RUSSIA'S TINDERBOX - Belfer Center for Science and International ...

The Revival of the Cossacks in the North Caucasus:
The revival of Cossack activity in 1989-1990 was catalyzed by the rise of non-Russian
nationalism in the republics of the North Caucasus, and the corresponding demands of the North
Caucasian peoples for increased political status and territorial change. In addition, an influx of
refugees and migrants into Krasnodar and Stavropol’ from other areas of the former Soviet Union in
the same period encouraged a ‘nativist’ reaction from those who perceived themselves to be
besieged by ‘new-comers.’
Cossack clubs first began to spring up in Russia and in the North Caucasus in 1989, with
Kuban Cossack clubs formed in Krasnodar, and Don Cossack clubs in Stavropol’. The first
Congresses of Cossacks in Russia convened in 1990 and the first Congress of North Caucasian
Cossacks took place in December 1991. At first, the Cossack clubs focused on ethno-cultural
revival, encouraging a dual Russian-Cossack identity among the region’s Slavic inhabitants, and
promoting Cossacks as indigenous inhabitants of the North Caucasus on a par with the non-Russian
“titular nationalities.”
By 1991, however, with the passage of the Law on the Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples,
Cossack leaders felt that they had been given the right by the Russian government to restore
previously existing Cossack territories. The Cossack Congresses thus formulated political demands,
including the transfer of Cossack enclaves from the republics to the jurisdiction of the ‘Russian’
territories of Krasnodar and Stavropol’ and restrictions on migration into the region. However, there
was considerable dissent among the Cossack leadership as to what ultimate status they should
achieve from the satisfaction of these demands: the status of a military caste subordinate to the
Russian government and state, or the status of a distinct ethnic group with its own national-territorial
autonomy.
As a result, since 1991, Cossack leaders have melded the two goals together, playing a dual
game that appeals simultaneously to two different constituencies. At times, to both mollify its
aggrieved non-Russian neighbors and strengthen its case for political attention, the Cossack
movement has distanced itself from inept Russian policy in the region by claiming to be a distinct
North Caucasian people equally repressed by the Russian imperial center and the Soviet regime. At
others, it has attempted to win support from the Russian government by stressing the association
with Russia and Russians, and linking the Cossack revival to the Russian national revival and the
defense of the Russian state. 112 Both approaches have achieved results.
Cossack Territorial Demands in the North Caucasus:
Specifically, since 1990 Cossack territorial demands have included:
112 For example, in 1991, on behalf of all the Cossack hosts of the Russian Federation, the Union of Cossack
Armies of Russia expressed its willingness to work actively with the Russian government on issues such as the
patrolling of borders, manning of customs posts, and local policing.
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