created in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. In Kuban, such a body was the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnodar Territory (ZSK). On December 14, 1994, the first session of the ZSK opened, electing A.A. as its chairman. Bagmuta. Law No. 1, adopted by the Legislative Assembly, was the Law “On the moratorium on the privatization of educational facilities in the Krasnodar Territory.” In December 1995, the Kuban parliament was headed by V. A. Beketov.
The first elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, held in 1993, accelerated the formation of new political forces in the country. The socio-political movement “Fatherland” arose in Kuban. Already in the first composition of the Legislative Assembly of the region, 18 out of 50 deputies were elected from “Fatherland”. The Kuban parliament, relying in its activities on the support of the revived Cossacks, contributed to the return of the region to historical traditions. On March 24, 1995, a law was adopted on the symbols of the Krasnodar Territory - the coat of arms, flag and anthem.
Two years of the governorship of E.M. Kharitonov (August 1994 - July 1996), who replaced N.D., who was transferred to work in the government of the Russian Federation. Egorov, were characterized by a continuing decline in industrial and agricultural production, aggravation of interethnic problems, and further stratification of society. The emerging depoliticization of the regional administration was interrupted by the return of N.D. from Moscow to the post of governor. Egorova.
On December 22, 1996, N.I. became the head of the administration of the Krasnodar region, having collected 82% of the votes of Kuban residents who came to the elections. Kondratenko. From that time on, Kuban’s reputation as a region included in the “red belt” was firmly established for a whole five years. The main thing during the period of N.I. Kondratenko’s governorship was the struggle to restore the agricultural potential of Kuban. In 1990, a record grain harvest of 9.8 million tons was harvested in Kuban, and the average yield approached 50 centners per hectare. Over the next five years, the gross grain harvest in the Kuban decreased to 4.5 million tons, which is comparable to the figures in 1939. The production of such an important industrial crop as sugar beets fell almost by half, and the number of pigs in livestock farming was halved.
However, occupying only 3% of Russia's arable land, the region produced over 5% of the country's gross agricultural output, including 10% of all wheat grown in Russia, 60% of rice, almost half of grapes, a quarter of sugar beets and sunflowers, the bulk of tea and citrus fruits. By 2003, 18 thousand peasant (farm) enterprises had become stronger, producing more than 6% of the total agricultural products of the Kuban.
A modern efficient economy is unthinkable without attracting large investments, including foreign ones. Already in the first half of the 90s, enterprises of such well-known companies as Philip-Morris, Tetra-Pak, Knauf, etc. appeared in Kuban. During the period from 1998 to 2001, more than 1 .6 billion US dollars. These funds primarily financed the construction of the Caspian pipeline. In 2000, construction of the Russia-Turkey gas pipeline (“Blue Stream”) began in Kuban with a length of 370 kilometers across the territory of the region. More than 120 enterprises with foreign capital were registered in Krasnodar alone. In total, more than 300 joint ventures operated in the region. Since 1999, after almost a ten-year decline, the Black Sea coast of Kuban and other recreational resources of the region began to again bring significant income to its budget. Not only the health resorts of Sochi and Anapa, well known since Soviet times, are all-Russian, but also Gelendzhik and Yeysk. The foothill resorts of Goryachiy Klyuch, Apsheronsk, Khadyzhensk are developing more and more actively, huge investments have been attracted to the construction of the high-mountain resort Krasnaya Polyana (Sochi).
The nineties became the period when the foundation of the future economy of the region was laid - the economy of the new century and new millennium. At the same time, the proximity of “hot spots” in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia jeopardized the investment and tourist attractiveness of the territory, and in combination with favorable natural and socio-economic conditions, on the contrary, led to a sharp increase in the number of residents of other regions moving to Kuban. In just five years (from 1989 to 1994), more than 200 thousand migrants arrived in the Krasnodar Territory, which was quite significant for a region with a population of 4 million 681 thousand people. This prompted the regional administration in 1993 to make proposals to the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On protecting the interests of the Krasnodar Territory.”
However, migration growth in Kuban is still several times higher than the national average. In terms of population, the region ranks third among the subjects of the federation; representatives of more than 120 nationalities live on its territory. The average population density in Kuban is more than 67 people per square kilometer, which is 8 times higher than the all-Russian figure.
The uniqueness of the current position of the region is also determined by the fact that a tenth of the territory and population of the region was separated from the once unified socio-economic space. Back on July 3, 1991, the Russian parliament adopted a law on the transformation of the Adygea Autonomous Region into a republic within the RSFSR. In December of the same year, A.A. was elected the first president of the Republic of Adygea. Dzharimov, and on March 10, 1995, the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Adygea - Adyge Khase - adopted a Constitution that consolidated the state sovereignty of Adygea. Geographically located “inside” the territory of the Krasnodar Territory, the republic is connected with it both historically and economically.
3.Modern Kuban.
Since the 90s of the last century, Krasnodar has been increasingly mentioned in the press as the cultural capital of southern Russia. This is largely due to the creation of L.G. Gatov in 1990 of the musical theater "Premiere", which over the years has grown into a well-known creative association. For the first time in Kuban, their own symphony orchestra and ballet “received registration”. In 1996 in Krasnodar, under the direction of the world famous choreographer Yu.N. Grigorovich hosted the 1st All-Russian Ballet Festival, which marked the beginning of the annual festival “Young Ballet of Russia”. The pride of the Krasnodar ballet troupe is rightfully the primas A. Volochkova and E. Knyazkova. Notable events in the musical life of the city and region were the appearance of G. Garanyan's jazz orchestra, jazz music festivals, and concerts by remarkable cultural masters.
The beginning of the nineties was marked by the holding of new Russian film festivals in Kuban. In 1991, the 1st All-Union Film Festival “Kinotavr” took place in Sochi, which three years later received international status. Since 1992, the All-Russian festival “Kinoshok” has been held annually in Anapa. Numerous regional festivals have become widely known: “Kuban Musical Spring”, “Cossack” and others. The achievements of Kuban art masters were highly appreciated by the state. The Cossack choir, for example, in 1989 was awarded the order Friendship between nations. IN AND. Likhonosov (1988) and A.D. Znamensky (1989) became laureates of the State Prize of the RSFSR, and the novel by the Adyghe writer I.Sh. Mashbasha “Rolls of Distant Thunder” was awarded the USSR State Prize (1991).
The highest successes of Kuban athletes are associated with the second half of the eighties and the nineties. In 1988, at the Olympic Games in Seoul, A. Lavrov and I. Chumak won gold medals as part of the USSR national handball team; in 1992 at the Games in Barcelona - D. Filippov and the same A. Lavrov. The contribution of the Kuban team to the Russian team at the Sydney Olympics (2000) was significant. Handball players A. Lavrov, E. Koksharov, D. Filippov, O. Khodkov, trampoline players I. Karavaeva and A. Moskalenko, tennis player E. Kafelnikov, wrestler M. Kardanov became Olympic champions.
The culture of Kuban at the end of the 20th century is a deeply unique phenomenon; it organically combines modern trends and traditional spiritual values, the return to which is associated with the Cossacks, demonstrating examples of hard work, civic responsibility, and faithful service to the Fatherland.
HISTORY OF KUBAN
4.1. Main events in the history of Kuban
About 500 thousand years ago.
The settlement of Kuban by ancient people
About 100 thousand years ago.
Ilskaya site.
About 3-2 thousand years BC.
Bronze Age in Kuban.
End of IX-VIII centuries. BC.
The beginning of the use of iron in Kuban.
V century BC. – IV century AD
Bosporan kingdom.
VII-X centuries
Khazar Khaganate.
X-XI centuries
Principality of Tmutarakan.
1552
Adyghe embassy to Ivan IV.
1708-1778
Cossacks are Nekrasovites in Kuban.
1778
Construction by Suvorov of the Kuban fortified line.
1783
Annexation of the Right Bank of Kuban to Russia.
1792-1793
Relocation of the Black Sea Cossacks to Kuban.
1793
Founding of Ekaterinodar (renamed Krasnodar in 1920)
1794
The base of the first pages.
1812-1814
Participation of the Black Sea Cossacks in the war with France.
Beginning of the 19th century – 1864
Caucasian War.
1860
Formation of the Kuban region and the creation of the Kuban Cossack army.
1875
The first railway in Kuban.
1918-1920
Civil War.
1929-1933
Creation of collective farms.
Education of the Krasnodar region.
The beginning of the battle for the Caucasus.
Fighting on Malaya Zemlya.
Liberation of Krasnodar from fascist invaders.
Complete liberation of Kuban from the German occupiers.
Novorossiysk was awarded the title of hero city.
The law on symbols of the Krasnodar region has been adopted.
4.2. The first settlements in Kuban
The Krasnodar region is an area of ancient human habitation. Primitive man appeared in our region 700-600 thousand years ago. A chance find helped establish this.
On the bank of the Psekups River, a tool of primitive man was found - a hand ax. The climate of our region was relatively warm. Its lands were distinguished by fertility and rich vegetation. The mountains and forests abounded in a variety of animals. There were deer and roe deer, bison, bears and leopards here. The waters of the region and the seas washing it abounded in fish. Man collected edible plants, roots, fruits and hunted animals.
