Modern Cossacks: problems, forecasts, prospects
His reflections on the current state of the Cossacks with the correspondent of "Military Review" shares the "outstanding Moscow region fighter" - a Cossack and a lifeguard, the repeated winner of various possible saber-cutting championships Alexei Teterin. Alexey is not only chopping. In his narrow circle he is known as a Cossack connoisseur. stories, traditions and cultures, which inspired us to interview him.
Who are we and where are we from
- Alexey, how did you get to this life? You work as a lifeguard in the Ministry of Emergency Situations, at your leisure you cut with a sword. Doesn't live quietly?
- I remembered my roots when the guys dragged me to one of the ethnic festivals near Moscow, where the Cossack component was announced.
- Sang and danced?
- No, they cut and fought. Although between fights really danced - Cossack lezginka. In the evening they played songs. They gave me a piece of sword in my hand. And I suddenly felt: this is mine, my dear. Already a chill on the back ran. Well, and then it started. When deadly steel writes circles or a blade over you like a razor, cuts a target, you are overwhelmed with a stream of emotions. Experiencing incomparable feelings.
- What do you think about the revival of the Cossacks?
- Here, without an excursion into history can not do.
- Just for short. We are not in the lecture department.
- I will try ...
“Nasty dirty tricks” in “Russian antiquities”
- It is well known that the Norman theory about the arrival of foreigners and the formation of statehood in Russia is bursting at the seams. By the way, even Putin spoke about this. The theory of the origin of the Cossacks from runaway serfs, too, crumbled into dust. Why, for example, the fugitives did not hide in the woods, but left for the steppe, where by definition it is impossible to hide? Why did they settle where you can control the main arteries of any state — along roads and rivers? But these are key areas. Through them were trading routes - the blood vessels of the state economy. The Cossacks also engaged in the development and conquest of new lands - which is worth one trip Ermak for the Urals. Tolstoy said: "The border of Russia passes through the front bow of a Cossack saddle." Obviously not a damn thing - the swing and impertinence are too large. Yes, and how from the fugitive in some magical way turned out great warriors with perfect organization and clearly the genetic ability to fight? A lot of questions and to the so-called Tatar-Mongol yoke. Another theory about invaders from Mongolia is also actively criticized by historians. Where is the visible confirmation that it really was the Mongols or Asians? There are a lot of such distortions in history. Cinema inspired us that the Horde is a narrow-eyed Asian. But is it? At one time, exclusively aliens — Miller, Schlesser, Brier — were engaged in creating the history of the Russian State. Even Lomonosov suffered in the struggle against these comrades. “What kind of vile dirty tricks the cattle allowed in them cannot do in Russian antiquities!” - so he spoke about these comrades. And some of them even beat the muzzle of the spiritualized "historical" person.
Since its inception, the Cossacks not only intervened everywhere, but in fact created the history of the state. Of course, they carried out an independent policy and acted primarily in their own interests. This explains both the war with external enemies - the Ottoman Empire, the Turks, the Poles, and the raids inside Moscow lands. Even John 4 (Grozny) said that he had a lot of Tatarwas, and different, not only Kazan ... What an interesting pattern: there are raids on Russian principalities - there are "Tatarwah" and a horde. There is a defense of Russian lands and raids on Osmania — Cossacks and troops appear. For me, it is the same people.
Sabers over the letters
In the Time of Troubles, the Cossacks also took an active part. As the historian Ivan Kharlamov said, “the role of the First Militia, which besieged Moscow from the 1611 year, where the Don Cossacks played the leading role, is modestly silent. ... Despite the first failures, it was the Cossacks who remained to besiege the Poles in the Moscow Kremlin and awaited the approach of the Second Militia of Minin and Pozharsky. And at the crucial moment of the battle, having come to the aid of this militia, they determined the victory of Russia. ” Also, historians are slyly silent about the true cause of the contradictions of the First and Second militias. Both Minin and Pozharsky preferred to see foreigners on the Russian throne. Cossacks also advocated the enthronement of the "sovereign Orthodox." They were the ones who raised Romanov to the throne. Several thousand Cossacks took to the streets of Moscow and presented an ultimatum to the Zemsky Sobor demanding that Mikhail Romanov be approved. They confirmed the seriousness of their intentions with sabers over the letter. By the way, in Poland, the first Romanov was nicknamed for this “Cossack king.”
