Moustached, armed with sabres and riding-whips, smartly uniformed - the Cossacks of today pose as did their ancestors from the period of the October Revolution. The image of Cossack choirs immediately comes to mind... But the Cossack revival movement, which followed in the wake of the Perestroika, is fighting successfully against the image of folklore-groups. Operating on territorial as well as on national level, several newly founded groupings represent the Cossack's interests and support the revival of their traditions and their broad influence. These efforts also had their effect in Russian politics: in 1994, a council for Cossack affairs was founded in the presidential office; by now, many comparable institutions have been founded on lower administrative levels.

Cossack-ancestors: an image from a private collection, photographed during a dialect-expedition in the village of Frolov

By now, Cossack units have once again been integrated into the regular Russian army. After the Cossacks were explicitly mentioned in the decree of the Russian president on the rehabilitation of opressed peoples in 1991, some found confirmation of their view of the Cossacks as a people; other see themselves as an independant ethnic/social layer (sosloviye) with traditional military tasks in border zones. These tasks are connected to specific cultural and economic forms as well as with a specific moral codex.

In 1916, there were 4.4 million Cossacks. Today, the number of Cossacks is unclear, ranging from 10 to 30 million; according to "Moskovskiye novosti" (16, 1996, p. 4), official Cossack associations claim that there are 25 million Cossacks at present. The Don-Army (Donskoye voisko; Cossack communities call themselves "armies") has been and is considered as the largest single Cossack association.

It is fighting for the establishment of a Don-Cossack region within its historical boundaries. This territory was an autonomous region of the Russian Empire and existed up to 1920. Today, appr. 1,5 million people who call themselves Cossacks live on the banks of the Don and its tributaries. They place a great deal of value on their difference to the "inogorodnye", people of "other origin". However, the latter comprise more than two thirds of the population of the Rostov region alone. This group views the efforts toward Cossack autonomy with a great deal of mistrust.

By far not all of those who call themselves Cossacks today lead an agricultural or rural life. Quite on the contrary: many of them live in urban areas and work as teachers, doctors or scientifst. After more than 70 years of repression, the identity of the Cossacks is largely defined by self-cosciousness and tradition. The main factor is whether the family's ancestors were Cossaks and whether they were Russian-Orthodox. Aside from the traditional Cossacks (rodovye kasaki), there are also "honorary" Cossacks. Non-Cossacks are given military ranks according to their achievements. Leading figures of the Cossack movement insist that - like before - non-Russians can also become members of the Cossack community. The conditions for this assimilation are a trial period and the conversion to the Russian-Orthodox religion.

Marion Krause