With the gradual cooling of the climate associated with the advance of the glacier from the north, human life changed. Hunting large animals becomes one of the main activities. Man uses caves as dwellings, and where there were none, he settles under rocky overhangs, building simple dwellings, covering them with animal skins. There are many known cave sites. These are the Big Vorontsov Cave, the Khosta Caves, etc. Hordes of primitive hunters at that time lived not only along the Black Sea coast, but also along the northern slope of the Caucasus Range. Herds of mammoths, bison, deer, wild horses and words grazed on the vast steppe expanses of the Kuban region. All of them became human prey.
4.2.1. Mounds and dolmens.
About 4.2 thousand years ago, during the Copper and Bronze Age, people already began to cultivate the land with hoes, but cattle breeding played the main role. About 3 thousand years ago they learned to mine iron and make tools from it, including a plow for cultivating the land.
In the mountainous regions of our region and on the Black Sea coast in the second half of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. Tribes lived who left the most interesting funerary monuments - dolmens. Typically, dolmens were built from five huge slabs, four of which made up the walls, and the fifth made up the roof. In the front slab, as a rule, there was a hole that was closed with a stone plug. Sometimes dolmens were carved in whole blocks and only covered with a slab on top. Dolmens served for burials and were like above-ground crypts.
There were many dolmens in the upper reaches of the Belaya River (a tributary of the Kuban). On Bogatyrskaya Polyana, near the village of Novosvobodnaya, back in the late 19th century. there were 360 dolmens - a whole city with straight streets. The Cossacks called these burials “heroic huts,” and the Adyghe people called them “syrp-up” (“houses of dwarfs”).
At the beginning of the twentieth century. Most of the Caucasian dolmens were broken in order to use the stone to build roads and houses, despite the fact that the burial structures erected more than 4 thousand years ago were revered by the local population.
During excavations in dolmens, copper axes, adzes, spearheads, and clay vessels were found. They built these huge tombs and were engaged in hunting, hoe farming and lived sedentary lives.
At the same time, tribes of cattle breeders lived in the steppes of the Kuban region. They bred cows, sheep, and a horse had already been tamed. Tools were made of bronze, although stone ones also continued to exist. Monuments of those times remain the mounds that are found throughout the Kuban steppe.
Scythian mounds first appeared in the steppe about 5 thousand years ago. Some of them are more than 7 m high and 20 m in diameter. The mounds are visible from afar on the flat steppe expanses where their creators roamed in ancient times. Researchers believe that the stone woman on top of the mound is a statue of a person buried in the mound.
Questions and tasks
- How did people learn about ancient settlements and their way of life?
- What are dolmens? Why were they built by the ancient inhabitants of the region? In what places were they preserved?
- What did people do in ancient times?
4.3. Peoples of the Kuban region in the 1st millennium BC
4.3.1. Scythians and Maeotians
The Scythians lived in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. The Kuban region and the eastern coast of the Sea of Azov were inhabited by the Meotian tribes. Just like the Scythians, part of the Meotian tribes that lived in the steppe regions of the Kuban region led a nomadic lifestyle, raising huge herds of horses, flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, moving from place to place in search of new pastures. But the bulk of the population were farmers. They lived sedentary lives in small villages located near rivers and estuaries. The coast of the Kuban River was especially densely populated. The river with its steep banks provided reliable protection from enemy attacks. On the ground side, the villages were surrounded by earthen ramparts and ditches. Fortress walls were sometimes erected along the rampart, built from two rows of fence with earth poured between them. Behind the walls, small adobe houses, covered with straw and reeds, huddled closely together. Life in the settlement began when the first rays of the sun illuminated the east and the darkness of the night left the steppe. Plowmen went out into the fields, shepherds drove herds of cows and sheep, fishermen went down to the river to cast large nets. Plowing was done with a wooden plow harnessed to several pairs of oxen. They sowed wheat, barley, and millet. Millet was stored not in barns, but in pits - granaries. There were stone hand mills in the courtyards. They consisted of a wooden table with a vertical stand and two rectangular stone slabs of millstones. The grains were used to make flour and various cereals.
Craftsmen also lived in the villages. From time to time, thick columns of smoke rose on the outskirts of the village - these were the potters starting to light the kilns in which the dishes were fired. And what kind of vessels did the ancient masters not make! There were jugs of various shapes and sizes, bowls, glasses, bowls, mugs, vases, etc. Some jugs were painted with white and pink paints. Every house had a loom on which women spun yarn.
Sometimes large rowing ships loaded with various goods sailed to the village. The entire population hurried to the market place. Bosporan merchants unloaded expensive multi-colored fabrics, gold jewelry and beads, copper helmets sparkling in the sun, armor and other products of craftsmen of the Bosporan cities. Residents of the village offered in exchange leather and furs, grain bread, dried fish and “live” goods - slaves. These were prisoners of war who were sold into slavery to the Greeks. The former equality in the clan and tribe is disappearing, and rich and noble families are being singled out. They bury their leaders in large mounds with magnificent burial rites. Just like the Scythians, the Meotians killed the leader’s servants, his male and female slaves, horses, and buried them in the grave along with their ruler.
The ordinary population buried their dead in simple shallow holes in common cemeteries. According to the Meotian ritual, vessels with food and drink and personal belongings of the deceased were placed in the grave: weapons for warriors, jewelry for women.
Questions and tasks
- What tribes lived in the Northern Black Sea region?
- What territories were inhabited by the Meotians?
- Compare the occupations of the population at that time with modern types of economic activity. What common features can be identified?
4.4. Bosporan Kingdom
On the northern coast of the Black Sea in the 5th–4th centuries. BC. a large slave state was formed - Bosporan. The city became the capital of the state Panticapaeum, present-day Kerch. The second large city was Phanagoria (on the southeastern shore of the Taman Bay.) The city was surrounded by a powerful stone wall and properly planned. Its streets were located perpendicular to each other. The entire territory was divided into an upper and lower city. Currently, due to the partial subsidence of the coast and the advance of the sea, part of the city is under water. The center is located on the lower plateau. There were large public buildings, temples, statues of the ancient Greek gods Apollo and Aphrodite here. The streets of the city were paved, and drains were installed under the pavements to drain rainwater. There were numerous stone-lined wells. In the western part there was a large public building intended for physical education. In the houses of wealthy slave owners, the rooms were plastered and covered with paintings. On the southeastern outskirts of Phanagoria there was a quarter of potters. Residents of Phanagoria and nearby villages were engaged in agriculture. They plowed with a heavy wooden plow and a team of oxen. There were iron hoes and sickles. They sown mainly wheat, as well as barley and millet. Around the city, orchards were cultivated in which pears, apples, and plums were grown. Cherry plum. There were vineyards on the hills surrounding Phanagoria. A large amount of fish was caught in the strait and seas, especially sturgeon, which were exported to Greece, where they were highly valued.
Phanagoria had two harbors - one sea, where ships arriving from Greece moored, and the second - a river on one of the branches of the Kuban. From here, ships loaded with goods sailed up the Kuban to the lands of the Meotians. In the 4th century AD, Phanagoria experienced a catastrophe - a significant part of the city was destroyed and burned. The city was destroyed during the invasion of nomads - the Huns.
Questions and tasks
- Where was the Bosporan kingdom located?
- Name the capital and second major city.
- What was Phanagoria?
This is interesting Phanagoria The Bosporan state was at one time the largest Greek state entity in the Northern Black Sea region. It was located on both sides of the Cimmerian Bosporus, now the Kerch Strait, and occupied its European part (Eastern Crimea, including Feodosia, and the entire Kerch Peninsula) and the Asian part (Taman Peninsula and adjacent territories up to the foothills of the North Caucasus, as well as the area at the mouth of the Tanais River – Don). Phanagoria was one of the largest cities of the Bosporan kingdom. At that time it had its own acropolis or fortress, which was burned during the Phanagorian uprising against Mithridates. After the victory of the townspeople and the death of Mithridates VI, Phanagoria gained autonomy under pressure from Rome, since it contributed to the death of the enemy of the Romans and the establishment of the latter’s influence in the Bosporus, but the son of Mithridates VI Pharnaces around the middle of the 1st century. BC. besieged and destroyed the city. During the period of Queen Dinami's struggle with Roman influence in the Bosporus, Phanagoria took the side of the queen. Rome was forced to recognize the new Bosporan dynasty, and Dynamia, in turn, as a sign of loyalty to Rome, renamed it around 17-12. BC. Phanagoria to Agrippa. At the beginning of our era, three wineries were built among residential areas - cemented or stone platforms for squeezing grape juice. The grapes were crushed with their feet, and the remaining pulp was further squeezed out in bags or baskets. Growing grapes and selling wine were important types of economy in Phanagoria, as in Panticapaeum and other cities of the Bosporus. It is about this period that Strabo writes that in the Bosporus they carefully protect the grapevine, covering it for the winter with a large amount of earth, which suggests that special creeping grape varieties were cultivated here. In the 3rd century. AD on the site of public buildings in the city center there is a winery, from which the remains of two cisterns (reservoirs) for draining the squeezed juice have been preserved. It is interesting that initially local grape varieties were cultivated in the Northern Black Sea region, and at the beginning of our century. As a result of selection and importation from Greece, grapes with larger seeds and berries appear here. It must be assumed that grape cultivation was carried out mainly on lands located near Greek cities. In the 4th century AD Phanagoria still remains a major city, while many cities of the Bosporus were ravaged by the Goths. At the end of the 4th century. The Huns invaded the Bosporus. The first wave went west, and the second, rounding the Sea of Azov from the east, attacked Phanagoria. From that time on, the Bosporan state ceased to exist, but the destroyed city was restored. Excavations have hidden the remains of structures from the 5th to 9th centuries. In the Middle Ages, the ancient Russian Tmutarakan principality was located on the Taman Peninsula. In 965, the Kiev prince Svyatoslav attacked the Khazars who lived along the Donets and Donets, after which the former lands of the Bosporan kingdom became a colony of Kyiv. Svyatoslav's son Vladimir, baptized in the Crimean Chersonese, divided his lands among 12 sons who had grown up in paganism, so that together with them they would escape from themselves and their former wives. One of the younger sons, Mstislav, inherited distant Tomatorkan (Greek “Tamatarkha” on the site of the current village of Taman, 23 km from Sennoy). After the death of Vladimir in 1015, Mstislav's appanage became a separate principality, breaking ties with its metropolis. She maintained this position for about 100 years, and then the Circassians conquered her. The Byzantines and Venetians traded here, but in 1395 the city was thoroughly destroyed by the troops of the Mongol Khan Tamerlane (Timur), and in 1486. - Muslim troops. Thus passed the earthly glory of Phanagoria. |
4.5. Principality of Tmutarakan
In the 10th century, according to chroniclers, the Kiev prince Vladimir founded on the Taman PeninsulaPrincipality of Tmutarakan.Its center was the city Tmutarakan. In the city there was a princely house, many beautiful buildings, some of them decorated with marble, and a towering church built of stone. Most Tmutarakan residents lived in houses made of mud brick, covered with sea grass. Some streets were paved with stone. The city was protected by defensive walls. Behind them were craft gardens. Residents of Tmutarakan were engaged in crafts, trade, agriculture and fishing. The city itself was located on the shore of a good sea harbor, connecting water and land routes from the east and west. Kievan Rus used them for lively trade with the peoples of the North Caucasus. Merchant boats brought furs, leather and bread here, and returned back along the Black Sea and Dnieper, loaded with fabrics, jewelry, glassware and weapons prepared in the workshops of eastern artisans.