- Many modern Cossacks are distinguished by some kind of heightened piety - such as "this, too, went from the ancestors ...".
- Has anyone seen a Cossack in the church on his knees beating his forehead? Cossack faith is special. That says it all.
- But the Cossacks went to the service to the king. And now the state is trying to control and regulate this process. Is it good or bad?
- Again - "a drop of history." As a result of the growth of the Russian Empire, its borders expanded and the Cossacks went to work as early as the Russian tsar. They settled on the borders of the empire, and the original lands of the Cossacks were far in the depths of Russia. The connection between generations was lost, languages mixed up, turning into adverbs. The Cossacks assimilated, the differences have already gone and within themselves. They began to make a military class, assigned Cossacks appeared. And now, along with the natural, tribal Cossacks, there are many of them. Often, such turnouts can and can be much more generic. And here it is appropriate to recall the proverb that "it is not enough to be born a Cossack, they need to be and they need to die." It is necessary to remember about the basic qualities of the Cossack - he must be stately, fair and dashing.
- The fact of the revival of the Cossacks in society is extremely ambiguous attitude - as well as the Cossacks themselves.
- For many, their revival as an independent people capable of self-organization is simply dangerous. Therefore, in its time, a wheel full of blood bones rolled across the villages. The dangerous and warlike people survived the terrible genocide. Everything that is being created - the Cadet Cossack corps, the Cossack registries and estates, and at least the Cossack circles of interest - can be managed. Everything is possible, except for the patrimonial independence of the people, who for centuries ruled the fate of the state, put up and overthrew kings, stood on its defense and suppressed internal riots, a people who are not afraid of any features, nor of God, nor of themselves, nor even of strangers.
- In the first years after the beginning of perestroika, everybody felt like a Cossacks.
- The history is repeated twice: once in the form of tragedy, the other - in the form of farce. The Cossacks have already experienced the tragedy. Nobody wants repetitions. But to avoid the "lamp farce" was not easier. Adventurers of various suits and calibers rushed into the Cossacks, who expected to receive some dividends from their new status. With them a heavy internal struggle among the Cossacks is still going on. Someone really imbued with Cossack ideas, from someone - those who are called "mummers" - you need to get rid of.
It would have been my will - I would accept the Cossacks, as in the "krapovye berets." As long as “on the teeth and nerves” you do not pass an obstacle course on the verge of the possible, you cannot stand in hand-to-hand combat against fresh and experienced rivals - not a Cossack. I also heard this: until I got to war, I didn’t smell powder — you are not a Cossack, regardless of whether it is tribal or registered.
There was a time in the Cossacks on the ground impose. But the time was different, and the requirements were different. Ready to fight? Are you not afraid of death? Do you believe in our God? Everything, now you are ours. Go to Kuren, get ready for a hike. Here are just "mummers" I would cut off on the threshold. From them, the Cossacks only harm ...
- And how do you look at the division of the Cossacks in the registry and all the rest?
- This is another split that crushes the unity of the people. The entire function of the registry, from the point of view of the authorities, comes down to law enforcement. Cossacks just help the police at all sorts of mass events, that's all. In my opinion, this is wrong. Warriors should not only carry guards. Warriors must fight. And to learn this can and should, and all the time.
- Well, how do Cossack military-patriotic teen organizations differ from clubs of a young paratrooper, a border guard, a marine?
