Warriors and Peasants: The Don Cossacks in Late Imperial Russia (St Antony's Series)

Warriors and Peasants depicts the lives of the Don Cossacks, the largest of all the Cossack communities, in late Imperial Russia. The dual identity of the Cossacks, that of the steppe and of the settled Slavic areas, is emphasized as the key to their unique culture. The book explores how that identity manifested and preserved itself by focusing on the Cossack tradition, their economy, their families and their communities. Far from being moribund and close to collapse, the book concludes that the Cossack tradition remained among the most vibrant in the empire. "Warriors and Peasants investigates the lives of the Don Cossacks, the largest of all the Cossack communities, in late Imperial Russia. It attempts to understand why the Cossacks believed that they were a unique community. Arguing that the uniqueness of Cossack culture lies in their dual identity deriving from the Mongol/Tatar nomads and the sedentary Slavic peoples, it examines Cossack life and communities in a period of prolonged crisis and instability. Population increase, sharp rises in the cost of military service and a wider cultural modernization ongoing within the Empire threatened to destroy the Cossack way of life. By focusing on the economic impact of the crisis, the structure of authority within Cossack communities, and the relationship between family, kin and community, the book concludes that the Cossack tradition, far from being on the point of dissolution, was by 1914 among the most vibrant within the Empire. As well as opening up new perspectives on Cossack history such as the impact of environmental degradation, the vitality of local government and the relationship between men and women, the book also offers pointers to Cossack behaviour during the Russian Civil War."--BOOK JACKET. Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction....Pages 1-19 The Don Cossacks 1549–1920....Pages 20-47 The Land and the People of the Great Host of the Don....Pages 48-62 The Cossack Yurt....Pages 63-81 The Crisis of the Cossack Yurt 1875–1914....Pages 82-101 The Local Administration of the Don Cossacks....Pages 102-133 Family and Community Among the Don Cossacks....Pages 134-170 Conclusion....Pages 171-173 Back Matter....Pages 174-200