With the feudal fragmentation and weakening of the ancient Russian state, the position of the principality in the Kuban also changed. It became the subject of a struggle between contenders for the Kiev throne. Thus, the envoy of the Byzantine emperor, taking advantage of the gullibility of the Tmutarakan prince, entered his house and poisoned him. Another prince was captured by the Byzantines and kept for two years on the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean Sea. However, the treacherous neighbor of Rus' managed to take possession of Tmutarakan only in the middle of the 12th century, when Kievan Rus was fragmented into warring principalities. Subsequently, the Polovtsians took possession of the principality.
Questions and tasks
- Visit the local history museum. Get acquainted with the material on the history of our region dating back to the 10th – 12th centuries.
- Where was the Tmutarakan principality located? What is the connection between the history of Tmutarakan and the history of the Kyiv state?
Legends were the Black Sea region
Pearl of Gorgippia
In ancient times Anapa was called Gorgippia. The greatest of the commanders of antiquity, Iskander (Alexander the Great was called Iskander in the Caucasus) had a military leader who combined courage, high military leadership and nobility. Iskander sent him on the most difficult campaigns, and they always ended in victory. This was the case in the last battle. But here Iskander’s favorite was seriously wounded and soon died, leaving behind his wife and son. Iskander did everything so that the wife of the deceased did not need anything, and he adopted young Konstantin and was personally involved in his upbringing.
Young Konstantin could not be blamed for his lack of courage. But to a greater extent he inherited nobility from his own father, intelligence from his adopted father, and tenderness from his mother. Iskander saw in his adopted son not a warrior, but a politician, and chose the appropriate job for him. He sent him to the northern shores of the Black Sea to Gorgippia in order to come into contact with the northern peoples, establish trade with them and ensure a wide flow of necessary goods from there. Constantine arrived in Gorgippia surrounded by a retinue of magnificent servants, accompanied by a detachment of brilliant warriors. This made a strong impression in Gorgippia. The leaders of both the nearest and the most distant tribes sought to see the messenger of the great Iskander. Konstantin generously showered everyone with gifts and won everyone's respect. From the northern shores of the Black Sea, bread, honey, timber, furs, wool, and leather went to Iskander's empire.
Konstantin received many reciprocal signs of attention from the local nobility. One of the leaders of the Dzikh tribe presented him with five young slave girls as a gift. They were one more beautiful than the other. According to Constantine himself, the young Russian princess Elena was distinguished by her divine beauty.
Having accepted the gift, Constantine secretly granted freedom to the four captives and helped them return to their homes. He kept Elena with him, creating conditions for her worthy not of a slave, but of a mistress. The girl was more than indifferent to this. Longing for her home, she did not notice the favorable attitude of the new owner towards her. She was not touched by the beauty of Constantine himself, who was admired by others.
You are as dissatisfied as before, Konstantin once told her.
Tell me, Elena, what are you missing? Everything will be for you!..
Frowning, without raising her eyes, Elena was silent.
I'm not a slave trader. I do not and will not have a harem. Four of your friends are already free,” Konstantin continued. “You are here with me because I don’t want, I can’t lose you.”
Elena's face expressed despair, tears rolled from her eyes.
Forgive me, Elena. It's not my fault that we met like this. But I love you and I’m ready to prove...
Do you love me?” Elena interrupted. – Are you ready to prove it? Then do with me the same as with your friends. Let me go home. Come visit us and let's talk about love. And now I am a slave, and you are the master who can do anything. I don't believe…
“I love you,” Konstantin repeated. – I can’t imagine love without reciprocity. I can't imagine life without you. What can I do to make you believe my love? Order...
For the first time, Elena glanced furtively at Konstantin. Yes, he's handsome. However, she responded:
I already said...
Sighing, Konstantin bowed and left.
Then a messenger who arrived from Alexandria delivered him Iskander’s challenge. Konstantin left. His father greeted him with a smile.
“I am pleased with your success and intend to encourage you,” he told his son, “Ask for whatever you want as a reward, Konstantin.”
“Thank you, father,” answered Konstantin. “Such a high appreciation of what I have done, your truly divine generosity is the highest reward for me.” I don't need anything else.
But I wouldn’t refuse your advice...
And Konstantin told Iskander about his feelings for the Russian slave Elena and his desire to achieve reciprocity from her. After listening to the frank story, Iskander thought for a moment, then said:
Build for her at the place of the first meeting a palace of such beauty that upon entering it, your Elena will answer “I love you.”
Constantine returned to Gorgippia with a caravan of ships loaded with precious building materials for the palace of love.
Arriving in Gorgippia, Constantine found Helen even more beautiful. Construction of the palace began without delay.
When Constantine brought the one in whose honor it was erected into the pentagonal palace, built of marble and decorated with yakhont, emerald and turquoise, a miracle happened. As soon as she crossed the threshold, Elena was transformed. The sadness and detachment disappeared, the face lit up with a smile, the eyes flashed with delight. She mechanically extended her hand to Konstantin and said, as if the mutual love between them was not the beginning, but a continuation:
You love... Oh, how you love me!...
Konstantin and Elena did not live long where they met. They ended their journey in Alexandria. The pentagonal palace became the pearl of Gorgoppa, which was later renamed Anapa. They say that when, many centuries later, Timur the Iron Leg, having completely destroyed seven hundred cities of the Caucasus, went to the sea and captured Anapa, the beauty of the palace struck him. For the first time, Timur’s hand, which knew no pity, did not rise to a building overshadowed by lofty love and nobility. He bowed to it and left it untouched. The palace disappeared later, during the fiercest battles for Anapa. But the legend of the palace, a hymn to the beauty of the Russian girl Elena, is still alive today.
4.6. Who are the Cossacks
Most of the modern cities and villages of the region were founded by Cossack settlers. The places for the first 40 villages were determined by lot, and the names of most of them the Cossacks brought with them from Ukraine, where they were derived from the names of famous Cossacks (Titarovskaya, Vasyurinskaya, Myshastovskaya) or from the names of cities: Poltavskaya (Poltava), Korsunskaya (city . Korsun).
One of the first villages was named Ekaterininsky. It was destined to become the capital of the Cossack region. According to legend, military ataman Zakhary Chepega, pointing his hand at the thorny thickets near Karasun Kut, exclaimed: “There will be hail here!”
For some peoples, armed border protection is entrusted to special groups of the population. In Russia they are called the Cossacks. Scientists believe that the word “Cossack” itself is borrowed from Turkic languages, where “Cossack” means “free man.” In the Middle Ages, this was the name given to free people who served as scouts or guarded borders in Rus'. The earliest group of Russian Cossacks formed in the 16th century on the Don from fugitive Russian and Ukrainian peasants. Subsequently, Cossack communities developed in different ways. On the one hand, they fled to the outskirts of the state from serfdom, on the other, they arose by royal decree to protect the borders of the empire. By 1917, there were 11 Cossack troops in Russia: Amur, Astrakhan, Don, Transbaikal, Kuban, Orenburg, Semirechenskoe, Siberian, Terek, Ural and Ussuri.
Cossack groups, as a result of contacts with the local non-Russian population, differed from each other in terms of language, way of life, and form of farming. At the same time, all Cossacks had something in common that set them apart from other Russians. This allows us to talk about the Cossacks as one of the Russian subethnic groups (“sub-peoples”).
Cossack settlers in the 18th century. They began to build the first villages in the Kuban. Construction usually proceeded according to plan. In the center of the village there was a square with a church, a school, and the village administration.