- Our traditions are stronger. And they are instilled since childhood. There are purely Cossack martial arts - dzhigitovka, flanking (working with a sword), working with pike, arapnik, whip, and plunger knife. There are also their own masters of martial Cossack arts - Pavel Polyakov, Alexander Bereznikov, Nikolai Yeremichev, Yegor Sirkov, Leonid Polezhaev, Viktor Pavlyuchenkov, Bogdan Gaidenko. Some of them, unfortunately, are more known abroad than in Russia. Nikolai Eremichev created the Federation for cutting logs, regularly holds competitions in different parts of the country. Leonid Polezhaev now once again gives a master class of the Plastun battle in China - for local martial arts masters. Even they pay tribute to his skills. Many people, including myself, learned how to work with a checker by the rollers of Pavel Polyakov. Bogdan Gaidenko is just a virtuoso of flanking (twists with a checker). Many Cossack classes in the country are engaged in his educational films.
- Does the horse-stunt training in modern Cossacks present? Or do they prancing only on iron horses?
- And how. The leaders of horse-stunt groups Pavel Polyakov, Alexander Shcheglov and Dmitry Zaskalov are our everlasting pride. Their young horsemen, along with riders of the Kremlin riding school and equestrian escort of the Presidential Regiment, perform at the most prestigious European equestrian shows. They demonstrated their skills in front of Queen Elizabeth and in front of Angela Merkel. Cultivated by them dzhigitovka - the top of the Cossack martial arts.
A landmark event for all of us is the world tiger race. It takes place in the middle of summer, approximately 15 July, in the equestrian complex "Favorite" near Lytkarino near Moscow. In addition to the Djig Cossacks, riders come here from all over the world, including the descendants of the White Guard Cossack emigrants from Europe. Cossacks from different parts of the country gather there - communicate, share experiences.
“I Can” - Blindhouse
- And how did you get on the Yakubovich “I Can” show?
- I was invited. Though I was nervous (it was my first experience on TV), in general, I think it was a good idea. An interesting challenge was the cabin blindfolded. Try a regular stick with your eyes closed and wave - and then sharply honed steel with a deadly chill.
Book-icon
- There is a great book - "Quiet Don." It is for us - as "War and Peace" for all mankind. I can reread it endlessly. There is no other such book where the originality of the Cossack way of life and the tragedy of the Cossacks would be so figuratively conveyed. Especially since the main character, Grigory Melekhov, had a real prototype - Kharlampy Ermakov, the St. George Cavalier, an active participant in the Don uprising, a man with a difficult fate, a reeling personality.
- And how, after all that has been experienced, is it now reborn?
- But the people stayed. True, they were then brought up in a different vein - purely anti-caste. Therefore, the Leningradskaya village appeared in the Kuban (instead of the former Umanskaya) and the Serafimovichsky district on the Don - in place of the old Cossack village of Ust-Medveditskaya - in memory of the writer Serafimovich, who saw the Cossacks as hellish fiend.
- And what, they were angels?
- No, of course not. I think they were no better and no worse than others. Although probably more violent. But this is understandable - their centuries-old life style, which they so valued, was crumbling. At that time there were no angels - the country flew forward in a muddy bloody whirlwind. Red terror was replaced by white, and vice versa. The Bolsheviks won, and their ideology won.
- She was bad?
- No, she was our bond. I grew up on it, and for the time being, everything was fine with me. But at some time she began to disperse from real life. I remember the pathos of the stands and the laughter of smokers during the times of stagnation. Even then, I had a slight suspicion that this could not last long. And then the Soviet Union collapsed overnight under the weight of accumulated problems. And I agree with those who believe that this was the worst tragedy of the century. As a matter of fact, all the wars raging to this day are the result of the collapse of the Red Empire. But what is characteristic: it was enough to collapse the official ideology - and people's memory in the farms and villages flashed like bright coals during a gust of wind.
Kamo Simeashi
- But are natural and tribal Cossacks now enough to revive a full-blooded people?
- I look at our future with optimism. Cossack family no translation. Here I have three guys grow up. They will already know who they are, who their grandfathers are. Language, blood and history of the Cossacks and Russians are inseparable. I sing Cossack songs, do Russian dance. I work with the sword and study the history of ancient Russia. The Cossacks are definitely part of the Russian world, one of its most striking components. After all, there were earlier tribes of lutets, Krivichi, glades. All became Russian. This is our strength. I think that the Cossacks, as a people, are able to be reborn, but they are already inseparable from a single family of Russian peoples.
