What/Who exactly are cossacks?

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Basically anyone who moved to Ukraine/south-western Russia and wanted to join

They were a group of people from many varying cultures and backgrounds that lived on the steppes of southern Russia. They worked in service of the Russian empire and in return enjoyed high levels of autonomy and protection from the Russian empire.

File: Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to the Sultan.jpg (113KB, 750x500px) Image search: [Google]

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>>2813495
They weren't a race, really. They were militarized societies founded by a bunch of Slavs aping Turkic/Steppenigger lifestyle and military tactics in order to fight such barbarians and defend Orthodox Christian communities.

Hence their weapons and fashion have Turkic/Central Asian influences. The name itself came from the Cuman word "Kassak" or some shit, meaning "Freeman."

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Free people of peasants, pirates (they had boats) and mercenaries living along the Dniepr (for the Zaporozhian Cossacks, Ukrainians) and the Don (for the Don Cossacks, Russians).

>>2813495

They were fraternities of like-minded men who wanted to live free and kill Tartars. Mostly Russians, ethnically speaking, but anyone could become a Cossack.

>>2813509
>>2813495
Any relation with the term "Kazakh" as in "Kazakhstan"?

>>2814804
Kazakh roughly translates to nomad or wanderer, stan means country.

>>2813509
>to fight the turk you must become the turk

>>2814804
ethnically -- zero

But etymologically they use the same turkic word meaning "free man" as in "free to go anywhere he pleases".

imagine that you are slav

now imagine that you are a mongol

but I repeat myself

>>2813495
my ancestors :')

>>2813495
They were a race and occupation similar to the gypsies. They basically acted as mercenaries in the 1800s.

>>2818098
>gypsies
>mercenaries

>>2813495
slavs cosplaying as Mongols

Only decent soldiers in the Russian Army until the Bolshevik Revolution. Then they were essentially persecuted until WW2 when they sided with the Germans, then were persecuted to near extinction afterward.

>>2817956
But of course germanics are 100% white despite being raped by Huns right?

>>2813495
A mixture of Polish, Lithuanian and Russian runaways

CHEEKI BREEKI

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Was it Proto-anarchism ?

>>2819238
>Only decent soldiers in the Russian Army until the Bolshevik Revolution.
They looked good only in comparison with mass conscript armies. In late Empire Cossak served few years as regulars and other time were in reserve similar to National Guard. But they were weaker than professional troops of earlier times.
>Then they were essentially persecuted until WW2 when they sided with the Germans, then were persecuted to near extinction afterward.
There were not Cossaks after the Revolution and Civil war, as Cossaks are not ethnicity, but social estate. Germans formed Hiwi troops of local and emigrated ex-Cossaks, about 18,000 remained in 1945. Those Hiwi were captured by British and departed to USSR for trial. Number of traitors were still small of total population.

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>>2813509
EPIC LARPING LULZ

Slavic people.

First they got Mongoled.

Then they got Turked.

...but they were still Christian Slavs because Fuck You invaders.

>We know who the fuck we are and we'll always be that.

>Now GTFO REEEEEE

Good folks.

>>2813495
Russian military unit

>>2820052
Slavs used to be the kings of assimilating everyone who conquered them
Bulgars? Look at that, you're Slavs now
Avars? Fuck that, you're Slavs
Nordic Rus'? Nope, Slavs
and so on.

>>2820094
The power of slavic cock is unimaginable.

>>2818098
race...

>>2813495
Slavic traditionalist libertarians

>>2820038
>9fag.com
Just go fuck yourself

>>2814734
>kill tatars
>make Alliance with tatars because some polish nobles take some lands you might or might not own

>>2820038
no fun allowed huh?