4.6.1. Cossack dwellings
The Cossacks built huts from local natural materials: straw, reeds, brushwood, clay. The hut was a frame made of twigs, coated on both sides with clay. The floor is adobe. Roof made of straw or reeds. The outside of the hut was whitewashed. It was divided into two living spaces: a great hut with a Russian stove in the back corner and a small hut.
Kuban, due to the peculiarities of its historical development, is a unique region where, over the course of two centuries, elements of the cultures of different peoples interacted, interpenetrated and formed into one whole.
House construction is an important element of traditional folk culture. This is a big event in the life of every Cossack family, a collective affair. Usually, if not all, then most of the inhabitants of the “region”, “kutka”, and village took part in it.
This is how the turluch houses were built: “Along the perimeter of the house, the Cossacks buried large and small pillars in the ground - “plows” and “podsoshniks”, which were intertwined with vines. When the frame was ready, relatives and neighbors were called together for the first stroke “under the fists” - clay mixed with straw was hammered into the fence with fists. A week later, a second smear was made “under the fingers,” when the clay mixed with flooring was pressed in and smoothed out with the fingers. For the third “smooth strokes, chaff and dung (manure thoroughly mixed with straw cuttings) were added to the clay.”
Public buildings - ataman rule, schools were built of brick, with iron roofs. They still decorate the Kuban villages.
Rituals during housing construction
“They threw scraps of domestic animal hair and feathers at the construction site – “to keep everything going.” The uterus - svolok (wooden beams on which the ceiling was laid) was raised on towels or chains, “so that the house would not be empty.” A wooden cross was embedded in the front corner of the wall, thereby invoking God's blessing on the inhabitants of the house.
After the completion of construction work, the owners provided a treat in lieu of payment (they were not supposed to take it for help). Most of the participants were also invited to a housewarming party.
Interior decoration of a Cossack hut
The interior of a Kuban dwelling was basically the same for all regions of Kuban. The house usually had two rooms: a great and a small hut. In the small hut there was a stove, long village benches, and a table. The great hut had custom-made furniture: a cupboard for dishes (“mountain” or “corner”), a chest of drawers for linen, chests, etc. The central place in the house was the “red corner” - the “goddess”. The “Goddess” was designed in the form of a large icon case, consisting of one or several icons, decorated with towels, and a table-gon. Often icons and towels were decorated with paper flowers. Objects of sacred or ritual significance were preserved in the “goddess”: wedding candles, “paskas”, as they are called in the Kuban, Easter eggs, buttermilk, records of prayers, memorial books.
Towels are a traditional element of decorating a Kuban home. They were made from homemade fabrics, trimmed with lace at both ends and embroidered with cross stitch and satin stitch. Embroidery most often took place along the edge of a towel with a predominance of floral patterns, a flowerpot, geometric shapes, paired images of birds.
One very common detail of the interior of a Cossack hut is photographs on the wall - traditional family heirlooms. Small photo studios appeared in the Kuban villages already in the 70s. XIX century Photographed by special occasions: farewell to the army, wedding, funeral.
They were especially often photographed during the First World War. Every Cossack family tried to take a photo as a souvenir or get a photograph from the front.
4.6.2. Cossack costume
Men's suit
Ancient Cossack clothing is very ancient. The Cossack costume evolved over centuries, long before the steppe people began to be called Cossacks. First of all, this relates to the invention of the Scythians - trousers, without which the life of a nomadic horseman is impossible. Over the centuries, their cut has not changed: these are wide trousers - you can’t sit on a horse in tight trousers, but your legs will wear out, and the rider’s movements will be constrained. So those trousers that were worn in the ancient burial mounds were the same as those worn by the Cossacks in the 18th and 18th centuries.
XIX centuries Shirts there were two types -Russian and beshmet.The Russian one was tucked into trousers, and the beshmet was worn untucked. They were sewn from canvas or silk. Steppe dwellers generally preferred silk to other fabrics - louses do not live on silk. On top there is cloth, and on the body there is silk! In winter, they wore short fur coats, which were worn with wool over the naked body - this is how the peoples of the North wear a kukhlyanka.
The friction of wool against the body creates an electric field - it’s warmer, and if a person sweats, the wool will wipe off the sweat, it will not be absorbed into clothes and will not turn into ice.
Cossacks have long preferred outerwear arhaluk – “spinogray” is a cross between a quilted Tatar robe and a caftan. In addition, it was worn over a sheepskin coat in winter and in bad weather. hoodie - a felted sheep's wool cloak with a hood. Water rolled down it, very coldy it did not burst like leather things. In the Caucasus, the hoodie was replaced by a burka, and the hood has long existed as an independent headdress - hood.
There were a great many boots - without boots, horse riding is impossible, and you can’t walk barefoot on the dry steppe. Soft boots without heels were especially popular - Ichigi and Chiriki - galosh shoes, which were worn either over the ichig, or over thick combed socks into which trousers were tucked. Worn and shoes - leather shoes with straps, so named because they were made from calfskin (Turkic shoe - calf).
Cossack stripes were of particular importance. It was believed that they were introduced by Platov, but stripes are found on ancient Cossack clothing, and even on the clothing of the Polovtsians, and even earlier - the Scythians. So under Platov, the wearing of stripes was only legalized, but they existed before, signifying that their owner belonged to the free army.
But the Cossack valued clothing most of all not for its cost or even for its convenience, for which the Cossack “right” was famous, but for the inner spiritual meaning that filled every stitch, every detail of the Cossack costume.
The men's costume consisted of military uniforms and casual clothing. The uniform has gone through a difficult path of development, and it was most influenced by the culture of the Caucasian peoples. Slavs and mountaineers lived next door. They were not always at odds; more often they sought mutual understanding, trade and exchange, including cultural and everyday ones. The Cossack uniform was established by the middle of the 19th century: a Circassian coat made of black cloth, dark trousers, a beshmet, a bashlyk, a winter cloak, a hat, boots or leggings.
Uniforms, horses, weapons were integral part Cossack “right”, i.e. equipment at your own expense. The Cossack was “celebrated” long before he went to serve. This was due not only to the material costs of ammunition and weapons, but also to the Cossack’s entry into a new world of objects surrounding the male warrior. Usually his father told him: “Well, son, I got you married and celebrated. Now live by your own wits - I’m no longer answerable to God for you.”
Bloody wars of the early 20th century. showed the inconvenience and impracticality of the traditional Cossack uniform on the battlefield, but they were put up with them while the Cossack was on guard duty. Already in 1915, during the First World War, which acutely revealed this problem, the Cossacks were allowed to replace the Circassian coat and beshmet with an infantry-style tunic, the burka with an overcoat, and the hat with a cap. Traditional Cossack uniform was left as a front door.
Woman suit
Traditional women's costume has been formed since the middle of the 19th century. It consisted of a skirt and blouse (blouse) called"couple" . The blouse could be fitted or with a basque, but always with long sleeves, and was trimmed with elegant buttons, braid, homemade lace, garus, and beads.
The skirts were made of chintz or wool, wide, with five or six panels (shelves) on an upturned cord - uchkur, gathered at the waist for pomp. The bottom of the skirt was decorated with lace, frills, and small folds. In Kuban, canvas skirts were worn, as a rule, as underskirts, and they were called “podol” in Russian, and “spidnitsa” in Ukrainian. Petticoats were worn under calico, satin and other skirts, sometimes even two or three, one on top of the other. The bottom one was always white.
Festive clothes were made of silk or velvet.
The importance of clothing in the system of material values of a Cossack family was very great; beautiful clothing raised prestige, emphasized wealth, and distinguished them from non-residents. In the past, clothes, even festive ones, were relatively cheap for families: every woman knew how to spin, weave, cut, sew, embroider, and weave lace.
A woman's suit is a whole world. Not only each army, each village and even each Cossack clan had a special outfit that differed from others, if not completely, then in details. A married woman or girl, a widow or a bride, what kind of family she was, and even how many children a woman had - this was determined by her clothes.
A feature of the Cossack women's costume were head capes. Women are not supposed to go to the temple with their heads uncovered. Cossack women wore lace scarves, and in the 19th century. -caps, faceplatesfrom German word“fine” - beautiful, tattoos and currents. They were worn in full accordance with their marital status - a married woman was never shown without a hairdress or tattoo. The girl covered her head and always braided her hair with a ribbon. Everyone wore lace scarves. Without him, the appearance of a woman in public was as unthinkable as the appearance of a Cossack in combat without a cap or hat.
It is important to note age differences in clothing. The most colorful and best quality material was the costume of brides and young women. The sleeves of their shirts were richly decorated with floral and geometric patterns. The wedding suit was supposed to be carefully stored in a chest: very often it was used as a funeral suit (“clothes for death”), and, if necessary, as a means of healing magic. In Kuban there is a belief that if you wrap a sick child in it, he will recover.
By the age of 35, women preferred to dress in darker, plain clothes with a simplified cut.
Children received a minimum of clothing and often wore out old ones. The shirt was considered home clothing. In poor families, a shirt and skirt could also be a wedding suit. It was sewn from homespun hemp canvas. The main material for the manufacture of homespun fabric was hemp, and less often wool. The fabric produced was bleached in special dugout beech barrels with sunflower or wood ash. In the Kuban villages, home decoration items were made from hemp fabric. Products made from homespun linen were included in a girl's trousseau, which were decorated with embroidery. Thisshirts, valances, skirts - shorts.According to legend, embroidery had the magical ability to preserve and protect from the evil eye, diseases, and contributed to well-being, happiness and wealth.