Who are we and where are we from
- Alexey, how did you get to this life? You work as a lifeguard in the Ministry of Emergency Situations, at your leisure you cut with a sword. Doesn't live quietly?
- I remembered my roots when the guys dragged me to one of the ethnic festivals near Moscow, where the Cossack component was announced.
- Sang and danced?
- No, they cut and fought. Although between fights really danced - Cossack lezginka. In the evening they played songs. They gave me a piece of sword in my hand. And I suddenly felt: this is mine, my dear. Already a chill on the back ran. Well, and then it started. When deadly steel writes circles or a blade over you like a razor, cuts a target, you are overwhelmed with a stream of emotions. Experiencing incomparable feelings.
- What do you think about the revival of the Cossacks?
- Here, without an excursion into history can not do.
- Just for short. We are not in the lecture department.
- I will try ...
“Nasty dirty tricks” in “Russian antiquities”
- It is well known that the Norman theory about the arrival of foreigners and the formation of statehood in Russia is bursting at the seams. By the way, even Putin spoke about this. The theory of the origin of the Cossacks from runaway serfs, too, crumbled into dust. Why, for example, the fugitives did not hide in the woods, but left for the steppe, where by definition it is impossible to hide? Why did they settle where you can control the main arteries of any state — along roads and rivers? But these are key areas. Through them were trading routes - the blood vessels of the state economy. The Cossacks also engaged in the development and conquest of new lands - which is worth one trip Ermak for the Urals. Tolstoy said: "The border of Russia passes through the front bow of a Cossack saddle." Obviously not a damn thing - the swing and impertinence are too large. Yes, and how from the fugitive in some magical way turned out great warriors with perfect organization and clearly the genetic ability to fight? A lot of questions and to the so-called Tatar-Mongol yoke. Another theory about invaders from Mongolia is also actively criticized by historians. Where is the visible confirmation that it really was the Mongols or Asians? There are a lot of such distortions in history. Cinema inspired us that the Horde is a narrow-eyed Asian. But is it? At one time, exclusively aliens — Miller, Schlesser, Brier — were engaged in creating the history of the Russian State. Even Lomonosov suffered in the struggle against these comrades. “What kind of vile dirty tricks the cattle allowed in them cannot do in Russian antiquities!” - so he spoke about these comrades. And some of them even beat the muzzle of the spiritualized "historical" person.
Since its inception, the Cossacks not only intervened everywhere, but in fact created the history of the state. Of course, they carried out an independent policy and acted primarily in their own interests. This explains both the war with external enemies - the Ottoman Empire, the Turks, the Poles, and the raids inside Moscow lands. Even John 4 (Grozny) said that he had a lot of Tatarwas, and different, not only Kazan ... What an interesting pattern: there are raids on Russian principalities - there are "Tatarwah" and a horde. There is a defense of Russian lands and raids on Osmania — Cossacks and troops appear. For me, it is the same people.
Sabers over the letters
In the Time of Troubles, the Cossacks also took an active part. As the historian Ivan Kharlamov said, “the role of the First Militia, which besieged Moscow from the 1611 year, where the Don Cossacks played the leading role, is modestly silent. ... Despite the first failures, it was the Cossacks who remained to besiege the Poles in the Moscow Kremlin and awaited the approach of the Second Militia of Minin and Pozharsky. And at the crucial moment of the battle, having come to the aid of this militia, they determined the victory of Russia. ” Also, historians are slyly silent about the true cause of the contradictions of the First and Second militias. Both Minin and Pozharsky preferred to see foreigners on the Russian throne. Cossacks also advocated the enthronement of the "sovereign Orthodox." They were the ones who raised Romanov to the throne. Several thousand Cossacks took to the streets of Moscow and presented an ultimatum to the Zemsky Sobor demanding that Mikhail Romanov be approved. They confirmed the seriousness of their intentions with sabers over the letter. By the way, in Poland, the first Romanov was nicknamed for this “Cossack king.”
