a serf who managed to join the Cossacks was free from his former owner's pursuit. These settlements enjoyed higher liberties than common villages, e.g. Cossack settlements were called "stanitsa" in Russia and "sloboda" or "zymivnik" in Ukraine. Cossacks were exempt from tax and were granted some land in exchange for military service, and as such considered minor nobility (that was especially the case with Registered Cossacks in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Other groups included the Terek Cossacks, Ussuri Cossacks, Ural Cossacks, etc.
After the suppression of Bulavin's revolt by the Russians, the Don Host was completely incorporated into Russia as an irregular military organization with some privileges, but less autonomy. Joined by adventurous Russian nobles and runaway peasants, the Don Host became an important part of Muscovite Tsardom's politics, while staying independent from the Tsar until the beginning of 18th century. Gradually formed after Brodnici ("ford men", a large multi-ethnic group in southern Ruthenia) intermingled with Mongols and Cumans (traditional seminomad rivals and allies of Ruthenian princes) in the Steppe and thus adopted independent steppe-wandering style of life, as well as their name (the word "Cossack" has Turkic origins, usually reffering to "free men", who could not find their place in society and went into the steppes, where they acknowledged no authority - some other Turkic names have the same etymology - the Kazakh people for example) from these nomads.
After the fall of Sich, many Zaporozhian cossacks migrated to the Kuban river valley, and these ones became the Black Sea Cossack Host, later known as Kuban Cossacks. Considering it to be a separatist element, the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great annexed the Cossack Hetmanate in 1764, then ordered the destruction of the Sich in 1775. The Russian government, while seeing the value of mighty Zaporozhian Cossack troops, barely tolerated the Sich's and Hetmanate's existence, as their regions were free of serfdom and too autonomous for The Empire. They played a big role in the history of Ukraine, at one point liberating it from Poland and creating the Cossack Hetmanate - a Ukrainian state in 1648-1764, a vassal of Muscovy and later of the Russian Empire during most of its history. For a while the Zaporozhians helped (for Sich Cossacks) or served (for Registered Cossacks) the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth fighting off Crimean Tatars - not that the Polish had much control over them.
#Cossacks european wars series professional
The game system is arranged to reduce per-unit control and resource micromanagement, and to turn to global goals of powerful economy formation, science development, the capturing of new lands, and defending borders.Cossacks were groups of professional warriors first recorded as a separate group of society in Eastern Europe around late 15th century. One can carry out lingering city sieges, wage guerilla wars, capture commanding heights and arrange ambushes, deploy landing forces on enemy shores, and conduct sea battles. Thus, England is the mightiest sea power, Austria has powerful light and heavy cavalry, and Cossacks are the pride of the Ukrainian army.īattles of up to 8,000 units may be conducted on single or network game maps. Each has its own original graphics, economic and technical development peculiarities, military advantages and drawbacks, and unique units and technologies, providing vast choices of tactics and strategy in the war against any enemy. There are 16 nations or regions in Cossacks: Algeria, Austria, England, France, the Netherlands, Piemonte, Poland, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venice. Cossacks: European Wars is a historical real-time strategy based on events of the 16th through the 18th centuries in Europe when nations and states were created and demolished, and wars shed seas of blood.