Questions and tasks
- Collect photographs of your relatives and friends wearing ancient clothing. Find out and write down the names of those elements of their clothing that are not in the wardrobe of a modern person.
- Tell us about fashion, fabrics, jewelry at different times in Kuban. Make your own drawings.
Legends were the Black Sea region.
How a son carried his sick father across the mountains
The old Cossack Taras Tverdokhlib was famous and respected throughout the Black Sea region. He fought in the Kuban with the Turks under the command of Prince Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov himself. And he not only fought - Suvorov personally presented him with military awards twice and talked with him for a long time, because Taras Tverdokhlib was known as a brave warrior and a wise interlocutor.
The eminent Cossack also succeeded in peaceful affairs. He believed that a Cossack, if he takes deep roots into the ground, which he protects from adversaries, will stand more firmly on his feet in battle. And Taras Tverdokhlib had a good house, a nice woman, three sons, who, in addition to many enviable virtues, were endowed with the most important thing - respect for their parents. Dobre lived on the banks of the fleeting beauty of the Kuban, Taras Tverdokhlib. The only problem is: happy days go by quickly. The Cossack did not notice how old age crept up, bringing with it debilitating ailments. Over the years, the scarred body of Taras Tverdokhlib turned into a real nest of diseases. And this saddened everyone in the family. The sons were ready to do anything to ease the suffering of their sick father.
Tell me, dad, don’t be shy, how can I help you? - the eldest of the sons, Grytsko, asked.
At first, the father only waved his hand in response. And when Grytsko asked for the twelfth time, the old man said:
Only fire and water can help me, son. But she is far away: on the other side of the high mountains, in a foreign land, by the blue sea. There are no roads there. I can't get there on foot. You don’t have the strength to carry me on your shoulders over the mountains.
I'll try. I am the strongest in the village. Get ready for the journey, dad,” the eldest son answered.
He really looked like a hero. Only he was born and raised as a silent person, he did not know how to talk about himself and his strength.
The preparations were short-lived, and at dawn the next day the father and eldest son set off. We agreed: the father would slowly walk through his native place, and his son would carry him on his shoulders through the mountains. On the way, Grytsko was silent - he thought about how best to deal with the matter. Time passed slowly in silence. And although it seemed that the mountains were just a stone's throw away, the sick father was mortally tired at the first miles.
Near the mountains, after a short respite, Grytsko lifted his father onto his shoulders and carried him further. But the top of the mountain went into the very sky, the rise became steeper with every fathom. Grytsko somehow managed to overcome half of the climb, but in the second half he was completely exhausted. And ahead is a new, even higher mountain. Out of frustration, Grytsko burst into tears like a little child, but his father calmed him down, and they returned home.
After some time, the middle son Nikola volunteered to carry his sick father over the mountains. Although he was inferior to Grytsk in strength, he was more dexterous and cunning than his older brother.
But no matter what tricks Nikola tried, no matter what tricks he tried along the way, he failed to cross the mountains with his father on his shoulders...
“What are you doing,” the youngest of the brothers, Ivan, reproached Nikola and Grytska. - So I have to carry my father through the mountains?
“Where are you going, you little brat!” the older brothers shouted at him. “Don’t torment your father in vain.” He will die on the road from just your chatter.
Ivane was the youngest of them, he was sick a lot in childhood, looked like a frail and weak young man and could only sing songs and tell all sorts of fairy tales incessantly...
However, Ivan stood his ground.
“But I’m not here, I’ll ask my mother for permission and I’ll carry my father through the mountains,” he answered the brothers.
Not only Grytsko and Nikola, Taras Tverdokhlib himself was quite surprised that his old woman blessed Ivan for the job.
“Don’t be timid, dad,” Ivan himself began to reassure his father. “You’d better listen to what big and difficult things are sometimes accomplished by small and weak-looking people.”
And Ivan told first one, then another, amazing legends that captivated Taras Tverdokhlib into another, magical world, imperceptibly lifted him out of bed, prepared him for the journey, and gave him strength.
This is how the first day passed.
Dear dad,” he said to Ivana, breaking off another story, “the sun has disappeared behind the mountains. It's time for us to have dinner and retire. You untie the knapsack with food, and I’ll run for water.
The next day, after a sound sleep, the travelers woke up at sunrise. Already at breakfast, Ivane began to tell new legends. Taras Tverdokhlib did not notice when and how he set off, as a new day passed. The same thing was repeated on the third and fourth mornings, and on the fifth Ivan said:
Here, dad, is the valley of happy springs. Another three miles down, and you will be at the fire and water.
How down? - the father was surprised. -Where are the mountains?
They are long gone, dad.
I can’t believe my eyes: you, son, carried me across the mountains so easily that I didn’t even notice. It turns out that you have the greatest power among us...
4.6.3. Cossack food
The basis of nutrition for the Kuban family was wheat bread, meat, fish, vegetables and fruits. The most popular is considered to be borscht, which was cooked with sauerkraut, beans, meat, lard, and on fasting days - with vegetable oil. Each housewife had her own unique taste of borscht. The Cossacks loved dumplings and dumplings. They knew a lot about fish: they salted it, dried it, and boiled it. They salted and dried fruits for the winter, made compotes (uzvars), jam, prepared watermelon honey, and made fruit pastilles; Honey was widely consumed and wine was made from grapes.
In Kuban they ate more meat and meat dishes (especially poultry, pork and lamb) than in other places in Russia. However, lard and fat were also highly valued here, since meat products were often used as a seasoning for dishes.
Food was cooked, as a rule, in an oven (in the winter in the house, in the kitchen, in the summer - in the summer kitchen or in a summer oven in the yard). Each family had the necessary simple utensils: cast iron, bowls, bowls, frying pans, horn grips, bowls, pokers.
4.6.4. Family life
Families in the Kuban were large, which was explained by the constant need for workers and the difficult wartime situation. Kazk's main responsibility was military service. Each Cossack who reached the age of 18 took the military oath and was obliged to attend drill training in the village (one month each in autumn and winter) and undergo training in military camps. Upon reaching the age of 21, he entered into 4-year military service, after which he was assigned to the regiment, and until the age of 38 he had to participate in three-week camp training, have a horse and a full set of uniforms, and appear at regular military drills. All this required a lot of time, so in Cossack families a big role was played by the woman who ran the household, took care of the elderly, and raised younger generation. The birth of 5-7 children in a Cossack family was common. The Cossacks loved children and were happy about the birth of both a boy and a girl. But they were more happy about the boy: in addition to the traditional interest in the birth of a son, the successor of the family, purely practical interests were mixed in - the community gave out plots of land to the future Cossack warrior. Children were introduced to work early; from the age of 5-7 they did feasible work. Father and grandfather taught their sons and grandchildren labor skills, survival in hazardous conditions, stamina and endurance. Mothers and grandmothers taught their daughters and granddaughters the ability to love and take care of their families and how to manage their household wisely.
Peasant-Cossack pedagogy always followed everyday precepts, based on the centuries-old ideals of strict kindness and obedience, exacting dignity and diligence to work.
The elderly were especially respected in the family. They acted as guardians of customs and played a large role in public opinion and Cossack self-government.
Cossack families worked tirelessly. Field work was especially difficult during the time of need - harvesting. They worked from dawn to dusk, and the whole family moved to the field to live. Household chores were handled by the mother-in-law or younger daughter-in-law.
In winter, from early morning until late at night, women spun, weaved, and sewed. Men in winter time engaged in all kinds of repairs and repairs of buildings, tools, Vehicle, their responsibility was to care for horses and livestock.
The Cossacks knew how not only to work, but also to rest well. Working on Sundays and holidays was considered a sin. In the morning the whole family went to church, a kind of place of spiritual communication.
The traditional form of communication was “conversations”, “streets”, “get-togethers”. Married and elderly people whiled away their time at the “conversations.” Here they discussed current affairs, shared memories, and always sang songs.
Young people preferred the “street” in the summer or “gatherings” in the winter. On the “street” people made acquaintances, learned and performed songs: songs and dances were combined with games. “Gatherings” were held with the onset of cold weather in the houses of girls or young spouses. The same “street” companies gathered here. At the “get-togethers” the girls crushed and carded hemp, spun, knitted, and embroidered. The work was accompanied by songs. When the boys arrived, dancing and games began.
4.6.5. Rituals and holidays
There were various rituals in Kuban: wedding, maternity, naming, christening, farewell to service, funeral.
A wedding is a complex and lengthy ceremony, with its own strict rules. The ban on holding weddings during Lent was strictly observed. The most preferred time of year for weddings was considered to be autumn and winter, when there was no field work and, moreover, this was a time of economic prosperity after the harvest. The age of 18-20 years was considered favorable for marriage. The community and military administration could intervene in the marriage procedure. So, for example, it was not allowed to extradite girls to other villages if there were many bachelors and widowers in their own. But even within the village, young people were deprived of the right to choose. The parents had the final say in choosing the bride and groom.
A towel (rushnik) was of great importance in the wedding ceremony of the Slavic population of Kuban. Holding a towel, the bride and groom walked to the church to get married. The wedding loaf was placed on the towel. The towel served as a footstool, which was spread in the church under the feet of the newlyweds. Various wedding officials (matchmakers, groomsmen, groomsmen) were tied with towels. Almost all wedding towels were richly decorated with hand-woven lace.
In the development of a wedding, several periods are distinguished: pre-wedding, which included matchmaking, hand-raising, weddings, parties in the house of the bride and groom; wedding and post-wedding ritual. At the end of the wedding, the main role was given to the groom's parents: they were rolled around the village in a trough, locked in a hill, from where they had to pay off with the help of a quarter.
