As the years went by, the Black Sea Cossacks continued its systematic penetrations into the mountainous regions of the Northern Caucasus. Taking an active part in the finale of the
Russian conquest of the Northern Caucasus, they settled the regions each time these were conquered. To aid them, a total of 70 thousand additional ex-Zaporozhians from the
Bug,
Yekaterinoslav, and finally the
Azov Cossack Host migrated there in the mid 19th century. All three of the former were necessary to be removed to vacate space for the colonisation of
New Russia, and with the increasing weakness of the Ottoman Empire as well as the formation of independent buffer states in the Balkans, the need for further Cossack presence had ended. They made the migration to the Kuban in 1860. Separating the ethnic Ukrainian Black Sea Cossacks from the Caucasian mountain tribes were the
Caucasus Line Cossack Host, ethnic Russian Cossacks from the Don region. Although both groups lived in the general Kuban region, they did not integrate with each other.
Apogee of the Kuban Host . The new Host grew to be the second largest in Russia. The Kuban Cossacks continued to make an active part in the Russian affairs of the 19th century starting from the finale of the
Russian-Circassian War which ceased shortly after the hosts' formation. A small group took part in the 1873 conquest that brought the
Khanate of Khiva under Russian control. Their largest military campaign was the
Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), on both the Balkan and the Caucasus fronts. The latter in particular was a strong contribution as the Kuban Cossacks made 90% of the Russian cavalry. Famous achievements in the numerous
Battles of Shipka, the defence of
Bayazet and finally, in decisive and victorious
Battle of Kars where the Cossacks were the first to enter. Three Kuban Cossack regiments took part in the storming of
Geok Tepe in Turkmenistan in 1881. During the
Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), the host mobilised six cavalry regiments, five plastun battalions and one battery to the distant region of Russia. The Cossacks also carried out the second strategical objective, the colonisation of the Kuban land. In total, the host owned more than six million tithes, of which 5.7 million belonged to the stanitsas, with the remaining in the reserve or in private hands of Cossack officers and officials. Upon reaching the age of 17, a Cossack would be given between 16 and 30 tithes for cultivation and personal use. With the natural growth of the population, the average land that a Cossack owned decreased from 23 tithes in the 1860s to 7.6 in 1917. Such arrangements, however ensured that the colonisation and the cultivation would be very rational. The military purpose of the Kuban was echoed in its administration pattern. Rather than a traditional Imperial
Guberniya (governorate) with
uyezds (districts), the territory was administered by the
Kuban Oblast which was split into (regions, which in 1888 counted seven). Each would have its own which in turn would be split into and . The (commander) for each region was not only responsible for the military preparation of the Cossacks, but for the local administration duties. Local Stanitsa and Khutor atamans were elected, but approved by the of the . These, in turn, were appointed by the supreme of the host, who was in turn appointed directly by the Russian Emperor. Prior to 1870, this system of legislature in the Oblast remained a robust military one and all legal decisions were carried out by the and two elected judges. Afterwards, however, the system was bureaucratised and the judicial functions became independent of the . The more liberal policy of the Kuban was directly mirrored in the living standards of the people. One of the central features of this was education. Indeed, the first schools were known to have existed since the migration of the Black Sea Cossacks, and by 1860, the host had one male high school and 30 elementary schools. In 1863, the first periodical Кубанские войсковые ведомсти (
Kubanskiye voiskovye vedomsti) began printing, and two years later the host's library was opened in Yekaterinodar. In all, by 1870, the number of schools in rural stanitsas increased to 170. Compared with the rest of the Russian Empire, by the start of the 20th century the Oblast had a very high literacy rate of 50% and each year up to 30 students from Cossack families (again a rate unmatched by any other rural province) were sent to study in the
higher education establishments of Russia. During the early twentieth century contacts between Kuban and Ukraine were established and clandestine Ukrainian organizations appeared in Kuban. Wide grey trousers were worn, tucked into soft leather boots without heels. Officers wore silver epaulettes, braiding and
ferrules. This Caucasian national dress was also worn by the
Terek Cossack Host but in different
facing colors. Tall black fur hats were worn on all occasions with red cloth tops and (for officers) silver lace. A white metal scroll was worn on the front of the fur hat. A whip was used instead of spurs. Prior to 1908, individual cossacks from all Hosts were required to provide their own uniforms (together with horses, Caucasian saddles and harness). On active service during World War I the Kuban Cossacks retained their distinctive dress but with a black waistcoat replacing the conspicuous red one and without the silver ornaments or red facings of full dress. A black felt cloak () was worn in bad weather both in peace-time and on active service. The 200 Kuban and 200 Terek Cossacks of the Imperial Escort (
Konvoi) wore a special gala uniform; including a scarlet kaftan edged with yellow braid and a white waistcoat. Officers had silver braiding on their coats and epaulettes. A dark coloured kaftan was issued for ordinary duties together with a red waistcoat.