- Many modern Cossacks are distinguished by some kind of heightened piety - such as "this, too, went from the ancestors ...".
- Has anyone seen a Cossack in the church on his knees beating his forehead? Cossack faith is special. That says it all.
- But the Cossacks went to the service to the king. And now the state is trying to control and regulate this process. Is it good or bad?
- Again - "a drop of history." As a result of the growth of the Russian Empire, its borders expanded and the Cossacks went to work as early as the Russian tsar. They settled on the borders of the empire, and the original lands of the Cossacks were far in the depths of Russia. The connection between generations was lost, languages mixed up, turning into adverbs. The Cossacks assimilated, the differences have already gone and within themselves. They began to make a military class, assigned Cossacks appeared. And now, along with the natural, tribal Cossacks, there are many of them. Often, such turnouts can and can be much more generic. And here it is appropriate to recall the proverb that "it is not enough to be born a Cossack, they need to be and they need to die." It is necessary to remember about the basic qualities of the Cossack - he must be stately, fair and dashing.
- The fact of the revival of the Cossacks in society is extremely ambiguous attitude - as well as the Cossacks themselves.
- For many, their revival as an independent people capable of self-organization is simply dangerous. Therefore, in its time, a wheel full of blood bones rolled across the villages. The dangerous and warlike people survived the terrible genocide. Everything that is being created - the Cadet Cossack corps, the Cossack registries and estates, and at least the Cossack circles of interest - can be managed. Everything is possible, except for the patrimonial independence of the people, who for centuries ruled the fate of the state, put up and overthrew kings, stood on its defense and suppressed internal riots, a people who are not afraid of any features, nor of God, nor of themselves, nor even of strangers.
- In the first years after the beginning of perestroika, everybody felt like a Cossacks.
- The history is repeated twice: once in the form of tragedy, the other - in the form of farce. The Cossacks have already experienced the tragedy. Nobody wants repetitions. But to avoid the "lamp farce" was not easier. Adventurers of various suits and calibers rushed into the Cossacks, who expected to receive some dividends from their new status. With them a heavy internal struggle among the Cossacks is still going on. Someone really imbued with Cossack ideas, from someone - those who are called "mummers" - you need to get rid of.
It would have been my will - I would accept the Cossacks, as in the "krapovye berets." As long as “on the teeth and nerves” you do not pass an obstacle course on the verge of the possible, you cannot stand in hand-to-hand combat against fresh and experienced rivals - not a Cossack. I also heard this: until I got to war, I didn’t smell powder — you are not a Cossack, regardless of whether it is tribal or registered.
There was a time in the Cossacks on the ground impose. But the time was different, and the requirements were different. Ready to fight? Are you not afraid of death? Do you believe in our God? Everything, now you are ours. Go to Kuren, get ready for a hike. Here are just "mummers" I would cut off on the threshold. From them, the Cossacks only harm ...
- And how do you look at the division of the Cossacks in the registry and all the rest?
- This is another split that crushes the unity of the people. The entire function of the registry, from the point of view of the authorities, comes down to law enforcement. Cossacks just help the police at all sorts of mass events, that's all. In my opinion, this is wrong. Warriors should not only carry guards. Warriors must fight. And to learn this can and should, and all the time.
- Well, how do Cossack military-patriotic teen organizations differ from clubs of a young paratrooper, a border guard, a marine?
- Our traditions are stronger. And they are instilled since childhood. There are purely Cossack martial arts - dzhigitovka, flanking (working with a sword), working with pike, arapnik, whip, and plunger knife. There are also their own masters of martial Cossack arts - Pavel Polyakov, Alexander Bereznikov, Nikolai Yeremichev, Yegor Sirkov, Leonid Polezhaev, Viktor Pavlyuchenkov, Bogdan Gaidenko. Some of them, unfortunately, are more known abroad than in Russia. Nikolai Eremichev created the Federation for cutting logs, regularly holds competitions in different parts of the country. Leonid Polezhaev now once again gives a master class of the Plastun battle in China - for local martial arts masters. Even they pay tribute to his skills. Many people, including myself, learned how to work with a checker by the rollers of Pavel Polyakov. Bogdan Gaidenko is just a virtuoso of flanking (twists with a checker). Many Cossack classes in the country are engaged in his educational films.