As throughout Russia, calendar holidays were honored and widely celebrated in Kuban: Christmas, New Year, Maslenitsa, Easter, Trinity.
Easter - Bright Sunday - was considered a special event and celebration among the people.
The story about this holiday must begin with Lent. After all, this is precisely the preparation for Easter, a period of spiritual and physical cleansing.
Great Lent lasted seven weeks, and each week had its own name. The last two were especially important: Verbnaya and Passionate. After them came Easter - a bright and solemn holiday of renewal. On this day they tried to wear everything new. Even the sun, we noticed, rejoices, changes, plays with new colors. The table was also updated, ritual food was prepared in advance: eggs were painted, Easter cakes were baked, and a pig was fried. The eggs were painted in different colors: red - blood, fire, sun; blue – sky, water; green – grass, vegetation. In some villages, a geometric pattern called “pysanky” was applied to the eggs. Ritual bread - paska, was a real work of art. They tried to make it tall; the “head” was decorated with cones, flowers, bird figures, crosses, smeared with egg white, and sprinkled with colored millet.
The Easter “still life” is a wonderful illustration of the mythological ideas of our ancestors: paska is the tree of life, a pig is a symbol of fertility, an egg is the beginning of life, vital energy.
Returning from church after the blessing of ritual food, they washed themselves with water containing red dye in order to be beautiful and healthy. We broke our fast with eggs and paska. They were also given to the poor and exchanged with relatives and neighbors.
The playful and entertaining side of the holiday was very intense: round dances, games with paints, swings and carousels were arranged in every village. By the way, riding on a swing had a ritual significance - it was supposed to stimulate the growth of all living things. Easter ended with Krasnaya Gorka, or Farewell, a week after Easter Sunday. This is “parents day”, remembrance of the dead.
Attitude towards ancestors is an indicator of the moral state of society, the conscience of people. In Kuban, ancestors have always been treated with deep respect. On this day, the whole village went to the cemetery, knitted scarves and towels on crosses, held a funeral feast, distributed food and sweets “for the wake.”
4.6.6. Folk arts and crafts
It is an important part of traditional folk culture. Kuban land was famous for its masters, gifted people. When making any thing, the folk craftsman thought not only about its practical purpose, but also about its beauty. Their simple materials - wood, metal, stone, clay - were created true works art.
Pottery production is a typical small-scale peasant craft. Every Kuban family had the necessary pottery: makitras, makhotkas, bowls, bowls, etc. The making of a jug occupied a special place in the potter’s work. Creating this beautiful form was not accessible to everyone; its production required skill and skill. If the vessel breathes, keeping the water cool even in extreme heat, it means the master has put a piece of his soul into the simple vessel.
Blacksmithing has been practiced in Kuban since ancient times. Every sixth Cossack was a professional blacksmith. The ability to forge their horses, chaises, weapons and, above all, all household utensils was considered as natural as cultivating the land. By the end of the 19th century. Blacksmithing centers were formed. In the village of Staroshcherbinovskaya, for example, blacksmiths made plows, winnowing machines and harrows, which were in great demand in the Stavropol region and in Don region. In the village of Imeretinskaya they also made agricultural tools, and in small village forges they forged what they could: axes, horseshoes, pitchforks, shovels. The skill of artistic forging also deserves mention. In Kuban it was called “kovan”. This fine, highly artistic metal processing was used in the forging of grilles, canopies, fences, and gates. Flowers, leaves, and animal figures were forged for decoration. Masterpieces of the blacksmith's craft of that time can be found on buildings from the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century. In the villages and cities of Kuban.
Eyewitnesses and writers of everyday life singled out weaving from all folk crafts. Weaving provided material for clothing and home decoration. Already from the age of 7-9, girls in a Cossack family learned to weave and spin. Before reaching adulthood, they managed to prepare for themselves a dowry of several tens of meters of linen: towels, tabletops, shirts. The raw materials for weaving were mainly hemp and sheep's wool. The inability to weave was considered a great disadvantage among women.
Integral objects of the Kuban home were weaving looms, spinning wheels, combs for making threads, beeches - barrels for bleaching canvas. In a number of villages, canvas was woven not only for their families, but also specifically for sale.
Our ancestors knew how to make household utensils of openwork weaving in the Slavic style. Cradles, tables and chairs, baskets, baskets, and wattles were woven from reeds, willows, and reeds. In the village of Maryanskaya this craft has been preserved to this day. In the markets of Krasnodar you can buy products for every taste - bread bins, shelves, furniture sets, decorative wall panels.
4.6.7. Traditions and customs of the Cossacks
A Cossack cannot consider himself a Cossack if he does not know and observe the traditions and customs of the Cossacks. The basis for the formation of the moral foundations of Cossack societies was the 1st Commandments of Christ. Accustoming children to observe the commandments of the Lord, parents, according to the popular perception, taught: do not kill, do not steal. Do not fornicate, work according to your conscience, do not envy others and forgive offenders, take care of your children and parents, value girlish chastity and female honor, help the poor, do not offend orphans and widows, protect the Fatherland from enemies. But first of all, strengthen your Orthodox faith: go to church, keep fasts, cleanse your soul from sins through repentance, pray to the one God Jesus Christ and added: if someone can do something, but we can’t - WE ARE COSSACKS!
Extremely strictly in the Cossack environment, along with the commandments of the Lord, traditions, customs, and beliefs were observed, which were the vital necessity of every Cossack family; non-compliance or violation of them was condemned by all residents of the farmstead or village. There are many customs and traditions: some appear, others disappear. There remain those that most fully reflect the everyday and cultural characteristics of the Cossacks, which have been preserved in the memory of the people since ancient times. If we briefly formulate them, we get some kind of unwritten Cossack household laws:
- Respectful attitude towards elders.
- Respect for a woman (mother, sister, wife).
- Honoring the guest.
4.6.8. Cossack and parents
Honoring parents, godfather and godmother was not just a custom, but
the internal need for their son and daughter to take care of them. Filial and daughter's duty to parents was considered fulfilled after the commemoration of the fortieth day was celebrated, after their departure to another world.
The godmother helped her parents prepare a Cossack girl for a future married life, teaching her to housekeeping, needlework, frugality, and work.
On godfather the main responsibility was assigned to prepare the Cossack girl for service, and for the military training of the Cossack the demand from the godfather was greater than from his own father.
Not only parents, but also the entire adult population of the village and village showed concern for the upbringing of the younger generation. For indecent behavior of a teenager, an adult could not only make a reprimand, but also easily “punch his ears”, or even “treat” him with a light slap in the face, and report the incident to his parents, who would immediately “add.”
The authority of father and mother was not only indisputable, but so revered that without the blessing of their parents they did not begin any work or make decisions on the most important matters. It is characteristic that this custom has been preserved in Cossack patriarchal families to this day.
Dishonoring father and mother was considered a great sin. As a rule, issues of creating a family were not resolved without the consent of parents and relatives: parents took a direct part in its creation. Divorce among the Cossacks in the past was a rare occurrence.
Restraint, politeness and respect were observed in dealing with parents and elders in general. In Kuban they addressed their father and mother only as “You” - “You, mother”, You, tattoo.”
Seniority was the way of life of the Cossack family and a natural necessity of everyday life, which strengthened family and kinship ties and helped in the formation of the character that the conditions of Cossack life required.
4.6.9. Attitude towards elders
Respect for elders is one of the main customs of the Cossacks. Paying tribute to the years lived, the hardships endured, the Cossack share, the advancing weakness and inability to stand up for themselves, the Cossacks always remembered the words of Holy Scripture: “Rise up before the face of the gray-haired man, honor the face of the elder and fear your God - I am the Lord your God.”
The custom of respect and veneration for the elder obliges the younger, first of all, to show care, restraint and readiness to help and requires adherence to some etiquette (when the old man appeared, everyone had to stand up - Cossacks in uniform put their hand on their headdress, and without uniform - take off hat and bow).
In the presence of an elder, it was not allowed to sit, smoke, talk (enter into a conversation without permission), and even more so - to express oneself indecently.
It was considered indecent to overtake an old man (senior in age); it was necessary to ask permission to pass. When entering somewhere, the eldest was allowed in first.
It was considered indecent for a younger person to enter into conversations in the presence of an older person.
The younger one must give way to the old man (senior).
The younger one must show patience and restraint, and not argue in any case.
The elder's words were binding on the younger.
In general (joint) events, when making decisions, the opinion of the elder was necessarily sought.
In conflict situations, disputes, discord, and fights, the word of the old man (senior) was decisive and its immediate execution was required.
In general, among the Cossacks and especially among the Kuban people, respect for elders was an internal need. In Kuban, even in address, you rarely hear “grandfather”, “old”, etc., but it is affectionately pronounced “father”.
Respect for elders was instilled in the family from an early age. The children knew which of them was older in relation to whom. The elder sister was especially revered, whom her younger brothers and sisters, until she had gray hair, called nanny, nanny, since she replaced their mother, who was busy with housework.
Children under the age of majority were not allowed to be at the table while partying, receiving guests, or generally in the presence of strangers. It was forbidden not only to sit at the table, but also to be in the room where there was a feast or conversation among elders.
4.6.10 Birth of the Cossack
The Cossacks valued family life and treated married people with great respect, and only constant military campaigns forced them to be single. The single Cossacks (who had taken a vow of celibacy) nursed the newborn baby, and when his first tooth appeared, they certainly came to see him, and there was no end to the delight of these battle-hardened warriors.