Russian Revolution and Civil War During the
Russian Revolution and resulting
Civil War, the Cossacks found themselves conflicted in their loyalties. In October 1917, the
Kuban Soviet Republic and the
Kuban Rada were formed simultaneously, with both proclaiming their right to rule the Kuban. Shortly after the Rada declared a
Kuban National Republic, but this was soon dispersed by Bolshevik forces. While most Cossacks initially sided with the Rada, many joined the Bolsheviks who promised them autonomy. and his family in October 1916. In March 1918, after
Lavr Kornilov's successful offensive, the Kuban Rada placed itself under his authority. With his death in June 1918, however, a federative union was signed with the Ukrainian government of Hetman
Pavlo Skoropadsky after which many Cossacks left to return home or defected to the Bolsheviks. Additionally, there was an internal struggle among the Kuban cossacks over loyalty towards
Anton Denikin's
Russian Volunteer Army and the
Ukrainian People's Republic. On 6 November 1919, Denikin's forces surrounded the Rada, and with the help of Ataman
Alexander Filimonov arrested ten of its members, including the
Ukrainophile, P. Kurgansky, who was the premier of the Rada, and publicly hanged one of them for treason. Many Cossacks joined Denikin and fought in the ranks of the Volunteer Army. In December 1919, after Denikin's defeat and as it became clear that the Bolsheviks would overrun the Kuban, some of the pro-Ukrainian groups attempted to restore the Rada and to break away from the Volunteer Army and fight the Bolsheviks in alliance with Ukraine; however, by early 1920 the
Red Army took most of Kuban, and both the Rada and Denikin were ousted. The Soviet policy of
de-Cossackization repressed Cossacks and aimed to eliminate Cossack distinctness. The de-Cossackization is sometimes described as an act of
genocide.
World War II Collaborators in Wehrmacht and Waffen SS . The regiment was composed of both Don and Kuban Cossacks The first collaborators were formed from Soviet Cossack POWs and deserters after the consequences of the Red Army's early defeats in the course of
Operation Barbarossa. During the
Battle of the Caucasus in summer of 1942, some of the Nazi aggressors reaching Kuban were greeted as liberators. Many Soviet Kuban Cossacks chose to defect to Nazi service either when in
POW camps or on active duty in the Soviet Army. For example, Major Kononov deserted on 22 August 1941 with an entire regiment and was instrumental in organizing Cossack volunteers in the
Wehrmacht. While there were several smaller Cossack detachments in the Wehrmacht since 1941, the
1st Cossack Division made up of Don, Terek and Kuban Cossacks was formed in 1943. This division was further augmented by the 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division formed in December 1944. Both divisions participated in hostilities against
Tito's partisans in Yugoslavia. In February 1945, both Cossack Divisions were transferred into the
Waffen-SS and formed the
XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps. At the end of the war, the Cossack collaborators retreated to Italy and surrendered to the British army, but, under the
Yalta agreement, were forcibly repatriated with the rest of the collaborators to the Soviet authorities and some executed. (see
Betrayal of the Cossacks) One of the Kuban leaders, the
ataman Vyacheslav Naumenko served as their principle historian after World War Two, writing the first Russian language book about the
Repatriation of Cossacks in his two volume work published in 1962 and 1970 entitled
Velikoe Predatelstvo (
The Great Betrayal).
Red Army Cossacks Despite the defections that were taking place, the majority of the Cossacks remained loyal to the Red Army. In the earliest battles, particularly the
encirclement of Belostok Cossack units such as the 94th Beloglisnky, 152nd Rostovsky and 48th Belorechensky regiments fought to their death. In the opening phase of the war, during the German advance towards Moscow, Cossacks became extensively used for the raids behind enemy lines. The most famous of these took place during the
Battle of Smolensk under the command of
Lev Dovator, whose 3rd Cavalry Corps consisted of the 50th and 53rd Cavalry divisions from the Kuban and Terek Cossacks, which were mobilised from the Northern Caucasus. The raid, which in ten days covered 300 km, destroyed the hinterlands of the 9th German Army before successfully breaking out. Whilst units under the command of General Pavel Belov, the 2nd Cavalry Corps made from Don, Kuban and Stavropol Cossacks spearheaded the counter-attack onto the right flank of the 6th German Army delaying its advance towards Moscow. The high professionalism that the Cossacks under Dovator and Belov (both generals would later be granted the title
Hero of the Soviet Union and their units raised to a
Guards (elite) status) ensured that many new units would be formed. In the end, if the Germans during the whole war only managed to form two Cossack Corps, the Red Army in 1942 already had 17. During the opening phase of the
Battle of Stalingrad, when the Germans overran the Kuban, the majority of the Cossack population, long before the Germans began their agitation with Krasnov and Shkuro, became involved in
Partisan activity. Raids onto the German positions from the Caucasus mountains became commonplace. After the German defeat at
Stalingrad, the 4th Guards Kuban Cossack Corps, strengthened by tanks and artillery, broke through the German lines and liberated
Mineralnye Vody, and
Stavropol. For the latter part of the war, although the Cossacks did prove especially useful in reconnaissance and rear guards, the war did show that the age of horse cavalry had come to an end. The famous
4th Guards Kuban Cossacks Cavalry Corps which took part in heavy fighting in the course of the liberation of Southern Ukraine and Romania was allowed to proudly march on the
Red Square in the famous
Moscow Victory Parade of 1945. ==Modern Kuban Cossacks==