- Does the horse-stunt training in modern Cossacks present? Or do they prancing only on iron horses?
- And how. The leaders of horse-stunt groups Pavel Polyakov, Alexander Shcheglov and Dmitry Zaskalov are our everlasting pride. Their young horsemen, along with riders of the Kremlin riding school and equestrian escort of the Presidential Regiment, perform at the most prestigious European equestrian shows. They demonstrated their skills in front of Queen Elizabeth and in front of Angela Merkel. Cultivated by them dzhigitovka - the top of the Cossack martial arts.
A landmark event for all of us is the world tiger race. It takes place in the middle of summer, approximately 15 July, in the equestrian complex "Favorite" near Lytkarino near Moscow. In addition to the Djig Cossacks, riders come here from all over the world, including the descendants of the White Guard Cossack emigrants from Europe. Cossacks from different parts of the country gather there - communicate, share experiences.
“I Can” - Blindhouse
- And how did you get on the Yakubovich “I Can” show?
- I was invited. Though I was nervous (it was my first experience on TV), in general, I think it was a good idea. An interesting challenge was the cabin blindfolded. Try a regular stick with your eyes closed and wave - and then sharply honed steel with a deadly chill.
Book-icon
- There is a great book - "Quiet Don." It is for us - as "War and Peace" for all mankind. I can reread it endlessly. There is no other such book where the originality of the Cossack way of life and the tragedy of the Cossacks would be so figuratively conveyed. Especially since the main character, Grigory Melekhov, had a real prototype - Kharlampy Ermakov, the St. George Cavalier, an active participant in the Don uprising, a man with a difficult fate, a reeling personality.
- And how, after all that has been experienced, is it now reborn?
- But the people stayed. True, they were then brought up in a different vein - purely anti-caste. Therefore, the Leningradskaya village appeared in the Kuban (instead of the former Umanskaya) and the Serafimovichsky district on the Don - in place of the old Cossack village of Ust-Medveditskaya - in memory of the writer Serafimovich, who saw the Cossacks as hellish fiend.
- And what, they were angels?
- No, of course not. I think they were no better and no worse than others. Although probably more violent. But this is understandable - their centuries-old life style, which they so valued, was crumbling. At that time there were no angels - the country flew forward in a muddy bloody whirlwind. Red terror was replaced by white, and vice versa. The Bolsheviks won, and their ideology won.
- She was bad?
- No, she was our bond. I grew up on it, and for the time being, everything was fine with me. But at some time she began to disperse from real life. I remember the pathos of the stands and the laughter of smokers during the times of stagnation. Even then, I had a slight suspicion that this could not last long. And then the Soviet Union collapsed overnight under the weight of accumulated problems. And I agree with those who believe that this was the worst tragedy of the century. As a matter of fact, all the wars raging to this day are the result of the collapse of the Red Empire. But what is characteristic: it was enough to collapse the official ideology - and people's memory in the farms and villages flashed like bright coals during a gust of wind.
Kamo Simeashi
- But are natural and tribal Cossacks now enough to revive a full-blooded people?
- I look at our future with optimism. Cossack family no translation. Here I have three guys grow up. They will already know who they are, who their grandfathers are. Language, blood and history of the Cossacks and Russians are inseparable. I sing Cossack songs, do Russian dance. I work with the sword and study the history of ancient Russia. The Cossacks are definitely part of the Russian world, one of its most striking components. After all, there were earlier tribes of lutets, Krivichi, glades. All became Russian. This is our strength. I think that the Cossacks, as a people, are able to be reborn, but they are already inseparable from a single family of Russian peoples.
- Igor Moiseyev
- Igor Moiseev
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