A Cossack was born a warrior, and with the birth of a baby his military school began. All the father's relatives and friends brought a gun, cartridges, gunpowder, bullets, a bow and arrows as a gift to the newborn. These gifts were hung on the wall where the mother and baby lay. After forty days after the mother, having prayed a cleansing prayer, returned home, the father put a saber belt on the child, holding the saber in his hand, put him on a horse and then returned his son to his mother, congratulating her on becoming a Cossack. When the newborn's teeth were cutting through, his father and mother put him back on the horse and took him to church to serve a prayer service to Ivan the Warrior. The baby’s first words were “but” and “poo” - to urge the horse and shoot. War games outside the city and target shooting were favorite pastimes for young people in their free time. These exercises developed shooting accuracy. Many of the Cossacks could knock out a coin held between their fingers with a bullet at a considerable distance.
Three-year-old children could already freely ride a horse around the yard, and at the age of five they were galloping across the steppe.
4.6.11. Cossack woman
Cossack girls enjoyed complete freedom and grew up together with their future husbands. The purity of morals, which was monitored by the entire Cossack community, was worthy of the best times of Rome, where special censors were elected from the most trustworthy citizens for this purpose. Until the first half XVI V. The spirit of the east still remained - the power of the husband over his wife was unlimited. At the end of the 17th century. housewives, especially older ones, had already begun to acquire great influence in household life and often inspired the conversations of old knights with their presence, and when they got carried away in the conversation, with their influence.
Cossack women for the most part are a type of beauties that has developed over centuries during natural selection from captive Circassian, Turkish and Persian women. In his story “Cossacks” already in the first half of the 19th century. L.N. Tolstoy wrote:
“The beauty of the Grebensk Cossack woman is especially striking due to the combination of the purest type of Circassian face with the powerful build of a northern woman. Cossack women wear Circassian clothes - a Tatar shirt, a bashmet, dudes, but they tie their scarves in Russian. Elegance, cleanliness and elegance in clothing and house decoration constitute a habit and necessity of life.”
It is to the credit of the Cossack woman that she takes care of the cleanliness of her home and the neatness of her clothes.
The Cossack woman considered it a great sin and shame to appear in public with her head uncovered, wear men's clothing and cut her hair.
Respectful attitude towards a woman - mother, wife, sister - determined the concept of honor of a Cossack woman, honor of a daughter, sister, wife. A man's dignity was measured by a woman's honor and behavior.
In family life, the relationship between husband and wife was determined according to Christian teaching (holy scripture). “Not a husband for a wife, but a wife for her husband.” “Let the wife fear her husband.” At the same time, they adhered to age-old principles - a man should not interfere in women’s affairs, and a woman should not interfere in men’s affairs.
Custom did not allow a woman to be present at the gathering (circle) even to resolve issues of her personal nature. Her father, elder brother, godfather or ataman interceded or presented a petition or complaint on her behalf.
No matter who the woman was, she had to be treated with respect and protected.
In Cossack society, women were so revered and respected that there was no need to give them the rights of a man. In the past, housekeeping was practically the responsibility of the Cossack mother.
4.6.12. Cossack in everyday life
The Cossack spent most of his life in the service, in battles, campaigns, at the cordon, and his stay in the family and village was short-lived. However, the leading role both in the family and in Cossack society belonged to the man, who had the main responsibility of providing material support for the family and maintaining the strict order of Cossack life in the family. The word of the owner of the family was indisputable for all its members, and an example in this was the Cossack’s wife - the mother of his children.
The Cossack perceived clothes as a second skin, kept them clean and tidy and never allowed himself to wear someone else's clothes.
The Cossacks loved feasts and socializing; they also loved to drink, but not to get drunk, but to sing songs, have fun, and dance. At the Cossacks’ table, vodka was not poured, but served on a spread (tray), and if someone intercepted the “excess,” they simply carried him around, or even sent him to sleep it off.
It was not customary to force oneself: if you want, drink, if you don’t want, don’t drink, but you must pick up a glass and take a sip, the saying said: “You can serve, but you cannot force.” The drinking song reminded: “Drink, but don’t drink away your mind.”
The Cossacks had a custom of both men's conversations (walking separately from women) and women's conversations without men. And when they got together (weddings, christenings, name days), women sat on the bottom side of the table, and men on the other, because under the influence of intoxication, a Cossack could take some liberties with someone else’s wife, and the Cossacks, quick to punish, they used weapons.
In the past, only married couples could participate in Cossack wedding celebrations. For unmarried youth, parties were held separately in the groom's house and separately in the bride's house - this was a concern for the moral foundations of the youth.
There was a cult of gifts and gifts. A Cossack never returned after a long absence from home without gifts, and they never went on a visit without a present.
4.6.13. Sea voyages
The sea voyages of the Cossacks amaze with their courage and ability to take advantage of all kinds of circumstances. Storms and thunderstorms, darkness and sea fog were common occurrences for them and did not stop them from achieving their intended goal. In light plows, accommodating 30-80 people, with sides lined with reeds, without a compass, they descended into the Azov, Black, and Caspian seas, smashed seaside towns right up to Farabad and Istanbul, freeing their captive Cossack brothers, they boldly and daringly entered into battle with well-armed Turkish ships and almost always emerged victorious. Scattered by a storm over the waves of the open sea, they never lost their path and, when calm came, united into formidable flying flotillas and rushed to the shores of Colchis or Romania, awe-inspiring the formidable and invincible, at that time, Turkish sultans in their own capital, Istanbul.
4.6.14. Cossack honor
The Cossacks in their community were tied to each other like brothers, they abhorred theft among themselves, but robbery on the side, especially from the enemy, was an ordinary thing among them. Cowards were not tolerated and chastity and courage were considered the primary virtues. They did not recognize eloquence, remembering: “Whoever loosened his tongue put the saber in the sheath,” “From unnecessary words hands are weakening” - and will was revered most of all.
The good fame of the Cossacks spread throughout the world; both the French kings and the German electors, but especially the neighboring Orthodox peoples, sought to invite them to serve.
A characteristic feature of the Cossack soul was the need to show kindness and service in general, and especially to a stranger (to give something dropped, to help lift, to bring something along the way, to help when getting up or leaving, to give up a place to sit, to serve something to a neighbor or nearby during a general feast to the person sitting.Before he himself could eat or quench his thirst, he had to offer it to the person standing next to him (sitting).
It was considered a sin to refuse the request of a beggar and to refuse alms to a beggar.
(it was believed that it was better to give all your life than to ask). TO greedy man they were careful not to make a request, and if they showed greed at the time the request was fulfilled, they refused the service, remembering that this would not serve any good.
As a rule, the Cossacks preferred to make do with what they had, and not with what they would like, but not to be in debt. Debt, they said, was worse than bondage, and they tried to immediately free themselves from it. Kindness, selfless help, and respect shown to you were also considered a duty. For this, the Cossack had to pay the same.
Drunkards, as in any nation, were not tolerated and despised. Those who died from overdrinking (alcohol) were buried in a separate cemetery along with suicides, and instead of a cross, an aspen stake was forgotten on the grave.
Deception was considered the most disgusting vice in a person, not only in deed, but also in word. A Cossack who did not fulfill his word or forgot about it deprived himself of trust. There was a saying:
“If a man has faith in a ruble, they won’t believe in a needle.”
Some historians, not understanding the spirit of the Cossacks - ideological fighters for faith and personal freedom, reproach them for self-interest, greed and a penchant for profit - this is due to ignorance.
One day, the Turkish Sultan, driven to the extreme by the terrible raids of the Cossacks, decided to buy their friendship by issuing an annual salary, or rather an annual tribute. Sultan's ambassador in 1627-1637. years, he made every effort to achieve this, but the Cossacks remained adamant and only laughed at this idea, even considered these proposals as an insult to the Cossack honor and responded with new raids on Turkish possessions. After that, in order to persuade the Cossacks to be peaceful, the Sultan sent with the same ambassador four golden caftans as a gift to the army, but the Cossacks indignantly rejected this gift, saying that they did not need the Sultan’s gifts.
4.6.15. Cossack's horse
Among the Kuban residents, before leaving home for war, the Cossack’s wife led the horse, holding the reins in the hem of her dress. According to the old custom, she passed on the reins, saying: “On this horse you are leaving, Cossack, on this horse you are returning home with victory.” Having accepted the occasion, the Cossack hugged and kissed his wife, children, and often grandchildren, sat in the saddle, took off his hat, crossed himself with the banner of the cross, stood up in his stirrups, looking at the clean and cozy white hut, at the front garden in front of the windows, at the cherry orchard. Then he pulled his hat over his head, warmed his horse with his whip, and left the quarry to the gathering place.
In general, among the Cossacks the cult of the horse prevailed in many respects over other traditions and beliefs.
Before the Cossack left for war, when the horse was already under the marching pack, the wife first bowed at the horse’s feet to protect the rider, and then to the parents, so that prayers would be constantly read for the warrior’s salvation. The same thing was repeated after the Cossack returned from the war (from battle).
When seeing off the Cossack in last way Behind the coffin walked his war horse under a black saddle cloth and a Cossack weapon strapped to the saddle, and his relatives followed the horse.
4.6.16. Cossack has a dagger
Among the linear (Caucasian) Cossacks and Kuban it was considered a disgrace to buy a dagger. The dagger, according to custom, is either inherited, or as a gift, or, oddly enough, it is stolen or obtained in battle.
4.6.17. Cossack etiquette
Parents refrained from clarifying their relationship in the presence of their children. The wife's address to her husband, as a sign of honoring his parents, was only by name and patronymic. Just as the father and mother of the husband (mother-in-law and father-in-law) were for the wife, so the mother and father of the wife (father-in-law and mother-in-law) were God-given parents for the husband.
A Cossack, as a rule, addressed an unknown Cossack woman to the eldest in age - “mother”, and to an equal - “sister”, to the youngest - “daughter” (granddaughter). To a wife - “Nadya”, “Dusya”, “Oksana”, etc., to older women - “mother” or by name and patronymic.
To greet each other, the Cossacks slightly raised their headdress and, with a handshake, inquired about the family’s health and the state of affairs. The Cossack women bowed to the man and his greeting, and hugged each other with a kiss and conversation.
When approaching a group of standing and sitting people, the Cossack took off his hat, bowed and inquired about his health - “Great, Cossacks!”, “Great, Cossacks!” or “Great bulls, Cossacks!” The Cossacks answered: “Thank God.” In the ranks, at reviews, parades of regimental and hundred formations, the Cossacks responded to greetings according to the military regulations: “I wish you good health, sir...”
During the performance of the Russian Anthem and the Regional Anthem, the troops, according to the regulations, removed their hats.
When meeting, after a long separation, and also when saying goodbye, the Cossacks hugged and touched cheeks. They greeted each other with a kiss on the Great Feast of the Resurrection of Christ, on Easter, and kissing was allowed only among men and separately among women.
Among Cossack children, and even among adults, it was customary to welcome even stranger appeared in a farm or village.
Children and younger Cossacks addressed both relatives, acquaintances and strangers: “uncle”, “aunt”, “aunt”, “uncle” and, if they knew, they called the name. An elderly Cossack (Cossack woman) was addressed: “father”, “father”, “didu”, “baba”, “grandmother”, “grandmother”, adding a name if they knew it.
At the entrance to the hut (kuren), they were baptized in the image, the men first took off their hats, and did the same when leaving.
Apologies for the mistake were made with the words: “Please forgive me,” “Forgive me, for God’s sake,” “forgive me, for Christ’s sake.” They thanked you for something: “Thank you!”, “God bless you,” “Christ save you.” In response to thanksgiving they answered: “You’re welcome,” “You’re welcome,” “You’re welcome.”
Without prayer they did not start or finish any task or meal - even in the field.
Immense respect for the guest was due to the fact that the guest was considered a messenger of God. The most dear and welcome guest was considered a stranger from distant places, in need of shelter, rest and care. Regardless of the age of the guest, he was given the best place to eat and relax. It was considered indecent to ask a guest for three days where he was from and what the purpose of his arrival was. Even the old man gave up his seat, although the guest was younger than him.
The Cossacks had a rule: wherever he went on business or to visit, he never took food either for himself or for his horse. In any farm, village, town, he always had a distant or close relative, godfather, matchmaker, brother-in-law, or just a colleague, or even just a resident, who would greet him as a guest and feed both him and his horse. The Cossacks stayed at inns in in rare cases when visiting fairs in cities. To the credit of the Cossacks, this custom has not undergone any significant changes in our time.
4.6.18. Kuban speech
Oral colloquial Kuban speech is a valuable and interesting element of traditional folk culture.
It is interesting because it represents a mixture of the languages of two related peoples - Russian and Ukrainian, plus borrowed words from the languages of the highlanders, a rich, colorful text corresponding to the temperament and spirit of the people.
The entire population of the Kuban villages, who spoke two closely related Slavic languages- Russian and Ukrainian, easily mastered the linguistic features of both languages, and many Kuban residents easily switched in conversation from one language to another, taking into account the situation. Black Sea residents began to use Russian in conversations with Russians, especially urban ones. In communication with village residents, acquaintances, neighbors, relatives, they “balakali”, i.e. spoke the local Kuban dialect. At the same time, the language of the Lineans was full of Ukrainian words and expressions. When asked what language the Kuban Cossacks spoke, Russian or Ukrainian, many answered: “Ours, Cossack! In Kuban."
The speech of the Kuban Cossacks was peppered with sayings, proverbs, and phraseological units.
Phraseologisms - stable phrases - capture the rich historical experience of the people, reflect ideas associated with labor activity, life and culture of people. The correct, appropriate use of phraseological units gives speech a unique originality, special expressiveness and accuracy.
4.6.19. Folk poetry
The most common and favorite genre were songs. The Kuban people’s passion for songs can be explained by the tradition of their ancestors, the Cossacks and Don Cossacks, which found favorable conditions in the Kuban, consolidated and developed. The widespread existence of songs was facilitated by the common life of the Cossacks on campaigns and at training camps. The song helped to express various feelings - the reckless prowess of the Cossack, longing for family and homeland. The song repertoire of the population of Kuban was distinguished by its unusual richness and diversity. Some of the Russian and Ukrainian songs made up the general Kuban repertoire. The weak development of calendar-ritual poetry in the eastern villages of Kuban is probably due to the fact that the Cossacks did not engage in agriculture until a certain time. Carols were more common. Shchedrivkas were adopted from Ukrainians and sung in Ukrainian or translated. At Maslenitsa they usually took a goat, that is, they dressed someone up as a goat and took them from house to house singing various songs. On Ivan Kupala - they jumped over the fire. Wedding songs, majestic songs praising the groom, and boyars were very popular. The basis of the song repertoire of the Black Sea Cossacks were historical and geographical songs that reflected the heroic past of their ancestors. Numerous Cossack songs, not related to historical events, reflect the life of the Cossacks and their mood. Ukrainian love songs or family songs were also popular; some of them were part of the repertoire of official choirs.
4.6.20 Cossack proverbs
- The Atamanov community is strong.
- Without an ataman, a Cossack is an orphan.
- Not all Cossacks can be atamans.
- Good Cossack, where is the ataman galloping?
- He does not boast about the Ataman, but holds on to him tightly.
- And the chieftain does not have two heads on his shoulders.
- He left his post and missed the enemy.
- Be patient, Cossack, and you will become an ataman.
- Donuts for the chieftains, cones for the Cossacks.
- A bad Cossack cannot make an Ataman.
- The Cossacks are all atamans.
- There are never enough Cossacks.
- The Cossack is silent, but knows everything.
- You can see a Cossack under the matting.
- The Cossack even looks beautiful on matting.
- I took the matting from the devil, and I’ll have to give back the leather too.
- He is not a Cossack who is afraid of dogs.
- For truth and freedom, eat to your heart's content.
- A good Cossack does not disdain - whatever happens, he cracks.
- What is great for a Cossack is death for a German.
- Cossack, what are you doing: if you give a lot, he will eat everything, and if you give a little, he will be full.
- A Cossack will drink from a handful and dine from the palm of his hand.
- Dancing is not a job, and anyone who can’t do it is a shame.
- First, don’t boast, but pray to God.
- Bread and water are Cossack food.
- A Cossack lives not by what is, but by what will be.
- The Cossack is hungry, but his horse is full.
- God is not without mercy, the Cossack is not without happiness.
- Don’t scold, Cossack, don’t let your enemy cry.
- Wherever the Cossack's fate takes him, he will be a Cossack.
- The Cossack is amusing himself.
- A Cossack does not cry even in trouble.
- As it is in the threshing floor, so it is in war.
- The Cossack Zhurba is not May.
- Not the Cossack who swims with the water, but the one who is against the water.
- Why is it cold there if the Cossack is young?
- I don’t dare cry, they don’t tell me to bother.
- Stand strong for the truth, then people will follow you.
- In truth and strength.
- If the whole bulk dies, then the little one will die.
- We will fight the devil with a council.
- Whoever lags behind the partnership, let him lose his skin.
- Where there is a Cossack, there is glory.
- Walk straight, look boldly.
- Even the bullet is afraid of the truth.
- Believe in God, beat the enemy, destroy the earth, destroy the zhinku.
- A Cossack's mother gave birth once, and once she died.
- The Cossack is not afraid of death, our God needs him.
- It’s more beautiful to die in poly, hem it like a woman’s bottom.
- There is no translation for the Cossack family.
- Where there is an enemy, there is a Cossack.
- The man is waiting for the enemy, the Cossack is looking for the enemy.
- If you want peace of mind, prepare for battle.
- And there will be a war about a single Cossack.
- God protects the careful, but the Cossack has a saber.
- God save the mad louse.
- The generous Cossack does not attack from behind.
- He who takes pity on an enemy has a wife who is a widow.
- Whoever loosened his tongue sheathed the saber.
- Excessive words make your hands weak.
- Whatever happens, it will, but the Cossack will not be timid about the lordship!
- There will be no sign for the Cossack.
- A dog's life, but a Cossack's glory.
- If a Cossack is in prison, then he is free.
- A Cossack is like a dove: wherever it flies, it will land there.
- The Cossack custom is this: wherever there is room, go to bed there.
- Not the Cossack who fought, but the one who escaped.
- The Cossack is good, but he is penniless.
- Get it - or not be at home.
- Horse and night - Cossack comrades.
- Without a horse, a Cossack is an orphan.
- The Cossack mounts his horse, and his bride is born.
- Cossacks are the eyes and ears of the army (Suvorov).
- A Cossack without service is not a Cossack.
- A Cossack burns in service, but goes out without service.